I’m on the “coronacoaster”: one minute I’m up and the next I’m down – it’s an emotional rollercoaster. Most of the time, I feel like it’s all fine and we are just in a new normal, but in the blink of an eye, I’m flying by the seat of my pants, heading down with the […]
Life is full of change, now more than ever with the corona crisis unfolding. But life will go on, and we are now venturing into opening our schools and creating a new normal. At this time of year, I would usually be working closely with our primary colleagues to help with transition projects to reduce the […]
As the coronavirus pandemic hit, we were told to wash our hands for at least 20 seconds with soap or detergent several times a day. However, many people also called for alcohol gels to be made available in many workplaces, including schools. So, what is the difference between all these different methods of cleaning our […]
Lockdown is a weird time for us all; but spare a thought for trainee and newly qualified professionals that have been catapulted into their careers at an alarming rate. Teachers are not exempt from this fate and they will be starting their classroom careers without the support that would usually be on offer as lockdown […]
As a teacher, I am always striving for ways to determine if students are making progress, hoping to identify those pupils who would benefit most from targeted intervention and also to give context to parents to help them understand if their child is doing OK. At my school, we need target grades for every student and […]
Examiners’ reports are a wealth of information, giving data about how many students tried each question as well as breaking down misconceptions for every section. Are there any key messages that we can draw from the examiners reports to improve the performance of our students? Sam Holyman has looked through the reports to give you […]
Sam Holyman shares some of her top tips for constructive, productive appraisal conversations, drawing on her own positive early career experience when preparing for the appraisals she now gives. When I first started teaching, I used to meet with my line manager for performance management meetings. It felt like an informal chat over a cuppa, […]
It’s a bright, crisp September morning and I’m sitting in a hall, surrounded by shell-shocked teachers as we all adjust to the Autumn term and the return of our early morning get-up time. As I listen to the announcements and take part in the discussions, I realise the same words keep popping up: Ofsted, cultural […]
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 […]
By Sam Holyman As I settle down to my morning cuppa, one of the 100 million cups of tea that are likely to be drunk in the UK today [1], I wonder about how sustainable I am being, after I sling my used teabag straight into the black bin. Many of my friends collect their […]