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Oakley Vale Primary school

Lauren Conlon from OVPS becomes KS1 moderator

Congratulations to Lauren Conlon from Oakley Vale Primary School who has been appointed a KS1 moderator for the Local Authority.

Lauren, who has been teaching for three years, will visit other schools to make sure that teachers in different settings are marking work to the same standard across the board.

Lauren said: ‘The role is to go around Northamptonshire, meet with Year 2 teachers and give them advice on how their children can make progress and ultimately either agree or disagree on the judgement they have made on the children and see if they are working at Year 2 standard or greater depth. It is making sure that all schools in our county are singing from the same hymn sheet.’

As part of her interview process Lauren had to assess pre-marked children’s work and either agree or disagree with the teacher’s judgements, giving an explanation for her reasoning.

‘We already meet across Trust schools as a Y2 team three times a year - looking at each other’s books, sharing ideas and assessing each other against the Teacher Assessment framework so that has been a really good opportunity for me to develop my skills before I do it for real with people that I have never met and children that I have never worked with before.

‘I could be sent to any school in the county. I am really excited to meet other practitioners, network and see what their ideas are. Your children’s books are such a personal reflection of who you are as a teacher, but what is important in the role of a moderator is to go in with advice and pinpoint what the children are doing well and what the teacher can do to make it even better.

‘I do like to try new things so this role is going to push me out of my comfort zone and part of the role is being willing to listen to other people’s ideas. It will definitely be a challenge and help me grow as a practitioner.

‘I definitely feel supported by the school and Trust. When I applied for the role Emma Goodwin really encouraged me. On the day of the interview I had staff and senior leadership message me wishing me luck and when I found out I got the role I had hugs all round!’