The Textbook Dichotomy
There has been lots of talk in recent months about the merits or otherwise of using textbooks in primary mathematics. Inevitably whenever such a contentious issue arises in education, differing points of view all attract their share of passionate advocates, and this particular issue has proved to be no exception. In my experience, however, things […]
Left, Right, Read, Write…
“Plus ça change”, say the French, “plus c’est la même chose”. It’s all go on the front benches, isn’t it? I have been engaging with politics more in middle age then when I was a young student (though admittedly we were all lefties in those days because protesting and perceived social injustice was the fashion). […]
Flipping Father’s Day: Maybe it’s a day to BE a father.
Confession time. I have been looking forward to Father’s day as I do every year, and today was certainly a good day. But I read a disturbing piece on the internet this morning about a father who came to his senses and realised that he had become obsessed with his various headships. […]
This Happened.
Yesterday something brilliant happened, which I think deserves a wider audience. Some of you will know that my brain does not work in the same way as many others, and one symptom is an extreme inability to retain visual memory. This means that if I put a cup of tea down somewhere I will instantly […]
When your head’s not in the game
Tomorrow sees the start of the new term. Are you mentally ready? Today marked the final ‘long’ run of my 2016 marathon preparation. 8 miles to Brighton Marina and back marked the end of my ‘tapering.’, and now it’s just a case of relaxing and keeping as loose as possible for the next six days. Things […]
What the Baseline FIasco Teaches us about Forced Academisation
It is telling that my first thought upon waking this morning was the announcement yesterday by the Department for Education that they were not after all going to use the Reception Baseline assessment as the starting point to measure pupils’ progress through primary school. For reasons I outlined in this blog last year it is no surprise […]
Response from the DfE re. Baseline
Dear Mr Jeffrey I am writing on behalf of the Secretary of State to thank you for your letter about baseline assessments. I was very sorry to read that you were disappointed with the content of Ben’s report , and that the school does not seem to have recognised some of the qualities that Ben […]
Open Letter to Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education
Dear Secretary of State, I am writing to you partly as an educationalist but perhaps more importantly as a fellow parent of a primary-age child. I want to spend a few moments to talk to you about Ben. He is our third and final child, and has just completed his Reception year. However, importantly it […]
OFSTED and Schools
OFSTED And Schools; Healing the Rift It has become increasingly obvious to me and to others that the relationship between schools and OFSTED needs to be re-balanced. The heart-felt responses and the original article by Geoff Barton in the TES recently1 underline this. I also believe that the year ahead is a perfect storm in […]
Is it time to re-think the use of Learning Objectives?
Is it Time to re-think our use of Learning Objectives ? For many years I have been encouraging schools to re-think the often non-negotiable policy of writing a ‘learning objective’ or ‘learning intention’ on the board at the start of the lesson, and of requiring children to copy it into their books. I have even […]