Nick Hall, the East Midlands regional director at Teach First, next month takes over as leader of excellence in teaching at The Education Fellowship where he plans to develop, implement and evaluate teaching and learning initiatives and strategies throughout the fellowship’s 12 academies.
“I will be looking to put some meat on to the bones of improving and developing teaching and learning,” he says.
“It is very much about identifying what the pupils in our academies need and understanding exactly how we can have a coherent teaching and learning policy to create consistent standards across the academies.”
Mr Hall says he is also “desperate” to make a sense of “individuality” in classrooms and at school level.
He plans to spend the summer term in classrooms talking to teachers, leaders and pupils “so that I can make some really educated and informed decisions about where the best practice is, what needs to be developed and enhanced, and what needs to be shuffled out”.
He says he is excited about taking his experience and expertise, mostly gained in Nottingham and Derby, to a new area in the East Midlands.
Mr Hall has a degree in English from Sheffield Hallam University and a masters in critical theory from Nottingham.
He qualified as a teacher in 2000 and spent 11 years in the classroom before joining Teach First in 2011.
Mei Lim will be the new headteacher of Weyfield Primary Academy in Guildford after Easter.
Ms Lim already works at the school, which is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT), and says her main priority will be to continue and build on the school’s improvement.
Weyfield was rated inadequate in every category and went into special measures two years ago. In November last year it was rated good in every category and achieved its highest ever results last summer.
Ms Lim says she will focus on “improving the life chances of every child” by “creating vision and confidence.
“For this we have introduced the international primary curriculum. My goals are therefore to form that vision to enable children to participate and improve society.
“It is about mainstreaming our policy against that programme, so we encourage the children to fundraise and participate in the local community and engage with parents. Our outreach work and building on partnerships is vital.”
Ms Lim studied ancient and modern history at the University of Oxford before training with Teach First.
She then worked in London secondary schools for six years before completing a masters in public policy in Berlin, focusing on social and education policy.
Ms Lim started as a deputy at Weyfield in 2014.
Graeme Smith moves from the headship of Alfreton Grange Arts College in Derbyshire to take over as principal of Derby Moor Community Sports College in June.
He says his main goal will be to ensure the school is focused on the “bigger picture – that belief that every student can succeed.
“It’s important that all members of the school community work together to achieve this. I believe in building a culture where staff are valued and empowered to make this aim a reality.”
He is also keen to build and move forward the “strong foundations” established between members of the school community.
Mr Smith has a computing and management degree from Loughborough University and completed his PGCE at Keele in 2001.
He has taught in a mix of schools since 2002.
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