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Curriculum
Saffron Walden County High School: An exemplary school. The Learning Rainforest made real.
Last week I spent a day visiting Saffron Walden County High School in the North-West corner of Essex. This was the result of a conversation with Head and CEO, Caroline Derbyshire who suggested that I should consider writing a ‘Learning Rainforest in Action’ follow-up book. Having read the original book, Caroline felt that SWCHS embodied … Continue reading
Three powerful steps to deeper understanding and better recall. Specify; check; apply.
This post is based on my observations of teachers over the last few months and the common areas for development that emerge in feedback discussions. It is also informed by the ideas of Rosenshine and Shimamura around effective teaching for understanding and recall. My aim is to try to describe highly actionable strategies for putting … Continue reading
How not to misfire.. exploring the learning process with Henry VIII
Having written about lessons that mis-fire, I was asked to suggest what people should do instead. That’s a mighty big task because, what you might do depends on what exactly you want students to know and, in any specific example, there are countless possibilities. However, given that a lot of my mis-fire examples are about gathering … Continue reading
Secondary Curriculum Plans. A collection of links: Add your own.
Last year I was interested in curriculum models and, with the help of twitter, I collected 40 models at the level of subject time allocations: 40 Curriculum Models 2017: Now, I am interested in doing something similar but at a more detailed level. A couple of years ago I shared a blog post containing the … Continue reading
10 essential discussions to have in any teacher team.
Towards the end of last academic year, I wrote a post outlining what might be in a typical school’s development plan: Here’s your school development plan – no, really, don’t thank me. All of those ideas are still relevant for next year. But what about at a departmental level or a year level in primary? Here … Continue reading
What is a knowledge-rich curriculum? Principle and Practice.
I have found recent discussions and debates about the concept of a ‘knowledge-rich curriculum’ – or knowledge-led; knowledge-based – fascinating. Some of this has been explored brilliantly in various blogs. Here is a selection: Summer Turner https://ragazzainglese.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/pub-quiz-or-published-what-are-the-aims-of-a-knowledge-rich-curriculum/ Jon Brunskill I’m bringing knowledge back. | Pedfed which is worth reading along with his school’s website info on … Continue reading
The Learning Rainforest: A model for great teaching and learning.
Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky Khalil Gibran It’s a few months since I published The Learning Rainforest with John Catt. So far sales have gone pretty well – I couldn’t be happier with that. I’m also getting invited to run lots of CPD events … Continue reading
Six principled practices for intelligent schools:
On my travels I’ve encountered schools that are doing brilliant things without resorting to short-cuts, without saying that they’ve sacrificed their principles to satisfy external pressures and without making life miserable for their staff with ugly brute-force whip-cracking performance cultures. Some schools are lovely to work in because leaders increasingly recognise the power of building … Continue reading
Planning a KS3-4 Curriculum Model: Walking through the thought-process.
This blog is a walk-through of the thinking in an imagined school, designed to highlight the range of parameters curriculum designers might have to consider. Before setting about carving up the pie of time into allocations to subjects, it’s important to establish the principles that will guide all the decisions you make. Let’s explore the … Continue reading
Curriculum Building: Every step matters; know your role; make it count. e.g. Writing YR to Y11.
In the last few weeks I’ve had a lot of conversations with teachers and leaders in schools in challenging circumstances at both primary and secondary. A common experience has been the difficult process of trying to build a coherent curriculum in a context of staff turbulence, curriculum reform and recruitment challenges. I’ve also worked with … Continue reading
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