Ideas, Practices & Personal Insights

The Unconscious Bias Toolkit

Earlier this year, London CLC, in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London, launched TechPathways London, a new programme of free training for educators working with young people aged 11-24 in London.

The gender gap in apprenticeships

Participation rates in apprenticeships are running pretty much 50/50 for men and women. Ostensibly, it appears that apprenticeships are a success story for equality. Indeed, for the last ten years participation has slightly tipped in favour of women; but this year, for the first time, more men started on apprenticeships than women. What does this tweak in the statistics tell us about how apprenticeships are evolving?

Gender neutral uniforms in Wales

In April 2019, the Minister for Education in Wales, Kirsty Williams, announced that school uniforms in Wales are to become more affordable for families, with a limit on single-supplier, branded items that have become commonplace in recent years. What struck me most from this announcement was the ruling that uniform is to be gender neutral.

Avoiding unnecessary ‘null point’ in SATs questions

During his 10 years in education, Darryl Keane from Learning by Questions marked the key stage 2 SATs papers of students from all over England and Wales. In this time, he noticed that the same mistakes, many often easily avoidable, were made by students. With this year’s SATs being sat in the same week as the Eurovision Song Contest, Darryl gives us his Eurovision Song Contest style countdown to the ...

We really should be calling ‘soft’ skills hard

We’ve heard it before. The world of work is changing and at a rapid rate. So whether you’re an educator or parent, preparing young people for the world of work comes with a myriad of challenges.

Being yourself, even with big shoes to fill

I'm standing in front of a group of newly qualified teachers, about to embark on their first teaching post in new schools, with new roles, and new stationary. I share that this new term brings with it new challenges for me also.

Microsoft Teams: an alternative VLE?

While there are many different virtual learning environments available on the market, some with high running costs, Microsoft Teams is a practical solution for teachers who want to incorporate educational technology into the classroom.

How Bridge uses technology to support low-income countries

The global shortage of learning is truly shocking. Today, most children in the world are not reaching even basic levels of literacy and maths as they are either not in school or they’re in a school but not really learning. It’s an uncomfortable fact reinforced by the World Bank’s inaugural report on education. The crisis is worst in sub-Saharan Africa. It is home to more than half ...

Story, a super powerful learning tool

Schools UK wide are struggling with the same issues -children entering school with low levels of language and lacking social and emotional skills. Why is this? It’s all about the quality of the interactions happening for children in their early years. This is currently a hot topic and a focus area for the DfE.

Divination, or preparing our students for… who knows?

When I ask my Sixth Form students what they want to study at university or what they want to be later in life, I am often in for a surprise. Their answers often include degrees or professions that I had not heard of and could not have imagined even ten years ago. At this point I would like to make it clear that I am not old (obviously!), but that ...

The EdTech Guide to Formative Assessment

The DfE listed ten challenge areas in its EdTech Strategy, one of which was formative assessment. It’s so important, in fact, that they’re offering funding to EdTech companies who can offer innovative ideas to transform formative assessment - we’re fortunate enough to already work alongside several companies who are making a real impact in the world of assessment, and this week we’re celebrating their amazing work. 1. ...

Using Formative Assessment to engage reluctant writers

As a teacher, and later Deputy Head, my classes invariably contained reluctant writers - usually boys! I was always on the lookout for new ways to support my teaching of writing, with a focus on strategies that would ensure that every one of my children achieved their full potential.