For this episode, special guests Richard Selfridge and James Pembroke join hosts Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner to discuss the effective uses of data.

The conversation begins by exploring the context for much of the data practices and initiatives. The beginning of the episode focuses on what Richard and James have seen in the past and how schools & governing bodies have taken the lessons of the past to create the systems in play across education in the UK today. Some topics include the data wave, challenging assumptions, data efficiency, and levels-based data.

About the participants:

Richard Selfridge is a primary school teacher and writer on education. He has written on education for several publications and has been a speaker at events across the UK. His books Databusting for Schools and Dataproof Your School (co-authored with James Pembroke) look at the purpose and uses of data in education. Follow Richard on Twitter @Databusting.

James Pembroke is an independent Data Analyst and Advisor with 14 years of experience in primary, secondary, and post-16 sectors. James is the co-author of Dataproof Your School. He currently works with both Insight Tracking and Sig+, working through educational data and trends. Follow James on Twitter @jpembroke.

Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead

Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early-career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is the author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75