NACE CEO Sue Riley outlines upcoming opportunities for NACE members this academic year…

A warm welcome back to the new school year. I hope that you are returning refreshed after the break and looking forward to welcoming new learners and teachers alike to your school this term.

For schools at all phases, the summer brought with it a focus on exam results – whether SATs, GCSEs, A-levels or other qualifications, schools have been celebrating pupils’ achievements at all levels.

As schools that work with NACE know, a whole-school focus on challenge and high achievement benefits all learners. Putting a spotlight on our most able learners, the FFT Education Datalab analysis of GCSE results in England certainly provided a cause for celebration – with 818 learners entering at least seven GCSEs and achieving a grade 9 in each of them (Ofqual reported 732 for 2018). As the FFT noted, this shows real mastery of subject matter; those gaining multiple grade 9s should realise quite what an achievement that is. In Wales too, Education Minister Kirsty Williams shone a spotlight on improved exam performance.

Looking ahead to 2019-20, here’s a brief look at what’s new and how to get the most from your NACE membership this year…

Website relaunch

We relaunched our website at the end of the summer term, making access to resources and information easier. Opportunities to collaborate online with other member schools will be coming soon – keep an eye on our monthly newsfeed email for updates.

The new site also provides individual accounts for each staff member, making it easier to share the benefits of membership across the whole school. If you haven’t already logged in, click here for an overview and how to get started.

R&D Hubs

Last year we piloted the NACE Research and Development (R&D) Hubs – regional opportunities for members to meet, learn from one another, exchange effective practice, develop in-school research skills and collaborate on enquiry-based projects. Each Hub is led by a Challenge Award-accredited school, and this year the programme also includes a free online course run by the University of Birmingham and the Chartered College of Teaching.

To find your nearest Hub and for details of this year’s Hub meetings (including sessions on challenge, audit, memory retrieval, transition and parental engagement), click here.

Courses, conferences and consultancy

Take a moment to look at our new professional services brochure , which outlines the range of membership benefits, CPD and consultancy on offer for 2019-20. Early-bird rates are available for members on many of our workshops. For colleagues in Wales, I am delighted to announce that the national conference returns to Cardiff next summer, hosted at a new venue on 16 June. The programme is available here, with early-bird bookings now open.

Plus...

We have lots more planned over the coming year, including reporting on our current Challenge Award research case study project, the launch of our Headteachers’ Forum and continuation of our highly popular member meetups.

On behalf of the NACE team – we look forward to working with you in the coming months.