Littleport Community Primary School is one of 11 UK schools to win £200,000 to boost the quality of teaching in Cambridgeshire through better use of research.

The new Research Schools – part-funded through the Government’s Opportunity Areas programme and part of a joint initiative between the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the Institute for Effective Education (IEE) - were unveiled by the Education Secretary Justine Greening at a summit hosted by the Sutton Trust last week.

Littleport Primary will receive the funds over three years to become the focal point of evidence-based practice in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland and build networks between large numbers of schools. They will develop a programme of support and events to get more teachers using research evidence in ways that make a difference in the classroom.

The first five Research Schools were announced in October 2016, with a second six established in January.

Since then, they have delivered a wide range of activities nationally to help teachers to use research to improve their teaching, including programmes to help schools make the most of teaching assistants, training to support literacy in the early years and backing to develop Research School leads to spearhead the use of evidence in the classroom.

Headteacher, John Cattermole, said: “We aim to link up with all schools across East Cambs and Fenland to enable as many providers to get involved in the Research Schools Network as possible.

“The additional funding will mean that schools can find out more about evidence based research nationally, and even get involved in their own, as well as attending training and events aimed at improving classroom practice in their school.

“We will also be using the funding to employ key staff to run the Research School over the coming years, and to communicate more broadly with schools in the area as well as linking up with those nationally.”

Justine Greening said: “Teachers are key to making sure that young people can reach their potential, regardless of where they start in life, so helping the profession be the best it can be will help tackle social mobility.

“By gathering evidence on what works in the classroom and sharing the best practice with teachers we can help to level up the opportunities for every pupil.”