The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Simon Yates

Simon Yates is headteacher at Chailey Heritage School in East Sussex.

Latest blog posts

Simon Yates

SEND assessment: giving up control of lesson observations

Lessons at a special school can involve at least 7 activities happening at once. Simon Yates explains why this has encouraged Chailey Heritage Foundation to change how they monitor the quality of teaching. In my previous blogs on SEND assessment, measuring our progress, not the pupil’s and facing...
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Simon Yates

SEND assessment: facing the firing line

At Chailey Heritage Foundation the staff assess their own progress in achieving pupil outcomes. Now they’re asking parents to rate them too. As described in my previous post, SEND assessment: measuring our progress, not the pupil’s , each learner at my school has their own curriculum –in the form...
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Simon Yates

SEND assessment: measuring our progress, not the pupil’s

A learner driven, fluid and inclusive assessment model: is such a thing possible? Simon Yates, headteacher at the Chailey Heritage Foundation thinks it is. I am headteacher of a charity-run special school for children and young people with severe and complex medical, physical difficulties, with a...
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