Pen Picture
Name: Caroline Boothroyd
Home School: Hawes Primary School
Professional Background (Career history, career progression to date, specialism in current role):I have been working within a large primary school in the South Shore area of Blackpool since September 1994 and have taught within the Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The school caters for a wide range of families and individual needs. Over the years the footprint of the school has changed, it has increased in size (we currently have 619 children) and as a result experience more challenging families with specific needs.
As well as being class teacher I have been literacy coordinator for the whole school for 15 years and phase manager for about 7 years leading Foundation Stage, KS1 and KS2. I have recently been to London to be part of the initial thinking about the proposed Programmes of Study for English. For the last 10 years I have been a Leading English Teacher for the authority; this has involved developing firm relationships with consultants and English leaders in other schools and supporting practitioners with their continuing professional development in English.
Over the last three years my role as Assistant Headteacher has enabled me to further develop my skills to support each tier of staff giving me a more global insight into their continuing professional development.
Key skills and areas of impact and success:
General key skills that enable me to lead are those of motivation, showing initiative, listening, questioning and a willingness to try out new ideas. An ability to develop trusting relationships with others is crucial. Standards at KS1 in literacy in my school have increased in reading and writing with the number of children achieving level 2B+ exceeding those of local schools. This can be attributed to solid phonics teaching that is well monitored and the training and support I have delivered to staff.
With regards to the Foundation Stage I have led my team in changing the way provision within the Foundation Stage was being carried out. The impact of these changes can be seen through FS data where there is ‘...a good level of development’ [basic skills analysis January 2012] and data shows a 14% improvement in the number of children achieving the EYFS threshold. This is due to coaching and supporting staff in the effective use of data, planning and developing provision.
Sector focus: Primary
SLE designation: Leadership
Subject Specialism/
Business/Support Specialism: Foundation Stage Early Years