Google Ofsted Literacy and you’ll find the Chief Inspector of Education declaring Improving standards of literacy must be a priority for all our schools. Ofsted’s annual report 2012/2013 states that Raising levels of basic skills in literacy and numeracy is critical for national competitiveness.

Google George Kulbacki and you’ll discover not only a published author and playwright but an outstanding teacher sharing a wealth of materials.  A  classroom teacher for 30 years and Head of Department for 17, George  works at Our Lady's Catholic High School Preston, a school rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2012.  George worked with the school's literacy co-ordinator Sarah Ainsworth to develop and implement  a whole school literacy initiative, resulting in  inspectors commenting  on the good practice in literacy across all subjects.

Drawing on his experiences working with teachers at both school and county level, George has been  visiting schools to run full day and twilight workshops on Literacy Across the Curriculum, aimed at supporting staff in implementing a whole school literacy policy .  The strategies he offers for developing literacy skills in different curriculum areas were devised by Sarah Ainsworth and  have of course been proven successful in their own school where again, according to Ofsted, all teachers are confident in developing students’.. reading writing and speaking skills.   But it’s not just talk! Those attending George’s workshop receive, not only nuggets of wisdom and advice on best practice but a bundle of free resources he has personally used to inspire staff and engage students.

If you would like to discuss George running a Literacy INSET at your own school (no limit on numbers) or would like more information, please get in touch with us via our contact form.

Geography… so the saying goes, .. is all around us. Sadly, despite it being permanently topical, rich in cross-curricular links, ideal for socio-economic debates (not to  mention field trips!)  Geography is often far from “all around us” in  many secondary schools. Whether this  is down to the way it is taught in individual schools,  or to the unfortunate fact that it is a subject often given to reluctant non-specialists, some Geography departments struggle to get sufficient numbers at KS4 and the GCSE numbers are dropping nationally.


At Our Lady’s High School Preston however, the opposite is true, and this is all down to the outstanding work of Principal Teacher of Geography, John Hankin. In the time he has been at the school, the department was awarded the prestigious Geography Quality Mark; the school and department were rated Outstanding by Ofsted and Geography has become the most popular optional subject.

How does he do it? With great passion and commitment as you’d expect, but also with determination to draw only  the best from his pupils. I think differentiation is really important, says John, but that doesn’t mean lowering standards. All the pupils are challenged, and encouraged to learn collaboratively too. And these are not just words: in a mixed ability  Geography GCSE class last year, 100% achieved A* - B (of which 70% were A*)
Not surprisingly, the Geography department was one singled out in the school’s  2012 Ofsted report: All students make outstanding progress because teachers plan lessons that are expertly matched to the needs of learners.

The next date for John’s  popular course Raising Standards in Geography through Engaging Learners will be published soon. John will share with you his strategies and resources for effective revision and Assessment for Learning and will take you through how best to plan lessons which differentiate while still challenging each individual child.

As Principal Teacher, John has a full timetable, so dates for the course are limited. If you’d like to be informed of the next date or for any further information, please get in touch via our contact form.