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Despite my reservations about some of the big data measures that are used to judge schools, I am hopeful that our discourse is shifting the debate on assessment in a very positive direction.  If this continues it will represent an important paradigm shift with positive consequences for students’ learning and their overall school experience. The … Continue reading →

Last week I was asked to lead a workshop on leadership for some middle and senior leaders.  Here are some of the ideas I shared.   Believe me, I’m not preaching from on high.  I’ve had some successes but there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t run through some kind of imagined … Continue reading →

It’s a well-established idea that, to develop expertise in a particular skill or technique, you need to practise. The more you practise, the better you get.  As outlined by the excellent people at Deans for Impact in their Practice with Purpose document, it helps to identify a specific element of your teaching to practise on and … Continue reading →

Over the years and in recent months I’ve seen lots of different, fascinating schools with great Headteachers; it’s so interesting to see how things are done in different places and the relative importance certain issues are given.  Currently nearly everyone is talking about budget constraints, the challenge of implementing curriculum changes at every Key Stage … Continue reading →

This selection is my current top ten book recommendations for teachers. Continue reading →

This post is a companion to 10 Teaching Pitfalls. In writing this, I’ve been thinking about two sets of teachers. Firstly, I’ve been thinking about various very strong teachers I’ve known, including those who taught me, to consider what ‘essentials’ they might have in common.  (Something I’ve done many times before e.g. in this early … Continue reading →

This is a companion to 10 Teaching Essentials.   In addition to trying to deliver on the 10 Essentials, I’m suggesting that teachers should seek to avoid these pitfalls.  To some extent, the two lists mirror each other – positive and negative ways of expressing the same ideas – but, not entirely.   Most feedback I … Continue reading →

Teachers are always being offered lists of principles, axioms, tenets, precepts – the magic beans of teaching.  We’re desperate to make sense of it all – to make something very complicated, simple and easy to grasp.  Whether it’s  the #5minplan series from @TeacherToolkit or something like my own Lesson Observation Checklist, there’s a demand for handy … Continue reading →

  In my last post I tried to illustrate the chasm that separates our most advantaged from our most disadvantaged students; students in the same community, side by side in the classroom, yet living worlds apart.  Every day brings reminders of that chasm in one form or another.  The question is – what can we … Continue reading →

In the 18 months that I’ve been working at Highbury Grove, I’ve learned a great deal about the complexity of the community that my school serves.  As the acting Designated Child Protection Officer for the last few weeks, I’ve learned even more.  The scale on the axis of advantage and disadvantage is extraordinary with consequences for … Continue reading →

Last week I tweeted this message, along with a link to my Lesson Observations Unchained post from last year. I received several replies from people in schools across the country where grading lessons is still very much alive and kicking. One person suggested that their lessons are given sub-grades: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 etc.  Think about … Continue reading →

Most of the blogs I write that get a good response are the ones about teaching.  Thankfully.  I’d write a book but a) it takes too much time b) the money is terrible and c) I’d just be repeating everything I’ve already written here.  It would be called ‘Into the Rainforest of Teaching and Learning’. … Continue reading →

A series of short posts about specific elements of teaching practice that I think are effective and make life interesting. Some are based on my own lessons and others are borrowed from lessons I’ve observed. Here they are all in one place. Click the postcard links for each post.        

I’ve just finished reading this wonderful book and, as I said on twitter, it’s the best education book I’ve read by far.  There are lots of teacher-tips books and plenty of academic system-reform or leadership books – but Trivium 21st C occupies different ground altogether.  Martin Robinson has produced a manifesto for reforming and revitalising … Continue reading →

1. Doing the things you love while you’re at work It has always struck me as remarkable and fortuitous that I am paid to do a job where I get to have so much fun. In my lessons, I have the chance to explore my favourite subject – Physics. Today I was talking about space, … Continue reading →

An analogy I draw upon increasingly to help with my thinking about teaching, learning and school leadership, is the contrast between a plantation and a rainforest.  In general terms I feel that our entire education system is deeply inhibited, shackled and spoiled by Plantation Thinking. This affects government policy, school leadership and the day-to-day of … Continue reading →

This series on teaching Great Lessons is all about the habits of day-to-day teaching; our instincts; our default-mode…. the things we do automatically.   I want to suggest that one of the most important habits of a Great Teacher teaching Great Lessons is to find joy in what they’re doing and in what the students … Continue reading →

A previous post, What makes a great teacher?, was a popular post. I suppose that’s not surprising; people are intrigued to know what the answer might be. Am I a great teacher? Can I be a great teacher? What would it take for me to feel that this applies to me? We all want to … Continue reading →