Ideas, Practices & Personal Insights

App combos with the iPad

This article originally appeared in the September 2012 Innovate My School magazine. The iPad is perhaps the most talked-about piece of technology in teaching. Enthralled by tales of educational potential and egged-on by technophile staff, head teachers might be forgiven for investing in the trendy tablets without fully considering how they should be used. Google Earth is certainly good for familiarising children with foreign geography. Socrative provides a quick way to ...

Utilising the iPad to enhance primary science lessons

Many of my posts look at ways to use the iPads in Literacy and Numeracy to enhance learning and engage, motivate and inspire children. But how can using the iPad also help children in other subjects like Science, History or Geography? Here are some ideas about how using the iPad can help students to show, share and develop their learning in these subjects, with a distinct focus on Science.

Bringing it all together: SMSC, PSHE and Citizenship

What can help children and young people develop consistency in their thinking, decision-making and behaviour, especially when they consider and then try to put into practice the range of important topics that are raised during Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, Citizenship lessons and in connection with their Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development? A simple answer – simultaneously learning to understand and apply VALUES in everyday life, because ...

Developing independent learners – The 7 Monkeys

The 7 Monkeys is a way of enabling students to learn a concept, process or idea independently with minimal teacher input. Each ‘monkey’ is a different activity that the students undertake to support their learning. The end point is students answering a question with a piece of extended writing. Why monkeys? Nobody knew – the students seemed to like it though! This is how the process works.

Creating studio classrooms

It is extremely powerful to change classrooms in order to reflect the kind of learning that is taking place at the time. So, for example, they become art studios during creative units, science labs during scientific units, museums during historical ones and so on. Students should be encouraged to think about how their physical space can enhance learning and how it can be adapted to help them do their best.

Technology acronyms: What do they all mean?

Every day we come across a multitude of acronyms which can be confusing and, at times, impossible to understand. Do you know your LAN from your WAN or your MDM from your CMS? Acronyms are familiar only to individuals in their specific field and can often mean different things in different professions. They are widely used in the workplace and increasingly in the technological world. Keeping up with the fast ...

The role of tomorrow's leaders

Although this video is aimed at business leaders, I believe there are take-away pointers for school leadership as well. What follows is my attempt at summarising some of the key points from the various speakers and a few thoughts on their application in a school context. Leaders need to develop the skill of managing across real or imagined boundaries Schools are full of boundaries. Some are real while others are ...

How schools can stay safe whilst using social media

Is fear of abuse preventing you from using social media in your school? Are you unsure of what safeguards you can put in place to protect your pupils? When social media was little more than a tool for socialising, schools could get away with avoiding it. Not any longer. Whether it’s buying a new product, doing business with someone, recruiting a member of staff, or learning a new skill, ...

10 tips for using visualisers to enhance numeracy across all key stages

Continuing on from the previous articles about the benefits of using visualisers in the classroom, it's now possible to take a closer look at how to maximise the use of visualisers across specific curriculum areas. To start off this series, we will focus on numeracy and how visualisers can uniquely be used to enhance teaching and learning from key stages one to four. Below is a list of the foundational ...

How to grab students' attention in five minutes or less

Remember that moment when you get home from work or back from a night class and your partner’s in a bad mood? How long does it usually take you to work it out? Hours? Minutes? A few seconds? Most of the people I ask say a few seconds, some even go as far to say that they can tell before they’ve even stepped foot in the room. However ...

The significance of the arts in education

I strongly believe the arts have the power to transform lives and urge schools to spend a portion of the Pupil Premium on arts education. The earlier a child's engagement with the arts, the more likely they are to develop vital skills such as communication, analysis, confidence and teamwork. These skills can have hugely positive effects on children’s academic achievements, helping them better engage with the mainstream curriculum and ...

The importance of information access and security

The protection of information relating to children is clearly a key responsibility, yet it is an obligation that is shrouded in layers of legislation. It is tempting to think that locking away your information and restricting access is the best way forward but this can slow down and frustrate day-to-day work. Some information, such as medical records, must be both quickly available and restricted only to those who need to ...