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The episode explores the genesis of Engagement, its relevance and application to vulnerable children with a whole range of learning needs. In a lecture presentation entitled “What you really need to know about Engagement”, Prof. Barry Carpenter CBE OBE FCCT and Beverley Cockbill ask the question, of all children, of all ages and abilities, “how does this child learn?”

Discussion is given to how Engagement illuminates the learning pathway; how the lens of Engagement can refine the focus of the learning process, leading to the capture of attainment and achievement.

They look at the research evidence for Engagement, and its contribution as a fundamental building block in child development. A multi – dimensional perspective is adopted – to pedagogy. to the processes of teaching and learning, to its use for formative assessment, through to the existing initiative for the Engagement Model, (DfE 2019), as statutory summative assessment for children ’ not engaged in subject specific learning ” – a recommendation from the Rochford Review (2016).

The message of the podcast is timely, not only for the statutory implementation from September 2021, but for the consequences for children’s learning and well being arising from the Coronavirus Pandemic. Many children will return to school, post Lockdown, with a ‘spikey profile‘ of learning , and are disengaged from the curriculum. Monitoring the ways the child can be re engaged, identifying the ‘hooks’ that can draw the child back to authentic engagement in the curriculum, is key. On this journey of re-engagement, the Engagement Profile is an invaluable tool, for baseline assessment, observation and formative assessment.

Through case studies which define and clarify the 5 Areas of Engagement, the podcast illustrates how the Engagement approach can ‘wrap around’ each child, and illuminate their learning pathways. This will be a much wider group than originally conceived, but the capacity of Engagement to be a bedrock upon which teachers can rebuild the child as a learner is unequivocal, and its potential for change and transformation in learning, undeniable.