My packet of crisps: How do you deal with the guilt?

My packet of crisps: How do you deal with the guilt?: I have just one question this half term.  How do you control the guilt? I confess have struggled with this one this holiday.  My body hasn...

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Big system, little system – put them in a cardboar...

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Big system, little system – put them in a cardboar...: In a rare moment of escapism, I visited a city this week. On the journey there, I purchased a coffee from a vendor at a train station. It ...

Learning to Teach: The end is just a new beginning.

Learning to Teach: The end is just a new beginning.: Four years ago today I was sat revising for my A Level exams. Three years ago today I was setting up cups of tea for students who were about...

New School Finance: 'Coasting', MATs and sponsorship

New School Finance: 'Coasting', MATs and sponsorship: A look at some of the reports and comment that provide some interesting context around the impact of 'coasting' on sponsors and MATs...

Bex Trex ...to teaching!: Keeping up the momentum? Starting the new academi...

Bex Trex ...to teaching!: Keeping up the momentum? Starting the new academi...: On Monday, most students and teachers in the UK will return for the last 7 weeks of the school year.  We won't though, we're startin...

Teaching Science: Considering the Practicalities

Teaching Science: Considering the Practicalities: I have had aspirational blog posts come under my nose recently and they have made me think, not about what if... but how? How do we really...

frenchteacher: Why do girls do better than boys at language learn...

frenchteacher: Why do girls do better than boys at language learn...: At my school over the years the top set was usually predominantly male and the lower sets were predominantly male. Boys often did very well,...

School Data Updates: The Rise of the Assessbots: do systems influence a...

School Data Updates: The Rise of the Assessbots: do systems influence a...: " And we would go on as though nothing was wrong " Joy Division, Transmission I recently got into a discussion on Twitter about th...

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: Do all good ideas need to be researched? - A resp...

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: Do all good ideas need to be researched? - A resp...: Recently  David Didau  posed the question : do all good ideas need to be researched?  In doing so, Didau suggested that rather than research...

kitchen table math, the sequel: How to Google stuff when you don't know anything

kitchen table math, the sequel: How to Google stuff when you don't know anything: I've been joking with some of my friends about how exactly you would Google stuff when you don't know anything about the subject you...

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Planning for the UK’s exit from the …. Controlled ...

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Planning for the UK’s exit from the …. Controlled ...: Like most people, I am planning my contingency plan for when the UK leaves the EU. I am thinking of how it will affect the classroom. You ...

kitchen table math, the sequel: Another year, another school board election

kitchen table math, the sequel: Another year, another school board election: Needless to say, I cannot resist a school board election. Letter to the editor: At the September 23, 2013 meeting of the Board of Educat...

Bex Trex ...to teaching!: NQT- Not Quite There - but only 7 weeks to go!

Bex Trex ...to teaching!: NQT- Not Quite There - but only 7 weeks to go!: I can't quite believe I'm already at the point in the year where the end of my induction is in my sights.  The finish line is so clo...

TDRE Boss Blog: #BlogSyncRE - www.BlogSyncRE.org.uk

TDRE Boss Blog: #BlogSyncRE - www.BlogSyncRE.org.uk: Image courtesy of  MyWritingBlog After many months of thinking and planning, I was prompted into action by recent events on Save RE. ...

frenchteacher: Where did all the A-level linguists go?

frenchteacher: Where did all the A-level linguists go?: All the figures below are from http://www.bstubbs.co.uk/a-lev.htm  . Brian gets his figures from JCQ. In 1993 29886 students did A-level Fre...

educationtoday: Thrown in at the deep end: support for teachers’ f...

educationtoday: Thrown in at the deep end: support for teachers’ f...: by Katarzyna Kubacka Analyst, Directorate for Education and Skills The first day at work can be stressful for anyone. But what if that d...

TDRE Boss Blog: Edexcel GCSE Religion & Media

TDRE Boss Blog: Edexcel GCSE Religion & Media: Image courtesy of The Guardian Firstly, I think religion and the media is fascinating. I always do some really good work on Islamopho...

frenchteacher: Challenges of new MFL A-levels

frenchteacher: Challenges of new MFL A-levels: Until the election result we did not know for sure if the new A-levels, with their decoupled AS level, would become a reality. Now we know. ...

TDRE Boss Blog: Freedom in RE

TDRE Boss Blog: Freedom in RE: Image courtesy of 2 Oceans Vibs Last night on the Facebook group of RE teachers called 'Save RE' a row escalated after a NQTs...

ssphonix: IFERI

ssphonix: IFERI: Anyone interested in reading the thoughts on this blog is strongly recommend to keep a regular eye on the website of IFERI (www.iferi.org ...

TDRE Boss Blog: The Internet In Your Pocket

TDRE Boss Blog: The Internet In Your Pocket: Image courtesy of The Huffington Post For Y7 to Y11, phones must be switched off and locked in lockers. If they are seen, they are con...

Using research in education: How much carrot and how much stick: What messages ...

Using research in education: How much carrot and how much stick: What messages ...: A common feature in many educational systems is the use of high-stakes school leaving exams at the end of secondary education. The results ...

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: The School Research Lead - Should you prioritise e...

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: The School Research Lead - Should you prioritise e...: This post seeks to share with School Research Leads some of the key findings of Gu et al's (2014) evaluation of teaching school alliance...

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Revising, revision and the long game

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Revising, revision and the long game: It is a universal truth that a student wanting to succeed in exams will often lean towards one subject rather than another, because it i...

frenchteacher: How much teacher talk?

frenchteacher: How much teacher talk?: I recommend to you Barry Smith's blog about language teaching. Barry is a full-on, skill-building, cognitive code, teach-em-from-the-fro...

educationtoday: Tough choices in school choice

educationtoday: Tough choices in school choice: by Marilyn Achiron Editor, Directorate for Education and Skills For those parents who have the opportunity to do so, choosing a school ...

History Lecturer : Wall displays in a history class-room

History Lecturer : Wall displays in a history class-room: Yesterday there was a tweet asking for ideas for what to put on a history teacher's class-room wall. So this seems a good...

TDRE Boss Blog: Pay Me My Money Down

TDRE Boss Blog: Pay Me My Money Down: Image courtesy of Wikimedia Questions to NOT to ask at dinner parties: Who do you vote for? Are you religious? How much do you get...

Read Write Reach: Why Being a Teacher is A Bit Like Being a Royal

Read Write Reach: Why Being a Teacher is A Bit Like Being a Royal: It must be tough naming a baby if you're a Royal. After all, the range of monikers you can realistically bestow on your baby without som...

frenchteacher: So what about that Conservative Ebacc commitment?

frenchteacher: So what about that Conservative Ebacc commitment?: We will require secondary school pupils to take GCSEs in English, maths, science, a language and history or geography, with Ofsted unable to...

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: The School Research Lead - Evidence-Informed Pract...

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: The School Research Lead - Evidence-Informed Pract...: The motivation to write this post arose from a desire to help school research leads avoid the trap of telling colleagues -  'what the ev...

TDRE Boss Blog: Poor Old PowerPoint

TDRE Boss Blog: Poor Old PowerPoint: Image courtesy of Microsoft Like so many things on Twitter, the use of PowerPoint has become a little polarised of late. Is it the wor...

TDRE Boss Blog: No More Open Letters... [3 Key Points for Morgan &...

TDRE Boss Blog: No More Open Letters... [3 Key Points for Morgan &...: Image courtesy of Tony Gentilcore It's begun. Just a number of hours after the election and the open letters to David Cameron and N...

School Leadership - A Scottish Perspective: A Professional Development: #Pedagooprimary

School Leadership - A Scottish Perspective: A Professional Development: #Pedagooprimary: Yesterday I travelled some eighty or so miles to Edinburgh to take part in a professional development event for teachers, organised by teach...

NQT (New - and Quietly Terrified!): Another trough.

NQT (New - and Quietly Terrified!): Another trough.: I have debated uploading this post as it is particularly negative, but it is my personal blog, my professional journey, and I think it's...

frenchteacher: Two implications of the election result for MFL

frenchteacher: Two implications of the election result for MFL: So the nation has voted and totally confounded the pollsters. Like many teachers I am bitterly disappointed and can foresee some messy polit...

To boldly go...: Another dot on the Raiseonline

To boldly go...: Another dot on the Raiseonline: Some may remember the last blog post I wrote about statutory testing for 11 year olds and the effects on pupils. Especially the most vulnera...

TDRE Boss Blog: Faith Schools [RC] #GE2015

TDRE Boss Blog: Faith Schools [RC] #GE2015: Image courtesy of BHA The Bishops of England and Wales wrote to the Catholic population in February. The two key questions that it as...

Adam Twyman's Blog: Understanding Assessment without Levels

Adam Twyman's Blog: Understanding Assessment without Levels: In the first of my series about developing a new assessment system in our 2 form entry primary school in suburban south London, I will try ...

Adam Twyman's Blog: Understanding Assessment without Levels

Adam Twyman's Blog: Understanding Assessment without Levels: In the first of my series about developing a new assessment system in our 2 form entry primary school in suburban south London, I will try ...

frenchteacher: Challenges of the new MFL GCSE

frenchteacher: Challenges of the new MFL GCSE: Controlled assessment will be gone, good riddance, but many language teachers will be wary of a new GCSE syllabus they will have to teach fr...

educationtoday: How Sweden’s school system can regain its old stre...

educationtoday: How Sweden’s school system can regain its old stre...: by Andreas Schleicher Director, Directorate for Education and Skills During my days as a university student, I used to look to Swed...

Teaching Apprentice: Setting and Maintaining an Academic Ethos

Teaching Apprentice: Setting and Maintaining an Academic Ethos: For the following weeks, I am focussing on creating an Academic Ethos by adhering to the techniques advocated by Doug Lemov in his

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: researchED New York - Some Initial Reflections

Evidence Based Educational Leadership: researchED New York - Some Initial Reflections: The longer I work at developing my skills as a edublogger, the more I realise that there's nothing more stimulating than listening to in...

The Snow Report: Why not everyone is enthusiastic about the Arrows...

The Snow Report: Why not everyone is enthusiastic about the Arrows...: Recent media reports such as this one in The Age have again drawn attention to the Canadian-based Arrowsmith Program for addressing the ne...

Steps in teaching and learning: Going for interview - Square pegs in round holes

Steps in teaching and learning: Going for interview - Square pegs in round holes: This isn't a blog about getting your first teaching post, this is really about that next step up the ladder, the leadership post. I...

Adam Twyman's Blog: Developing A New Assessment System

Adam Twyman's Blog: Developing A New Assessment System:    It was no surprise to me, in October 2014, when my head teacher placed at the top of my new performance management form the requirem...

Read Write Reach: Interview Questions

Read Write Reach: Interview Questions: Chickens As a twenty one year old NQT wannabe, I rocked up at Leeds University to be interviewed for the PGCE Secondary English cou...

The London RE Hub: Where Next? [2015]

The London RE Hub: Where Next? [2015]: The TLREH Team at the Ismaili Centre, March 2015 The London RE Hub’s inaugural conference was attended by over 100 London teachers and...

frenchteacher: How can we increase uptake in languages?

frenchteacher: How can we increase uptake in languages?: Readers will be familiar with the crisis in recruitment to language courses in the UK, whether it be GCSE, A-level or university. At GCSE th...