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A tale of two teachers: the importance of keeping a supply of great teachers for our region
It’s already March, and headteachers’, and trainee teachers’, thoughts are rapidly turning to next September. Before long, the adverts will be out, the shortlisting will be done and heads and trainees will be looking warily across a desk at each other, both thinking the same thing: do I want to work with you? Lots has…
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Stories that make up who we are (not): How children and young people navigate their lives through stories
We are all surrounded by stories- multiple narratives that make up the fabric of the world around us and through which we are able to make sense of our place in it. We tell stories, to inform ourselves about where we are from, where we are going, and who we are along the way. We…
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Achieving the early childhood panacea: the missing link…
Over the past two decades there has been substantial political interest and expansion of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services. Whether this be private nurseries, the voluntary sector or the maintained sector, such as schools and children’s centres. From September 2017, the entitlement to funded provision, introduced in the Childcare Act 2016, will rise…
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How to get the best from practical work
Practical work is, again, in the science education spotlight, with findings from a recent Wellcome Trust study suggesting that recent changes to assessment at GCSE are leading to more and more pupils missing out on practical work in science. The fact that science is, as the report states, an inherently practical subject, increases the mystifying…
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Access to A level Further Mathematics: it matters and it’s at risk for many
Recently, A level league tables were published alongside secondary league tables. No surprise that independent schools continue to be at the top or that there are big differences in performance in different areas of the country. But it is not just performance that varies considerably – so does access to doing A levels and that…
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Terraced House or Terrorist House? What effect will the Prevent Duty have on trainee teachers and teacher educators in higher education?
The first phrase highlighted above is not a SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) test question, but rather a phrase overheard in a primary school classroom that led to a ten year old boy and his family being questioned by the police earlier this year. This is not an isolated occurrence, with similar stories in the…
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Knowledge organisers, cognitive science, tiger teachers and Michaela. Beyond the pale, or part of our ITE future?
Last week I taught geography for the first time since the current National Curriculum was implemented (note to self – do fewer meetings but do more teaching and research as Head of Department). The topic was rivers; the student group BA primary; the module assignment was to create a primary classroom learning environment to facilitate…
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PISA: Stories of Science
A couple of weeks ago the results of the latest PISA global education survey were released. The PISA survey happens every three years, and measures the skills and knowledge of 28 million 15-year-olds across the world in science, mathematics, reading, problem solving and financial literacy. PISA is seen as a vital measure of education policy. …
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Let’s make it a happy Christmas for disabled families
It has recently been reported in the media that 28000 low income families who care for a disabled child have been underpaid via tax credits since 2011. For the poorest and most challenged families this means a total loss in income of £20000. The money was not paid to families in part because of a…
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A good day to write ‘that’ blog
Today seems like a good day to write ‘that’ blog. As the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WiSET) twitter feed pings away after a busy day at the WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) conference yesterday, the mixed feelings I have about the direction of travel in the gender equality in STEM (Science, Technology,…
Got any book recommendations?