Since early March, the subject of school closures and reopenings has dominated the news, as well as conversations between teachers, parents and students. They say that a week is a long time in politics; four months in education has felt like a rollercoaster! Whilst schools have remained open for vulnerable and key workers’ children – […]
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The term ‘word gap’ is used to describe how children with a smaller vocabulary than others are disadvantaged in a range of ways. There are two main ways you can support your child and help them to build their vocabulary – by encouraging reading for pleasure, Here we share a range of ideas to help […]
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So, we are now in July, and according to the government, we are through the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic and life is beginning to break out of lockdown. We have had about a quarter of the calendar year and more than ten teaching weeks away from our classrooms and we are starting to welcome […]
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This is the first time in my twenty-year career as an English teacher that I can’t picture the start of the academic year. My memories of September’s new uniforms, shiny pencil cases and pristine planners feel contradictory and outdated, and the future feels unpredictable. With a few simple strategies I can start to plan for […]
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Sarah Eggleton suggests some strategies and tips to help you plan how to assess your students, identifying gaps and start the process of catching-up. Lockdown has resulted in the majority of students having received only 6 months of face to face education this year. We know it has hit those children who are disadvantaged the […]
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Rebecca Geoghegan discusses how lessons and learning might evolve through an increased virtual experience with her four stages of reimagining the classroom. When the closures were announced on the 18th March, most schools would say that they had an inkling it was coming. International news had led to much speculation and ‘loose’ plans being created […]
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It is coming up to the end of the school year and my thoughts are now starting to turn to the transition arrangements for the new Year 12s. Many questions are occupying my thoughts. How will they respond to being back in the classroom after so long? Will the extended break have had an impact […]
Read morePsychology is a brand new subject for most students. There is a large amount of new vocabulary to get used to, as well as new ways of thinking. I’ve put together some resources which will help students to start to become familiar with psychological concepts as well as keeping their valuable GCSE skills going, so […]
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Aprender a dudar es aprender a pensar (‘Learning to doubt is learning to think’). -Octavio Paz In March this year, school life as we know it shuddered to a halt, and as we write, when and under what guise it will fully return remains unclear. Over the past few months, teachers and students will have […]
Read moreCraig Barton looks at how both teachers and students will need time and patience in order to make the transition back into the classroom. Speaking of “unprecedented times” has become something of a cliché. And yet I know of no other phrase to better describe the period from when schools first closed because of the […]
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