Katherine Roberts

Assistant Headteacher, Elmhurst Primary School, New Vision Trust

Katherine Roberts is an Assistant Head Teacher at Elmhurst Primary School which is a large, outstanding school in Newham, East London. The school is part of New Vision Trust, a group of five schools across Newham and Redbridge. Katherine is an experienced senior leader with over 20 years of teaching experience in Key Stage 1 and early years. She is an expert reading leader and has supported schools through New Vision English Hub in improving their phonics provision.

11:45

1 Main programme

Trust case study: Balancing direct teaching and structure with play in the curriculum

Katharine Young, Deputy Headteacher, and Katherine Roberts, Assistant Headteacher of Elmhurst Primary School (of New Vision Trust, a trust of five primary schools) will share the school’s approach to early years education, which has at its heart the goal of an effective balance of direct teaching and formal routines, and intentional play-based learning. They will discuss how they address some of the challenges of working in a significantly disadvantaged area with high numbers of pupils with EAL. They will also share their model for developing early language through meaningful interactions and to successfully embedding reading and maths mastery from an early age.