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Improving student engagement and learning with interactive H5P videos
COVID-19 seems like a long time ago now. As teachers, we won’t easily forget the challenge of shifting to online learning and how we missed interacting with students in the classroom. But we all learned that, to some extent, online learning had advantages. An ongoing question is how we can retain those advantages back in…
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Striving but not thriving: Reflections on the multiple challenges facing many UK families on the UN Day of Families
The 15th May is the UN day of families. This year’s theme ‘Families, Inequalities and Child Wellbeing’, highlights how growing inequality affects families and the long-lasting impact it can have on children’s outcomes. The day and the theme resonate with our research on the multiple insecurities families in the UK face and the way these…
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Why new school food standards could leave children with SEND hungry at school
Note: To support accessibility and processing, the commonly used term ‘SEND child’ is used throughout this post. Please note that a preferable term is ‘child that attracts the label of SEND.’ The government’s proposed overhaul of the School Food Standards (the first in over a decade) has been broadly welcomed. Banning deep-fried food, removing ice…
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Climate change is already in the classroom, so why aren’t we designing for it?
Each year, Earth Day invites us to reflect on our relationship with the planet. The 2026 theme, “Our Power, Our Planet”, emphasises agency and action. In education, this often translates into renewed attention on climate literacy and encouraging more sustainable behaviours among learners. But there is a more immediate question we need to ask: What…
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Autism research and ethics creep
Autism awareness month is often framed around three themes: awareness, acceptance, and inclusion. The merits and limitations of the month itself can be debated elsewhere, but it does provide an opportunity to reflect on how awareness, acceptance, and inclusion operate within research. In particular, autism awareness month offers a moment to consider an issue neuroaffirming…
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What is a university?
Beneath this blog post is the following disclaimer: “The views expressed in this post are the views of the author and do not represent the views of the university or its policies.” This raises an important question: what is the university? The answer is often assumed to be obvious, left to common sense. However, the…
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Can we discuss Gaza in the classroom? Maybe a human rights approach could help
As I write, hostilities are raging in the Middle East. This war has had an impact on civilians in Palestine, with all crossings into Gaza closed, suspending the entry of aid (OCHA, 2026), affecting an already devastated territory. Isreal’s war on Gaza had a catastrophic effect on the Strip’s children, with at least 21, 289…
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Resituating the narrative in Neurodiversity Week
It was both interesting and troubling to read Dame Uta Frith’s recent article in the Times Educational Supplement (TES). Interesting because it appeared to me to be an attempt by cognitive science to regain control of the narrative about autism – a questionable aim given that discipline’s limited success in moving us forward in our…
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Mothers, daughters, and education redemption narratives
Girls are an education success story. In recent decades, outcomes for girls have improved dramatically: girls are more likely to achieve good grades at GCSE; they are more likely to equal or (typically) exceed boys for top A level grades; and they are much more likely to go to university. Given these figures, you would…
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Why animal welfare education matters
Animals are woven into our daily lives, whether through pet ownership, wildlife, assistance animals or the products we use. Approximately 76% of children own a pet as do just over half of the adult population (54%). Understanding the needs of animals and how they communicate is beneficial to humans and animals. Safe and positive animal…
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