At the start of the new term, following a glorious autumnal, half-term break, I was sitting at my desk completely rewriting a seating plan for a class (this is unusual for me- more on that later). Perhaps it’s the uncommon nature of the activity part way through an academic year that has me reflecting on…
Reflections and tips on how to maintain a healthy work life balance as October half term draws near.
I am writing this post in bits and pieces over the course of a couple of days during any time I can snatch in between: juggling recording lessons on Loom, narrating on PowerPoints, meeting pupils live on Teams, checking pupil work on Firefly, giving them feedback, logging missed work, responding to questions and answering emails.…
An exploration of Jamie Thom’s ‘A Quiet Education’ and what it looks like in practice.
In Mark’s recent blog, Lessons in Revision for Heathfield Teach Share, he explained how he had been using the Heathfield Revision Clock to model revision for students and to get them into the habit of revising effectively. Mark ends his blog with a summary of his key principles that he now follows in regards to…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
One teacher explains how Lockdown actually provided an opportunity for developing subject specific CPL.
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…
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…
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…
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Finding & sharing teaching 'bright spots'
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