News, Views and Social
The Changing Face of Primary Education
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
Category: Mastery and Metacognition
Teaching Poetry in Primary Schools.
Teaching poetry in primary schools There is still an elephant in the room! We all know that we need to include poetry in our teaching. We all know that children need to listen to, discuss, respond to, perform and write poetry. However, the elephant remains – large, grey and unmoving!... View Article
Category: Curriculum English
The Importance of Science in the Primary Curriculum
The importance of science in the primary curriculum I’ve always loved Gary Larson cartoons since I first came across them during my student days and spent what was left of my overdraft on a couple of the anthologies. (For those of you who don’t know who Gary Larson is… He drew... View Article
Category: Curriculum
Being a Science Subject Leader in Primary Schools
Tips for being a science subject leader in primary schools… I’m finding that an increasing amount of my time in schools is spent working with middle leaders, including science subject leaders. So with the benefit of this experience, I thought that a ‘Top Ten Tips for the Science Co-ordinator’ blog... View Article
Category: Curriculum Subject Leadership
Key Assessment Criteria, Being a Historian.
Key Assessment Criteria We have provided teachers, subject leaders and school leaders with a useful document that looks at the key assessment criteria and helps teachers with the assessment of pupils’ progress in primary schools. This particular document focuses on how well pupils are doing in history. The simple and... View Article
Category: Assessment
Monitoring and Evaluation for Middle Leaders in Primary Schools
It is one of the dilemmas of the middle leadership role in primary schools, that monitoring and evaluation is a vital element of the role and yet can be very time consuming and difficult to do it rigorously and effectively. It is however crucial to have at least some form... View Article
Category: Middle Leadership
Wild Animals Learning Challenge Curriculum Plan
Our free Learning Challenge Curriculum ‘wild animals’ sample plan will help teachers to provide their pupils with a fun and engaging curriculum. This sample is based on the Learning Challenge Curriculum approach. You might want to amend the plan to fit with your pupils and the subjects you are teaching. If... View Article
Category: Curriculum
Handwriting Analysis – Focus Team
Handwriting analysis (also known as graphology), is the understanding of a person’s personality, by examining their individual handwriting style. What to look for when analysing your handwriting: Large Letters: This person has a big personality. Wants to feel understood and noticed. People Oriented.Small Letters: Strong focus and concentration. Sometimes introspective and shy.... View Article
Category: English
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