Evidence Champions: book your place

Following the successful launch of the Evidence Champions offer last year, the EEFective Kent Project will be continuing this programme this academic year. We are pleased to announce that the next round of Evidence Champion training will be delivered by the Kent Associate Research School (KARS), starting soon:

• Tuesday 18 October 2022 (3:30pm to 5:30pm): What is an Evidence Champion? Why do schools need an Evidence Champion?
• Tuesday 6 December 2022 (3:30pm to 5:30pm): What sources of evidence are available and how can we evaluate their usefulness?
• Tuesday 31 January 2023 (3:30pm to 5:30pm): How can schools effectively mobilise the research evidence and evaluate its impact?

Further information, including the booking form, can be accessed on the Research Schools Network website. The training will be online twilight sessions, followed by a face-to-face networking workshop at KARS in Ashford.

The Evidence Champion is an in-school role that supports, encourages and engages colleagues with how to source, access and understand high-quality research evidence, as well as how to apply this to teaching and learning, CPD or school improvement planning. Their work will support school leadership to ensure that planned school improvement activity is shaped by research evidence. The benefits of introducing an Evidence Champion include:

• Having a member of staff who is research-literate and able to support SLT with the implementation of CPD and policies.
• It’s a workload win - making evidence-based decisions and implementing effectively means your plans are more likely to work first-time round.
• It offers a strong professional development opportunity for those interested in exploring research-informed school leadership.
• Evidence Champions will gain access to a network of like-minded evidence enthusiasts across Kent through the forums, as well as links with the Kent Research Hub and Kent Associate Research School.

The EEFective Kent Project (EKP) is fully funding this training for eligible* Kent schools and academies and will also offer additional funding to eligible participating schools to embed and sustain the role in their context (e.g. for staff release time or bespoke support from an Evidence Leader in Education). Please note the set-up grant is per school and not per Evidence Champion across all rounds, therefore a school can only receive one set-up grant. Small schools may want to collaborate across networks and federations to enable them to engage with the offer.

Further information about the role of an Evidence Champion, the training and support package from the EKP is available on the EKP webpage and through the recorded Evidence Champion information session held by Durrington Research School last year.

In addition to the Evidence Champion offer, the EKP is also match-funding the cost of three new Evidence-Based Training programmes for eligible Kent schools and academies*. The topics are effective learning behaviours, effective professional development and from mitigation to success: improving outcomes for disadvantaged and vulnerable learners. The courses are being delivered by KARS throughout this academic year.

*Funding is only available to publicly funded Kent County Council schools or academies.