I happened to be waiting at the sports centre and was watching a group of kids being shown how to use the climbing wall. There were about 10 kids of late primary/early secondary age. The wall was one of those that had the little different coloured hand and foot holds everywhere. The kids had helmets… Read More Climbing the Wall
If you look through the wrong end of a telescope you can get an entirely different perspective on what you are seeing. When you do this everything around you is much more important that those things that are now even further away, and diminished. I’ve had some interesting discussions today. Some have been less than… Read More Through the looking glass
Here’s where I start. All other things being equal (which they obviously aren’t) there is no detriment to learning times tables. How ever you learn them. By continuous practice, by chanting, by using an app. It’s all good. I know mine and I’m glad I do. The more that children know them the better off… Read More Testing Times
The transition from year 11 through to year 13 has always been a tricky one. Kids who’ve done well in their GCSEs are full of it. They’ve got the grades they worked hard for, they’re taking their driving tests, they’re working part-time and earning some cash, they’re going out spending the cash (mainly on insurance… Read More Market forces
I have some gratuitous advice for those about to be in receipt of DfE funds to deliver CPD for them. I don’t know if you got the funding because you were the best placed to deliver it given your track record or simply because you kept Nick Gibbs shoes shiny, and for the purposes of… Read More This time next year, we’ll be millionaires…
I was thinking about using some click-baity title with “Google” and “you can’t just click it” in it but this is far too serious an issue for that. So, a teacher has been barred from teaching for life. These were the allegations against them: Accessed pornography websites on one or more occasions whilst connected to… Read More On proportionality and privacy
In his speech to the Conservative Party Conference today, Philip Hammond said something that immediately jarred. To be honest, it all jarred a bit, but I mean this part in particular: And then there is the skills challenge. We’ve made huge progress over the last six years. How many people, ten years ago, would have… Read More Truthful Lies
Look, because this post is aimed at politicians, I’ll try to make it simple. If all you do is to improve the education in any given economically disadvantaged area all that you will do is to make that area even more economically disadvantaged. The reasons for this are straightforward. Educational improvement is incremental, and long term. The financing… Read More It’s all about the money, money, money…
W The “times-tables to be tested” announcement is not exactly new. It was one of the elements contained in the (over) detailed Conservative Party Manifesto for the last election. Indeed, it is step number one. Also this is the announcement of the pilot, so there are plenty more opportunities for re-announcement. Expect that to happen.… Read More Foreseeable consequences
I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you what a fantastic breakthrough for education the Apple Watch is going to be. Not only would it insult you it would show me up to be a bit of an idiot. The truth is that we don’t know what impact the device will have yet, in any… Read More Watch this space
Distant Ramblings on the Horizon 