Dear Colleague,
I'm grateful to Hayley Sherwood of 1Decision for bringing to my attention their amazing fully-funded pupil personal development service, pupil knowledge tracker and provision audit tool for schools. They have received funding to share these tools and resources with schools and they have just opened a school waiting list - you can find out more and reserve a place for your school below; this really is an amazing opportunity!
In addition to this, our very own Alicia Coad recently spoke at the ISA Heads conference on the subject of "Authentic Marketing". As part of this Alicia conducted an online survey with parents asking them how and why they chose a school. The survey reached over 2000 parents from over 250 different independent schools. The response was far greater than we expected and so we have published the results to share with the sector. If you would like a free copy of the report please request one here. This really is incredible intel as to what parents are thinking and doing when choosing a school. Its also interesting to note the phenomenal response to the survey that was distributed via WhatsApp and Facebook only - showing the enormous power of social media!
We also have a free early years / key stage one webinar taking place on the 11th June that is being delivered by the inventor of Mighty Writer, Emma Ralph, as well as a webinar on Menopause in Schools that is being presented by Helen Clare. Again, see below for more information and to reserve your space. Thanks as ever to Brightcore Training & Consultancy for their sponsorship so that we can make these events free of charge.
Finally, our sister organisation BlueCow Education has just released some new dates in May and June for the paid online product demonstrations and market research. This is where you watch 6 short presentations over 90 minutes during an evening whilst filling in a feedback form - and you receive a £40 Amazon voucher as thanks on the night. Over 2500 school leaders have participated so far and the sessions have a 100% recommendation rate - with 92% classing the evenings as CPD.
If you'd like to find out more and participate, you can do so by clicking this link: https://www.bluecoweducation.com/events.html
As ever, I hope that you find all of this of use and that you have a good week.
David
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David Winfield
Founder, Independent Schools Portal.

Following their 2024 Teach Primary Award win, 1decision has secured additional funding to support even more schools with a brand-new, fully funded service—designed to enhance personal development across primary education.
This opportunity is available to all schools—regardless of the PSHE or RSHE resources they currently use.
Due to overwhelming demand, the team have now opened the waitlist for an additional 250 primary schools to benefit from this free offer.
The fully funded subscription service is powered by innovative software and helps schools identify strengths and uncover areas for improvement in their personal development provision. It delivers insightful pupil data and supports high-quality planning--without impacting school budgets.
The Personal Development Service includes:
Pupil Knowledge Tracker Software
This pioneering tool enables schools to assess the knowledge of pupils in Years 5 and 6 through two short quizzes, offering clear insights into where pupils are excelling and where further support may be needed.
Key features: • 2 × 25-minute personal development quizzes • Cohort-level data reports for year group comparisons • Detailed question analysis reports to guide future planning
Provision Audit Tool
A reflective tool designed to support senior leaders in evaluating their existing personal development provision. The audit offers thought-provoking questions and generates valuable insights to celebrate success and inform strategic improvements. Audit focus areas: • Leadership and management • Delivery • Sex education (if applicable) • Assessment, monitoring and evaluation • Strategic planning for the year ahead
Already making an impact in schools across the country, this fully funded service offers a unique opportunity for primary settings to strengthen outcomes in personal development and prepare pupils for a confident transition to secondary school.
Schools are encouraged to join the waitlist today to avoid missing out on this limited opportunity.
Sign up today - https://www.1decision.co.uk/resources/personal-development-audit

Promoting the ownership of children's writing in Early Years and Key Stage One. Online. Wednesday 11th June 2025 at 1930. This session will look at how we can promote and encourage ownership of writing in children from a young age. The creation of independent writers is so important and encourages life long learning. This session will give you ideas to inspire your children through child led writing activities.
Speaker: Emma Ralph, Founder, Mighty Writer.
Emma Ralph is a highly experienced teacher and Assistant Head with a flair for helping children to maximise their abilities. She developed the highly-acclaimed literacy resource, Mighty Writer, which was launched at The Education Show in 2016. Book your place.

Menopause in Schools. Online. Wednesday 11th June 2025 at 1230. How do perimenopause and menopause cause particular challenges for those who work in our schools? How can they help themselves and how can we support them through this transition so that they can keep on doing the jobs they love without a cost to their health and we don't lose their talents and experience?
Delivered by Helen Clare. Helen helps schools and teachers deal with challenges that arise due to perimenopause and menopause. She does this through talks, workshops, support groups, 1 to 1 and group mentoring, manager and menopause champion training, courses and policy and strategy support. An ex-biology teacher and life-long biology geek, she has also worked in schools as a poet and artist and as part of her work for Creative Partnerships and Arts Council England. Helen is also an ICF trained coach and an associate of the British Menopause Society. Book your place.

The ISP has a huge selection of videos to support school leaders on the ISP YouTube Channel. This week's featured video from the archive helps school leaders keep up to date on the trends in mental health. This webinar is written and presented by Ollie Welsby from Brightcore who works with schools across the country. He will give you an insight into the current state of affairs, together with tips as to how your school can best handle the current challenges. Watch Now.

Hi Everyone,

just want to begin this newsletter by thanking Ollie Welsby from Brightcore who has delivered some superb free CPD for the ISP this week on The changing landscape of mental health in schools. This timely update is packed full of useful advice and practical takeaways for school leaders - and you can view a full recording of it by clicking the link in the video vault section below.

I'm also delighted that Helen Clare will be giving a talk on Menopause in Schools in June and don't miss Andy Carley's online talk this coming Wednesday (1930-2030) on Learning beyond the classroom - a blueprint for success.

Both of these sessions can also be booked using the links below.

For those of you who attended the ISA conference is Harrogate this week, you will have watched the ISP's very own Alicia Coad presenting on Authentic Marketing. This talk was based on a huge amount of parental feedback that Alicia collected from several hundred independent schools - and I'm delighted that Alicia will be be making this data widely available in the near future... so watch this space!

As ever, I hope that you find this newsletter of use and I wish you a good (and sunny!) week.

David
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David Winfield
Founder, Independent Schools Portal.

Learning Beyond the Classroom - a Blueprint for Success. Online. Wednesday 14th May 2025 at 1930.
The talk will summarise the key ingredients and elements for success for learning beyond the classroom - from planning, fundraising, site design, installation, resourcing, CPD and progression.

With examples and specific ideas from the many schools that are successfully achieving this within the constraints of budgets, teacher attitudes and a highly prescribed curriculum you will come away with lots of ideas on how to do make these changes within your own school setting.

Presented by Andy Carley, who is the Founder and Owner of School Outdoor Learning (SOuL). The SOuL Team visit and work with hundreds of schools every year across the UK and overseas to support their outdoor learning, play and nature connection. This provides them with a unique perspective on what works in terms of use of space, effective pedagogy and teacher support. As well as creating the right culture for risk taking and embedding a creative curriculum. Book your place.

Menopause in Schools. Online. Wednesday 11th June 2025 at 1230.
How do perimenopause and menopause cause particular challenges for those who work in our schools? How can they help themselves and how can we support them through this transition so that they can keep on doing the jobs they love without a cost to their health and we don't lose their talents and experience?

Delivered by Helen Clare. Helen helps schools and teachers deal with challenges that arise due to perimenopause and menopause. She does this through talks, workshops, support groups, 1 to 1 and group mentoring, manager and menopause champion training, courses and policy and strategy support. An ex-biology teacher and life-long biology geek, she has also worked in schools as a poet and artist and as part of her work for Creative Partnerships and Arts Council England. Helen is also an ICF trained coach and an associate of the British Menopause Society. Book your place.

​The ISP has a huge selection of videos to support school leaders on the ISP YouTube Channel. This week's featured video from the archive helps school leaders keep up to date on the trends in mental health. This webinar is written and presented by Ollie Welsby from Brightcore who works with schools across the country. He will give you an insight into the current state of affairs, together with tips as to how your school can best handle the current challenges. Watch Now.