## ASPE Annual report 2022 – 2023 ## September 2023 ## **Professor Gary Beauchamp** – Chair of ASPE ## **Mrs Rebekah Gear** – Vice Chair of ASPE We are pleased to report on the exciting developments which are taking place within ASPE. The period since last year’s AGM has been one of considerable regeneration. It has been a time of reflection on our core values and how we continue to further these in a rapidly changing educational landscape. This has led to a process of creative revisioning of the association and its goals. The changes we are making fall broadly into three categories: i) Our constitution and internal processes; ii) Membership and the benefits that this brings; iii) Our publications and Outputs. I. Our constitution and internal processes Changes to the constitution were approved at last year’s AGM and the executive committee has been ensuring that our processes align with this document. Additionally, we were anxious to encourage wider participation in the committee. The current, recently expanded, Executive committee has its full complement of 16 members, reflecting three categories of membership in the Constitution: teaching or leadership staff of primary schools; the wider education community; and higher education institutions involved in primary teacher education and research. Within this, we have recently ensured that all nations of the UK are represented, particularly in the school staff category, to reflect the devolved government of education policy and practice. We hope that this breadth of experience will give us the best chance of fulfilling our mission in a way that is relevant across the whole UK and, indeed, beyond. During the last year, the executive committee has re-examined the aims and objectives of ASPE, which are to promote: - independent and informed commentary of contemporary issues; - professional collaboration; - independent research and reflection; - enhancement of practice; - dissemination of information. ## II. Membership and the benefits that this brings ## **Website redesign** ASPE is an organisation with a diverse and dispersed membership and thus requires a website that can fulfil many of the functions and expectations that members can reasonably ask of it. Our website is not only a window onto the activities of ASPE, but an important dissemination channel for information for members for research for teachers, and an educational resource. After a recruitment process, we have engaged a professional web developer to redevelop our website from scratch into a platform that will highlight, celebrate, and support all aspects of our work, as well as make administration more efficient. New features will include: - Online membership subscription - Automated annual billing for membership fees - The ability to promote and purchase tickets to ASPE events - A members online benefits area, which will include access to exclusive research, and also to provide a place to access podcasts and other media by which we can promote the work of ASPE. Whilst the redesign of the website represents a significant financial investment, as well as a thoroughgoing change in the way that we administer the Society, the executive committee believes strongly that this is the best interests of members to allow access by computer, mobile and other digital means. Full details of the new site will be sent to the membership as soon as the site is launched. ## **Funded projects:** One feature of this work that we hope to make more widely known is the support we offer for practitioner research through small-scale research grants for working collaboratively with primary school partners, universities or other relevant partners. These grants are up to £5,000. Release time for teachers and Research Assistant time can be included amongst the costs, but not university staff time, which can be offered as matched funding. Each bid is reviewed by the Executive committee using the following criteria: - Timeliness of project - Viability of successful completion; - Quality of partnership (if applicable); - Appropriateness of methods quality of analysis; - Potential impact on pupils’ learning and development; - Potential impact of teachers’ development of research skills - Value for money; - Contribution to the study of primary education. The expectation is that successful projects will submit a paper to _Education 3-13_ and contribute to ASPE events, such as seminars and conferences. At present, three projects have been funded and the result of one of these has just been published in _Education 3-13_ , titled: _“My picture is not in Wales”: Pupils’ Perceptions of Cynefn (Belonging) in Primary School Curriculum Development in Wales_ . This paper highlights the benefits and potential of school and university collaboration. The paper is the work of the _Curriculum and Pedagogy Collaborative Research Network_ (C&P CRN), one of four such networks supported by Welsh Government funding as part of their National Strategy for Education Research and Evidence (NSERE). The C&P CRN includes a steering group of at least two academic staff from all universities in Wales, with a particular emphasis on developing research capacity. The networks work closely with schools and Regional Consortia to provide a mutually supportive environment to explore research in an international context. Papers from the other ASPEfunded projects will follow in due course. ASPE also both supports and hosts conferences and seminars. As with many organisations the COVID period and the aftermath proved challenging in the last year, but we are very interested to hear from anyone with ideas on topics and/or event formats that we can consider funding, including collaborations with schools, universities and other organisations with a focus on primary education. We are currently actively considering supporting events such as a series of writing retreats across the UK, leading to submission to ASPE publications. These will be open to teachers, schools leaders and early career academics working in the area of primary education. Again, we would welcome ideas for other events / formats that will support the advancement of understanding of primary education in the UK and beyond. ## **Expanding membership** The executive committee have reflected on the lack of teachers in the very early years of their career, engaging with ASPE. In addition, membership has declined in recent years and we aim to reinvigorate this alongside the new website. To support this, and in light of the current financial climate, we have adjusted membership costs as below: £5 seniors ## £10 Adult £20 Schools/Organisations/Groups We hope that this will encourage a greater uptake of membership in particular from those at all stages of the teaching profession and lead to a larger and increasingly vibrant organisation. ## III. Our Publications and Outputs APSE has two main platforms: _Education 3-13_ and the new biannual publication: _Reaching into Research: Conversations from Primary Classrooms_ – replacing the previous _Bulletin_ . Both of these are peerreviewed, but _Reaching into Research_ contains shorter research informed articles, published by ASPE as a membership benefit. The aim of this publication is to encourage practitioners to shift from being consumers of research to contributors by providing a platform that celebrates their work. To further raise awareness we have written an editorial for the upcoming edition of _Education 3-13_ to publicise its connection with ASPE, entitled ‘ASPE: a too well-kept secret?’, which is freely available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/03004279.2023.2252248? needAccess=true&role=button _Education 3-13_ , or more accurately _Education 3-13 - International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education,_ is the only international academic journal with a sole focus on the early years, primary and middle phases of education internationally. It aims to ‘publish refereed articles representing the highest quality research and analysing practice relating to children between the ages of 3-13, both in the UK and internationally.’ Within this aim, an important emphasis for ASPE is that the articles ‘develop policy and practice in primary education’ and, very importantly, ‘also assist practitioners by providing helpful and stimulating ways of viewing what they do, or might do’. The success of the journal, and the growing numbers of papers from around the world, has led the ASPE executive to fund three new deputy editor posts. After a recruitment process, we would like to formally welcome Dr Paul Adams, Dr Elizabeth Malone, and Dr Peter Wood to the team supporting Professor Mark Brundrett as Editor, whose report follows. ## **Report on** _**Education 3-13**_ **- September, 2023** I am pleased to provide a report on the development of _Education 3-13_ during the last twelve months for the Annual General Meeting of ASPE. It has been another very successful year for the journal and I offer the key points below: - I noted last year that submissions to the journal continue to rise and now come from many countries around the Globe. The past year has seen the development of particular new areas for submissions of articles including from the Sudan, Indonesia and South America. During 2022 (the last full year for which figures were available) the number of articles submitted rose to 327 and the number of articles published, including book reviews and editorials, rose to 185. The very large volume of material that we receive has meant that we continue to have a considerable number of articles waiting to be published and this is despite the fact that we only accept approximately one third of items sent to us. It has, therefore, been agreed with our publisher that up to 12 articles can now be included in each issue of the journal (on average an increase of two items per issue). - As one would expect with a journal that addresses all issues connected with the education of children between the ages of 3 and 13, the range of topics included in the journal has, as usual, been eclectic. Not surprisingly, in light of recent circumstances, some of the most popular articles that have enjoyed the most reads and downloads have focused on the challenges caused by the education children online and at home. The very popular connected topics of outdoor learning and Forest Schools have also continued to feature strongly in submissions and have been received well by readers. - The Deputy Editors of _Education 3-13_ , Professor Dominic Wyse and his colleagues Professor Alice Bradley and Dr Yana Manyukhina, of the Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy at University College London, have continued to develop and publish special issues of the journal and we thank them and their team for all of their efforts and greatly appreciate their involvement and support. In addition, the Executive Committee of ASPE has recently appointed three new Deputy Editors for general issues of _Education 3-13_ , including Dr Paul Adams of the University of Strathclyde, Dr Elizabeth Malone of Liverpool John Moores University, and Dr Peter Wood of Liverpool John Moores University. These new Deputy Editors have been doing invaluable work in reviewing articles and contributing to the wider development of the journal. - Article downloads of _Education 3-13_ increased yet again last year and reached the unprecedented level of 423,805. This year the number has already reached 268,525, which surpasses the number at the same point last year. These downloads took place in a wide range of countries around the World and, whilst the majority were in the UK and Europe, a considerable percentage were in the USA, Asia and Australasia, with smaller numbers in Africa and the rest of the World. - It is pleasing to be able to report that surveys carried out by our publisher, Routledge, show that author satisfaction with the journal continues to be very high, with the large majority of respondents being very satisfied with the process of submitting and publishing articles in the journal. Similar satisfaction levels were also found in a survey relating to the review process for the _Education 3-13_ . We look forward to another busy year with _Education 3-13_ and we thank the Executive Committee of ASPE and its Chair, Professor Gary Beauchamp, for all of their support for the journal. We also wish to express thanks to the members of the Board of the journal and all of the many reviewers who give their time so generously. Special thanks go, as always, to the team at Routledge and to Emma Fitzgerald, our excellent journal administrator, who has managed the journal for a considerable number of years. ## _Professor Mark Brundrett, Editor, Education 3-13. September 2023._ ## iv. Conclusion We are committed to building on the solid foundations provided by previous chairs and executive committee members since the formation of APSE in 1988. We hope you will agree that this is a very exciting time for ASPE as we evolve to meet new challenges and opportunities. We look forward to working with you and new members to take our work forward for the benefit of all those involved in primary education. Gary and Bekah. ||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION**|||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||||**INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT**|||||||| |||||**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023**|||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||**2023**||||**2022**||| ||||||||||||| ||**INCOME**|||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|| ||||||||||||| ||Subscriptions|||1,375.00||||1,995.00|||| ||Interest|||1,004.65||||46.54|||| ||Royalties - Informa UK||84,780.16|||||66,472.83|||| ||Conference Sales||664.50|||87,824.31||0.00||68,514.37|| ||||||||||||| ||**EXPENDITURE**||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Committee Travel||1,880.70|||||2,071.35|||| ||Administration Services||387.76|||||1,690.00|||| ||Website costs||2,121.60|||||0.00|||| ||Reimbursement Humanities 202||
919.82|||||0.00|||| ||ASPE Chair Expenses||1,500.00|||||4,500.00|||| ||3-13 Publication & Bulletins||28,504.25|||||30,791.00|||| ||Research Projects||3,350.00|||||4,850.00|||| ||Insurance||389.54|||||379.44|||| ||Committee Meetings||1,395.78|||||2,244.23|||| ||Conference Costs 2022/23||6,496.16|||46,945.61||765.00||47,291.02|| ||||||||||||| ||Profit for the Year|||||40,878.70||||21,223.35|| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||**ASSOCIATION FOR THE**||||**STUDY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION**|||||| ||||||||||||| |||||**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 JULY 2023**|||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||**2023**||||**2022**||| ||||||||||||| ||**CURRENT ASSETS**|||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|| ||||||||||||| ||Cash at Bank||||||||||| ||Reserve Account||150,643.68|||||116,164.98|||| ||Current Account||250.00|||150,893.68||250.00||116,414.98|| ||||||||||||| ||**CURRENT LIABILITIES**||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Royalties in Advance||16,667.00|||||22,292.00|||| ||Subscriptions in Advance||600.00|||17,267.00||1,375.00||23,667.00|| ||||||||||||| |||||||133,626.68||||92,747.98|| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||REPRESENTED BY:-||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Accumulated Fund as at|1 Aug2022||||92,747.98||||71,524.63|| ||Profit for the Year|||||40,878.70||||21,223.35|| ||||||||||||| |||||||133,626.68||||92,747.98|| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||**BANK RECONCILIATION STATEMENT AS AT 31 JULY 2023**|||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||||||**£**||**£**|||| ||||||||||||| ||Balance asper Bank Statement|||||||150,643.68|||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Add: OutstandingLodgements|||||0.00||0.00|||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Less: Unpresented cheques|||||0.00||0.00|||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Balance asper cashbook|||||||150,643.68|||| ||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION**|||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||||**INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT**|||||||| |||||**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023**|||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||**2023**||||**2022**||| ||||||||||||| ||**INCOME**|||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|| ||||||||||||| ||Subscriptions|||1,375.00||||1,995.00|||| ||Interest|||1,004.65||||46.54|||| ||Royalties - Informa UK||84,780.16|||||66,472.83|||| ||Conference Sales||664.50|||87,824.31||0.00||68,514.37|| ||||||||||||| ||**EXPENDITURE**||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Committee Travel||1,880.70|||||2,071.35|||| ||Administration Services||387.76|||||1,690.00|||| ||Website costs||2,121.60|||||0.00|||| ||Reimbursement Humanities 202||
919.82|||||0.00|||| ||ASPE Chair Expenses||1,500.00|||||4,500.00|||| ||3-13 Publication & Bulletins||28,504.25|||||30,791.00|||| ||Research Projects||3,350.00|||||4,850.00|||| ||Insurance||389.54|||||379.44|||| ||Committee Meetings||1,395.78|||||2,244.23|||| ||Conference Costs 2022/23||6,496.16|||46,945.61||765.00||47,291.02|| ||||||||||||| ||Profit for the Year|||||40,878.70||||21,223.35|| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||**ASSOCIATION FOR THE**||||**STUDY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION**|||||| ||||||||||||| |||||**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 JULY 2023**|||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||**2023**||||**2022**||| ||||||||||||| ||**CURRENT ASSETS**|||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|| ||||||||||||| ||Cash at Bank||||||||||| ||Reserve Account||150,643.68|||||116,164.98|||| ||Current Account||250.00|||150,893.68||250.00||116,414.98|| ||||||||||||| ||**CURRENT LIABILITIES**||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Royalties in Advance||16,667.00|||||22,292.00|||| ||Subscriptions in Advance||600.00|||17,267.00||1,375.00||23,667.00|| ||||||||||||| |||||||133,626.68||||92,747.98|| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||REPRESENTED BY:-||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Accumulated Fund as at|1 Aug2022||||92,747.98||||71,524.63|| ||Profit for the Year|||||40,878.70||||21,223.35|| ||||||||||||| |||||||133,626.68||||92,747.98|| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||**BANK RECONCILIATION STATEMENT AS AT 31 JULY 2023**|||||||||| ||||||||||||| |||||||**£**||**£**|||| ||||||||||||| ||Balance asper Bank Statement|||||||150,643.68|||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Add: OutstandingLodgements|||||0.00||0.00|||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Less: Unpresented cheques|||||0.00||0.00|||| ||||||||||||| ||||||||||||| ||Balance asper cashbook|||||||150,643.68|||| |||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||**£**|||**£**|||| |||||||||||| ||Balance asper Bank Statement||||||150,643.68|||| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| ||Add: OutstandingLodgements||||0.00||0.00|||| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| ||Less: Unpresented cheques||||0.00||0.00|||| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| ||Balance asper cashbook||||||150,643.68|||| ## **Section A** ## **CHARITY COMMISSION Independent examiner's report on the FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES accounts** ## **Independent Examiner's Report** **Report t9 the trustees/ - membetsof[Cha�lty no ]** ~~[I]~~ **On accounts for the year** 3, **, ___[e] nd[e] d** ~~I~~ **._ ______________** ::r '- **'-f "2..o :2-3 _._** ~~[I]~~ **___ (1f_a_n_y_)** ~~**_______ _** I~~ **[1 ] Set out on pages** l **l report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (ihe Trust") for the year ended Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accounts-in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {"the** Acr). **i report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I·** ✓• **have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act t Independent {The charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to-· examiner's statement[undertake the examination by being a quafffied member of [insert name of] applicable listed** bodyl]. _**Delete**_ **[ ]** _**if not applicable.**_ **I have cQmpleted my examination. I confirm that no material matters have with the examination ( other than that come to my attention In connection disclosed below*} which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: • - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section !130 of the Charities Act; or • the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or • the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements conc_eming the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an indapend&nt examination. l have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in be order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to reached. *** _Please delete the words in the brackets_ _**if** they do not apply._ **Signed:[j]** - _'z_ ) **Date:** ~~**I , � , .**~~ **1o ?-** **Relevant professional** l **quallfication(s) or body** ' --------------------------' **Oct 2018** **1** **IER** (If any): Address: 21 Sprlinn B rJi8rlosur@ - plele li 4Xdlll￿ i￿￿,5 di h4hithl I￿￿11a¢ of ca)r¥)3111 (See CC32. Independent examina￿On of ¢3harity acjoounts.. dlreotlons and guklance for axamin8rsl. ,Gfv• h•r• brf•f detall• of any Items that t oxamin8r wishes to dlsclorAO. IER Oct Z018