Teaching and Learning - Teaching Expertise

The importance of teaching spelling, and its affect on literacy, was highlighted in recent interim reports from the Primary Review; so what should schools be doing to teach the core skill of spelling? Debbie Hepplewhite looks at current thinking, requirements and problems

This secondary assembly offers the author's view of the miners' strike of 1984-5, drawing similarities with the current recession crisis and highlighting the benefits of community life

Pupils' social skill development is the focus of Anne de A’Echevarria's third e-bulletin on pupil team work, core to the QCA’s Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills framework

This assembly looks at school transition, which can be a stressful time for children and their parents. It considers children in the UK who are moving from one school to another, and also children across the world who are not able to go to school at all

Last year Ofsted expressed increasing concern about the educational outcomes of white boys from low-income backgrounds. This year it has highlighted good practice in 20 schools which are meeting boys' needs

This assembly for secondary schools discusses the charity event Red Nose Day. It uses dialogue to present and evaluate the work of Comic Relief. The script may be adapted to take account of any planned school involvement

This primary assembly looks at the actual and the Christian symbolic arrival of spring, as well as the traditions of Lent and the Green Man

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Author: Chris Ford

Are the boys in your school, your class or in the groups that come to you for support achieving less well than you think they should? Teach to Inspire Boys offers practical advice on how to inspire your male pupils at school

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Author: Marie Huxtable, Rosalind Hurford & Joy Mounter

Creative and Philosophical Thinking in Primary Schools shows how creative and philosophical thinking can be developed in the everyday classroom. This practical book helps you find better ways to help your children grow educationally

The ASDAN curriculum offers pupils a unique opportunity to achieve recognition for personal and social development skills. Chief Executive Roger White charts the development and benefits of this curriculum framework and explains why it is as relevant today as when it started

Introducing learning logs can help pupils to reflect on their learning by identifying their attainment and progress says Steve Gibson, director of music and public performance at Carmel RC College, Darlington

How can you create an exciting series of citizenship lessons that will develop knowledge and understanding amongst your key stage 3 students? Catherine Johnson discusses her successes

This ebulletin begins to look at how to troubleshoot common problems that students face when asked to work together in groups or teams. It continues Anne de A’Echevarria's focus on ‘Team Workers' from the PLTS curriculum

How does your school approach 'learning to learn'? A bit of 'accelerated learning', a few 'thinking skills', some 'emotional intelligence' and a commitment to 'assessment for learning' for good measure? The QCA has acknowledged that schools need a coherent, consistent approach to learning - Graham Powell examines how to do it

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This free teaching activity for primary school children will encourage their thinking skills, specifically encouraging active thinking and imagination

This secondary assembly takes a SEAL perspective and concentrates on forgiveness, using the life and career of Abraham Lincoln as an example of someone who was prepared to restore broken relationships. It encourages students to reflect on how they could restore such relationships themselves

Behaviour suffers when teachers don't get to their classrooms on time, as pupils take advantage of the lack of supervision. Teachers' timekeeping is therefore important, and can be made more efficient by planning and communication with colleagues

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Author: Caroline Stagg, Anthony Thomas, Peter Smith and Chris Warn

Need help with planning and executing school trips? The Off the Premises Handbook will help you to run well-planned, efficiently managed, interesting and safe events away from school, that will have a lasting impact on your students

This citizenship assembly explains the concept of Fairtrade, setting it in the context of what we mean by “fairness” in our dealings with other people.

Anne de A’Echevarria explores Kagan’s Cooperative Learning pedagogy as part of her in-depth focus on the ‘Team Workers' strand of the QCA’s Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills framework

Manga is a Japanese style of print cartoon or graphic novel. Angela Youngman looks at how Manga novels might be used to inspire children in school towards an interest in literature

In this assembly Brian Radcliffe invites students to consider the health of their hearts, focussing on the British Heart Foundation’s Go Red for Heart campaign

This SEAL primary assembly looks at the culture of giving rewards and awards and examines the feelings involved, including jealousy - using the Academy Awards as a discussion point

Schools need to be redesigned with a focus on relationships in order to raise achievement, says policy adviser Charles Leadbeater

What powers do teachers actually have when it comes to disruptive pupils at school? Dai Durbridge discusses with reference to the use of force and confiscation

There are important issues to consider regarding the children of parents who are in prison. This article gives advice as to what educational support can be put in place and the role that some SENCOs might play in coordinating this

What can and should schools do when they learn about cases of self-flagellation, as part of religious ceremonies like Ashura in the Shi'a Muslim community?

20,000 girls may be at risk of female genital mutilation in the UK. The charity Forward urges schools to watch out for the signs

This assembly examines our concept of the ‘hero’ and considers the extent to which Charles Darwin was heroic in his proposal of the theory of evolution by natural selection

This SEAL assembly for primary schools aims to educate primary school children on Alzheimers and memory loss in older generations, and encourages them to sympathise with, rather than laugh at, the difficulties it presents them with

This secondary assembly looks at the negative effects of hatred with reference to the Holocaust Memorial Day, Tuesday 27th January, the theme of which was, “Stand up to hatred!”

What kind of language do students need to develop if they are to think and learn effectively as a team? This e-bulletin is the second Learning and Thinking Skills to focus on 'Team Workers'

Self-evaluation has an important place in improving the quality of provision in early years education. Early Years Update discusses how self-evaluation can be used for maximum benefit

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) principles are designed to celebrate the importance of play and learning, by putting the child back at the heart of early years practice. Sally Jaeckle, senior regional adviser for the EYFS, South West, discusses

A key person has special responsibilities when working with small number of early years children. They are an important part of good early years practice, for which Early Years Update offers a range of practical ideas to underpin the information in the Early Years Foundation Stage Principles into Practice cards

Building links between a child's school and home is an excellent way to approach their behaviour and emotional literacy, says Virginia Robinson

Using thinking skills across the curriculum can be an effective way to boost learning. Anne-Louise Gibbon describes her experiences of developing thinking skills activities as part of a school working party

The knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) at Bedlington Community High School aims to improve learning for staff and students at Key Stage 3. Anna Reid describes the two-year project and how it aims to develop an assessment framework for enquiry using ICT

Jo McShane examines the 'sticky' issue of the IQ and social class debate

This primary PSHEE assembly focuses around the 'credit crunch', understanding that, although young children may not understand what it is, they may well have picked up on the negative connotations surrounding it. It therefore attempts to give them advice on how to help at home

Whilst a topic-centred approach to teaching has its advantages, we must not forget the central importance of subject-based concepts, says David Leat

This SEAL assembly encourages secondary students to consider how words can be the cause of pain and suffering

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These lesson ideas and revision activities for Year 6 students are designed to meet national learning objectives and develop life long thinking skills

This e-bulletin is the first Learning and Thinking Skills to focus on the 'Team Workers' strand, highlighting strategies that can help students to learn with, and from, each other more effectively

What constitutes a healthy diet for babies and toddlers under five years old? Sarah Almond, a registered dietician, discusses this query with reference to examples of the nutritional standards of food served in a range of childcare settings

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Author: Matt Revill

Thinking Skills in the Primary Classroom by Matt Revill will help teachers to apply thinking skills strategies to maths, literacy and science. This is a new collection of more than 60 exciting activities with accompanying resources

Supporting learning is an important part of good early years practice with babies, toddlers and three- to five-year-old children. Early Years Update offers a range of practical ideas to underpin the information in the Early Years Foundation Stage Principles into Practice cards

This PSHE assembly discusses pupils’ admiration of their personal heroes, and looks at the emotion of envy – urging them to distinguish between wanting to be someone else and wanting to be like someone else

Should people sentenced to community service punishment be required to wear uniforms? Or is that “stigmatising”? This PSHE secondary assembly explains the origin of the word “stigma”, and discusses the right and wrong ways to judge other people