13th September marks Roald Dahl Day, and, to celebrate, Oxford University Press has released its 13 Words of Bravery. These 13 words reflect the ways children today write about bravery and the context in which they use these words to feel empowered in difficult situations. Read on to find out more or download the full report here . The Oxford […]
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Having read the examiners’ reports on GCSE Spanish, French and German, here are my key takeaways in terms of what to work on this year: Listening Revise basic vocabulary It was disappointing to see that students seemed to have forgotten basic vocabulary; this was seen at both tiers. For example, students did not know the […]
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By Dom Shibli FCCT Dom is a Senior Lecturer in Secondary Science at the University of Hertfordshire. He is a proud founding fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and contributes to the CogSciSci website. He applauds the use of cognitive science within the teaching profession but hopes that it doesn’t become the next fad […]
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The National Literacy Trust’s latest study on digital reading (Children, Young People and Digital Reading by Christina Clark and Irene Picton, 2019) assesses the impact technology has on reading attainment and enjoyment. The report draws on previous studies from 2015 and 2018 and a new survey of nearly 57,000 children and young people aged 9 to 18 carried […]
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Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of visiting Buenos Aires to work with teachers and librarians. While I was there, I was lucky enough to speak at the 2019 ESSARP Conference. Active learning and reading There are many strands that make up active learning, but I chose to focus on three core ideas: The […]
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Anhydrous, exothermic, fullerene, isomerase, medulla, monomers, ribosomes, titration, xylem… How many of these words do you know? For a scientist – or even a knowledgeable GCSE science student, no less – this list of complex words will trigger a wealth of background knowledge. For many pupils, however, the same list of words would likely provoke […]
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It might seem obvious, but language is all around us. In fact, I’ve bored my classes to tears for years by reminding them of this fact. It’s in the conversations we have, the things we watch and listen to on our phones and in the messages we send each other. “Yes, we know it’s there,” […]
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Reading the works of professional historians is one of the most rewarding ways of broadening students’ thinking about History. However, this can be a problematic undertaking! Historians will often present differing views on the same topic, leaving the reader bewildered as to what to believe. Nevertheless, thinking about seemingly differing arguments can be an enriching […]
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Rebecca Geoghegan responds to the launch of the Education Inspection Framework and considers I think the word that most resonates with me is ‘connect’. The new EIF outlines that inspections will focus on looking at the connections between all elements of education – the curriculum, the lessons, the books, the student’ outcomes – and consider […]
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As you’re probably already aware, a new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework will come into force in England in September 2019. You can get an overview of what the new Framework means for primary schools in our series of blog posts , where we’ve taken a closer look at the Framework, alongside the new School Inspection Handbook that Ofsted inspectors […]
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