A day in the life of a primary mentor | Learning Mentor

Primary learning mentor Ayub Malik explains why he is proud to be working with children experiencing barriers to learning

Support for all: extended and outreach services | Learning Mentor

Headteacher Bernadette O’Brien describes the core themes of extended provision at Priory School and Sports College

Supporting parents of teenagers | Learning Mentor

Jenny Barton, lead learning mentor at Norham Community Technology College, shares her experience of developing and facilitating a support group for parents of teenagers

Student voices: Year 7 pupils leading the plenary | Learning Mentor

A project aimed at raising the profile of plenaries at Sandringham School, St Albans, has evolved into a catalyst for change that allows students to make their voices heard in the school. Deputy head Ceddy de la Croix explains

Making written feedback effective | Learning Mentor

Comment-only marking is vital in helping students to reflect on their own learning, but implementing it can be a challenge. Jason Edwards, vice principal at Priory Community School, Somerset, describes how his school has overcome the initial problems

Provision for pupils with moderate learning difficulties | Learning Mentor

Michael Farrell considers provision for pupils with moderate learning difficulties (MLD)

Elective home education: parental rights and constraints | Learning Mentor

Headteacher David Dixon takes a close look at the philosophy behind elective home education, enshrined in a recent consultation document on guidelines to cover this parental option

Shaping a CLASI learning environment | Learning Mentor

Antidote’s development director Marilyn Tew describes how schools can encourage learning by promoting 'CLASI-ness' - where children feel capable, listened to, accepted, safe and included

Raising achievement with assertive mentoring | Learning Mentor

Eamonn Farrar, chief executive and former head of Hurworth Comprehensive School in Darlington describes how he developed unique systems of mentoring to transform a low-performing school into one of today’s top performers

Engaging hard-to-reach parents | Learning Mentor

Who are the parents who evade all forms of contact from schools and why do they choose to exist at the fringes of their child’s education? Jo McShane investigates

Activities to develop gross motor skills | Learning Mentor

Gross motor skills are the movements of the large muscles of the body. These activities will help to develop and improve gross motor skills.

Activities to develop social communication skills (pragmatics) | Learning Mentor

Pragmatics refers to the ability to communicate in social situations. These classroom activities will help all children to develop social communication skills.

Activities to develop grammar (syntax and morphology) | Learning Mentor

These classroom activities can help develop grammar skills, particularly syntax and morphology

Questioning skills as a tool for participation | Learning Mentor

Jo Smith provides some practical tips on how to develop questioning skills as a tool for promoting participation and learning

Opening minds: a competency based curriculum at Campion School | Learning Mentor

Helen Boyle, AST and lead teacher for Opening Minds, Campion School, describes the school's successful development of a competency based curriculum with L2L at its heart

Young sporting ambassadors | Learning Mentor

In the countdown to 2012, the Young Ambassadors programme is striving to ensure the much-vaunted legacy of the London Olympics becomes a reality

Inspirational athlete: Abebe Bikila, long distance runner | Learning Mentor

Inspirational people: PE and Sport magazine looks at the legendary Abebe Bikila, the first of the great Ethiopian distance runners, who won back-to-back gold medals in the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games

Next steps for children in care | Learning Mentor

Many SENCOS work with looked after children. The results of a consultation on proposals to help children in care suggest ways of improving support for these children

National organisations for gifted and talented | Learning Mentor

The CfBT Education Trust manages the national gifted and talented strategy and is planning an online 'one-stop-shop' to provide routes to CPD, case study material, outreach events, resources etc

Shaping the climate for learning | Learning Mentor

In an extract from his book, Making School Work, headteacher Andy Buck describes how he views the challenge of shaping a climate for learning at Jo Richardson Community School

Focus on social development | Learning Mentor

It will take understanding and patience to shape a situation where all schools focus as much on wellbeing as on attainment argues Colleen McLaughlin, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education in Cambridge

Putting wellbeing at the centre | Learning Mentor

Yeading Junior in Hayes has evolved its strategy for putting emotional health and wellbeing at the centre of the curriculum. Headteacher Carole Jones describes how

Strategies for closing the student achievement gap | Learning Mentor

A summary from the Everyone Wants to Learn conference (Feb 2007) of the elements that participants considered should be part of any strategy to shape a school community where everyone wants to learn

Using the SEAL material in Peterborough | Learning Mentor

Toby Wood and Nick Guest describe how they have encouraged implementation of the SEAL materials in Peterborough primary schools.

Reconciling emotional literacy and targets | Learning Mentor

In the first episode of her diary, drama teacher Julie Leoni writes about reconciling her emotional literacy programme with the school’s focus on targets and achievement.

Legal case notes: Care order | Learning Mentor

The half sister of an adopted child applied for leave to apply for a care order, on the basis that once a year was not enough

Learning mentors improve behaviour | Learning Mentor

This article examines the role of the learning mentor and how they can be deployed in the school for the benefit of the whole learning community. David Morley reports

Teachers' relationships in the workplace | Learning Mentor

The relationship of teachers in the workplace is an under-researched area. Educational psychologist Kairen Cullen discusses her study

Thinking Through School: building a learning community | Learning Mentor

In this month’s in-depth focus Anne De A’Echevarria talks about the Thinking Through School approach to learning-focused innovation. She describes the model and, using examples, explores successful implementation in schools and how the impact can be seen to be more than school-wide.

Personalised learning | Learning Mentor

'Personalised learning' has been appearing with increasing frequency in policy documents and in discussion about teaching and learning for the last few years. But what is truly meant by 'personalised learning'?

Sustaining the desire to learn | Learning Mentor

Emotional Literacy Update takes a look at the learning aims that the secondary curriculum review hopes to put at the centre of the KS3 and KS4 curriculum from autumn 2008.

Including young people in our conversation | Learning Mentor

Julie Leoni describes how she tried to do justice to the voices of young people in her presentation to the Antidote conference.

Emotionally intelligent schools | Learning Mentor

This is what secondary drama teacher Julie Leoni and Bristol Learning Initiative director James Wetz said at a recent Antidote conference about the emotional factors that need addressing if we are to close the achievement gap.

Can we choose our values? | Learning Mentor

In his introduction to a new column, Dr Graham Haydon focuses on choice and discusses how the decisions we make influence our everyday life.

Engaging teenagers in the world of work | Learning Mentor

Madeleine White illustrates how to engage teenagers in the world of work

Parenting – neglected field in the curriculum? | Learning Mentor

Ofsted’s last report on PSHE observed that parenting is frequently ignored in secondary schools. Dr Sue Dale Tunnicliffe outlines ways forward for 11-19 year olds.

Guidance for careers and better health | Learning Mentor

In this article, Beverley Bailey outlines opportunites for working in healthcare.

Young people coping with divorce | Learning Mentor

Nikki Parker advises on how to help young people survive family disruptions.

Top tips for starting a media career | Learning Mentor

Christine Fanthome outlines practical strategies for school and college leavers

Tackling binge drinking | Learning Mentor

Andrew Chambers tackles young people’s binge drinking through a new resource.

The importance of physical touch | Learning Mentor

Psychologist Sylvia Clare discusses the importance of physical touch in helping children and young people reconnect to learning.

Counselling: a powerful but limited tool | Learning Mentor

Counselling is often touted as a solution to challenging behaviour and as a way of meeting needs that are beyond the scope of a school’s pastoral care mechanisms. But is it? Adrian King, independent health education consultant and qualified counsellor looks at what it can realistically deliver.

Bullying and the bystander | Learning Mentor

Anna Tombs reports on research into intervention work against bullying.

Teaching and learning interventions | Learning Mentor

We are constantly trying to drive up standards of teaching and learning with new approaches, preferably those with a strong evidence base. But is ‘What Works?’ the right question? Should we really be asking ‘How do good teachers get better?’ Elaine Hall reflects on the messages from a meta-analysis of teaching and learning interventions.

Case study: working with parents at Casterton Business and Enterprise College | Learning Mentor

Casterton Business and Enterprise College (CEBC) is one of three truly comprehensive Rutland secondary schools with 800 pupils on role in Years 7-11.

Home-school communication | Learning Mentor

G&T coordinator Jo Smith explains how to get the most out of working with parents.

Raising standards through wellbeing | Learning Mentor

Antidote director James Park and development director Marilyn Tew describe the challenge that schools face if they are to address a decline in student wellbeing between Years 5 and 10.

Student mental health and wellbeing | Learning Mentor

Claire Maxwell and Ian Warwick highlight some ways in which student mental health is being addressed in colleges of further education

Inclusion and homosexuality | Learning Mentor

Mark Jennett clarifies why schools and colleges need to talk about homosexuality.

The art of listening | Learning Mentor

In an edited excerpt from his new book, clinical psychologist Steve Killick writes about the importance of listening to young people.

It's harder to stop than to start! | Learning Mentor

A proposed change in the law would raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco. Peter Downes discusses the implications for schools.

Teaching through dark feelings | Learning Mentor

Secondary drama teacher Julie Leoni writes about how she teaches through the darkest days of winter

Exclusions: the new guidance and regulations explained | Learning Mentor

Schools should take note of new reporting and training requirements, as well as changes to appeal panel representation rights, says Ingrid Sutherland.

A new language for learning | Learning Mentor

Former headteacher Tim Small, a member of of ViTaL Partnerships, introduces some excerpts from his colleague Ruth Deakin Crick’s new book on learning power and the effective lifelong learning inventory (ELLI).

Child abuse and its affect on brain development (part two) | Learning Mentor

Child abuse can affect a child’s ability to learn. In the second of two articles, Jenni Whitehead looks at ways of helping such children in the classroom.

Guiding students to make informed curriculum choices | Learning Mentor

The key change to the curriculum at Key Stage 4 has been to increase the breadth of choice. Alan Monks, Deputy Headteacher, describes the impact on Ellis Guilford School and Sports College, Nottingham.

Making the right choices at 14 and 16 | Learning Mentor

Sarah Blenkinsop and Marian Morris examine young people’s decision-making patterns, the role their school plays, the skills they require and other influences on the choices they make at core points in their school career.

Child abuse and its effect on brain development | Learning Mentor

In the first of two articles, Jenni Whitehead explores present understanding and research on how abuse experienced in childhood affects the child’s developing brain function and how this in turn affects learning.

Vygotsky and the child apprentice | Learning Mentor

Lev S. Vygotsky is the subject of Steve Mynard's article on the psychology of child development.

Communicating with parents: meetings and presentations | Learning Mentor

Carole Farrar continues her series on communication with parents.

Investigating underachievement | Learning Mentor

Do students have something constructive to say about their own education? Putting pupil consultation at the forefront of her research into tacking underachievement allowed Helen Lee to highlight some new areas of concern for her school.

Sexual exploitation: signs to look out for | Learning Mentor

Jenni Whitehead looks at signs that show a young person may be at risk of abuse.

Helping children to cope | Learning Mentor

Programme director Claire Finka writes about how the Sheffield-based Juniper programme helps children find a way to cope with stress.

Making working memory work in the classroom | Learning Mentor

Dr Tracy Packiam Alloway of the University of Durham has researched the difficulties faced by children who have a low working memory.

Piaget and the development of intelligence | Learning Mentor

Steve Mynard opens a series of articles on educational thinkers who have influenced our approaches to early education.

Challenging the myths | Learning Mentor

Jane West looks at some misconceptions about giftedness and how to dispel them.

The stick and the carrot: no answer to attendance problems | Learning Mentor

Bob Jelley, former head and now supply teacher, argues that success in improving school attendance lies in the hands of the encouragers, persuaders and mentors.

Together We Can - an active citizenship initiative | Learning Mentor

John Potter explores a government proposal for citizenship education.

Preparing for peer mediation | Learning Mentor

Peer support schemes can benefit staff and pupils. Jaci Smith describes one initiative and explains how to get started.

Martin Luther King Day – student inspiration at Benjamin Britten High School | Learning Mentor

On Martin Luther King Day, suggestions from Year 8 and 9 students at Benjamin Britten High School.

Student voice at Whalley Range High School | Learning Mentor

Many schools would say their students have a voice, but do they really? What about at Whalley Range?

Christmas carol concert | Learning Mentor

This seasonal assembly for infants looks at the carol service or carol concert – an annual fixture in many schools

Early Years: signs for success | Learning Mentor

Angela Youngman finds out about a scheme to improve communication in early years settings through the use of sign language.

Structured writing | Learning Mentor

Writing frames undoubtedly have their uses, but they can also limit the creative talents of the more able, writes Frank Bruce

Multiple intelligences | Learning Mentor

IQ (Intelligence Quotient) has long been the standard by which we have judged people. Although technically we only use it to judge a person's 'intelligence', their IQ score tends to carry a lot of other potential judgement, prejudice and discrimination along with it.

Developing independent learning skills | Learning Mentor

Recent Government advice suggests that schools should aim to achieve flexibility in their approaches to pupils by:

Colour in the classroom | Learning Mentor

More and more schools throughout the country are realising that children with specific reading difficulties can be helped by the use of colour, either in the form of coloured overlays or as individually prescribed coloured spectacle lenses. By Tim Noakes.

Transactional Analysis in the Classroom | Learning Mentor

An alternative approach to behaviour management.

Action learning sets | Learning Mentor

Reg Revans, often referred to as the father of action learning, said 'action learning takes so long to describe because it is so simple'. While we agree that ALS is a simple and elegant process that is better experienced than explained, we believe we can give you a flavour of the process in this article.

Transforming teaching and learning with LVT | Learning Mentor

This article outlines an approach to teaching and learning called LogoVisual Thinking (LVT), which was first introduced into schools in 2000. Although the methods and tools are relatively new to teachers, they are already having a profound influence on those who have been introduced to them. We believe that the approach represents an important advance in the teaching of thinking skills and has broader potential for designing effective learning experiences.

Opening Minds - the alternative curriculum | Learning Mentor

In the third of our series of articles about the Opening Minds Curriculum, Imogen Willgress explains how a new team was brought together to plan the new approach to Key Stage 3.

Unveil your hidden power in school: developing facilitation | Learning Mentor

Philippa Bogle compares and contrasts facilitation, coaching, mentoring and counselling

Encouraging independent learning | Learning Mentor

Andy Bowman explores strategies to begin to develop independence and resourcefulness in young learners.

The language of persuasion | Learning Mentor

Susan Norma suggests ways of influencing students' behaviour from a NLP perspective.

The journey, not the arrival | Learning Mentor

The second in a series of articles exploring the innovative 'Opening Minds' Curriculum at St John's School in Marlborough.

The evidence for accelerated learning | Learning Mentor

Bill Lucas explores the phrase 'accelerated learning,' and its associated curious, if well-meaning, misconceptions

Opening minds | Learning Mentor

Dr Patrick Hazlewood explains how St John's School in Marlborough, challenged an out-dated curriculum.

Raising achievement using brain breaks | Learning Mentor

Children today are now more likely to be consuming and digesting slices of aerobic exercises with a healthy pinch of brain gym workouts sandwiched between lessons.

Developing planning skills in young children | Learning Mentor

Many children have their lives rigidly planned out for them at home, at school and in leisure activities. They drift along waiting to be taken to venues and attend activities pre-structured for them. Others have a complete lack of any organisation in their lives and events appear to them to happen at random - if at all! How can we develop their ability to think creatively and to begin to take some control over their lives?

Accelerated learning - working towards a new ethos | Learning Mentor

Bailey's Court Primary School set out to explore accelerated learning back in 2002. Here, class teacher and Learning Manager Andrew Bowman explains why and how they began their journey towards a more learning-centred ethos.

What makes a mentor? | Learning Mentor

Barrie Smale and Andrew Gibbons discuss the skills required of an effective mentor. As a developmental process, mentoring is a powerful and cost effective way of helping people to learn.

KVA - how children learn | Learning Mentor

'If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then teach in the way the child learns.' Rita Dunn

The SHE faculty - self, health and exercise | Learning Mentor

Hayesfield School Technology College is a large girls' comprehensive school on the south side of Bath. Mary Read and Jo Sargent explain how Citizenship, PHSE, PE and extra-curricular activities have been brought together to raise the profile of healthy living for all students.

Nine ways to improve your worksheets | Learning Mentor

Accelerated learning tips.

NLP - understanding your students | Learning Mentor

As teachers with a new class, we tend to get a good idea pretty quickly about which students are going to do well in our classes, which ones are going to struggle, and which ones are not even going to try.

The importance of emotional safety | Learning Mentor

In her final article on how teachers use emotions, teacher trainer Susan Gibbs discusses why emotional safety is so important in enabling children and young people to learn.

Make classroom groups work | Learning Mentor

Some key findings from research on how teachers can use groups to boost young people's achievement

Personalised learning under review | Learning Mentor

A new review group has been set up to recommend ways of:

Groupwork boosts achievement | Learning Mentor

Groupwork needs a bigger role in classroom practice, according to the findings of the SPRinG (Social Pedagogic Research into Groupwork) project, carried out over five years by researchers at the universities of London, Cambridge and Brighton.

Academies and membership of the GTCE | Learning Mentor

In a letter to the DfES in May Universities Council for Education of Teachers (UCET) expressed concern that teachers working in city academies do not need to be members of the General Teaching Council (GTC).

How can learning mentors be used to remove the barriers to learning? | Learning Mentor

Learning mentors come from all walks of life. They offer the chance for a positive role model and individual attention to many young people, who otherwise would not have that opportunity. Kathy Salter and Rhonda Twidle, drawing on their own experience as mentors, describe how the role has developed in recent years, and how it can complement the support provided by SEN specialists.

Promoting mental health in schools | Learning Mentor

Since September 2005, as part of the new framework for inspection for children's services, schools are expected to demonstrate how they are contributing to the five national outcomes for children stipulated by Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004.

Encouraging open thinking | Learning Mentor

For the teacher wishing to develop pupils' thinking skills, there are many books, models and approaches to choose from, each with its own philosophies and strengths, writes Andy Bowman

Objectivist or constructivist? | Learning Mentor

Education consultant and author Brin Best uses findings from education research to help improve your teaching skills

Safe learning | Learning Mentor

Julie Bennett explains how to develop a climate of safe learning in your classroom

Transformational facilitation | Learning Mentor

Philippa Bogle desribes how skilled one-on-one facilitation can lead to personal empowerment and transformation within your school

Boys: the magic of silence and stillness | Learning Mentor

Many statistics point to the potential risks and disadvantages of being a boy, but how can we help them fulfil their potential? Maggie Dent investigates

Getting the most from mentoring | Learning Mentor

Clare Smale and Andrew Gibbons consider how mentoring encourages the development of a learning organisation culture

Learning how to learn | Learning Mentor

Every child has enormous potential for learning and is capable of progress. If this is not happening, it is most probably because we, the childrens' teachers, have not yet found the right keys to their hearts and minds, writes Eva Hoffman

Accelerated learning - how quick is it? | Learning Mentor

AL has become something of a catch-all phrase these days, synonymous with brain-based or mind-friendly learning. Susan Norman goes beyond the buzz-word to bring you the facts

Nuffield Curriculum Centre | Learning Mentor

Curriculum managers constantly need to be looking for new and more effective approaches to improving teaching and learning (T&L) in their school. This website aims to help you do just that by giving you access to a range of curriculum projects aimed at pioneering new ways to manage and deliver teaching and learning.

ICT failing to impact on learning due to staff ignorance | Learning Mentor

Teachers are failing to make effective use of computers in the classroom — the verdict of recent research on school ICT use has revealed the poor impact that the £1bn ICT investment from the Government has had so far.

Schools share effective ways to use data to improve teaching and learning | Learning Mentor

Schools are being more effective at using data to improve teaching and learning (T&L), but many are being held back by lack of time to update and analyse the data.

Vocational courses boost students' confidence in learning | Learning Mentor

New research has revealed the positive impact vocational courses are having on students - in terms of their achievement, their confidence in their ability, their attitudes towards school and towards carrying on with their education.

Boosting creativity in learning | Learning Mentor

As you begin a new school year, fresh and rejuvenated from the summer break, many of you will be looking for new and inspiring ways to achieve more creative teaching and learning throughout your school. If you've not heard of Creative Partnerships, then now would be a good time to find out more.

Praise for results includes pat on back for vocationalism | Learning Mentor

Amid the usual cries of the dumbing down of standards, schools were praised for another increase in this year's overall exam results.

At GCSE level, a rise in achievement in the basics of English and maths was picked out for particular praise — these subjects are the ‘bedrock’ of every student’s education, said Schools Minister Jacqui Smith.