Invite your pupils to become published music critics with the Bachtrack Young Reviewer programme
Have you taken ownership of your curriculum yet? David Morley examines how to break free, particularly with themed creative events
With increasing pressure to deliver personalised learning, John Blanchard offers strategies for putting it into practice where it counts: the classroom
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
If the spirit of creativity were allowed to flower, could we cope? David Leat looks at the way that everyday constraints leave schools ill-equipped to teach creativity and the way that it can flourish when those constraints are removed
The BERA Professional User Reviews, published in 2003, aimed to critically inform the thinking of practitioners about research. Kate Wall uses them as a focus to argue that the closing of the theory-practice divide is becoming more and more relevant in 2008
Is the pressure of school life too much for young children? Roger Smith investigates
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
Angela Youngman looks at some innovative ideas to get children moving
Lesson study is a form of classroom enquiry from the Far East that focuses on improving an aspect of teaching and learning through collaborative long-term study. Pete Dudley describes its background and how it has been adapted for use in England
Miraz Triggs found that random name generation as a way of choosing who would answer questions focused students’ attention and led to a higher level of participation
Teachers are being encouraged to use evidence to improve their practice. David Leat looks at three forms of evidence-informed professional enquiry – tinkering, action research and design research
Collaborative work can have an energising effect across the curriculum. Jo Counsell describes a collaborative project that used dance to enhance literacy learning
Three years after they first started practising Philosophy for Children, Year 6 children, one parent and two of their teachers recorded what the experience had meant for them. We publish below an edited excerpt from the resulting DVD
AfL strategies can be invaluable in providing feedback for pupils and developing insight into G&T learners’ individual needs. Clare Smale provides some practical tips for teachers
David Allen and Iona Towler-Evans look at an innovative system of teaching thinking skills through drama
Storyteller Taffy Thomas provides games and activities to stimulate children’s and young people’s capacity to tell stories
Angela Youngman turns her attention to religious education, potentially the most difficult and divisive of subjects to teach creatively and sensitively
Guy Claxton invites debate on his eight character strengths and virtues for the learning age
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
David Storrie describes a course on learning outside the classroom that has allowed teachers to critically examine their school grounds
Mandi Horwood describes how a project to investigate how students saw their learning and how they can have a say in it revealed the vital contribution that they have to make
Providing an extended schools service with a community learning centre brought about unexpected synergies for Mitchell High School. Shaun Morgan describes the changes
Sarah Whitehead describes a project that she undertook as part of a postgraduate professional development course for SENCOs. She highlights the value of having time for systematic professional reflection, and how this can be used to good effect when introducing ‘Catch Up’, an intervention designed to support reading development
Creating and delivering productive links between business and the school curriculum can benefit everyone’s future, argues headteacher Martin Ainsworth
Sal McKeown looks at some of the implications of the renewed primary Framework for those working with children with special educational needs
Gross motor skills are the movements of the large muscles of the body. These activities will help to develop and improve gross motor skills.
Pragmatics refers to the ability to communicate in social situations. These classroom activities will help all children to develop social communication skills.
These classroom activities can help develop grammar skills, particularly syntax and morphology
How can we get primary-aged children to give us feedback about their classroom experiences? Iwona Glowacz used the prospect of getting published as a way of collecting pupils’ thoughts
Jo Smith provides some practical tips on how to develop questioning skills as a tool for promoting participation and learning
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
A six-phase programme for teaching phonics aims to help children become fluent readers by the age of seven
Raising Achievement Update summarises the useful learning that emerged from the secondary pilot of the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme
Is it possible to create a more ‘gender balanced’ learning environment? Natalie Griffiths explains how she investigated the effect of gender on learning in the D&T classroom and developed strategies to benefit pupils of both sexes
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
Jackie Beere looks at how schools can help learners to become self motivated and independent
Pam Woolner looks at the variety of ways in which the widely-used term ‘learning environment’ is employed
David Leat considers some of the practical problems that will arise in managing innovation
We live in a data-rich age where almost every aspect of childhood is quantified! School improvement partner, Dave Weston, helps you see the wood from the trees
Steve Mynard, editor of Primary Headship, urges us to make reading our biggest priority
Katrina Foley describes how young children’s independence and self-management skills can be promoted in an environment which celebrates risk, challenge and empowerment
Crispin Andrews looks at the increasing emphasis on topic-based learning and offers some ideas to teach science through the topic of birds
Kath Donovan looks at the Renewed Primary Framework for Mathematics
Sara Wernham looks at the Renewed Primary Framework for Literacy and discovers how it will affect teachers
Lorraine Barber, a numeracy adviser from Worcestershire, explains the importance of effective and exciting maths teaching
Trevor Millum outlines a truly novel way to get pupils to enjoy manipulating and using words
Crichton Casbon, curriculum adviser for PE at the QCA, explains the new PE curriculum changes to Penny Cottee
Educational psychologist Alan McLean summarises his model for understanding how teachers can motivate their students
Roger Smith considers tried and tested ways of improving teaching and learning and a few new ones
Mary James, the Teaching and Learning Research Project (TLRP) deputy director, describes the most important messages that have arisen out of this national multi-faceted exploration of teaching and learning practice
Jo McShane used to think that pedagogy was just a stuffy academic way of saying ‘teaching’, but after attending a conference on the subject she finds that it means a great deal more
A murder investigation, crisis in outer space and stick insects! Peter Leyland reports on a chemistry competition that really gets pupils thinking
Education writer and former head Gerald Haigh talks to Dr Keith Bothamley, deputy head (curriculum) at Horsforth School, and Richard Brown, principal of Minsthorpe Community College in Wakefield, about the new KS3 curriculum
Primary headteacher David Dixon applauds many of the changes that the Key Stage 3 review heralds, arguing that many of them will bring about practices already embedded in the best primary schools
Schools across the UK are being invited to participate in an exciting national campaign to help children develop their handwriting skills
Barry Griffiths summarises key points of an online debate about family relationships
History can help young people to see the ‘big picture’ about enslavement, says E Kay Traille
The idea that it is possible to raise attainment by teaching according to individual learners’ styles is a popular one, but is it grounded in strong research evidence? Elaine Hall reports
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
The curriculum review section of most direct interest to SENCOs concerns organising the curriculum. SENCO Update reports
Many of your teachers will not be science specialists. Angela Youngman has been looking at innovative approaches to the teaching of science that help encourage children’s inquisitiveness
Is personalised learning really all that new? Roger Smith investigates
Brian Rossiter, headteacher of Valley School, Worksop, North Nottinghamshire, offers his take on the KS3 curriculum review
Georghia Ellinas, Secondary National Strategy regional adviser, describes an initiative that allows pupils to enjoy a Shakespeare play in their own time and space
We look at two examples from a booklet produced by the West Midlands Regional G&T partnership describing the experiences of 16 ‘test bed’ schools as they have engaged with the IQS and taken a lead in their implementation
Teacher and trainer Michelle McGrath argues that the emphasis on students as partners in their learning is a fundamental challenge to the current model of teaching and will require significant shifts in attitudes at all levels in schools
A recent conference considered how schools can put personalisation at the centre of their strategies for raising achievement
What are the right conditions for teacher learning? Teachers need a working space where they have freedom to think, innovate and learn, say David Leat and Kate Wall
Students in St Margaret’s High School in Liverpool have designed and successfully marketed a computer game. David Dennison and Les Hankin report on a striking demonstration on economic wellbeing as a diver of school activity
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
Barry Mapp introduces the capabilities of Mind Mapping and explains some of the features that make it unique
Judith Harwood, senior regional adviser for the primary and secondary strategy, describes what one school has been learning from its involvement in the Social, Emotional and Behavioural Skills (SEBS) pilot.
Looking after other people’s children is responsible work, says Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
Christine Fanthome outlines practical strategies for students to aid examination success
An outline of the content of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and what schools need to consider when deciding to apply to deliver the curriculum it offers. By Tristian Stobie
The contribution of students as researchers (STARS) to students’ learning and to school development can have numerous benefits. David Lucas and Dr Margaret Wood recount their experience at Deptford Green secondary school
The relationship of teachers in the workplace is an under-researched area. Educational psychologist Kairen Cullen discusses her study
A long-term, focused relationship with parents can pay dividends, says John Welham.
The EPPI website is an excellent resource for informing your decision making, says David Leat.
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.
Staff soon discovered that it was more than just a ‘learning to learn’ scheme. Liz Solomon describes the challenges and insights gained from trialling Thinking Through School.
Planning for teacher learning has to be a key priority, says David Leat.
‘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’?
Evidence is emerging in Scotland that links secondary school pupils’ progress and emotional intelligence to the use of philosophical enquiry as a learning approach in primary schools.
Diversity and Citizenship in the Curriculum: Research Review is a recent DfES research briefing that looks at the way in which citizenship and diversity is taught across the curriculum.
The 2020 Vision report calls for personalised learning to be designed to reduce the ‘persistent and unacceptable gaps in average attainment between different groups of pupils’.
Julia Frankl argues that studying the abolition of slavery challenges discrimination
Daniel Raven-Ellison shows how geographical thinking makes sense of the world
Mike Rathbone reports on developments to make every child’s music matter
Schools need to unpack ‘enterprise’ and ‘entrepreneurship’, say Jacek Brant and Alastair Falk
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.
In his continuing series on gifted thinkers, Charles Dietz looks at the work of Robert Sternberg and how he has influenced the teaching of gifted pupils
Howard Gardner will forever be associated with his theory of multiple intelligences. Charles Dietz discovers that the Hobbs professor in cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has a lot more to say on the nature of giftedness.
Charles Dietz examines the work of Guy Claxton, professor of education at Bristol University and fellow of the British Psychological Society.
Charles Dietz examines the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and its implications.
Celine West shows how head spanners and glass eyes can be used to unpack prejudice.
Heather Osborne describes how PSHE and performing arts can be used to promote peace education.
Dr Christine Fanthome outlines the multiple benefits of singing in a choir.
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.
Neil Hawkes outlines a values-based approach to school improvement.
In this article, Christopher Williams unpacks recent DfES guidance on student involvement.
Cooperative learning strategies aim to promote feedback loops relating to assessment and reflective learning in the classroom at Fallibroome High School. Jane Gormally and Francis Power describe the developments.
A Case Study: Anita Brown, Deputy Headteacher, Ponteland Community High School, Northumberland.
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.
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.
Marilyn Tew takes a look at what the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training has to tell us about whether current strategies will improve the education on offer to teenagers.
Claire Maxwell and Ian Warwick highlight some ways in which student mental health is being addressed in colleges of further education
Mark Jennett clarifies why schools and colleges need to talk about homosexuality.
The DfES, QCA and the National Strategies have got plans for changes to teaching and learning. Is this news? We have learned to live with change.
Reticence to engage with parents on the part of schools can be deep-seated. Teachers may not be aware of the benefits that parents can bring to the learning experience and the students may not realise that they will benefit too. Julie McGrane looks at how parental engagement can be initiated and how schools can find the forms of engagement that work best.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Richard Bird, former headteacher and now legal consultant to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), looks at the different interpretations of personalised learning and what they might mean in practice.
Antidote development director Marilyn Tew describes what she learned from a recent seminar on how music education affects student wellbeing.
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.
Using NPSLBA to transform behaviour and raise attendance.
Any primary school teachers out there with workshop ideas? I’m organising a few Antarctica mornings for local primaries and I’m trying to work out what to do.
With closer cooperation between schools and FE colleges in 14-19 education on the horizon, Lee Davies provides an overview of recent changes to CPD for teachers in further education.
Sarah Treneer and Claire Kendall describe how they developed a technique for encouraging children to reflect on their own and others’ learning through the use of peer feedback.
Lisa Crosswood describes the benefits of a modular Masters degree in Education.
Every school has a general duty of care for all of the children in its care. This extends to ensuring children’s safety on the internet.
Teaching Expertise is delighted to announce our sponsorship of a teacher’s expedition to Antarctica, exploring how humans cope with extremes.
Chris Cowan explains how theatre in education can be a powerful tool in teaching sex and relationship education and other PSHE and citizenship topics.
Rob Sanderson of Wigan Schools Library Service offers some practical advice for building an early years library.
This scheme of work has the theme of Rich World Poor World.
Citizenship Days for Years 7,8 and 9 focused on the global economy, the environment, disability and challenging stereotypes.
Questions for whole-school change – A suggested planning framework for providing citizenship education with a global dimension.
Global citizenship benchmarks for secondary schools.
This system introduced a rota of Year 8 pupils as ‘Duty Prefects’, which raised participation and addressed elements of the Citizenship curriculum.
This project focused on integrating Fair Trade purchasing throughout the school and raising pupil and staff awareness of global issues.
Headteacher Peter Kent and deputy Annabel Kay describe how introducing a condensed KS3 programme in their school has created the opportunity for personalised learning.
What makes a good supply teacher? Former head Bob Jelley draws on some memories.
Geography is the poor Cinderella of the primary curriculum. Where did it all go wrong and what can be done about it? Paula Richardson, education adviser and chair of the publications board of the Geographical Association, makes some suggestions.
Former head Roger Smith looks at ways of promoting creativity in schools, arguing that the concept needs to have its place at the centre of the curriculum.
The successful implementation of new standards for school lunches, along with an increased uptake in school meals, is enhanced by a whole-school approach, according to research by the School Food Trust
Letting children take well considered risks helps to prepare them for danger in the world, argues former head Bob Jelley.
The Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships (SEN RPs) have made a substantial and marked contribution to the government’s agenda regarding provision for pupils with SEN, according to a report* from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
The aim of this project was, ‘for students to understand the effect of global economics on countries with significant debt’. Specifically, how consumer pressure can ease the burden on developing nations.
If citizenship with a global dimension is taught and learned in all schools, great things can be achieved! Heather Swainston from Cheshire Development Education Centre explains how.
This project has shown how some ‘blockages’ to greater global awareness in schools can be unblocked. The challenge now is to share and learn from our experiences. By Sandy Betlem, NEAD.
Our theme was ‘Rich World, Poor World’. How do we open the eyes of children to equality issues?
This project supports the National Framework for PSHE and the National Healthy School Standard, as well as supporting the development of Citizenship throughout the school with some 1400 pupils.
Global citizenship has radically altered the Key Stage 3 curriculum at Broadoak High School.
Our Global Citizenship days are off-timetable events with a mixture of quizzes, activities, video, and seminars. They are designed to cater for approximately half a year group at a time (110 students).
This was one of those projects that makes you think being a teacher really is worthwhile!
At Hethersett we chose to focus on a Black Achievement Festival to coincide with Black History Month.
An anti-racism day held in 2002 brought together visiting speakers, specialist workshops, interested staff and visitors from NFC. This became a model for our first global citizenship event.
One World Day was part of a week linked to the School Development Plan, focusing on global issues.
Our multi-cultural arts day was aimed at Year 7 students and was one of a programme of stop days around global citizenship in our school.
Fair trade day formed part of a whole school curriculum enrichment programme, and linked to the Citizenship scheme of work, which explores diversity and human rights in a local, national and global context.
Many schools would say their students have a voice, but do they really? What about at Whalley Range?
Use all the openings possible to encourage your children to express themselves through the written word, says Lynn Cousins.
Angela Youngman finds out about a scheme to improve communication in early years settings through the use of sign language.
The Manifesto for Education Outside the Classroom promotes high-quality outdoor learning experiences to support cognitive skills and aid personal development – gardening fits the bill, says Dr Susan Johnson
Writing frames undoubtedly have their uses, but they can also limit the creative talents of the more able, writes Frank Bruce
Top tips for surviving your first year at a new school, from teacher Ben Vessey
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.
Recent Government advice suggests that schools should aim to achieve flexibility in their approaches to pupils by:
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.
I have had the pleasure and honour of visiting a few schools where creativity in all forms flourishes. These schools are run by Heads who have a very strong vision of what educating children is all about, who are rebels and who do what they profoundly believe is right for children, despite the system.
Barbara Prashnig, author of ‘The Power of Diversity’, describes in this new series how important it is to consider the role of learning styles in ICT.
The environment around you can have a profound effect on how you feel and function and whether you feel creative, focused and relaxed. Creating an energetic environment around you can have positive effects on your health,efficiency, enjoyment and speed of completing certain tasks.
An alternative approach to behaviour management.
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.
Making Students the Examiners.
Many people have discovered for themselves the benefits of meditation and relaxation as a way of releasing stress and tension. More and more people are using short meditations as a way of getting pupils into a good state for learning. If you haven’t tried it yet, the following are simple techniques, which can be done at pretty much any age. You might like to try them yourself before you start using them with pupils so that you feel how quickly or slowly you might want to speak … and then practise leading each meditation in a calm, confident voice.
“I have come to see that the real and pressing issue underpinning an effective school system is the recognition that learning is learnable. In this article, I want to persuade you that you can actually teach pupils how to learn (and watch their performance and confidence levels soar as a consequence)”.
Andy Bowman reflects upon some of the learning preferences he has observed in his class, and discusses the steps he and his colleagues have taken to begin to support these
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.
Jo Dixon reflects on the progress of her ‘great expectations’, set in September 2004. She can see just how those expectations have made a difference to her teaching and more importantly, to her rapport with those classes.
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.
In this article, Philip Drury underlines the numerous educational advantages of project work, and shows how negative points can be effectively circumvented
Garry Burnett explains how different types of question can improve thinking skills
Andy Bowman explores strategies to begin to develop independence and resourcefulness in young learners.
Leslie Spencer takes us on her learning journey, inspiring learners to love learning. Are you prepared to have your preconceptions, philosophies and pedagogy challenged? A teacher’s tale of the ‘Opening Minds’ curriculum.
Susan Norma suggests ways of influencing students’ behaviour from a NLP perspective.
The second in a series of articles exploring the innovative ‘Opening Minds’ Curriculum at St John’s School in Marlborough.
Bill Lucas explores the phrase ‘accelerated learning,’ and its associated curious, if well-meaning, misconceptions
Dr Patrick Hazlewood explains how St John’s School in Marlborough, challenged an out-dated curriculum.
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.
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?
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.
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.
‘If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then teach in the way the child learns.’ Rita Dunn
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.
Accelerated learning tips.
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.
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.
Some key findings from research on how teachers can use groups to boost young people’s achievement
A new review group has been set up to recommend ways of:
Many schools participate in National Storytelling Week (held in January), organised by the Society for Storytelling. This article describes how traditional stories can help to address difficult emotional issues, and stresses the importance of letting children and young people find their own meanings in the stories that they hear.
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.
The new framework comes into effect this September. It will give schools more freedom — but this comes with tough new duties, says Mark Blois.
Amid the usual cries of the dumbing down of standards, schools were praised for another increase in this year’s overall exam results.
How to deal with ‘difficult’ students – their way. Barbara Prashnig suggests tips and strategies for unpleasant situations you can encounter when faced with students who are unwilling to comply with your rules.
Bill Lucas argues that people can be intelligent in practical waysand that intelligence is definitely something that can be increased.
Bill Walther provides a recipe for getting students to set unforgettable goals with compelling outcomes.
Brin Best calls for a fundamental rethink of what works in the classroom.
Want to inject some freshness into the learning space? Richard Churches and Rogert Terry show to make a real difference in your classroom
When you see your name on the cover list, it’s difficult to stop your heart sinking, writes Paul Dix
Look after yourself and you’ll be in better shape to help your pupils. Phil Craig suggests eight strategies.
Philippa Bogle shares two true stories that warm the heart and renew your faith in what is possible through facilitation.
Andy Bowman explores strategies for promoting and supporting independent learning.
Paul Dix explains how organising your teaching space and your behaviour can help you to create positive behaviour patterns in your classroom
Gary Wilson explores the issue of raising boys’ achievement.
Barbara Prashnig explains the importance of understanding the role of learning styles in studying and exam preparation.
Julie Bennett suggests three different techniques that you can use to motivate learners and add further dimensions to your teaching
In this article, Alistair Smith explains how two schools, Stamford High School and Melcombe Primary School, have introduced whole-school learning models based on Accelerated Learning. The impact of planning, delivering and evaluating learning has led to a significant cultural shift at both schools.
Philippa Bogel explores the transformational practices surrounding The Certificate of Facilitation Skills in Education, and looks at what facilitators gain from their experiences
On the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, Garry Burnett used the composer as a model to question whether creative skills such as problem-solving and interpretation can be taught
Team teaching is an approach in which two or more teachers are jointly responsible for course content, lesson activities and assessment. Could it work for you?
What values underpin your teaching? What about the values of your teacher colleagues? To what extent are these values used to judge the effectiveness of your teaching?
Is your voice in control? What sound does your voice make? What kind of impression does your voice make? Lesley Hendy explains how the way you move can affect the quality of your voice. You will also discover more about how to use the acoustics of a room to your advantage and how to vary the tone and pitch of your voice to increase your vocal ‘tool box’.
Working as a Teaching and Learning Fellowship as part of the University of the First Age.
Young people spend only 15% of their time in school. The University of the First Age (UFA) fills the rest of the waking day with learning opportunities and makes teachers and learners of us all. UFA’s Felicity Martin discusses how UFA has raised confidence, achievement and potential.
Enterprise education has entered the Ofsted schedule as a subject to be inspected in all schools. But do you know exactly what it involves?
To help entrench lifelong learning in the common psyche, this website from ContinYou displays the programmes it is developing to build learning communities throughout the UK. The aim is to give communities, and the individuals within them, access to new learning opportunities, and by so doing to change lives. It is based on the premise that learning is about much more than just that which goes on in schools.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has stressed the urgency for the UK to invest in ‘human capital’ if its citizens are to survive in the global economy – but as he holds the public pursestrings, schools will be looking for cash investment from him if this need is to be made a reality.
Students are responding positively to the RSA’s Opening Minds initiative with improvements in motivation, confidence and attitudes. Teachers are also reaping the benefits. RSA Head of Education Lesley James brings you up to date with developments and new resources.
Identifying students who are underachieving is easy. The challenge is doing something about it.
Achieving inclusion — becoming an inclusive pyramid.
Inclusion has become one of the must hotly-debated topics in education — there are almost as many different takes on it as there are schools. Brahm Norwich, Professor of Educational Psychology and Special Educational Needs at the University of Exeter, helps you to unpick what inclusion means to your school and shows you how to develop strategies that will allow you to achieve this approach in practice.
As curriculum managers are well aware, bullying can have sustained and insidious effects on the whole school — contributing to poor attendance, lower achievement, a less conducive learning environment for all and a generally less pleasant school experience for students and teachers alike.
Too many schools are dragging their heels on widening the vocational options available in their Key Stage 4 curriculum.
As the dust started to settle on the new White Paper ‘Higher standards, better schools for all’, discontentment with the content began to mount.
Too many schools are not providing bilingual students with enough of the right support to help them succeed in their learning, according to the findings of a new report from Ofsted.
Being able to secure effective and imaginative use of information and communications technology (ICT) in classrooms throughout your school is not just a matter of having a good ICT policy in place.
Mounting dissent about Government plans to restructure the school system has threatened to prevent the latest education White Paper from going ahead unchanged.
Curriculum managers need to do more to secure more effective observation of teaching staff to bring about improvements in learning.
Most schools are not making the teaching of literacy and numeracy a high enough priority, according to Ofsted inspectors.
Building a federation to support standards — working in partnership with schools in challenging circumstances.
Federations are already in the second year of existence — so what has been learned so far about how to create a successful alliance that brings about sizeable improvements in teaching and learning among all the partners? We learn from DfES guidance and NCSL research about what factors contribute to success.
If you are looking for a resource portal for enhancing your gifted and talented (G&T) provision, then this site is a good starting point. It brings together materials from the key G&T organisations all under one roof, and covers the core G&T issues, including identification, enrichment, extension, acceleration and differentiation.
Curriculum managers need to be aware of the safety issues relating to new technologies so that they can provide maximum safeguards across the school.
Latest reforms have been stalled further as rebel MPs set out a suite of compromise moves in an attempt to diffuse the areas provoking greatest dissent.
Partnering the curriculum with the world of work.
From how to assess your current provision and engage employers, to how to match students with placements, prepare them and then debrief them after the event — Jenny Asher, Development Manager for the National Education Business Partnership Network, guides us through the core issues to consider to provide work placements that provide first-class learning opportunities that will have a lifelong impact.
Access to vocational education has been found to be a key factor in reducing disaffection – but only if fully integrated into the curriculum and delivered as a mainstream option available to all.
As curriculum managers seek new ways to engage students as partners in learning, a new website that invites pupils to rate their teachers has received mixed reactions.
Staff are to be given new powers to tackle unacceptable behaviour, if the new Education Bill secures a smooth passage through Parliament.
How can G&T coordinators ensure that differentiation for G&T pupils is taking place in every classroom? Paul Ainsworth looks at some methods based on sharing best practice
How can teachers help their most able mathematicians? Lynne McClure, consultant for the Mathematical Association discusses the problems and offers some solutions.
The STAR workshops were designed by performers Martha and Eve to bring out students’ creativity in music, drama and discussion
The Deanes School is a specialist sports college in Benfleet, Essex, where for a number of years staff have been working on G&T programmes based on provision beyond the curriculum, writes G&T coordinator Keli Hampstead
As with its interim report, most attention and controversy has focused on the Rose review’s support for synthetic as opposed to analytic phonics. However, for SENCOs, the review’s findings on the provision that best supports children with significant literacy difficulties are particularly relevant.
The final report from the Rose review of the teaching of early reading* has recommended that: ‘notwithstanding the uncertainties of research, there is much convincing evidence to show from the practice observed that, as generally understood, “synthetic” phonics is the form of systematic phonic work that offers the vast majority of beginners the best route to becoming skilled readers.
Dr Steve Rayner (School of Education, University of Birmingham) explores recent criticisms of the use of learning styles in education, arguing that they are, when used in well-considered ways, an essential feature of personalised learning.
As the Rose review of the teaching of early reading continues, primary SENCOs will be interested in the latest research findings contributing to the debate on the merits of synthetic phonics teaching.
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.
The title of this book combines two of the biggest ‘buzz terms’ emerging in the field of mainstream education during the last decade. Each resonates with a distinctive snap, crackle and pop when referred to by academics, school practitioners and parent groups.
Proposals to help and encourage schools and local authorities to provide more school trips and increased opportunities for outdoor learning have been published by the government in a draft manifesto for consultation.
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
Education consultant and author Brin Best uses findings from education research to help improve your teaching skills
Julie Bennett explains how to develop a climate of safe learning in your classroom
Philippa Bogle desribes how skilled one-on-one facilitation can lead to personal empowerment and transformation within your school
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
Since 2001, when in the words of our Head Teacher, Patrick Hazlewood, we were to ‘…throw out the National Curriculum…’, our school has focussed on discovering how we might best serve our students in order to make them independent, adaptable and confident learners able to meet the demands of the 21st century.
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
Research carried out earlier this year to assess the use of data in schools highlights its importance in many areas, including facilitating more effective allocation of staff and resources and monitoring the effectiveness of initiatives and strategies.
Latin is a highly valued part of the curriculum at Benton Park School. Principal Anne Clarke explains why.
With around 95% of state schools no longer offering Latin, access is the critical issue for survival of the subject. Will Griffiths, director of the Cambridge School Classics Project (CSCP), looks at a DfES initiative to address this and highlights the competitive advantage that offering Latin can give schools.
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
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.
Schools do not need to make massive improvements to school buildings to bring about improvements in learning – simple, inexpensive changes can make all the difference, according to Design Council research.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Model mapping (or ‘mind mapping’) is a learning tool for pupils of all ages and abilities, as Oliver Caviglioli, co-author of MapWise and former PE teacher, explains
G&T coordinator Samantha Wilkinson of King’s Wood School, Essex, explains how she has developed a PE programme for gifted and talented students
One of the hardest jobs in teaching is to differentiate materials and teaching among pupils of differing abilities in the same class. So is grouping by ability right for your school and for your most able pupils? Jane West examines the pros and cons.
Students from St Clere’s School, Essex, travel to the US for an Advanced Space Academy course every year. G&T Update talked to the trip’s organiser, G&T coordinator Ken Lewis.
Black and Wiliam (often mispelled as Black and William, with two ‘L’s) developed a radical approach to learning, as Charles Dietz reports.
Primary strand coordinator for G&T Joy Blaker explains how schools in Rotherham approach the issue of identifying their most able pupils.
John Senior looks at an approach that will help G&T students develop creative thinking.
During the academic year 2004-05 the London Borough of Lambeth developed an imaginative and creative partnership, offering enrichment courses for gifted and talented primary and secondary students, held in some of their many local museums and galleries and provided by the educational organisation GIFT. Rosemary Butcher explains.
Gifted and talented strand coordinator Sue Sayer describes her work as leader for G&T and creativity for her excellence cluster and explains how a Classroom of the Future has influenced the teaching and learning of pupils in the Camborne, Pool and Redruth Success Zone
Whether you’re writing your first G&T policy or need to update your current one, what do you need to include? G&T Update editor Jane West explains
There are many theories about boys’ underachievement in our education system, but it’s important that schools are given direct, practical ways to tackle it at ground level