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The poetry of reflection
We love poetry and we love teaching. But is it possible to combine the two? We came across an article in the Times Higher Education (Illingworth, 2022) that did just that, and decided to try it. This post describes our experiences of using poetry to widen the horizons of our trainees, showing them how they […]
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Autism understanding
For an accessible visual and audio version with captions please watch Luke’s YouTube video. *************************************************************************************************************************************** I can’t stand it any longer. The stress, the stress. Constant stress unless I’m drunk. I’m drunk far too often, but how else do I cope? My dream came true, and I wish it hadn’t. They told me that university […]
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Covid has put wellbeing in schools front and centre
Covid has put wellbeing in schools front and centre The school shutdowns during the Covid pandemic may feel like a distant memory. But the effects of this period are still being felt in schools today — and pupil wellbeing is one of the biggest casualties, as explored recently by Dr Caron Carter on this SIOE […]
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The bigger picture: taking a systems approach to encouraging research use in education
This post originally appeared on the BERA blog and is shared here with BERA’s kind permission: https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/developing-a-systems-based-approach-to-research-use-in-education Whilst it is not always easy to see the tectonic plates moving, a culture shift appears to be occurring in English schools towards widespread engagement with research (Department for Education, 2022). Yet, when we consider the development of […]
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Shaping South Yorkshire
Last week the Princess of Wales launched the Shaping Us campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of early childhood experiences in how we develop physically, socially and emotionally. The campaign starts from the premise that: “The way we develop, through our experiences, relationships, and surroundings during our early childhood, fundamentally shapes our whole […]
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The toll of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s wellbeing and mental health. How can we support children in ‘new times’?
Picture this: it’s March 2020; you’re in lockdown; you can only go out once per day for provisions or exercise; and your time is taken up juggling lengthy zoom meetings and home schooling. For many of us, this will be an uncomfortable memory. But in the first few days and weeks of lockdown, we presumed […]
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It’s who I am, not what I do
On the way back from a trip ‘up North’ (further up as it were) to see my eldest son, we stopped in Boroughbridge (https://www.visitharrogate.co.uk/explore/boroughbridge) for lunch. When I say lunch, I mean we picked up some pies from the butchers to eat by the mediaeval market place. There’s a fabulous stone structure, the Market Well, […]
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The apprenticeship levy: where are we now?
Apprenticeships are back in the news since King Charles’ comments about the need for more technical education at the ‘Repair Shop’. Given that our new Education Secretary was an apprentice herself, perhaps now would be a good time to reflect on the state of apprenticeships today. First, some background: the new apprenticeship system, introduced in […]
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SIOE Staffing Update
Dear friends and colleagues, Now that the semester is in full swing, here’s a brief staffing update. Please support all colleagues below in their new roles, change of roles, or next steps in their professional life: Following a competitive selection process, Rebecca Mallett will become Deputy Head of Department (fixed term contract until August 31st, […]
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Who gets to access undergraduate study in the context of Levelling Up? The political economy of higher education
It is becoming clear that higher education faces some potentially momentous changes in the coming months – although, as is often the case, we can’t be clear of the direction of that change. The largest policy challenge is set by the Levelling Up agenda (DLUHC 2022) and subsequent policy reforms set in train by the […]
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