Spending the pupil premium : what influences leaders’ decision-making?

Introduced in England in 2011, the pupil premium policy was an ambitious reform aimed at tackling the persistent attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers. The policy provides school leaders with the professional autonomy to determine how pupil premium funding should be used. This article examines the decision-making processes and influences involved in the use of these additional resources. We conducted interviews with 21 school leaders from different contexts across the Midlands in order to investigate the approaches, perceptions and experiences that influenced their engagement with the pupil premium policy. The findings highlight the range of strategies employed to determine how the funding should be used and the factors that influence the decisions made. Our data also indicate the tensions and challenges that are experienced by school leaders in relation to effective use of the funding. We conclude with recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in relation to the requirement for high-quality, accessible information to support pupil premium use, the role of accountability mechanisms and the need for wider societal reform in order to tackle social disadvantage

Ecological, genetic and cultural status of Solanum aviculare, poroporo (Solanaceae)

Solanum aviculare, endemic to Australasia, is an opportunist pioneer secondary successional plant occupying disturbed and open lowland habitats, and was an important medicinal and cultural species to Māori known as poroporo. It is currently in 'decline', the ecological decline appearing to correspond to a decline in knowledge and cultural use of the species. To gain understanding of the reasons for the decline, enhance ecological knowledge, assist conservation and cultural restoration of Solanum aviculare this research documented the successional role and cycle of regeneration dynamics and tactics, established morphological characteristics, investigated the genetic diversity and recorded cultural and conservation information. The successional status and role was identified. Growth data identified cohort development and inter-site differences, metadata found height and crown spread growth to be significantly correlated and likely part of an early reproduction and dispersal strategy. Germination of soil cores from differing depths confirmed a viable seed bank exists sufficient for species maintenance. Viable seed spread via animal gut passage was determined by germination and chemical tests, results showed rats passed higher rates of viable seed than birds. Seed germination trials with stratified and fresh seed confirmed temporal and depth behaviour, flowering observation documented temporal differences with the closely allied species Solanum laciniatum, indicating a relationship to stasis induction. Leaf morphology studies documented differences between the two allied species and proposed further nomenclature. Genetic diversity was investigated through the use of PCR/ISSR techniques. Chloroplast DNA was extracted by CTAB and DNA kit protocols. CTAB extraction was unable to effectively remove RNA, although use of DNA samples with high quantities of RNA confirmed that RNA was not an inhibiting factor in PCR production. The production of consistent reliable ISSR bands proved difficult, with no technical explanation found. ISSR findings indicate that Solanum aviculare is highly monomorphic, consisting of predominant invariant monomorphic loci. Twenty primers were tested with no polymorphic loci identified and no intra species variation documented. Indications were also that Solanum aviculare and Solanum laciniatum are inter species invariant on monomorphic loci. Monomorphic loci may possibly be the evolutionary markers of generic differentiation within Solanum. Surveys identified Solanum aviculare as uncommon and rare, existing mainly as single plants or small groups in the majority of areas surveyed. The Threatened and Uncommon Plant listing of Solanum aviculare as an 'at risk declining' species is confirmed and a further Recommendation category proposed. Ecological decline and corresponding decline in cultural use and knowledge of Solanum aviculare was identified through specialist interviews; appearing to be related to removal from Māori of control over their land. The name poroporo being now associated mainly with non indigenous Solanum species. Māori cultural concepts in practice were highlighted as fundamentally important to reversing the decline, with an example of a successful traditional practice based (tikanga) integrative collaborative restoration program being documented. This research forwards that optimal collaborative solutions, programs integrating scientific and tikanga knowledge and practices, provide the best opportunity of reversing the declining trend and for increasing and maintaining knowledge associated with the traditional role of poroporo

Supporting positive school culture through interpersonal engagement: phase one report: Kinross College December 2015

The Industry Collaboration Project, ‘Supporting Positive School Culture Through Interpersonal Engagement’ is a joint project between Edith Cowan University, Hampton Senior High School, Kinross College and Mindarie Senior College. The project aims to empower school leaders to co-create, implement and evaluate professional learning programs that promote enhanced staff relationships. Supporting school leaders to improve staff relationships is important because staff (both teaching and school support) are key stakeholders in children’s educational outcomes (Stringer, 2013). Ensuring school staff feel valued in their school community is also of ongoing importance, particularly as staff accountability and burnout rises in the teaching profession both within Australia and internationally (Gurd, 2013; Sterrett & Irizarry, 2015). The project has two phases. Phase One included collecting and analysing baseline data across the three participant schools, as each school presents a different context, school community and organisational structure. This report outlines the findings from Phase One and the recommendations for the school based on these data

Supporting positive school culture through interpersonal engagement: Phase two report: Hampton Senior High School December 2017

The Industry Collaboration Project, ‘Supporting Positive School Culture Through Interpersonal Engagement’ is a joint project between Edith Cowan University, Hampton Senior High School, Kinross College and Mindarie Senior College. The project aims to empower school leaders to co-create, implement and evaluate professional learning programs that promote enhanced staff relationships. Supporting school leaders to improve staff relationships is important because staff (both teaching and school support) are key stakeholders in children’s educational outcomes (Stringer, 2013). Ensuring school staff feel valued in their school community is also of ongoing importance, particularly as staff accountability and burnout rises in the teaching profession both within Australia and internationally (Gurd, 2013; Sterrett & Irizarry, 2015)..

Supporting positive school culture through interpersonal engagement: phase one report: Mindarie Senior College April 2016

The Industry Collaboration Project, ‘Supporting Positive School Culture Through Interpersonal Engagement’ is a joint project between Edith Cowan University, Hampton Senior High School, Kinross College and Mindarie Senior College. The project aims to empower school leaders to co-create, implement and evaluate professional learning programs that promote enhanced staff relationships. Supporting school leaders to improve staff relationships is important because staff (both teaching and school support) are key stakeholders in children’s educational outcomes (Stringer, 2013). Ensuring school staff feel valued in their school community is also of ongoing importance, particularly as staff accountability and burnout rises in the teaching profession both within Australia and internationally (Gurd, 2013; Sterrett & Irizarry, 2015). The project has two phases. Phase One included collecting and analysing baseline data across the three participant schools, as each school presents a different context, school community and organisational structure. This report outlines the findings from Phase One and the recommendations for the school based on these data

Diagnostically assessing Western Australian Year 11 students\u27 engagement with theory in Visual Arts

Theory linked to visual arts’ responding outcomes, is fundamental to the visual arts curriculum in facilitating visual literacy, or students’ ability to assemble meaning from, and construct new imagery. Without visual literacy, year 11 students are limited in understanding and fully participating in our technological, image-based society. Subsequently, a mixed methods doctoral study was undertaken to investigate students’ engagement in visual arts theory tasks, as increased engagement in theory was anticipated to improve students’ visual literacy outcomes. A diagnostic instrument was created to measure year 11 students’ prior learning in visual arts theory, as well as their cognitive and psychological engagement. Interviews with year 11 students, visual arts teachers, and some principals or representatives, supported the development of the instrument and contextualised the findings. Whilst the research is ongoing, findings suggest measuring students’ engagement facilitates the diagnosis of key issues and knowledge gaps affecting students’ learning. Initial findings also confirm limited psychological engagement acts as a barrier to learning in visual arts’ theory

Where Western Australian Graduate Diploma of Education Primary Students Source their Information on Sustainability

Sustainability has recently been made a cross-curriculum priority in Australia, through the development and implementation of the Australian Curriculum. Subsequently, primary and secondary teachers across all subject areas are required to integrate Education for Sustainable (EfS) into formal education. A recent research case study was undertaken to determine Western Australian (WA) Graduate Diploma of Education (Primary) students’ perceptions of sustainability on entering their teacher education course. This paper reports on part of the findings from this study, specifically the sources of information these pre-service teachers used to inform their perceptions of sustainability. The case study emphasised the need for reliable scientific information in mass media and pre-service teachers’ mistrust of commercial media. It also underscored the need to provide specific sustainability content in pre-service primary teacher education courses

Fluorine Directed Two-Dimensional Cruciform π−π Stacking in Diketopyrrolopyrroles

This is the Accepted Manuscript Version of the following article: Jesus Calvo-Castro, Graeme Morris, Alan R. Kennedy, and Callum J. McHugh, “Fluorine Directed Two-Dimensional Cruciform π–π Stacking in Diketopyrrolopyrroles”, Crystal Growth and Design, Vol. 16 (9): 5385–5393, July 2016. Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society.Enhanced bulk dimensionality in organic materials employed in optoelectronic devices is desirable and can overcome fabrication issues related to structural defects and grain boundaries. Herein, we report a novel fluorinated diketopyrrolopyrrole single crystal structure, which displays a unique, mutually orthogonal, 2-dimensional cruciform π−π stacking arrangement. The crystal structure is characterized by an unusually large number of nearest neighbor dimer pairs which contribute to a greater thermal integrity than structurally analogous equivalents. Binding energies and charge transfer integrals were computed for all of the crystal extracted dimer pairs by means of the M06-2X density functional at the 6- 311G(d) level. Although weak, a number of intermolecular interactions involving organic fluorine (C−F---H, πF---π, and C−F---πF) were identified to influence the supramolecular assembly of these dimer pairs. Charge transfer integrals for the two π−π stacking crystal dimers were determined using the energy splitting in dimer method. Ambipolar charge transport favoring electron transfer approaching that of rubrene is predicted in both of these π−π stacks, with a greater magnitude of coupling observed from those dimers perpetuating along the crystallographic a-axis. Charge transport behavior in the single crystal is greatly influenced by selective fluorination of the N-benzyl substituents and is consistent with the crystal extracted π−π stacking dimer geometries and their overall influence on wave function overlap. The reported structure is an interesting electron transport material that could be exploited, particularly in thin film based optoelectronic devices, where high bulk dimensionality is required.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio