Our January blog post welcomes back Yvonne Kennedy, MFL consultant and Allez author… The phenomenon of the ‘backwash effect’ whereby the format and foci of GCSE assessment has a direct influence (positive or negative depending on your point of view) on teaching practice at Key Stage 3 will be familiar to many language teachers. Some, […]
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Assessing progress at KS3 It’s the issue in KS3 that won’t seem to go away – how do we accurately (and simply) assess what students know and can do at KS3, and what does ‘progression’ look like in History? I know for a fact that teachers have tirelessly grappled with these questions, and probably tried […]
Read moreIf you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. (N.Mandela) Our children’s world revolves around using huge amounts of highly advanced accessible technology. Surrounded by computers and social media, children “chat” more than ever, but spend less […]
Read moreIn a recent blog post , I talked about the way in which the much-praised Asian education systems are rethinking their ‘grades are everything’ approach to education. It is encouraging to see that they are beginning to realise the importance of a more holistic, child-friendly approach, though I worry that for some years we in the UK […]
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Good reading comprehension is a critical skill, fundamental to learning across the curriculum, to reading for pleasure and for success in life. Helping children to develop this skill can feel like a challenging process. However, a strong body of research evidence, including a recently published report from the Education Endowment Foundation , reveals three identifiable aspects that underpin […]
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At Coldfall Primary School, we recently adopted the Inspire Maths programme and teachers are working hard to bring the ‘Singapore’ or ‘mastery’ approach into their lessons. But what does teaching for mastery look like in the Singapore classroom? How do teachers use textbooks and how do they ensure that children are appropriately challenged and supported? […]
Read more Pupil progress shouldn’t be confused with curriculum pace: good progress in mathematics is not about moving on quickly Primary schools are still responding to significant changes to assessment and accountability put in place by the government over recent years. This started with the removal of National Curriculum levels and was followed by new key stage […]
Read more It’s not just academies and free schools that enjoy curriculum freedom: maintained schools have more flexibility than they think I am often asked at maths education events whether south-east Asian mastery is at odds with statutory curriculum requirements. Head teachers and maths co-ordinators in many schools yet to make the change to mastery state: ‘Our […]
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Sometimes we are unsure how well a topic has been received or understood by the class. We don’t want to wait until they can’t do their homework, which you don’t find out about until they come into your next lesson, to do something about this. Collecting a quick snapshot from every student about their level […]
Read moreSATs can be an anxious time of year. Teaching staff have a responsibility to make test preparation as stress-free as possible for their children. However, this can also add to the pressure on teachers. So we’ve asked Pobble to put together some of their top tips to help teachers feel calm and confident. Reflect to […]
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