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PiXL is dedicated to giving school leaders the knowledge and resources they need to give the best possible support to their students.

Our members get access to a wealth of strategies, resources and how-to guides, based on the latest evidence and school-led intelligence, as well as a range of other benefits.

Click the link below to download a free resource looking at practical ideas around managing Parent-School Relationships so that you get the outcome you need, see the impact and engage your team. 

Download our parent-school relationships document

Why write this paper? 

In recent months (and particularly post-pandemic) our members are telling us that you are finding it more difficult to work with some parents. The things we are hearing from many of you are:

• There are more incidences of parents making demands that you feel you can’t agree to.
• There are more angry emails, calls and unexpected visits into schools.
• There is a feeling that some parents are backing the school less than they did.
• The expectations of some parents seem to have increased.
• The previous home-school contract seems to have been broken (perhaps by societal changes).
• Facebook parent groups are a common way for parents to be communicating with each other.
• There are societal issues that are impacting on the nature of the conversations you are having.
• Student attendance is sometimes more difficult because sometimes parents are supporting them staying at home (or find getting them in too difficult so they don’t enforce attendance).

A Teacher Tapp survey recently commissioned by ASCL showed that when it comes to absence of students in school, the following reasons were given by schools:

• 87% taking holiday in term time
• 76% had an event at home/with family
• 66% too anxious to come in
• 51% too tired to come in
• 32% were kept at home because of disputes with the school

If nearly a third of schools are stating disputes with parents as a reason for non-attendance of children, we really do find ourselves in a new and challenging situation where relationships and communication appear to be breaking down. No one wins when that is the case.

We know that working with parents is crucially important – we are, after all, jointly working with their child as the two significant parties in their life. Schools are literally in loco parentis of their children during the school day and on trips, yet the way we work with students, and the way we work with parents too, may be totally different: there may be rules at home that are different to rules at school; a difference in aspiration, expectation and understanding about what school is. It may be that sometimes parents feel they have more aspiration for their child than the school, and sometimes it is the other way round.

This document provides some strategies, suggestions and practical ideas. 

Explore PiXL Stretch for Secondary and Post-16 science students, and dive into deep thinking about data from PiXL in Conversation, featuring Laura McInerny, co-founder of Teacher Tapp!

PiXL Stretch: The Science Behind…

PiXL Stretch aims to challenge students’ thinking and to broaden their experiences of subjects beyond the curriculum. We have a library of over 40 talks, filmed especially for PiXL, from experts and academics across a whole range of fields. Each talk is around 15-20 minutes in length and comes with a set of resources that students can use as they watch, and which includes follow up activities.

The talks are designed to be a jumping off points for students to do their own independent exploration of subjects they are interested in, beyond what they experience in lessons. The talks cover a wide variety of topics, but are particularly useful for students interested in STEM.

Our The Science Behind series looks at the real science behind pop culture and media, from Line of Duty to Dracula, Love Island to The Great Pottery Throwdown. (You can access our talk on Stranger Things below!)

As well as this series, we also have talks on a whole range of other STEM topics: a series from the Environment Agency on climate change and sustainability; medical and healthcare talks on the impact of concussion on brain health, stroke rehabilitation, and nursing in A&E; technology-centred talks on block-chain technology and the first computers on the moon.

PiXL members have access to our full library of videos as part of their membership, but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this episode on ‘The Science behind Bake Off!’ and ‘The Science behind Stranger Things’!

PiXL in Conversation

Our PiXL in Conversation series brings our members the latest thinking from experts in education and related fields. They are one-to-one interviews with PiXL CEO, Rachel Johnson, and are deep dives into key issues affecting school leadership: from the impact of COVID-19 on schools to teacher wellbeing, unpacking inclusive education to decolonising the curriculum.

We are pleased to share with you, in honour of STEM Week, the episode with the brilliant Laura McInerney from TeacherTapp. TeacherTapp is an app that gathers on-the-ground insights from over 8,000 teachers every day by asking three multiple-choice questions.  In this video, you’ll hear all about some of the things they have learned from this data.

To celebrate STEM Week, we are sharing one episode from our growing library of episodes. We know that drawing meaningful connections between curriculum areas can really bring learning alive for children and adults. 

In this episode, we sit down with Laura McInerney – journalist, educator, and co-founder of TeacherTapp – to discuss the sometimes-surprising intelligence she is gathering from teachers on the ground. TeacherTapp is a daily survey app for teachers that poses new multiple-choice questions every day. This means that the team are able to gather statistically significant feedback from teachers on a daily basis, allowing us to get a picture of national opinions and trends across the education system.

Rachel and Laura discuss a number of important issues in this episode – from behaviour to workload, from Trust leadership to free tea and coffee. Sometimes as leaders, we may be guilty of assuming we know how our colleagues feel about certain issues – and you may just be surprised by some of the things discussed in this episode!

STEM Week in PiXL Primary – Explore the resources today!

At PiXL, we believe that fostering a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in primary schools is essential, as it ignites pupils’ curiosity and critical thinking, empowering them to not just understand the world around them but to become problem-solvers and innovators who will shape it in the future. This is why we are proud to be supporting schools in celebrating PiXL STEM Week 2024, which is taking place from 26th February – 1st March. British Science Week is also only a couple of weeks from now, so we are hoping our PiXL STEM week may also support any planning for that, too! 

In a world which is increasingly technology-driven, providing rich opportunities for children and young people to engage deeply with STEM has never been more important in terms of equipping them for future success. As the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2023 highlights: The fastest-growing roles relative to their size today are driven by technology, digitalization and sustainability. The report also identifies the most important skills that companies are seeking in their workers as being analytical thinking, followed by creative thinking and self-efficacy skills such as resilience, flexibility, agility, motivation and curiosity, all of which can be fostered through a focus on STEM.

To support schools in marking STEM week and in using it as a catalyst to ignite pupils’ passion and interest in STEM, we are delighted to be releasing a range of resources to support school leaders and teachers in celebrating STEM. You can find an overview of the available resources below:

Sir Tim Brighouse was an extraordinary man who embraced so many paradoxes, perhaps that is why he was so extraordinary. He was understated and humble, yet had significant influence at the top levels as well as local ones. He was all about school improvement at a system level and yet always remained the champion of teachers and students, never losing his connection with, or love of, the classroom. He was incredibly intelligent and insightful and yet never used that over people nor ever used it to make others feel inferior, he had a way of elevating others. I knew of him long before I met him, when my father, Sir John Rowling, went to work for the London Challenge with Tim Brighouse, it was an incredibly exciting time in his life, and in the life of the schools who were part of it and I remember as a young teacher myself at the time, hearing all about it and marvelling at the change that was occurring as they crossed metaphorical borders between schools working together and working with independent schools. It was so exciting and significant in improving outcomes and life chances, in fact, that when the London Challenge funding stopped, the majority of the headteachers in the room opted to fund it themselves and continue with their work with Sir John. It was in that room that what became PiXL, was born. A large number of those original founding schools are still members working with us. We celebrate 20 years of working with them in some form or other, next year. A remarkable legacy from the work of Sir John, Sir Tim and others.

I also knew Tim through the work he and Mick Waters wrote together – what wisdom, what intelligence and what humanity both of them showed and Mick continues to show. I am proud that Mick is part of all of our conferences this year bringing his wisdom, insights, intelligence and humility to PiXL members – we are richer for it. The books they wrote, with the number of contributors involved, of all different persuasions and politics, says a lot about them both. 

Then I was fortunate to spend a morning with Tim in 2022 when we filmed PiXL in Conversation together. What we got on camera was only a quarter of what was spoken when the cameras stopped. In fact, the conversation was flowing so much and so naturally it was almost impossible for the film crew to work out what was on and what was off! We talked about all types of things, including some reflections that were poignant and moving. You can hear them for yourself in this episode which we are releasing to everyone below.

Listening to Tim was a special experience and what we talked about afterwards was a significant moment in my early PiXL leadership as he encouraged me on, to speak up, to bring people together, to lead the way I wanted to and to keep young people and teachers at the heart. We talked about like-minded people in education, and those who were different in their thinking and how we could continue to get people in the same room together, finding commonalities, finding differences and engaging in debate, not alienating or polarising but coming together to think, to learn and to be…together in healthy, dignified debate. I told him I would do this and would continue to try to do this, we even wrote a list of people who he felt would be excellent to contact – the list was long and varied. We had several more cups of tea and hatched several plans in the trendy AirBnB London flat we had rented for filming. I left energised and excited, grateful and reflective – he was the same era as my father who we had only recently lost. It gave me chance to reflect on that too. Neither of us wanted to leave, he was so relaxed he was almost off the chair in which he was sitting, we laughed and we reflected. It was a conversation I will always be grateful for.

I am grateful that I have been brought up watching leaders like Tim Brighouse and others of his generation – who were not afraid to speak out, were convicted about what they believed, who were change makers and giant battlers but did it all with heart, humanity and humility. And yet he too was a giant, even though at times he was the underdog, another paradox. We stand on the shoulders of giants in this work and Sir Tim Brighouse was one of those giants.

Rachel Johnson 
PiXL CEO

PiXL Waves powered by Pupil Progress marks a shift towards collecting and creating meaningful data-driven education that helps teachers, leaders and students.

We are excited to announce the launch of the brand-new PiXL Waves powered by Pupil Progress! By combining the expertise of PiXL and the innovative technology of Pupil Progress, this collaboration finds new ways of talking about and tracking progress monitoring. Delivering full exam board-specific tracker functionality for English and Maths.

PiXL Waves powered by Pupil Progress transforms educational progress tracking, providing an insightful and real-time experience for educators and learners alike. 

This collaboration aims to empower schools with advanced tools and comprehensive support for Diagnosis, Therapy and Testing to drive student achievement.

Key Features of PiXL Waves powered by Pupil Progress

1. Real-Time Insights: Compare your real-time attainment with national formative data throughout the year informing your strategy. Stay ahead of the curve with valuable insights and actionable suggestions shared at every PiXL national conference for Secondary and Post 16 2. All English and Maths Courses: Exam-board specific tracking pre-loaded with past papers for all KS4 and 5 English Literature and Language and Maths, Statistics and Numeracy courses across AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, OCR, WJEC and CCEA 3. Continuous Support: let us take care of your leaders with CPD workshops at national conferences and 1-1 support from Pupil Progress 4. Seamless Integration: PiXL Wave data taken directly from your trackers, eradicating duplication of spreadsheets or tedious uploading

5. Customisable Grade Boundaries: Take control of grading with the flexibility to choose and adjust your own grade boundaries, aligning them with your schools’ context and to give real-time P8 scores 6. Performance-Linked Resources: Unlock the potential for growth with access to performance-linked materials, offering targeted support and strategies to enhance student outcomes 7. Motivational reports: Share QLA student reports to empower students and prepare for parents’ evenings or meetings with pastoral staff 8. Streamlined Onboarding: PiXL Waves powered by Pupil Progress seamlessly integrates with your existing MIS, keeping your class lists up-to-date without the hassle.

About Pupil Progress

PiXL Partner, Pupil Progress is an easy-to-use pupil progress tracker that helps educators and schools take control of their performance data at subject, topic and skill level.  Giving them clarity and confidence when it comes to informing their curriculum strategy, lesson planning and teaching, while offering personable support in understanding the human side of data.

Pupil Progress Twitter – Pupil Progress LinkedIn

On 17^th March, we launched our pilot episode of ‘PiXL in Action’. The episode, which runs for 20 minutes, is based at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College in Altrincham. It explores how the school have implemented and embedded PiXL over their years in partnership with us.

The video covers a range of PiXL strategies, including our character accreditation ‘The PiXL Edge’, DTTR (Diagnose, Therapy, Test, Revisit) and Walking Talking Marks/Mocks, and Oracy/Debating. You can use the chapter markers to navigate if you are looking for specific strategies.

Are you a PiXL school? If so, the video can be viewed here: https://auth.pixl.org.uk/tv/v/c73/s279/e805

Do make use of the accompanying document ‘Using PiXL in Action for Impact’, which poses some reflective leadership questions and provides links to all resources mentioned in the video.

Our hope is to continue releasing these short episodes, with each focusing on a different PiXL member school in our network, showcasing their brilliant work and how PiXL have contributed to their success. We know that no two schools are the same, and we want these videos to show the many, varied ways that schools are using PiXL strategies to meet their specific needs and ambitions.

Would your school or post-16 provision be willing to share their experience of working with PiXL? Please contact us on production@pixl.org.uk and we’ll be in touch.

Amidst striking reports published this month by the IPCC on the urgent need for positive climate action, we know our new character accreditation, The PiXL Green Edge, has never had more relevance for the lives of our young people. The award will give recognition to students who positively and proactively engage with environmental issues and promote and demonstrate sustainability.

Produced in collaboration with the Environment Agency, the PiXL Green Edge was launched at the PiXL Secondary National Conference (17^th March 2022) for KS3-4 students in PiXL Secondary schools. Students will be encouraged to demonstrate LORIC (Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative, and Communication) skills through a series of activities, including plastic waste surveys, organising litter picks and setting up repair cafes.

If you are reading this post after 17^th March, you can find out more about the award and enrol students HERE: https://theedge.pixl.org.uk/– ‘Go to the Green Edge’.

Since September 2021, we have given a small number of ‘trial schools’ access to the platform, to facilitate for testing and feedback in order to tweak the offering ahead of the full launch. It has been a pleasure to witness the hope and optimism shared by teachers and students alike in working towards a greener, more sustainable planet.

We are really looking forward to opening access for all our schools, and hope that the platform inspires your students to make positive difference in your local community. We must take collective action and work together to achieve a greener ‘Better Future, Brighter Hope’.

Set up in June 2020, the #EveryonesInvited website allows young women to share accusations of sexual harassment experiences in UK schools, with many reported claims being logged in a multitude of schools across the country. Whilst change is happening as a result of the lid having been lifted, Ivy House wanted to explore ways to make genuine cultural change within schools to ensure such reported cases are far less frequent in the future.

Last month, they ran an event over Zoom: ‘Beyond Everyone’s Invited: 3 critical factors for creating genuine change’; and Rachel Johnson, PiXL’s CEO, was invited to share her thoughts. The conversation was around how we can create school cultures in which everyone can take ownership for their behaviour and the impact it has.

You can watch the full recording here:

Or you can watch a clipped version of Rachel Johnson’s segment here:

PiXL have worked with Ivy House for the past few years on several collaborative projects around teaching crucial leadership skills to young people and encouraging human-first leadership, with a focus on proactive wellbeing, to school staff. PiXL schools can save 15% on The Ivy House Award, an award-winning leadership and life skills programme for Year 10 to upper sixth students. Find out more and redeem here: auth.pixl.org.uk/members/save/620.

We are about making a difference to young people. It is at the heart of what PiXL believes and what we do. That is why we are so delighted to be sponsoring the Pearson National Teaching Awards for the next three years, which recognise and celebrate that very thing.

The work you do matters. How you do it matters too. We believe that strengthening, supporting and equipping school leaders is one of the very best ways in which we can all continue to make a difference to our children and young people.

For the 2021 Awards, we are delighted to be sponsoring the ‘Making a Difference’ category, and it was a pleasure to meet many representatives from the shortlisted schools at the Silver Winner’s Tea in September (https://www.teachingawards.com/uk-ceremony/house-of-commons-tea/) who are doing some quite great things in their contexts.

The 2021 Awards Ceremony is taking place on Sunday, 28^th November, following a week-long celebration of teaching on BBC’s The One Show. At the Ceremony, the Gold Award Winners are selected from thousands of nominations.  

For the 2022 Awards, there are 15 awarding categories, from ‘Headteacher of the Year’ and ‘Impact through Partnership’ to ‘Making a Difference’. Registration opens in November, but you can register your interest here: https://www.teachingawards.com/2022-awards-register-your-interest/.