‘Time, ladies and gentlemen!’
Reflections and tips on how to maintain a healthy work life balance as October half term draws near.
Supporting SEND Students Through Revision
Supporting SEND students through revision We often ask ourselves whether or not SEND students actually require anything additional to, or different from, when it comes to revision. Generally speaking, the strategies that you would apply to support atypical students are just as effective with SEND students. When considering how to support SEND students, the most…
Experts needed!
If you know me at all, you probably know that I love to bake. Some people tell me I should apply for the Great British Bake Off, which is flattering but it’ll never happen. Why? Because although my ego is almost big enough to make it seem like a good idea, and I am a…
Dialogic Teaching and Powerful Knowledge
The ideas of Michael Young relating to powerful knowledge seem to have gained traction in discourse around education in England. The concept is referenced by Ofsted, the Department for Education and their ministers, and several books have been published by teachers exploring the implications in their subjects and across the school. However, whilst a great…
The transition to part time and lean lesson planning
When I left Heathfield for maternity leave, I really struggled. I felt lost not being in the classroom, I missed the staff and students massively and it definitely took me a little while to adapt to “motherhood”. By the time 10 months had passed, I was fully enjoying all the coffee and cake with my…
Embedding retrieval practice in science – a departmental effort!
In our most recent blog post, Lesson in Revision Part 2 by Emma Smith, we explored the idea of effective revision and looked at how we are using the Heathfield Revision Clock to model effective revision to our students. In our most recent collaboration cycles, we have all shared in planning and delivering a revision…
Lessons in Revision
I have found that my perspective on revision lessons has changed considerably over the years that I have been teaching. In those long-gone halcyon days of my youth, revision lessons largely involved me running back over the key material from part of the course before saying to the class that they needed to use the…
Effective Explanation
I always thought that my explanation in the classroom was pretty good. After 17 years of practice it felt like I knew what I was doing, and I understood how to make what I said stick. However, a few months of remote teaching and a few weeks of socially distanced teaching has shown me that…
Research Spotlight: Generating Learning
During lockdown, between the setting of remote lessons, dialogue with pupils and the endless search for shops still stocking pasta, my wife and I were asked to write a book about Generative Learning. This is part of a series of books started, and edited, by Tom Sherrington with his look at Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction…
Why are we so great?
At 7am this morning the Evidence Based Education’s review of the evidence for their Great Teaching Toolkit landed in the inbox of teachers up and down the country. If you hadn’t signed up to get a copy you can download it here. What this team have done is to review the evidence into what makes…
Reflections: The impact of school closures on disadvantaged students and the attainment gap
Reflecting on the Education Endowment Foundation’s latest evidence assessment.
Heathfield Teach Share Blog 