Ideas, Practices & Personal Insights

GCSEs in the Lockdown age

The Lockdown bombshell for pupils and teachers: “GCSE grades will be cancelled…”

5 historical heroes who inspire and motivate

Have you been struggling with motivation? So have I! Tasks that would have taken me about 10 minutes to complete at school are taking me 1 hour at home. I have always been someone who has been very self-motivated and driven therefore this season has been very odd.

‘Hello World’: Creating the next generation of coders

‘Hello World’ is perhaps the most famous computer phrase in the world, well, for programmers at least.

Solving problems presented by home learning

I’m a mother, teacher, researcher and life-long learner and I’m hearing and seeing a lot of problems with home schooling: 1.The reality is that the majority of children are not engaging in work set by their schools. 2. Online work can be overwhelming, the materials hard to navigate and boring. 3. Children are feeling anxious about being ‘left behind’ when they are already stressed enough about covid and ...

Advising young people on the next stage of their journey

As lockdown continues, students around the world are unsure of what happens next. For those that are in the final years of college or Sixth Form, there’s even more uncertainty. What will happen on results day? Will I get into university? Will there be jobs and internships available? Will universities open in September?

Revolutionaries you need to know

At a time when curriculum development is having a much needed revamp, where architects of curriculums are moving towards a progression model that focus on a domain of knowledge, rather than what will be on terminal examinations, it is now that we can really evaluate what we choose to include (and not include) in our everyday teaching and learning.

Confident Readers in our Digital Age

We live in an era when the act of reading is changing as rapidly as any time in its 5,000-year-old history. Children have gone from reading on clay tablets in ancient Sumer (modern day Iraq) five millennia ago, to… well, reading on electronic tablets today!

Staying sane as a teacher in a pandemic

As of writing, we are now approaching the sixth week of lockdown, and I can imagine teachers, leaders and headteachers are pretty exhausted. I know I am. I’m normally full of energy and raring to go, but this pandemic has definitely taken a toll on my energy levels. I think we are all working off of adrenaline at this unpredictable time.

How we engaged parents with home learning during school closures

I think it is safe to say that the Covid-19 situation caught us all a little unawares. We have seen epidemics like SARS and EBOLA before, but these have always been stopped before being able to spread. This time was different. The grim inevitability of school closures was upon us and this meant we had to make plans and fast.

A how to guide for home learning worksheets

We have now entered into our third week of home-learning after an Easter ‘break’; although many people will still have been working despite what the news says about schools being open, closed, opening, closed until September, open over Summer. I think we could all really do with less speculation!

Managing you and your children’s anxiety

This is an extraordinary time for everyone. For parents with children of all ages, it also means balancing children’s needs and their wellbeing alongside your own.