1. Faculty of Social Sciences
  2. School of Education
  3. Research and expertise
  4. Impact and engagement
  5. Engagement with schools

Engagement with schools

Student working in a school

Partnerships and engagement with schools and education practitioners is an essential part of our work across teaching, research and impact.

We work closely with schools and colleges leading to collaboration and co-production in research projects, and enabling research findings to influence educational practice and policy. Current or recent examples of such work include:

  • Research on character education leading to the development of a network of research-informed ‘schools of character’ in the north of England, and the development of resources and training for schools wishing to integrate character education into their curriculum.
  • Two school-based intervention programmes seeking to improve the reading skills of primary and secondary school pupils, involving over 100 schools in total.
  • A project looking at the linguistic challenges of the transition from primary to secondary school, working with a number of schools in Yorkshire and Northumberland, and also involving a work experience week for local Year 12 students.
  • Research into the provision of the new post-16 ‘Core Maths’ qualification across England, and a related project to encourage the take-up of core maths in schools and colleges, and to promote its benefits to pupils, parents, teachers and HEIs.
  • A project investigating the development of foundational number sense in primary school children, working with several schools in England and Sweden.
  • Our staff have also been heavily involved in shaping the new Centre for Applied Education Research (CAER), an ambitious cross-sectoral research-impact partnership linked to the Bradford Opportunity Area, which aims to support schools in engaging with education and health research that can enhance young people’s development.

In terms of teacher training and development, we are the HEI partner for Red Kite Teacher Training, which has been selected as one of 87 teaching school hubs by the Department for Education. We work with Red Kite Teacher Training to provide the award of PGCE (Primary and Secondary) through research-led teaching on both full-time and part-time routes. Our link with Red Kite Teacher Training provides the potential for increasing collaboration with partner schools throughout Leeds and the North Yorkshire region.

Our work with local schools also extends to working with them as placement providers for students on our BSc Psychology with Education, BA Education and BA Childhood Studies courses. Some of our postgraduate taught students also choose to undertake a school placement during their studies. This is mutually beneficial for the placement schools and our students, who gain valuable experience which helps to direct their future career.