5 January, 2021
We are pleased to announce the appointment of David Didau, as the Trust’s senior lead practitioner for English. David will work with a team of lead practitioners, English curriculum leads, subject teachers and mentors, to develop the English curriculum and subject-based pedagogy for its schools and teacher training provider.
Mr Didau, who sits on the Midland Knowledge Schools Hub, funded by the Department for Education (DfE), is a former head of English at a secondary school whose work has also included advising Ofsted on how to inspect lessons.
He is also a successful author, having penned several books including Intelligent Accountability, Making Kids Cleverer and The Secret of Literacy, has a very widely read blog, Learning Spy, and is a sought-after speaker at leading education events.
Mr Didau is from the West Midlands, where OAT, the largest secondary school academy trust in the country, has a number of its 40 academies. Working alongside English teachers across the Trust, David will be drawing on their collective expertise to develop an English curriculum that can be used in OAT’s schools.
Mr Didau said:
“I am thrilled to be joining Ormiston Academies Trust and am looking forward to working with the team. English is such an important subject and I’m excited at the prospect at being able to put some of my ideas about how it should be taught and how the curriculum should be organised into action. I hope I am able to contribute to the high quality of teaching and learning that already exists in OAT’s schools.”
Tuesday Humby, National Director of Teaching and Training, said:
“David is a brilliant thinker and writer about education generally, but it is his particular ambition for a child’s experience of English that is most exciting for us at OAT. His determination to keep children and school staff at both the forefront and centre of all decision-making around curriculum means he is a great fit for us.”
Category: News
Tags: David Didau, English, Pedagogy, Senior Lead Practitioner
