The Educator Magazine U.K. Jan-April 2024 issue - Magazine - Page 51
ERA is based at Ashfield Junior School in Workington, which
has previously been a designated research school, and brings
together some of the country’s foremost experts including
Marc Rowland, a government advisor and a national authority on improving outcomes for disadvantaged learners.
Ashfield headteacher Sue Frost is ERA’s director. She said:
“This is about helping us to keep improving, using
evidence-informed approaches so we provide the best for
the children and young people in our region.”
Sue Frost and her team will support the delivery of some of
the training and help schools to access the latest research,
said Dale.
“ERA will also broker the experts the region needs. It will
bring together local and national expertise. We will be
responding to schools’ specific needs. The alliance is about
listening and responding to local priorities,” he said.
All 118 primary and secondary schools in west Cumbria (the
former districts of Allerdale and Copeland) are taking part in
WELL and the ambition is for ERA to support across Cumbria.
Marc Rowland said: “It’s a joy to be involved in ERA.
There is something incredibly special happening in our
community of schools. Our work is rooted in the needs of
our community, driven by research evidence and expertise.
Together, we are supporting and challenging each other to
make the biggest difference we can, including for those that
experience disadvantage.”
The core ERA team includes Prof Stuart Kime, of Evidence
Based Education, the Sunderland-based creator of
professional development programmes.
He said: “The Educational Research Alliance is something
we’re incredibly proud to be part of. Not just because of what
it stands for and aims to achieve, but because it is a
collaborative born out of the community it will serve.”
Also on the core team is Kate Horton, regional lead for the
Education Endowment Foundation which provides
evidence-based resources for improving the attainment of
disadvantaged pupils in England. The Foundation has worked
with WELL since WELL launched, and Ashfield Junior School
was previously a member of the Foundation’s network of
research schools.
Kate said: “We’re delighted to support Cumbria’s new
Education Research Alliance. Its focus on improving
outcomes particularly for disadvantaged pupils is especially
important at this time. They’ll build on the good work of the
former Cumbria Research School, based at Ashfield Junior
School.
Cllr Elaine Lynch said Cumberland Council is excited to be
working with the Education Research Alliance. “The work will
benefit schools across Cumberland Council and will support
disadvantaged pupils to achieve good outcomes,”
she said.
The Education Research Alliance was launched on
September 6.
Dale Hill is former education senior manager for Cumbria
and is on secondment from Westmorland and Furness
Council to direct WELL, which was launched in 2019 by Dale
working with local school leaders. It is funded by Sellafield
Ltd’s SiX - social impact, multiplied programme, and the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
WELL sponsors the Education Research Alliance, as part of its
work in west Cumbria to raise standards, close the attainment
gap for disadvantaged pupils and improve pupil wellbeing.
EDUCATION
RESEARCH
ALLIANCE