York school gets research school status to share evidence of what works across region

A YORK school will receive £200,000 over the next three years to help teachers in 1,000 schools across the region to use approaches in the classroom that have been proven to work.
Alex Quigley, Director of Huntington Research School and Jane Elsworth, Assistant Director of Huntington Research School.Alex Quigley, Director of Huntington Research School and Jane Elsworth, Assistant Director of Huntington Research School.
Alex Quigley, Director of Huntington Research School and Jane Elsworth, Assistant Director of Huntington Research School.

Huntington School, in York, is one of five new research schools across the country after winning part of £2.5m of funding from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the York- based Institute for Effective Education (IEE).

Huntington School, has been designated as the Research School for Yorkshire.

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It will be expected to build networks between 1,000 schools in the region to support them to make better use of evidence in their teaching and learning. It will also provide training and professional development for senior leaders and teachers on how to improve classroom practice based on the best available evidence. And it will support schools to develop ways of improving teaching and learning and provide them with the expertise to evaluate their impact.

John Tomsett, headteacher of Huntington School, said: “Our challenge as a Research School for Yorkshire and Humber is to grow other Research Schools so that we have a network across the region which are using evidence to support the development of teaching. The benefits to Huntington are huge as we get access to the best thinking on teaching and learning in the world. Our job, then, is to make sure we support other schools in benefitting from such expertise.”

Alex Quigley, director of Huntington Research School, said: “It is crucial, at a challenging time for teachers and school leaders, to support schools with the best evidence and tools possible. We believe research evidence can play a role in supporting decision-making in schools to improve education for the children of Yorkshire and support our school-led system.

“There are lots of exciting partnerships to develop between great schools and it is great to see York at the heart of this exciting development.”

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The EEF and IEE will appoint a further five Research Schools in 2016-17 to ensure that more schools have the opportunity to be supported by the expertise within these networks. Each of the ten schools will receive £200,000 over three years to enable them to fulfil their roles.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “Evidence of what works is one of our most useful tools in the drive to improve educational standards. The launch of Research Schools is an important step by the EEF to supporting schools to make best use of it. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to partner with the Institute for Effective Education and fund the Research Schools network.”

Prof Bette Chambers, director of the Institute for Effective Education, said: “There is increasing demand from the profession for evidence-based programmes and practices to help teachers ensure the success of their pupils. It is heartening to see the strong leadership that these first five Research Schools are bringing to this endeavour.”

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