Curriculum Work

 

"When considering our curriculum planning we needed to connect to our context as well as ensuring clear progression, National Curriculum coverage and high expectations. We only had a basic structure in place and limited expertise amongst the staff.  We really were planning from scratch.

 

Aidan has worked with staff to produce our DT, Art and History curriculum so far. He is extremely knowledgeable and guided staff with key questions regarding the intent and the themes and concepts chosen across each curriculum subject. 

 

Staff have all given excellent feedback and felt empowered by the sessions, with a real ownership and knowledge of their curriculum subjects and the choices that were made. Along the way, Aidan continued to challenge their thinking, while supporting decisions and all sessions were engaging as well as enjoyable. The impact has resulted in detailed, coherent schemes of work which staff are confident in their implementation and how to measure the impact of these subjects at our school.

 

We are excited to continue our curriculum journey with Aidan as he is booked for further curriculum sessions as well as supporting effective subject leadership across the school. He has become integral to our school professional development programme."

 

- E. Anderson, Headteacher, Saviour Primary School 

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"Before we engaged working with Aidan, we were undertaking a full scale curriculum review as a through school and wanted a primary curriculum expert to ensure that the curriculum flowed from Reception to Y11. We needed to quality assure that the standards were high enough and that the sequencing was appropriate for all ages and stages.

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Having worked with Aidan in the past and knowing his experience of working in a through-school provided reassurance that Aidan would know the idiosyncrasies of through-schools and would have a detailed understanding of secondary schools.

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Aidan is a joy to work with. He is values driven and offers challenge in a positive and strategic manner. He works collaboratively with all staff putting them at ease whilst never lowering his standards. He has a very good eye for detail and has a thorough knowledge of the primary curriculum which has been invaluable. His positivity is infectious and he can put even the most anxious member of staff at ease.

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We now have a fully sequenced curriculum from Reception to Y11 that is sequenced and reflects the values and ethos with the school. We wouldn’t be in this position in such a short space of time without the support, guidance and challenge from Aidan."

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- M. Perry, Headteacher, The Halifax Academy

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"The current history curriculum lacked cohesion and bespoke details and staff were unsure of the key concepts and threads of the curriculum. Staff who had worked with Aidan beforehand were very complimentary and the process of working with Aidan was enlightening and I appreciated the experience and insight he was able to give. I am now able to look at the curriculum with a greater overall knowledge and insight across both Key Stages, allowing me to create a unique curriculum for our school."

 

- K. Connaghan, history lead, Saviour Primary School 

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"I had heard some good things about Aidan and I was excited to be able to meet with him and discuss my curriculum planning.

 

Working with Aidan has been a very positive experience for myself. I am new to my role and found the help and guidance which Aidan has provided to be invaluable.

 

Aidan has the ability to ‘think outside the box’ and provide advice and solutions which are realistic and actionable. I am currently using the advice provided by Aidan to complete my subjects' long term plans and schemes of work which have been overhauled to ensure sequencing and structure is correct.

 

I would not hesitate to call Aidan in the future for further support and guidance if needed."

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- T. Lynn, geography and environmental management lead, Aspire Academy

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"Working with Aidan was a positive experience which really helped to shape the department. The experience brought some real clarity and depth to the work we did. Staff were empowered to think constructively and take ownership of the issues facing them."

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- A. Brown, humanitites lead, Aspire Academy

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"Before working with Aidan I was not confident or familiar with designing a curriculum which showed progression year on year and that was ambitious, but catered to the needs of our children. I was nervous prior to working with Aidan, purely due to the fact that I had no experience in designing a curriculum and did not know what to expect. 

 

It was such a fantastic opportunity to get to work with Aidan; he is very knowledgeable about teaching and learning, and designing a curriculum. Aidan ensured that I was clear and confident about my vision for DT, in turn helping me to develop a plan going forward for our curriculum. Aidan reassured me every step of the way and answered all questions honestly, even the ones I was worried were silly!

 

Going forward I feel confident to design the DT curriculum for our school, I feel confident creating progression maps, and monitoring the subject, ensuring it is being championed in our school. Thank you so much for your help!"

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- K. Whelehan, DT lead, Saviour Primary School

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"As a newly appointed head of department I was in the position of needing to write statements for our curriculum intent, implementation and, in time, impact. I was also overseeing the scheme of learning  change from a 2-year KS3 model to a 3-year KS3 model which meant the rewriting of schemes of learning across 3 year groups.

 

The senior management within my school asked if I would be willing to work with Aidan to support me in achieving these targets. I was more than happy to accept the advice and support offered, especially after being made aware that Aidan's experience in education comes from many years as a Primary school senior leader and from writing and creating countless curriculum documents. 

 

Aidan and I instantly built up a great working relationship due to Aidan's working style of always knowing which key questions to ask to unlock the curriculum ideas I was trying to portray in my documents. As a result, within two work days, Aidan and I managed to write both the curriculum intent and implementation documents as well as an exemplar scheme of learning to support fellow colleagues in their writing of schemes of learning in the future.

 

Many thanks again for your help and input!"

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- M. Arbon, Head of Maths, Barlby High School

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"Through 2 days of support,  Aidan worked with our Art leader and SLT to design a truly ambitious curriculum that reflects our context, local heritage and current local artists. We are excited in its implementation and Aidan's knowledge was invaluable as we mapped out each element while he challenged leaders and supported the decision making process. Can't wait to teach it!"

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- E. Anderson, Headteacher, Saviour Primary School

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"Aidan's knowledge of the primary curriculum is fantastic. The curriculum overviews he has provided give clear guidance for coverage; effectively map links between learning in different units and year groups; provide a structure for vocabulary development; and still leave room for teacher creativity and following the interests of the children."  

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- Rachel H, Teacher and Leader

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"Reading Roles are a wonderful tool that allow our pupils to make real life links to the skills required when looking at different content domains. We use these throughout KS1 and KS2. The visual representation of each role serves as a reminder to children as to which skills they need to use when tackling a problem. Our children find this incredibly helpful and refer to the reading roles when tackling reading problems across all subjects."

 

- Mercedes S, Teacher and Leader

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CPD

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"Like all primary schools, those in our trust have been wrestling with the challenges the current OFSTED framework brings and in particular, the expectations placed on subject leaders. Aidan has helped us to build capacity throughout our trust by training key staff to support subject leaders in their school. Aidan has shown himself to be very knowledgeable on the subject of coaching and has used his experience of the field to help others.  Throughout the process, Aidan has been professional, personable and reliable.  I recommend him to others."

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- I. Dewes, CEO and NLE, Odyssey Collaborative Trust

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"Plan it! Teach it! Assess it! -  has changed the way we plan and work in a more collaborative way with support from subject leaders.  Aidan took staff through this process during an INSET with final outcomes and objectives considered at each stage alongside assessment to fully achieve our curriculum aims.  

 

We now have Plan it! Teach it! Assess it! time each half-term for staff to work within this model thus reducing workload and giving staff greater confidence in the teaching of the curriculum."

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-E. Anderson, Headteacher, Saviour Primary School

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"Aidan's session on the More-ness of Reading was engaging, insightful and thought-provoking. He provided easy to implement strategies to help children think more deeply about the characters they meet and how they can use these encounters to build understanding of, and empathy towards, others in their own communities. My only wish is that the session had been longer."

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- Nicki C, HLTA & Librarian

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"Bradford Research School has been delighted to work with Aidan for several years in different capacities.  He has contributed to programme design, illustrating our courses with evidence informed strategies and as an inspirational and professionally generous facilitator who is highly responsive to the challenges of schools in the region. Essentially, Aidan takes a live problem, drills down to understand it well, incorporates insight as a highly effective teacher and senior leader, and scopes solutions that are sensitive to the evidence and to context."

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- Bradford Research School

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"If there is one voice in Education that I can always rely on, it's Aidan. It's not often that you meet someone who explains ideas on curriculum, teaching and leadership with such clarity. In workshops that I have attended, in reading his Blogs and in discourse via Twitter, Aidan breaks down key, structural ideas around education into easy-to-understand statements."

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- Ben C, Leader

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Coaching

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“I could not have wished for a more inspiring trainer. Aidan helped me grow in so many ways - as a teacher and a person. I gained so much from observing his teaching and having him observe me too.”

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- Becs, Trainee Teacher

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"Working with Aidan was an absolute pleasure! His knowledge of the whole primary curriculum and his understanding of pedagogy helped me to shape a substantial curriculum for the children I teach. Not only that, he is genuinely one of the most brilliant teachers I ever worked with! I couldn't recommend him more highly for his friendly, generous support to me!"

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- Rachel B, Teacher and Leader

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"The regular coaching I have received from Aidan has been a great balance of support and challenge.  He uses his extensive experience and expertise to guide and advise when appropriate but also asks questions which help me to think out of the box and to come up with new, innovative solutions."

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- Rachel H, Teacher and Leader

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"Aidan cleverly coached me to become my own leader, to research and better myself as a teacher. Aidan taught me how to identify needs in a school, how to make an action plan and how to successfully research best practice, evaluate and implement this."

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- Shama, Teacher and Leader

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"‘Inspirational’ is an overused adjective these days, but in Aidan’s case I think it is very appropriate. Supportive yet challenging, it is very rare that I come away from time spent with Aidan without a fresh perspective to consider, something new to try or a general spring in my step! He is able to articulate complex concepts in a clear, concise and – perhaps most importantly – useful manner. I look forward to our paths crossing again soon. "

 

- Luke S, Teacher & Leader