In 2014/15 the school took part in the national SSAT initiative Embedding Formative Assessment, building our whole school professional development programme around the project. After profiling the impact of our work at the SSAT National Conference in 2016, we collated together our ideas into a sharing best practice publication, circulated to schools across the country.
A very helpful and highly practical guide for any classroom practitioner.
Since September 2014 the school has published a weekly newsletter which was distributed electronically to all stakeholders and made available as a hard copy to students and parents and carers on request. Often 20+ pages in length, it highlighted all the activities and student achievements of the week. Since January 2018 the newsletter has been produced in a comparable online format and is published each Friday to all stakeholders and made available via the school website https://newsletter.busheymeads.org.uk
A number of senior leaders at the school have regularly published articles in national publications including the PiXLis magazine, made available to the 1600+ school in the Partners in Excellence Collaborative – one example from June 2018 showcases the school’s work to plan for the successful GSCE results day in August of each year.
Each term the school publishes a Trust wide newsletter to all stakeholders across the Bushey St James Trust. Full of articles related to teaching and learning and curriculum initiatives across the key phases it showcases great practice from all the schools within the Multi Academy Trust.
On a termly basis the best articles from our weekly Bushey Meads News publications are captured and profiled across the staff body and shared with parents and carers and visitors to the school. These books highlight the key teaching and learning initiatives taking place across the school community, enrichment opportunities offered both in and beyond the classroom, key developments with our buildings and infrastructure and also celebrate regional and national student successes.
Every term the school holds a Marking and Feedback Fortnight to highlight best practice in this key area of supporting effective progress for all learners. This is captured and published in helpful handy A5 size sharing best practice guides for teachers and teaching assistants to use. An excellent tool to further your own professional development.
In June 2018 the Executive Principal contributed to the Hodder Education publication ‘A String of Pearls’. Edited by Sir John Rowling, it provides stimulating and motivational think pieces for all school leaders to consider and implement in their own schools. Inspirational!
Each term the school publishes a BMS Teaching and Learning Newsletter. Full of practical tips for improving pedagogy and increasing student engagement, the Bushey St James Trust Reading Group also profile their latest professional learning and use the newsletter as a way of further sharing best practice and latest educational thinking. Copies are provided for all staff.
Simon Sinek reminds us all that ‘When your why is big enough the how is easy’. Written by staff at Bushey Meads in September 2018, this publication captures the key reasons why each of us chose to work in an educational setting and highlight inspiring examples that epitomise the reasons we made this choice. An inspiring read for anyone working in a school setting.
All classroom based staff at Bushey Meads had the opportunity in 2017.18 to contribute to this powerful publication which was distributed at the end of our two day annual staff conference in February 2019.
Each page within the book outlines a tried and tested nugget of best practice, many of them simple ideas that anyone can use in their classroom without too much additional planning.
Every page within the book outlines an effective strategy that will aid the raising achievement agenda and further improve the teaching and learning culture in any school.
A must read if you are serious about maximising progress for all learners.
All staff at Bushey Meads were invited to contribute to this publication, aimed at celebrating the innovative and creative practice that exists to support all students in achieving - within and beyond the classroom. A copy of the book was given to all staff during our Staff Training Day in September 2022. Every page in the book outlines an effective innovative idea that has supported incremental innovation and secured improvement. The inspiring book reminds us that the power to improve is within and by sharing together, we can achieve much more.
Over the last few years staff at Bushey Meads School have contributed to a number of articles in various national publications covering key topics such as school leadership, primary to secondary transition, a coordinated response to the Ofsted publication The Wasted Years – sharing best practice and profiling a number of key raising achievement strategies.
Two aspects of Bushey Meads School really stand out - the hugely collaborative and positive culture of sharing best practice and desire to maintain as good a work life balance as possible. Knowing that research clearly shows that one of the most effective ways of supporting students to achieve and make excellent progress is to provide effective feedback, our desire to smartly hone our marking and feedback practice to be as effective as it can be is key and something to really celebrate. In 2022.23 a cohesive approach to all aspects of our continuing professional development programme saw an overarching theme of Creating Consistency woven into our three marking and feedback fortnights and resulted in the publication of this excellent resource. This superb booklet captures just some of the outstanding practice that exists across our school.
In 2023 the staff at Bushey Meads tried to capture in a short publication everything that is fantastic about our wonderful learning community, highlighting the key and unique strengths of our school. This booklet succinctly captures across eighteen different important subsections of school life, what makes Bushey Meads such a great school; a school with a Mind to Be Kind and a place where pupils and staff reach for excellence in all they do.
In recent years Bushey Meads School has welcomed a growing number of school leaders from across the South East region to attend mini conferences focussed on sharing some of the best practice on offer here at our wonderful school. Delegates from as far afield as the East Midlands, Southampton and Weston-Super-Mare have joined us to hear from some of our top leaders about the brilliant work we have done, working together as staff and students to create such a positive learning community at the school.
Resources from these days are available to view below.
Dive Deeper Day 1st March 2019: Creating and Embedding a Powerful Culture
Dive Deeper Day Friday 5th July 2019: Systems and Structures to Secure Effective School Improvement
Joint Dive Deeper Day with Bentley Wood High School for Girls Wednesday 4th December 2019: Dive Deeper with Middle Leaders