Clive is a former headteacher and inspector, having inspected over 200 schools. His school gained a National Curriculum award and was featured in the Times Educational Supplement, one of three schools recognised for their quality practice.
He was awarded an OBE for his services to education in 2007.
Letting down left-handers in primary schools: Do you keep a check on the standards attained by left-handed pupils? As the data packs arrive at school, we will be asked to focus on different groups, such as boys/girls; disadvantaged/non disadvantaged; EAL/non EAL and SEN and non SEN. However, are we asked... View Article
A metacognitive route to better teaching in mathematics How can greater levels of thinking and reasoning improve our teaching of mathematics in primary schools? We are at a point in time when there are new ideas published every day, with claims about ‘best practice’ in the teaching of mathematics. In... View Article
What is metacognition and what is the significance of metacognition in primary schools? Metacognition refers to higher order thinking, which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. Activities such as……: Planning how to approach a given learning task; Monitoring our comprehension of the task, and Evaluating progress toward... View Article
Ofsted Inspections: Is it time for a fundamental change in the Ofsted framework? How relevant is the Ofsted framework in a classroom where the principles of metacognition are being embedded? As schools are just about getting their heads around the new Ofsted inspection framework, it is interesting to reflect on... View Article
Changes in Primary Education 1972 – The year I started teaching Well, I must confess that I started teaching in 1972 at a time when seating pupils in groups was deemed to be ‘the thing to do’. In truth, the Plowden era was upon us and discovery learning was the... View Article
Mum is 23 years older than Henry and 3 years younger than dad. If the total ages of all three is 73, how old is mum? This type of question should now become common-place in most schools and academies at some stage and signals that there is a fundamental change... View Article
