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When you're a boy... Do single gender classes work?
Boys will be boys?A colleague from another school has asked if she can observe one of my English lessons next week where the focus will be boys’ attainment. I’m certainly no expert on the historical...
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Getting your House in order
Lots of schools are giving the vertical house system a go, favouring this over the traditional set-up by year groups. I'm all for it, after experiencing 5 years of the system at my own school: Bullying...
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Train in vain?
It’s easy to put CPD to the bottom of your list of priorities when there is always so much else that is pressing in schools, each one needing to be done NOW or YESTERDAY or LAST HALF TERM. And CPD...
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Outstanding lessons - the Roy Hodgson way
Watching the England-Sweden match the other night I found myself taking a more objective view than I might previously have done, in that I can’t seem to give that much of a monkey’s about how England...
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Why life just got that little bit harder for FSM students
Recently, I was on a parenting forum, where I’ve been known to while away a few hours whilst I ignore my children (“Mummy’s busy – chip pan’s in the cupboard…”). We got into a blazing row very...
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What's the point?
No, really. What is the point? I’m usually very resilient against the down-sides to a life in education. September? I actually like it. The excited buzz of the first catch-up after the holidays! The...
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Walk On Through
There’s a lot of talk about walk-throughs in classroom practice these days. Or Learning Walks. Or Peer Walks. Or Development Perambulations. (Except not the last one, but give it a few months…)The...
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Taking a Stand
Two tales for National Bullying Week(Monday 19th – Friday 23rd November) A few months ago I read a copy of a publication given to Ofsted Inspectors entitled ‘LGBT issues on Inspection’. It was guidance...
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Walk on Through - Part II
I’ve been delighted at the overwhelmingly positive response to my Walk on Through blogpost. Walk throughs are certainly flavour of the month in many schools but, as is so often the case with many...
View ArticleOfsted for Humans
Apologies in advance for this very long blogpost entry. It’s got a lot of information in it and I’ve purposely not edited it down too much as – on this subject – I think teachers want to know details,...
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FiSH and Tips
(Sorry about the terrible title - try to find it in your hearts to forgive me!)We’ve been looking for some ways to improve peer feedback in our marking and assessment. As a school we have agreed on a...
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What was the Question?
A couple of years ago I attended a Teaching & Learning conference which included a session by Geoff Petty, author of “Evidence-Based Teaching” and "Teaching Today", pretty much one of the bibles...
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Are you Ofsted-Ready?
Subject Leader? These are the questions an Ofsted inspector would want to be answered. How would you answer them? · What is your vision for your subject?· What are your key priorities for...
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Group Work for Humans
Why ‘for humans’?Well, at a time where the word ‘outstanding’ has perhaps the most loaded and misinterpreted meaning in education right now, there is an unreasonable pressure for teachers to teach in a...
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Narrowing the Gap Part 1
This post is the first of probably what will turn out to be three about Narrowing the Gap. NtG has formed a big part of my work over the past 3 years or more so I thought it might be helpful to give a...
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Narrowing the Gap Part 2
In my last post, I outlined why a Narrowing the Gap policy is needed in schools, with possible reasons for the under-attainment of FSM/PP students. For many teachers, when they are made aware of why...
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Narrowing the Gap Part 3
In the final blogpost of 3 about Narrowing the Gap, I will share my findings and ideas about how FSM/PP students can be supported by ALL teachers in the classroom.Quick recap: As we now know, FSM...
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Lesson Study and how it can work for you
A few years ago I came across the methodology known as Lesson Study. It’s been usedwith great success in the US and Japan in the last 10-15 years and it involves a different type of observation. You...
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Tackling unseen poetry
Preparing for the Unseen Poetry QuestionAQA English LiteratureIn these last few weeks before the exams begin, I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground in both my Year 11 classes to gauge which specific...
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More Unseen Poetry Stuff!
Just in case you're still limping on to the end of term and your Y11s are still with you...Here's another Lit poetry lesson that combines skills needed for both Part A and Part B of the second GCSE...
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