For the benefit of those that are not science teachers, I want to try to demonstrate, through this example, the power of practical science lessons to inspire, engage and promote understanding. By practical, I mean real, hands on, tactile, feely-touchy, noisy, smelly pupil experience that cannot be replicated by any DVD or on-line representation. The topic of 'electricity and magnetism' is ... read more and comment →
The former QCA chief Mick Waters is a fascinating commentator on education. I've already commented upon his new book Thinking Allowed On Schooling; it's a really interesting read. What I like about Mick is that he is very approachable, and combines a healthy realism about schools with a desire for a more egalitarian system. He's obviously a keen supporter of ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by John Mountford: ""more schools need to be saying this rather than playing this game." Sue, in my earlier comment and in my reply to FJM, I was making a point that this option is not readily available to many professionals. (I think he ......"
Comment + Debate
“…the vision for the student experience includes high expectations for examination success, but it should also acknowledge the ways in which education enriches learning and develops students’ independence, spirit of enquiry and practical skills.” So ends the introduction to a selection of essays published by the Wellcome Institute. The report, entitled “Effects from Accountabilities”, contains contributions from, among others, Andreas Schleicher ... read more and comment →
Does anyone else have experience of being in a school in Special Measures where staff can leave at a moment's notice? The normal notice periods for staff wishing to leave, or support for struggling staff, don't seem to be there anymore and I'm sure my school can't be alone in this. Lots of new staff seem to be agency so ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Tubby - this article from Full Fact looked at the "200,000 school places cut" claim and said: "Data published by the DfE in May 2012 estimated a national surplus of primary school places of 10.4% with 444,410 unfilled places in 2010/11." Despite ......"
Comment + Debate
I'm a parent at Gladstone Park Primary School in Brent, which has always previously been rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding, but at the latest inspection in November was astonishingly rated as “inadequate”. This follows a change in Ofsted’s rules last summer whereby the school as a whole is rated according to the worst feature found, and the inspectors ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Mike Baker: "Andy, thanks for this suggestion. I've now got hold of and gone through our RAISEonline data. The data for 2012 is overwhelmingly positive, the one and only blue (statistically significant negative) figure being for a category with one ......"
Comment + Debate (NOTE: This article first appeared in Secondary Ed. I will be speaking on this theme at the forthcoming Education Innovation conference in Manchester on March 8 and 9. Visit http://educationinnovation.co.uk/) I supported my son’s local secondary school, Bethnal Green Technology College (BGTC), as it was then called, to become an academy. Nevertheless, I have severe reservations about the academies and free schools programme as a ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Marigold Doyle: "This article doesn't sit well with me, to be honest, when the author has criticised other parents for campaigning for their local school to become an academy because they believe this is the route to improve it. Whether they are right, ......"
Comment + Debate
When Sir Michael Wilshaw showed me round Mossbourne some years ago one of the most impressive features was their use of student data. The school leadership and each individual teacher received reports, every six weeks, on student progress against expectation. No student could quietly slip behind and intervention could be quickly targeted at those that needed it. Given that data was ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Peter Nye: "Gaynor this is my understanding of how it works. The APS improvement of Pupils A and B from KS1 to KS2 (12.8 and 12.6 points respectively) is a measure of the absolute progress they have made from one point in time ......"
Comment + Debate
Last year I was asked by the Trustees of R.I.S.E (Research and Information on State Education) to write a 5000 word review of the first twenty years of Ofsted. The piece is accessible here. The project was enjoyable but challenging, particularly in covering such a complex, influential and, of course, controversial organisation in a relatively limited number of words. R.I.S.E stressed that ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Thanks for this Adrian, it's excellent. I remember in 2002 the journal which focused on technology in mathematics education (Micromath - published by the ATM) advertised for articles reviewing the first 20 years of technology in mathematics classrooms and articles predicting ......"
Comment + Debate
Ofsted tells us which schools are outstanding, good, satisfactory or less than satisfactory. But it measures only certain things, albeit crucial ones about teaching, learning and leadership. League tables rank schools, based on exam or SAT results, which doesn’t tell the reader much apart from what the school’s test results are (though the reader informed about the local area or ... read more and comment →
We are a group of parents opposing the Harris Federation walking roughshod over us to take over our school. Our school was given NTI but Ofsted haven't even returned to see if we have improved and the sad thing is we have, instead we are to become yet another commodity for Lord Phillip to have and many believe that it ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "I hope Maria will find it useful too. Maria are you there? We're happy to help if you have more questions. If you post a question or a comment on this thread those of use who have ......"
Comment + Debate