Out of office on. I’m off to get married!!! 💍

All ready for my final focus group tomorrow. #PhDLife

Hugely insightful webinar exploring the role of evidence intermediaries. Some interesting reflections about how we work in that space between evidence generation & policy/practice, and share capacity across sectors to tackle complex problems.

New data published exploring the trends around children’s involvement in violence & the sectors most important in supporting them. Worryingly, the data presents a bleak picture, with increases in the number of children being affected by serious violence. 👇

Work in education and want to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence? Join our webinar to learn how to identify and intervene when a child or young person is at risk of becoming involved in violence and hear about our new tool. 📅 Sign-up youthendowmentfund.org.uk/events/

Great day in London with the YEF Change Team & Knowledge Leads. Today we’ve explored evidence to guidance frameworks, reviewed upcoming priorities for each sector, & discussed the ways in which we talk about our toolkit. Followed by drinks on the rooftop terrace☀️

Opportunity to join the Catalyst Programme YEF are seeking proposals from organisations in Wales who have capacity to help education settings adopt evidence-based strategies to prevent children’s involvement in violence. rb.gy/vaqw51 Deadline 7th July

Saturday study day. Exploring the relationship between childhood trauma and stigma. #PhDLife #ThrivingPartTime

My ethics has been approved!! Hugeeeeeee milestone ticked off! #PhDLife

The Catalyst Programme will support schools, colleges & APs to adopt evidence-based strategies preventing children’s involvement in violence. YEF will fund 5-6 orgs to work with settings in high-violence areas, aiming for sustainable change. Deadline for proposals: 12pm, 6 June!

Start of a new chapter. Very excited to have today joined the @youthendowmentfund.org.uk as their Senior Change Manager (Education).

Today, I submitted my ethics application. It’s taken a significant amount of time to navigate the ethical complexities of my research so massively proud of achieving this milestone! #PhDLife #ThrivingPartTime

The Easter holidays are here, so I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away. Just **repost** this post to have a chance to win. The winner will be selected 19th April.

A day of immersion and reading around trauma-informed research. #PhDLife #ThrivingPartTime

Really excited to be spending the day with Worcestershire leaders for Day 3 of the Evidence into Action Literacy Pathway. @tgresearchsch.bsky.social

Fantastic day with the St Bart’s Multi Academy Trust Partnership Development Team. We’ve now completed stage 3 of the Evidence Exploration Partnership where the focus has been on refining aims & identifying desired behaviours at a school & system level. Looking forward to our next workshop!

My final regional meeting! We spent the day exploring EEF’s newest TA guidance report & discussing implications for regional mobilisation. We also reviewed plans for strategic exemplification, drawing upon learning regarding how to use video well. Will miss these meetings!

Last week, I attended an @anti-stigmanetwork.bsky.social webinar focused on substance use related stigma across general practice. It was great to explore approaches to developing inclusion & addressing the impact of societal stigma regarding alcohol & substance misuse.

The UK is among the worst nations in Europe for child poverty. In the UK, 11% of 15-year-olds reported they had skipped a meal in 2022 because there wasn't enough money to buy food. In the Netherlands and Finland, this number was 3%.

Hugely insightful day at @huntingtonrs.bsky.social exploring belonging and what this means for schools. So many important takeaways!

Today we delivered Workshop 2 of our Evidence Exploration Partnership in Warwick. The focus of the day was examining local data to build consensus around the priority for the partnership. We also discussed the importance of promoting equity & challenging unconscious bias.

🚨 1 week left to apply for my role at EEF. Do reach out if you want an informal conversation! 🚨 👇👇👇 educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/about-us/car...

PhD study day focused on ethics, methodology and immersion.

Some personal news…🚨 After 4 amazing years at EEF, I will be leaving in May to join the Youth Endowment Fund as their Senior Change Manager for Education. Recruitment for my role is live. Do reach out for a chat if you’re interested in the role. bitly.cx/lvCSA

Great morning at Quarry Bank Primary School discussing plans for the Dudley Year of Reading with local school and system leaders.

🙌Happy School Governors' Awareness Day! School governors play a vital role in improving outcomes for all pupils. Our Pupil Premium resources include discussion prompts for governors, providing talking points and examples of best practice. Download: tinyurl.com/4mh24udf

#NationalSchoolGovernorsAwarenessDay 🎉 I became a school governor because I wanted to contribute to the education system and ensure young people in my local community receive the best possible education.

Today we’ve facilitated our 3rd workshop with leaders from St Bart’s MAT for their Evidence Exploration Partnership. The focus for the session was to examine additional data analysis & determine the priority for the partnership. @staffordshirers.bsky.social @aspirerrs.bsky.social

Plan for the day: - immersion in research topic. - finalise draft participant information sheets/consent forms. - ethics training and methodology reading. #PhDLife #ThrivingPartTime

Loved accompanying colleagues from the Netherlands to two of the regional Research Schools today: St Matthew’s and @tgresearchsch.bsky.social. It was great to profile the work of the network and showcase the various ways we support evidence mobilisation in the system.

Brilliant NEW podcast: Leave nothing to chance - dig deep, know more Strengthen relationships Build evidence-informed culture with staff Celebrate families, recognise strengths Hold relentless high expectations Challenge stereotypes, always Change lives

Have you listened to episode 1 yet!? 🎧

🎧You can now listen to Ep.1 of Shifting the Narrative on Podbean! 🎧 In this instalment, the regional Research Schools & I explore the importance of challenging deficit narratives. @aspirerrs.bsky.social @staffordshirers.bsky.social @tgresearchsch.bsky.social www.podbean.com/wlei/pb-mymu...

Today we started our Evidence Exploration Partnership with school leaders in Warwick. Discussions focused on developing a shared language around disadvantage & evidence use, & exploring the foundations of the partnership. @staffordshirers.bsky.social @warwickshirecc.bsky.social

Home after an inspiring day at the Dudley Evidence into Action Partnership launch.

The fantastic @marcrowland73.bsky.social providing some helpful reflections on how we go about ensuring our disadvantaged children are equipped to flourish. A reminder of the importance of strengths-based discourse and building expertise in our pupils.

Very excited to be at the launch of the Dudley Evidence into Action Partnership focused on reading comprehension in KS1 & KS2.

🚨 EPISODE 1 COMING SOON 🚨 The region’s Research Schools are soon to launch a new podcast which aims to challenge deficit narratives & celebrate the educational success of children from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background in the West Mids.

In our latest blog, Colin Angus (@victimofmaths.bsky.social) looks at why alcohol deaths continue to rise in England, despite plateauing in Scotland. He points to: ➡️ Increases in heavy drinking among over 55s ➡️ Minimum unit pricing ➡️ Access to treatment services www.ias.org.uk/2024/12/16/n...

I’d urge schools to move away from describing families as ‘hard to reach’. Instead, let’s recognise that they are underserved & rarely heard. It’s important we reflect on whether we employ the appropriate mechanisms for them to effectively engage & be invested in our work.

Another day of ethics and immersion. #PhDlife #PhDchat #ThrivingPartTime

Lovely day in London for a catch up with the Evidence Mobilisation and Content & Engagement teams. Great to spend some time reflecting on our current work and considering next steps for expanding evidence use within the sector.

Finally started an ‘Immersion Journal’ to support the heuristic inquiry I am undertaking for my PhD. This provides an opportunity to sustain engagement in the research topic and record my thoughts and feelings as the research progresses. #ThrivingPartTime #phdchat

There’s a lot we can learn from principles of person-first language, particularly around disadvantage. One aspect of someone’s identity is not the primary characteristic of that individual’s identity. Language that is not person-first or is deficit reinforces pejorative narratives.

James Corden and Ruth Jones, take a bow. That was perfection.

I’ve just said YES to the dress! 💍💒

Great day with St. Bart’s Academy Trust for their 2nd Evidence Exploration Partnership workshop. @staffordshirers.bsky.social

Finishing up the West Midlands Regional Meeting at the Birmingham German Christmas Market. Here’s to 2025!

Coming soon 👀 #NewYearNewPodcast

Final West Midlands Regional Meeting of 2024! 🎄 Today we’re exploring system influence and considering how we embed sustained engagement with research evidence across the region. @tgresearchsch.bsky.social @staffordshirers.bsky.social