Category: Brilliant Learning

Alex Purssey, Head of City Learning Centre, the Learning Resources Service and Wandsworth Professional Development Centre, sees this regularly. Before schools work with the service, Ed Tech adoption is often “piecemeal and scattergun,” he explained. “Schools are relying on nuggets picked up from other schools or networks, and 

that information isn’t always fully understood.”

That lack of shared understanding leads to inconsistency. Tools are used differently across classrooms. Decisions are made in isolation. And in the background sit unanswered questions about safeguarding, GDPR and exposure. “People are trying things out,” Alex said, “without really knowing how exposed the school might be – whether that’s staff or pupils” what starts as innovation can quickly become a source of anxiety.

For Alex, this is the moment where capacity starts to drain. Time is lost second-guessing decisions. Leaders carry risk they cannot fully see. Teachers hesitate between wanting to innovate and worrying about getting it wrong.

Where confidence replaces guesswork

The shift comes when safety becomes the starting point. “We put safe implementation first,” Alex said. “We’ve already done a lot of the testing, so schools don’t have to.” Instead of staff experimenting alone, tools are explored, tested and understood within an education setting before being introduced more widely. Schools no longer need to individually trial platforms, interpret complex terms or worry about hidden risks. The service creates something close to a walled garden, where staff can learn safely without being exposed to vulnerabilities.

That reassurance changes behaviour. Teachers begin to use approved and piloted tools to support lesson planning, generate resources and manage communication more efficiently. 

The City Learning Centre are currently supporting schools with their adoption and implementation of AI. Schools initially implemented AI in a patchwork fashion until the CLC developed draft guidance and a policy for school leaders to help them implement AI strategically and then provided training and support through consultants and linking schools together. “We want teachers to focus on the personal skills that AI can’t do,” Alex said. “So we’re about taking away some of the bureaucratic load and giving that time back.”

Professional learning underpins this shift. Through training and CPD delivered via the Wandsworth Professional Development Centre, schools build shared understanding rather than relying on individuals to work things out alone. “It’s about learning together, in an education context,” Alex explained, “not experimenting in isolation.”

As Alex put it, “Being Wandsworth approved and supported is the golden egg.” It gives schools the confidence to innovate safely, reduces risk, and creates real headspace for staff to focus on what matters most.

Theodora Theodoratou, Head of Wandsworth Schools and Community Psychology Service (SCPS), is clear that without the right support, schools can get pulled into an endless cycle of individual case management. “The hamster wheel of casework never ends,” she explained, “and it doesn’t create long-term impact for the school as a whole.” Time and energy are absorbed by responding to one issue after another, without space to address the wider systemic factors that are creating barriers to learning.

SCPS takes a different approach. While individual casework remains a vital part of the service, the focus extends beyond this to strategic and systemic work – supporting schools to make sense of complex individual circumstances while also understanding the patterns, relationships and pressures that sit around them. “Our focus on strategic, whole-school approaches definitely saves capacity,” Theodora said. Just as importantly, the service is deeply connected into the wider system. “Because there’s so much work happening in the background between services,” she explained, “we save schools from having to repeat the same stories to different people, or working in silos that overlap but under-deliver,” often acting as a critical friend when schools are deep in day-to-day firefighting.

At its heart, this work is about reducing pressure. Not by taking responsibility away from schools, but by sharing the load. “We don’t take responsibility from the problem holders,” Theodora said. “But we do lift some of the pressure – especially around having to bridge between agencies or hold all the statutory knowledge on your own.”

Creating space to hold the hard stuff

One of the most powerful ways the service creates capacity is through reflective space and supervision. SENCOs, in particular, often feel isolated when holding complex cases and fractured relationships with parents. “We really lift that isolation,” Theodora said. “Schools tell us that again and again – helping them to hold the hard stuff.”

This is also where SCPS often complements the work of private Educational Psychologists. While private EPs may be closely involved in individual assessment or casework, SCPS brings independence, a whole-school perspective and strong connections across council and statutory services. “Because we’re a large team,” Theodora explained, “we can bring in someone who isn’t directly involved with the child or family, but who understands psychology, schools and the wider system.”

In practice, this can mean providing supervision for a SENCO managing ongoing complaints, statutory processes and high parental pressure. The purpose is not to solve the case, but to contain it. “It’s a space where staff can bring their own feelings safely,” Theodora said, “so they can stay focused, compassionate and professional in school.” That support can be the difference between a skilled professional burning out and being able to continue in role.

The same principle applies at leadership level. Reflective space for a headteacher, particularly following a turbulent period, allows time to reconnect with values and priorities. “By supporting the headteacher,” Theodora explained, “you’re indirectly supporting the whole system – and hundreds of children underneath that.”

Across all of this work, SCPS shares the load rather than taking responsibility away – creating capacity where it matters most: with the people holding the greatest emotional and professional risk.

Visit psychology.smartschool.services

Before working with the Schools Research and Evaluation Unit (REU), many schools are managing large volumes of information without a clear framework for making sense of it. Attendance figures, attainment outcomes, inclusion data and benchmarking all exist, but they often sit separately. Leaders and governors are left asking important questions, without always having the confidence that they are looking in the right place or asking them in the right way.

Gwen Sinnott, Head of the Schools Research and Evaluation Unit, believes the challenge is not technical. It is conceptual. Schools do not just need better data – they need help developing a shared understanding of what that data is for, and how it should inform decision-making.

REU’s role is to act as a thinking partner. Drawing on deep expertise in performance, evaluation and school context, the service works alongside schools to translate complex information into meaningful insight. The focus is not on producing more reports, but on helping leaders and governors develop a clearer, more confident approach to understanding performance across their school.

At the heart of this work is a simple but powerful question: what is your line of enquiry?

From reporting data to developing insight

Rather than encouraging schools to look at everything at once, REU helps them slow down and focus. Gwen believes schools often feel overwhelmed because they are trying to hold too much information at the same time. When schools want to go further, REU can take a more consultancy-based approach, reframing the conversation – starting with what the school is trying to understand, and then using data purposefully to explore that question.

This might involve working with senior leaders, assessment leads or governors to interpret performance information together, test assumptions, and identify what matters most. It builds confidence not just in the numbers themselves, but in the thinking that sits behind them. Over time, schools develop stronger internal capability to interrogate data, spot patterns, and use evidence to guide improvement planning.

This approach is particularly valuable in governance conversations. REU provides an independent, objective view of performance that supports more constructive challenge. Governors are able to engage with data confidently, without it feeling defensive or opaque. Leaders spend less time explaining spreadsheets and more time discussing priorities, risks and next steps.

For some schools, this intelligence is enough on its own. For others, it becomes the starting point for deeper enquiry – using data not just to report performance, but to shape strategic thinking and improvement.

Sarah Styles, Head of the Literacy and Numeracy Support Service, explains that uncertainty is where pressure builds. “When it’s hard to pinpoint a pupil’s specific needs or the best way to support them,” she said, “it can create anxiety – for teachers and for parents.” That anxiety can quickly add to the demands on staff.

For Sarah, the starting point is always the classroom. “Effective classroom practice is the foundation,” she said. “Schools already do so much, and our role is to strengthen that with consistent, evidence-informed strategies so pupils can thrive as independently as possible within mainstream learning.”

From reassurance to independence

One of the most powerful ways to build capacity is by helping pupils become more independent learners. Sarah described how effective teaching and targeted intervention can reduce reliance on constant adult support. “If a child has the right strategies, confidence and self-esteem,” she said, “they won’t need that level of support all the time.” Over time, this frees Teaching Assistants to work more flexibly across the classroom.

Sarah also acknowledged the pressure that can arise when parents feel anxious. “The impact of parental concern on a school can be significant,” she said. Clear assessment and a credible plan help ease those concerns. Specialist input can support this process. “When parents know their child is getting the right support,” Sarah explained, “a lot of that anxiety reduces.”

The Fluency Project is a practical example of this collaborative approach. It’s a short, structured intervention designed for pupils who have the foundations of reading but are not yet fluent. Schools are trained to deliver it themselves, with optional assessment before and after. “What’s really lovely,” Sarah said, “is that schools want to continue it.” The emphasis is on equipping staff to embed the approach confidently, rather than relying on ongoing external delivery.

Whole-school training followed by focused support for TAs makes this sustainable. When schools have the skills, tools and shared understanding in place, pressure eases. Pupils make progress. Parents feel reassured. Staff work with greater confidence.

As Sarah concluded, our ultimate aim is to increase capacity within schools by developing the knowledge and skills needed to confidently support learners with persistent literacy and numeracy challenges to thrive.

The City Learning Centre (CLC) has long been at the forefront of integrating technology into education, offering specialist computing and creative media support to schools across the UK. This year, the CLC’s commitment to innovative teaching was globally recognised through a partnership with Apple, featured in Apple’s Education Impact Report. 

The collaboration, known as The Battersea Project, began with 11 schools and is set to expand to 20, aiming to enhance digital literacy among students and teachers. Utilising Apple’s “Everyone Can Code” and “Everyone Can Create” resources, the initiative has enabled students to develop coding skills and engage with new technologies like the Apple Pencil. Teachers have also benefited, achieving Apple Teacher certification to integrate these tools effectively into their classrooms. 

A highlight of the partnership was a showcase event at Battersea Arts Centre, where students presented their digital projects to the community. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many students now aspiring to careers as digital creatives. 

Beyond the Apple partnership, the CLC continues to support schools in adopting various digital tools, including Google Education and G Suite. By providing tailored advice and training, the CLC ensures that schools can navigate the evolving technological landscape, including emerging areas like artificial intelligence.

Through these initiatives, the City Learning Centre reaffirms its dedication to empowering educators and students, equipping them with the skills necessary to thrive in a digitally driven world.

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The pencil-shaped bollards outside St Boniface Primary in Tooting make it clear just how seriously the school leadership team take literacy. To help the children who find reading and writing harder they’ve bought in specialist literacy services for more than 20 years from the Wandsworth Literacy & Numeracy Support Service (L&NSS). 

For the past seven years Josa Stephens, Specialist Literacy Teacher and Assessor, one of the eight member L&NSS team, has been working one day a week at St Boniface. Her main tasks are to offer:

• In depth assessment for literacy challenges including full diagnostic testing for dyslexia, a specific learning difficulty, and recommendations for onward referrals for co-occurring difficulties.
• Rigorous targeted support to accelerate literacy progress for key pupils. 
• Collaborative support for teachers and TAs to ensure that specialist literacy strategies are in place to support pupils in class and with any interventions. 
• Training and advice for the school community. 

If pupils are struggling to link sounds and letters and falling behind in literacy, discussions will be needed on how to help them on their literacy journey. Often this will be when Josa Stephens from Wandsworth L&NSS will be brought in to help devise a learning pathway in tandem with other professional agencies including educational psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. 

“Multiple learning differences can lead to literacy challenges. A lot of our children have difficulty in other areas besides putting things into long-term memory,” says Anna Gordon, SENCO teacher at St Boniface who is hugely enthusiastic about working with Josa.

Josa currently supports four pupils one to one, taking them out of their class to work in the cosy intervention room every Wednesday, and coaches the TAs of two pupils. Josa is a big fan of using what pupils can do to scaffold what they can’t do to move their progress on. Little and often is the aim.

We prioritise spending on the service to ensure that those children who are most at risk of leaving in Y6 well below in reading and writing are supported to close gaps and become more literate. 

Lisa Platts, Headteacher

Josa, as a literacy specialist from L&NSS, also helps parents at coffee mornings debunk literacy myths. She encourages parents to stick with one book, ask their child questions about the story and value the way repetition embeds skills and teaches patience, resilience and stamina. “You need four exposures to learn new words as a minimum to be able to reliably recognise it four days later,” says Josa who trained as a barrister before becoming a teacher and starting work for Wandsworth. 

Anna is hugely supportive of Josa’s work at St Boniface, telling her: “Teachers love the fact you say we can adapt this lesson and make this book accessible. You come in with resources and give so much to the whole community. Our targeted students make amazing progress.” 

“My personal joy is taking someone who isn’t accessing classroom learning and is withdrawing from reading or spelling activities to a space where they begin their journey on the literacy continuum. In six to nine months that child is reading and is confident. The specialist rationale for teaching and learning is evidenced based, and it works! After learning how to apply phonic knowledge and build reading fluency skills, pupils begin to express themselves confidently in writing and engage with supportive technology,” explains Josa who personalises learning during teaching sessions.

“It is vital for success with learning that these pupils build skills around their areas of interest, so if they love Lego, I will find books about Lego, or about animals etc., and try to make lessons as multi-sensory as possible, to reduce the fear of engaging at the word level. We also gradually build automaticity with common words for reading and spelling. We might have five common words, that children should recognise instantly. Those words go into the classroom twice a day to be rehearsed. Then I drip them into a short paragraph about what the child is interested in to give further weekly practice encountering these target words. Having a grasp of these most common words really makes a difference to the child’s perceptions of themselves as learners and they begin to feel ‘I’m reading’.”

It’s money well spent every single year. Josa’s impact is clear to see. 

Lisa Platts, Headteacher

Patience, fun, repetition helps the students ‘get’ reading at St Boniface. “Children who have persistent literacy difficulties, need so much repetition, over and above what their class teacher can give. As a class we will look at the use of ‘its’ and ‘it’s’, when many children have got it, we can’t keep revisiting with the whole class, we need the class to keep moving on. So, if a child has a particular literacy difficulty, our words will be on their desk. It’s about getting into children’s long-term memory. For a lot of children their memory is a real challenge, and they forget. They need the repetition of words and Josa’s picture cues really help with retention,” says Anna. 

“When working on phonic knowledge, which is essential for reading and spelling success, I teach children not only to recognise patterns, but to understand them. Language is a big puzzle or jigsaw … suddenly children get the penny drop moment and begin to understand language rules and be inquisitive about the language code.” explains Josa.

It’s the way students progress that keeps St Boniface using L&NSS. “It’s terrible if children leave primary school illiterate. We want all children to read and write to functional level,” says Anna. Another colleague sent a message to say, “In addition to the support and self-esteem Josa provides children, she is always happy to share her expert advice with teaching colleagues. Despite her time being very tight, she always finds a few minutes as we pass each other in the corridors, or via email to share strategies to reinforce spellings, a book choice that will work perfectly well for a student that is working at a different level to their peers, or a way to adapt a text so a child can access it in class. These insights are invaluable.”

stboniface.wandsworth.sch.uk

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