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 […]
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Reading to children from an early age is the best way of encouraging them to love books and reading. By reading stories aloud, we take them into a world that goes well beyond our typical everyday spoken language, and form a link for them between reading, comfort and love. We need to do everything we can […]
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Like many schools, the majority of our geography department interventions occur in Year 11 with all hands on deck to ensure target grades are met and significant progress has been made (and can be shown!). As part of my role as Head of Department, I am seeking ways to try to avoid this mad rush […]
Read moreHappy parents make happy children, and happy children arrive at school as persistent, engaged and reflective learners. So for a teacher to teach well, engaging with parents and carers is as important as engaging with each child. We all know that engaging with parents and carers is often a challenge for schools – what is […]
Read moreThis is the final post in my series on how to group your class for effective guided reading. You’ll find my original post which takes you through using The Simple View of Reading to organise your class into guided reading groups here . In a nutshell children are organized into groups based on their strengths and weaknesses in […]
Read moreIn the primary age range, the impact caused by different levels of parental engagement is much bigger than variations in the quality of schools. The scale of this impact is evident across all social classes and ethnic groups. The Impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement Desforges and Abouchaar , 2003 Closing gaps in achievement is an ongoing priority for all schools. Over many decades, both national attainment […]
Read moreHowever experienced, Early Years staff are always looking for new ways to engage parents as they know how vital that relationship is. I’ve included a few tips here – some I’ve tried and some I wish that I had! The new Oxford Owl Guide to ‘Your Child’s First Year at School’ can help with induction and developing that engagement. It is available online but a printed […]
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