Preparing students for the new A-level exams The first cohorts for the new linear Maths A-Level exams are well over halfway through, so our attention is now turning to how best to prepare for the upcoming exams. I’d like to reflect on some of the changes in A-level Maths that I think we should all […]
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Jill Carter dispels the popular myth that grammar is boring and explains why she thinks it should be revered by teachers and students alike. In the years I have spent around teaching, one of the main subject-related complaints of English teachers is SPaG. The main complaints seem to be: ‘I wasn’t taught grammar […]
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From last year’s headline figures and the increasing grade boundaries it seems that most pupils are being prepared well for the new(ish) 9–1 Maths GCSE. A benefit of the course is that it provides welcome additional challenge for the most able pupils, preparing them better for future study. However, some teachers are concerned about how […]
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If a week is a long time in politics, then 21 years must be an eternity. Yet I can still remember the furore when Stephen Byers – then education secretary – was interviewed on the radio about government plans to improve numeracy in school and got his calculations wrong. No journalists have tried to trip […]
Read moreWithout enough language – a word gap – a child is seriously limited in their enjoyment of school and in their success both within school and beyond it. The Oxford Language Report: Why Closing the Word Gap Matters , which brought together the thoughts of a number of leading academics and practitioners, was based on market research with over 1,300 primary and secondary […]
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The last few years have seen us, as English teachers, deluged in pre-20th century literature and non-fiction texts. Simultaneously in the 21st century we have been seriously exploring the treatment of women in society – pay gaps and sexual harassment have been major issues – and rightly so. So how can the male dominance […]
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Written by Louise Pennington, Professional Development Leader for maths at Oxford University Press. The Multiplication Tables Check The Standards Testing Agency (STA) published the Multiplication Tables Check Assessment Framework in November last year. This document contains some key information about the Year 4 testing that will be statutory from June 2020: Voluntary pilot 10-28th June 2019 3 week window in June 2020 […]
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The way AQA have included the Historic Environment (HE) study in their specification is an absolute gift to students and teachers. Rather than having an extra paper to think about, the HE is embedded seamlessly into the highly engaging British Depth Study units. Our department ‘sells’ this section of the course to our budding historians […]
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So, dyslexia runs in families and we are one of those families. Although my dyslexia is mild and wasn’t picked up until university, my son’s dyslexia gave rise to me fearing that he would leave primary school illiterate. In the inclusive secondary science laboratory, up to 10% of the students will have some degree of […]
Read moreLindsay Bruce is a Lead Practitioner and History Teacher at Moreton School in Wolverhampton. This is the first in a series of blogs about their motivation to foster a whole-school approach to reading, their experiences on this journey and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Last year I wrote at the start of […]
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