Teaching & Learning Coordinator - Teaching Expertise

A behaviour policy must be applied consistently if it is to work. Dave Stott looks at the best ways to get staff working in cooperation

Focusing only on learning or only on behaviour can lead to an imbalance in the teaching and learning environment. Dave Stott looks at how to create an integrated learning/behavior plan

In the Learning Futures project, teachers ‘let go’ of their students’ learning. The results were rich and varied, as the blog entries from participants reveal

Asking questions is fundamental to helping students acquire knowledge. Ulrike Thomas looks at four key issues to consider when thinking about questioning

What can curriculum managers be doing to secure more widespread effective use of ICT to transform teaching and learning in their school context? Research from Becta offers potential solutions

In this series looking at 'effective participators', in this issue we look at a technique known as the World Café – another form of cooperative investigation that can be used to encourage students to engage actively with the issues that affect them

This week we will look at an approach known as Appreciative Inquiry – another form of cooperative investigation that can be used to encourage students to engage actively with the issues that affect them

This e-bulletin continues our focus on developing 'effective participators'. This issue we look at Narrative Enquiry – a form of cooperative investigation that can be used with students, staff, parents, governors to encourage active exploration of the issues that affect them

This e-bulletin continues our exploration of how the QCDA personal, learning and thinking skills framework can be put into practice. For the summer term, our focus is on the final key competence of the framework: that of 'effective participators'

We are currently looking at the crucial role of metacognitive plenaries in helping our students to develop a more reflective mindset. Last time we looked at some activities designed to introduce the concept of metacognition – or 'thinking about thinking' – to young learners. In this bulletin we will look further at the idea of helping students to 'learn for transfer'

This e-bulletin and the next will be looking at the crucial role of metacognitive plenaries in helping our students 'learn for transfer'

This bulletin provides an overview of what is meant by effective ‘debriefing’ – an essential skill for any practitioner who wishes to generate conversations about learning in their classroom

This week begins a series on how to help young people develop as ‘Reflective Learners’

This issue we continue to look at practical activities that can be used to help young people explore the idea of 'emotional resourcefulness', focusing on helping students to become increasingly sensitive to other people’s feelings and perceptions

The activities shared this week are designed to help students become more aware of the blocks and limiting beliefs that get in the way of that potential, and how these are often reflected and reinforced by the language we use

We continue to look at practical activities that can be used to help young people explore the idea of 'emotional resourcefulness', that is, the capacity for self-knowledge and understanding – and the ability to make the best use of that understanding

Teaching languages in primary school will become compulsory in 2010. So what support and resources are available to teachers dealing with primary modern foreign languages?

Brian Asbury looks at Darwin's life and work and suggests classroom ideas for studying the man and his theories in a primary science context

Learning and Thinking Skills looks at a range of different ways of assessing students' creative development, and engaging students in that process, including Geoff Petty's model of creativity

Jenni Clarke, early years consultant and author, looks at the importance of practitioners' planning to support young children's self-initiated learning

Learning and Thinking Skills explains a strategy to teach the thinking skill of analysis to pupils across all subject areas, including downloadable examples of the strategy in use

School classrooms no longer host one adult and a group of pupils - there are often a team of educational professionals working together, which can have detrimental affects on behaviour. This article offers practical advice and strategies to help all adults working in the classroom to be more effective in their management of behaviour

Motivating students with a positive learning environment can inspire staff as well as pupils to aim high, achieving more progress than they had imagined possible and achieving student responsibility

Two teachers involved in a project to develop an enquiry-based curriculum in their school share their thoughts about the process. Victoria Bonner and Kerry Lane are both English teachers at Bedlingtonshire Community High School in Northumberland

How can participating in collaborative professional enquiry foster pupil learning and professional learning in teachers? Alison Fox from the University of Stirling and chartered teacher Jan Brophy describe how

Creative thinking is Anne de A’Echevarria's new focus within her exploration of the QCA Personal Learning and Thinking Skills framework — in this issue particularly focusing on staff working together to encourage creative thinkers across the curriculum

Students with desires to be professional sportsmen need to be encouraged to gain academic qualifications - but this is often no easy job. Chris Wall, Exeter College's sports academy development coordinator, describes how they are doing it

Does combining SEAL, Philosophy for Children (P4C) and thinking skills seem like a recipe for effective independent student learning? If so, read Kate Mawer's description of William Parker School's curriculum development for Year 7s

Mixed-ability teaching in an American High School led to higher attainment and improved relations between students, observed Jo Boaler

Anna Holland works as a learning support assistant (LSA) with students ages 13 to 16 years, at Gosford High School in Newcastle upon Tyne. Here she explains her role and the nature of her work as part of the student support base

Hanneke Jones looks at the Philosophy for Children method of introducing thinking skills. This method of learning, developed by SAPERE, develops cognitive skills and philosophical methods

An on-site community learning centre opens up opportunities to adult learners and school learners. Jackie Lees, senior strategic leaders at Mitchell High School Business and Enterprise College, shares the development of their CLC, with tips for organising community learning provision

The Philosophy for Children programme has great potential benefits for intergenerational dialogue. Michelle Whiteworth, coordinator of Age Concerns' intergenerational project in North Tyneside, discusses those benefits for pupils — and also the challenges

This Learning and Thinking Skills completes the focus on a structured apporach to social skill development, based on the QCA’s Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills strand, ‘Team Workers'

It is important to highlight e-safety when it comes to traveller or fairground children, who depend on ICT to keep up with their education. Roger Feltham hightlights the success of Surrey County Council's e-safety programme

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

Improvement in PE and sport can have cross curricular benefits across a pupil's school career. Lisa Symonds looks at how a rejuvenated look at sport had a positive impact on SEN and G&T students, as well as on PSHE and self-confidence, at three schools across the UK

PE lesson plans are offered here by Crispin Andrews, who believes that striking and fielding activities can develop children's thinking skills. The lesson plans for sport (cricket) are aimed at primary students in years 3 to 6

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

The emphasis of school trips is now on risk-aversion, with priority being placed on experience and adventure. But schools should remember that the threat of litigation has not diminished, warns Susie Roome

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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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

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

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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

Robert Sinclair offers some ideas on how to introduce climate change lessons into the primary classroom, as part of the KS2 geography curriculum

Switching the classroom for the seaside can be a refreshing change for teachers and pupils when the weather is warmer. Brian Asbury suggests some ways to link the primary science curriculum to seaside lesson plans for KS2

Children live in a visual world and the ability to read visual images is becoming a vital skill. Rebecca Jenkin offers guidance on how to help key stage 2 students think critically about visual data

Forest Schools aim to encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive outdoor experiences. Angela Youngman investigates the outdoor learning initiative, which originates from Scandinavia

The Life Project provides transformational tools and practical skills to parents, educators and teens in the areas of life, work and relationships. Erica Sosna, director of The Life Project, describes three of the facilitated exploration techiniques they use