Ideas, Practices & Personal Insights

This year, turn the page on technology

For many years, methods of teaching remained the same: students reading from textbooks, writing notes to process information, and gaining all the key knowledge needed for the world around them. The boom in technology at the turn of the millennium, however, saw traditional methods of teaching become overshadowed by new devices and software packages that revolutionised the learning landscape. The focus is now on creating a 21st Century education. With ...

Originally published on 20th September 2016.

8 ways to remove stress from your school

‘Too much to do and too little time’ is a cry I often hear in schools, and yet how is it that some people have enough time and other people don’t? An ex-colleague used to say: “If you want something doing, give it to a busy person”. So is it that busy people are better with time management, or could it be that they have less to do than ...

How to make this year work for YOU

Both as a teacher, and then as a school leader, at the beginning of each new year I used to identify what I would be trying to achieve over the course of the year to come. In both roles, my focus was always around how I would be working to improve my understanding and my practice so that I was better able to meet the holistic needs of all my ...

How we've taken our school from ‘special measures’ to ‘truly special’

I’m starting 2017/18 after my first year as principal at a school in challenging circumstances, which has been in and out of special measures for several Ofsted cycles. We all know what a school like this looks like on paper, but I hadn’t considered the damage that this does to the core fabric of a school. The climate at Queen Elizabeth's Academy was broken and needed urgent attention.

Would your pupils pass the Granny Test?

E-safety is somewhat of a hot topic in schools as it's an ever-shifting playing field. As schools we have a duty of care to keep our children safe, whether that is online or in ‘real life’. Safeguarding is the key area that Sean Harford highlighted as a priority for Ofsted teams, and rightly so. Parents want to know that we are doing our best to keep their children safe.

The (sun)rise of outdoor learning

Given that not spending enough time outdoors is detrimental to a child’s health, UK headteachers have been taking it upon themselves to ensure pupils are allowed time amongst nature, thus promoting healthy development. For over 70 years, we at Broxap have delivered projects all over the country, for clients with varying budgets and requirements. This school year, we want to reinforce just how powerful and beneficial outdoor learning can be.

Make this your most digital year yet!

Digital literacy: I’m sure you’ve been told this is important for students in the 21st Century. But did anyone mention it’s also important for teachers too? Believe me, it is! Digital literacy is about digital skills, skills which help you use tech, create with tech and be safe using tech. So obviously as students increase in their use of technology we have to support them in how ...

Develop resilience in pupils AND staff

There are several words that I don’t feel get the usage in day-to-day conversation they deserve – ‘determination’, ‘empathy’, ‘bravery’, for instance. However, the word that perhaps evokes the most powerful ‘do I have that?’ feeling is ‘resilience’. Until our resilience is tested, we never really give it a lot of thought, we just merrily continue through life without actually knowing whether or not we indeed possess it. So what ...

The Guide you need for your school year

What’s the #1 annual publication in education? We may be biased, but for us it’s the Innovate My School Guide 2017/18. The third edition of this inspirational periodical sees 40 top educators tackle 10 of the most exciting areas in the sector, ranging from The Hottest Edtech Trends, to Assessing Assessment, to a Countdown to 2018/19. The IMS Guide is free to read on our website, and will throughout the year be distributed ...

Image credit: Bad Teacher // Radar Pictures.

The importance of (well)being earnest

'Wellbeing' is a word that has been bandied around for a while with regard to teaching as a profession. It generally stems from the issues that come from teaching being a stressful job. I imagine it has always been so: taking 30 young minds and guiding them (sometimes unwillingly) towards educational enlightenment is stressful. However, when you add the current climate in teaching in our country, “stressful” isn't a strong enough ...

Image credit: Flickr // usnationalarchives.

A leader's guide to management innovation

As the external environment becomes more complex (law changes, penalty increases, more vocal and critical stakeholders, technology changes), more demands are placed on the leadership teams in schools. Coordinated crisis management in the short term is all very well. But is the training investment by the organisation keeping pace with the future needs of the school?

GDPR is coming - here’s how to be ready

One of the undisputable diary dates for this scholastic year is 25th May 2018 – when the new data protection regulation will become enforceable. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the Data Protection Act, which was based on European legislation passed in 1995. Since then, the world of personal data has changed beyond all recognition so the rules needed a significant overhaul. This now means that schools have to go through a ...