Helen Hampson, Research and Development Manager, Sevenoaks School, UK Christina Hinton, CEO, Research Schools International; Research Affiliate, Harvard Human Flourishing Program Ayse Yemiscigil, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Human Flourishing Program Mark Beverley, Director of Institute of Teaching & Learning, Sevenoaks School Jon Beale, Teacher of Philosophy/Research Fellow, Sevenoaks School Ben Hill, Researcher, Research Schools International […]
Katie Cork, Head of Sixth Form, St Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross Study habits and academic achievement In post-16 education, a student studying for three A-levels has 10 or more hours of undirected time a week within their timetable; this is around half the time recommended for students to spend on independent study (Oakes and Griffin, […]
Dena Eden, English Standards Leader, Inspiration Trust, UK Joy and academic rigour are often dichotomised. However, through careful consideration and application of cognitive science, we can appreciate not only how they can co-exist, but also how academic rigour is crucial if we are to see our students taking joy from English. An academically rigorous classroom […]
Natasha Crellin, Headteacher, The Hill Primary School, UK Ofsted’s changes to the inspection framework in 2019 prompted schools to consider and refine their curriculum offer. Within our mainstream maintained primary school, the development of our English curriculum led us to reflect on the whole-school reading environment and the impact of this on our pupils’ interaction […]
Mary Norton, Key Stage 1 Team Leader, Warden House Primary School, UK Introduction The more we considered the transition – from Reception to Year 1 – of a small group of children with specialist support, the more we questioned our practice for all children in our setting and researched the need for change. This article […]
Verity Downing, Early Years Practitioner and Doctoral researcher, UK Practicing resilience is an ongoing and ever-changing life project, yet, by the time students leave the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and progress to Key Stage 1, it is expected that they will be ‘confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance’ (Early […]
Debbie Hill and James Earp, Northampton High School, UK Introduction The return to school following two periods of guided home learning (GHL) and the introduction of mixed model learning has continued to present challenges to the whole learning community. A lot of initial media attention focused on learning loss (Andrew et al., 2020); however, in […]
James Blake, Assistant Principal, The Skinners’ Kent Academy, Tunbridge Wells, UK Rules, routines and regulating them are part of the day-to-day running of any school. Drawing on my experience with a Year 9 class, this reflection considers the role of routines in creating a productive classroom environment that supports learning. From lining up in silence […]
Mike Jerstice, Reading Blue Coat School, UK Background When you sort the Teaching and Learning Toolkit from the Education Endowment Foundation (2014) by ‘impact’, self-regulatory and metacognitive strategies are at the top. Self-regulation is one of the best ways in which to improve attainment and engagement in any student body, but just defining it is […]
Katie Marl, Curriculum Manager, Education Team, Oak National Academy, UK Oak National Academy was created in April 2020 to support teachers and students during lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It hosts over 10,000 lessons, covering the entire National Curriculum for students aged four to 16, and includes 600 lessons for pupils with specialist needs. […]
Gemma Hargraves, Assistant Head (Pastoral), King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham, UK Despite the overachievement of girls in education remaining a persistent historic trend, there may be room for improvement in their willingness to embrace leadership opportunities within secondary schools. Creating the conditions for girls to thrive in education may appear simple when […]
Bethan Coles, Teacher Education, University of Bedfordshire, UK Introduction Students with either high aspirations or high expectations have higher school achievement than those with both low aspirations and low expectations. (Khattab, 2015, p. 731) Low teacher expectations do not necessarily negatively impact on students’ behaviour if there are high aspirations and achievement in place. The […]
Jonathon Parker, Lecturer, Gower College Swansea, UK Introduction Modern-day students have grown up in a world immersed in social media and digital content consumption, but do these students have the digital competencies to acquire and synthesise information for educational gain or in a career-based context? By using digital collaboration tools to simulate a workplace scenario, […]
Stephen Lee and Paul Chillingworth, Mathematics in Education and Industry, UK This case study gives an insight into an online learning environment created to enable post-16 students to study AS/A-level further mathematics through external tuition provided by an education charity. A ‘student experience of tuition’ baseline survey and comparable ‘end of course’ survey were considered […]
Hyunjin Son, Teacher of Engineering and Science, The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, USA The need for active learning to be included in STEM classrooms has grown in the United States with the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which focus on the application of knowledge through design and engineering processes. […]
Rosanna Wilson, Edward Sellman and Stephen Joseph, School of Education, University of Nottingham, UK Introduction How do English secondary school teachers engage with the concept of ‘wellbeing education’? The global impact of COVID-19 has emphasised the frontline role that teachers and schools play in supporting children’s wellbeing. Nonetheless, the nature of wellbeing and its relationship […]
Jovita Castelino, Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, UK Homework is a high-impact, low-cost strategy that can have significant implications for academic success, particularly at the secondary level (EEF, 2018). This is dependent on whether the homework set is of a high quality, it is inherently linked to classroom learning and all barriers to successful completion […]
Dr Trisha Waters, Centre for Therapeutic Storywriting, UK Elizabeth Holmes, Freelance education writer, UK Introduction Story Links is a parent partnership model of intervention that supports students at risk of exclusion due to mental health and behavioural difficulties related to attachment anxiety. It uses the principles of therapeutic storywriting (Waters, 2004). The theoretical background of […]
David Bowman, Teacher of Mathematics, GLOW Maths hub, UK The article ‘Mistakes, mindsets and mathematics’ (Bowman, 2018) discussed the four academic mindsets (Farrington et al., 2012) that are the core of the ‘YesUCan’ message (Figure 1). ‘YesUCan’ is a belief that, with effort and great teaching, it is possible to improve in all things. It […]
Naomi Sautter, Science Leader and Class Teacher, North London Collegiate School, Dubai; MA Education Student, University of Exeter, UK As educators, we are tasked with preparing students for a future that we cannot see. Within the literature, there are many different perspectives about what an effective learning environment may look like and the skills and […]
