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Curriculum
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
Maximising P8: Macro-Micro Thinking – and Ethics.
In my view it’s a sad state of affairs that we are a long way down the road towards absolute Data Delusion; where teachers, school leaders and commentators are engaged in discussions about the quality of education provided by a school via a single two digit number that purports to capture a measure of the … Continue reading
EVENT: Powerful Curriculum Design
If you are interested in curriculum design, this one-day course could be the perfect opportunity to explore a range of powerful ideas to take your school forward. Martin Robinson and I will be delivering the programme based on our experience working with schools around the country. Please come and join us for what promises to … Continue reading
40 Curriculum Models 2017:
With enormous thanks to everyone who has contributed, the spreadsheet below now shows the curriculum models for 40 different schools. I’m going to stop there. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fuZV6mg5BQLDnQ3xACDMqTuKbUKZGr5k9iYz56RpDvM/edit?usp=sharing The collection includes the models for grammar schools, comprehensives, middle schools and international schools. No two are the same. There’s a mixture of 25, 30, 50 and 60 period … Continue reading
Promoting Cultural Capital: We are naming our classrooms.
As part of a long-term, school-wide initiative to develop our students’ cultural capital, we are going to be giving each of the spaces in our school an identity linked to a significant person. Each department has been asked to select people who represent their subjects, blending historical and contemporary figures and seeking to achieve a … Continue reading
Emerging KS3 Curriculum Map and Exhibition Plan
Our Head of School for KS3 has been working with subjects leaders to pull together a map of our curriculum. This idea is to look for links, to plan future links, and, more routinely, keep tabs on what is going on in our students’ learning lives. All too often the detail of the curriculum is … Continue reading
The Art of Timetabling: Principles and priorities
This is the crunch time for the legion of timetablers across the country – and for the teachers who wait to see what they come up with. As a former timetabler myself, I’d like to dedicate this post to my partners in crime, especially Matt who is working on the Highbury Grove timetable right now. We’ve come a … Continue reading
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