Raising Achievement - Teaching Expertise

In a bid to help students raise their achievement and know success, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust initiated Raising Achievement Transforming Learning (RATL). David Crossley explains the school-to-school mentoring scheme which allows teachers to learn from the success of others

At some schools, individual cases of underachievement can be masked by overall good performance. Liz Allen tells how her school in Bromley overcame this by redesigning its whole approach to teaching and learning

Nicola Adams talks about becoming the first female to box for England at 18 years old, in the first of three interviews with women in amateur boxing who are at the top of their game

Improving pupils’ leadership skills can have a positive impact on many areas of school life and PESS provides a key opportunity to develop, hone and improves them, explains Jill Wyatt

With 20% of children leaving school with lower than expected literacy levels, additional support is needed. Reading Recovery, a reading intervention programme developed in 1993, offers exactly that, say Rebecca Jenkin and Isobel Goss read more

Meditation can help create calmer and more relaxed classes as well as help a school achieve great SAT scores, says Kevin Hogston

How can eradicating detention lead to a decrease in challenging behaviour? Geraldine Rowe describes how her discovery of choice theory caused her to rethink her approach to discipline

After a long standing struggle between learner-centred and standards-led aims for primary education, two papers for the Primary Review note the emergence of a hybrid read more

How can we go about building trust into the education system? Here we look at the NAHT’s Commission of Inquiry into Assessment and League Tables read more

Counselling services need to be made a normal part of school provision, as new research into UK school counselling shows

What does the Children’s Plan have to say about shaping up a more emotionally literate education system? read more

What can be achieved by SEAL over three years? Educational psychologist Cate Summers takes a look at results in the London Borough of Westminster read more

Julie Leoni, emotional literacy coordinator at The Marches School, explores how we help young people to understand the difference between aggressive power and positive power

Gallions Primary School teaches the entire curriculum through the arts, with fantastic results. Co-heads Paul Jackson and Emma McCarthy explain how it’s done read more

Setting targets is no way to improve educational standards, argues former headteacher and now legal consultant to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Richard Bird read more

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

The Children’s Plan was launched by Ed Balls in December 2007, but what are the government’s objectives for this initiative?

Crispin Andrews looks at how staff at two children’s centres are reaping the benefits of information communication technology

John Blanchard looks at the importance of distinguishing underachievers and slow learners and gives examples of techniques and tactics you can use to help pupils reach their potential

The intention of raising standards is one that seems to run through all sorts of current ideas about education. But which ‘standards’ are being referred to and in what sense (if any) are they being raised? Pam Woolner examines the issues read more

Starting and changing schools are big transitions. Former headteacher Lynn Cousins shares advice on handling these and less common times of change that children experience read more

Ensuring that all pupils can read by the time that they leave primary school is a priority for headteachers across the country. Ben Barton looks at how new technology might make this easier read more

The contribution of support staff to student achievement must be recognised and promoted, says Paul Ainsworth read more

Val Scott brings us up to date with developments in Wales and describes the important role played by NACE in introducing Quality Standards to schools read more

The happiness programme at Wellington College in Berkshire is described by Anthony Seldon, the master, Ian Morris, head of philosophy, and two Year 12 students

Susannah Temple uses concepts from transactional analysis to highlight an important psychological issue for teachers in developing their own identity as effective practitioners

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

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 read more

Blake Technology College has gone from ‘challenging circumstances’ to achieving the NACE Challenge Award for G&T education. Lesley Griggs describes the improvements to teaching and learning and the approach to G&T provision in the school which led to this success read more

Sonia O’Sullivan – Ireland’s middle distance runner and most crowned sportswoman – speaks to Tina Ryan about her days as a young athelete and her journey since

Yvonne Spencer looks at a broad scheme to improve outcomes — and explains its effect on local authorities and schools read more

Michael Fielding, professor at London’s Institute of Education, argues that we need to think a lot harder about what we mean by personalised learning if current developments are to engage people actively in their learning

Principal Ian Johnson describes how an extended school day and a high level of community involvement are central to the strategy for raising achievement at The Marlowe Academy in Ramsgate read more

Headteacher Neil Berry explains how Brampton Manor in East London – described by Ofsted in December 1999 as having ‘serious weaknesses’ – was turned into the fully inclusive, successful school it is today

Education writer Dorothy Lepkowska reports on how Study Plus – a course designed to support students who have the ability to improve their academic performance – is being implemented and received in the classroom read more

A research study on tackling low achievement suggests that children with special educational needs form a large percentage of low achievers but more could be done to assist them through their schooling read more

Reading should be a primary school’s biggest priority, says Steve Mynard, editor of Primary Headship

Jackie Beere looks at how schools can help learners to become self motivated and independent

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

Crispin Andrews talks to assistant headteacher Karen Collinswood about the role of school leadership in developing high-quality PE in primary schools read more

Educational psychologist Alan McLean summarises his model for understanding how teachers can motivate their students

A new report considers why some children who did well at key stage 1 do not maintain the same rate of progress at key stage 2

Philip Adey, one of the original proponents of CASE (cognitive acceleration through science education), reviews developments in the approach and critically examines its use in schools read more

Raising the level of challenge for all children lies at the heart of RA Butler School’s G&T policy. Ann Geeves and Clare Gill describe how they have put systems in place to do this read more

How can form tutors can raise achievement for all pupils and support the gifted and talented? Aim Higher coordinator Martin Ransley reports

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 read more

The Bristol Climbing Centre courses aim to develop the whole person. Jo McCready explains their teaching philosophy and describes their work with more able students read more

Christine Fanthome outlines practical strategies for students to aid examination success read more

The pressures created by a high-performance culture made it difficult for the children at one primary school to learn and collaborate. Tamara Bibby, a lecturer at the Institute of Education in London, explains read more

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