Teach Secondary Issue 14.3

At Claydon High School, part of Penrose Learning Trust, we inspire students to ‘be the best they can be’ and encourage them at every stage of their journey to achieve their maximum potential. This includes supporting our Y7 students to smoothly bridge the transition between primary and secondary school by exploring our values – challenging themselves, showing compassion and taking a conscientious approach to learning, so that they develop confidence and the potential to succeed in all aspects of school life and beyond. Speaking to our incoming cohort at induction days, we knewmany felt nervous about making the leap to secondary school. This, alongside reports that young people are spending less time in their communities and a general decline in funding for youth provision, presented us with an opportunity to create a new transition curriculum grounded in personal interest and community context. WHATMATTERS MOST In response, a dedicated staff working group built the Claydon High School Legacy Project – a bespoke induction curriculum based on the inspirational non-fiction book Hope on the Horizon by the author, playwright and activist Onjali Rauf, chosen for its focus on legacy and the power of stories. Our entire Y7 cohort –more than 150 students – took part in the project and received their own copy of the book to take home and make their own. We started with a clear goal of identifying what matters most to our students. We created lesson plans where students researched individuals they found inspirational, explored local charities and discussed together what our school values look like in everyday actions. By encouraging them to explore their own personal interests, we empowered meaningful and engaging learning while fostering their sense of belonging and community spirit. It was important that the project be tangible, and inspire students to think practically about the ways in which they can make a difference. This included inviting local charities in to speak, researching the history of our local area and dedicating periods of reflection to thinking about personal values and goals. A SENSE OF COMMUNITY We were later delighted to welcome Onjali Rauf herself into school, who spoke to the pupils about her book and her thoughts on legacy. The students then formed groups to decide which charities they would like to support and created portfolios showcasing their recommendations, before presenting these to leading community figures. This part of the process was initially daunting for some, but having weaved the teaching of communication and presentation skills into their induction lessons, we’d helped the students develop confidence in their work and among their peers. Within the first week, we had 75% of our cohort presenting to one another, and building an amazing sense of community across our diverse student population. The project has not only created immediate opportunities for students to learn independently and think critically, but also brought them closer to their peers, teachers and the local community. This process has been invaluable inmaking new students feel welcome here, easing their transition and helping them to start building their confidence from the day they arrive. What began as an induction project has since grown into a wider learning curriculum that encourages our young people to think about the legacy they can build during their time with us – and beyond. WHAT WE DO THE CLAYDON HIGH SCHOOL ‘LEGACY PROJECT’ Needto know School leaders across the country will know all too well the impact that teacher shortages are having on their school’s subject provision. The National Foundation for Educational Research’s latest Teacher LabourMarket report has nowmade clear just how stark the situation really is. Drawing on data fromthe School Workforce Census, initial teacher training census and the DfE’s Apply data, the report finds that teacher recruitment across all bar five secondary subjects were below targets. English, history, biology, PE and classics all exceeded their recruitment targets. Subjects falling short of target but faring better than last year included chemistry,music andmaths (likely helped by increased training bursaries).Those subjects faring worst includedMFL (reaching 43% of the target) and business studies (just 15%). On amore positive note, the pay rise agreement settled in 2024 has at least seen starting salaries return to 2010/11 levels in real terms, though the report finds that the rollout of the early career framework appears to havemade little difference thus far to retention rates among ECTs.More broadly, 90%of teachers considering leaving the profession in 2023/24 cited high workloads as a key factor. The‘Teacher LabourMarket in EnglandAnnual Report 2025’ canbe downloaded in full via tinyurl.com/ts143-LL4 81% of teachers involved in staff recruitment consider classroommanagement skills to be the most valued attribute among applicants, followed by curriculum knowledge (79%) and writing/ grammar accuracy (48%) Source: TeacherTapp research commissioned by theDfE’sTeaching Vacancies service MARK ISMAY IS THE HEADTEACHER OF CLAYDON HIGH SCHOOL 78 teachwire.net/secondary