In a bid to improve teacher wellbeing and the quality of children’s education, Liverpool tech firm, Angel Solutions has unveiled innovative software known as, Balance.
Balance offers much needed support to the teaching profession, providing a formative assessment tool with children at the heart. It saves time and reduces marking.
It delivers a whole package for teaching and learning, with a customisable curriculum a unique ‘learning wheel’ feature, which encourages conversations and self-assessment from primary school children.
With the help of Balance, teachers can perfectly align with the new requirements; tailoring the curriculum and their school’s teaching methods to the needs of pupils so that all can progress, achieve and participate.
Tom Wallace, former deputy Headteacher and co-founder of Balance, knew first-hand the struggle of balancing a hectic work schedule.
Tom said: “For me personally when I was teaching I wouldn’t have time for family life. I wanted to just pack up and leave. I didn’t want my life to be full of assessments and marking books. I felt like I was spending my whole life marking books. I wasn’t living at all. I just knew something had to change. It was a lightbulb moment for me.
“It was ‘THIS is what teaching should be about’. The children are number one and Balance gets that right, with the correct way of using assessment. With this tool the possibilities are endless.”
Tom Wallace
Schools across the country are signing up to the system, and taking part in Balance Hubs – communities of teachers using Balance, sharing best practice and learning about the latest pedagogy research, led by Tom.
Feedback from one school teacher said: “I can see ownership and I can see involvement from all members of the school community- teachers and teaching assistant working really closely together and talking about their learning- that impacting on how the children are becoming involved and talking about their learning as well and that is really powerful to see.”
Ben Jackson, a former primary school teacher and now an account manager for the software, used to spend the majority of his evenings and weekends marking books.
“I was so busy marking books that I often didn’t feel I had the opportunity to do what I really needed to- which was to identify gaps in children’s understanding, speak to them and use this information to inform my planning and create really exciting lessons.
“Sadly, the workload overtook my joy for teaching and although I love teaching, I decided to leave the profession and do something to directly tackle the very issue that made me come to this decision, joining the Angel Solutions team to work as an Account Manager for our revolutionary assessment tool, Balance.”
Ben Jackson
Angel Solutions has been trusted by thousands of school-leaders in schools across the country, since CEO Andy Kent founded it in 1999, to develop tools to help all levels of the education sector.
Tom Wallace will be appearing at Liverpool education festival RefreshED on 24 May to talk about his experiences and share practical tips with event-goers.
For more information on the new software, visit: www.angelsolutions.co.uk/products/balance/