Innovate My School - Ideas, Practices & Personal Insights

Join the Year of Engineering

LEGO Education is the latest company to announce its support for the Year of Engineering, joining the likes of Apple and the BBC along with more than 1,400 other businesses, charities, schools and colleges. The Year of Engineering, which was announced in November 2017, is a year-long government campaign which celebrates the world of engineering. The initiative aims to highlight how engineering affects every aspect of our lives; from spaceships and ice ...

From learners to leaders!

An amazing thing happens when we expect students to be leaders. They lead. Challenging the philosophy that, by nature, there are leaders and there are followers requires educators to start early. Providing guidance and opportunity for development of leadership skills early on is essential. This is where we learn the tenets of how to get along in the world, and it’s also where “soft skills” originate that serve as ...

Image credit: Burst // Shopify Partners.

Close the gap between school and work

Education systems are failing both students and businesses, claims research by Intern Tech. A shocking 48 per cent of UK graduates stated that they struggle to secure jobs in the technology and marketing industries due to lack of skills, and 93 per cent of UK tech firms claimed that the lack of skills holds their businesses back; surely this is the time for change. So before students even reach university, what more ...

Make a change for your students’ futures

“Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement.” - William Grosvenor Pollard (1911 - 1989), physicist / priest

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Adding kudos to careers development [case study]

A huge advocate of developing the prosperity and wellbeing of the communities it serves, East Kent College aims to open up a world of possibilities which could lead students into their perfect career. They’re doing this by providing high-quality education, celebrating students’ individuality, and encouraging entrepreneurial spirit. So how does the college facilitate these standards?

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Image credit: Flickr // Mr_Stein. // Originally published on 28th February 2018.

Disrupting assessment culture

For children with special educational needs (SEN), one of the toughest barriers to accessing the curriculum can simply be how intimidating the classroom can feel. With 70 per cent of those permanently excluded from school also being registered for with SEN, we need to do more to engage students to maintain their attendance and ensure that functional skills are developed among all students, no matter what their situation or environment.

Image credit: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure // Orion Pictures.

The past, present and future of Primary assessment

I recently received an invitation to chair the Westminster Insight forum in London on the assessment reform in our Primary schools. At first, I felt a little unsure; the word ‘baseline’ was being muttered on everyone’s lips in the staffroom, and I wondered if this could end up being a rather fiery forum to have to control. I realised, however, that the main reason so many teachers and parents ...

Train like a Jedi you must, says Mark Hamill

To inspire greater physical activity in pupils, Public Health England (PHE) and Disney UK have launched Train Like A Jedi. This nationwide Change4Life programme sees the excitement of Star Wars - alongside Double Olympic Gold medallist Jade Jones - to encourage children to get their daily minimum of 60 minutes’ moderate to vigorous physical activity.

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Image credit: Shutterstock // motion.pl.

5 hot takes on assessing assessment

“What can educators do to personalise assessments?” We posed this question to five of the UK’s leading edu-suppliers. Here are their thoughts....

For teachers to thrive, assessment must evolve

One of the defining characteristics of successful schools is how they deliver assessment. How effective a school is at assessment goes a long way to determining how they are perceived by parents and other stakeholders. Assessment is mission-critical in the constant drive for “school improvement”, a buzz-phrase has now become a key strategy outcome for school leaders.

Originally published on 15th January 2018.

How one ‘everyday hero’ can change a life [interview]

You may know Jaz Ampaw-Farr from her famous TEDxNorwichED talk ‘The power of everyday heroes’ - or perhaps from when she was fired from The Apprentice for a particularly daring move. Jaz is a teacher who has taken her survival of childhood abuse, including sexual assault, and has become an unstoppable force of resilience, positivity and passion.

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Making sense of assessment

Reading is incredibly important in supporting students’ overall growth. It’s a predictor of success in further education and life, with achievement in Mathematics and reading significantly associated with academic motivation and quality of life. So it is understandable that education policy largely focuses on developing strong readers at an early age. With that focus comes assessment requirements that can be confusing to parents and exhausting to educators. How do ...