THE REFLECTIVE TEACHER

On 18th March, the government announced that all GCSE and A level exams would be cancelled for 2020. In the frenzied days afterwards we all wondered what the...

In 2018/19, I was lucky enough to be part of an enormously successful FE English and math team. With national average grade 4+ rates for Post-16 GCSE student...

Every time I've taught structure under the new spec (with AQA), I've had a sneaking suspicion that I'm teaching far, far too much and making it much more com...

Whether entering the infamous NQT year (with 1 in 7 dropping out during this year), or an experienced teacher who has seen it all, most teachers will have mo...

We've all heard the transition day assessment horror stories - a sprightly bunch of 11 year old students head up to their local Secondary school for a day of...

Recently, I've been thinking about the language we use in schools (for example, how we communicate/ outline expectations), heavily sparked by GCSE results da...

September is finally here. How has this happened? Surely, it was only yesterday that we were wishing students ‘good luck’ for exams and 5 minutes since we wi...

After what has seemed like an eternity, the end of 2018/19 is somehow upon us. When I started this blog a few months ago, I did it with a promise to myself t...

As society and employment evolve at breakneck pace, educational revolution must follow, writes Will Cowell Most of us have seen the video. You probably watch...

‘Black box thinking is the willingness and tenacity to investigate the lessons that often exist when we fail, but which we rarely exploit’ – Matthew Syed ‘I’...

I remember my first experience in an FE college well. It involved presiding over enrolment season in late August/ early September with too many emails flying...

As an English teacher and leader in FE, I spend my time working with GCSE English and maths students who have achieved less than a grade 4 at KS4. A lot of m...

Exams have been and gone, students have departed, and an air of calm has descended. Mercifully, we now have time to properly reflect on the events of 2017/18...

Thursday afternoon. We are at the end of a lesson; it has been a good one. I’ve shared a poem, explored meaning, modelled analysis. They have nodded and duti...

Haven't found a role for September yet? Don't worry - there are lots of options Final PGCE assignments are handed in, goodbyes are shared at long placement s...

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out” – Robert Collier Your lesson begins. You present your students with a quick recap quiz to ...

Over the last few years, a range of books have been released espousing ideas to support teachers in being more effective in the classroom. Here are 5 that w...

'Marking has evolved into an unhelpful burden for teachers, when the time it takes is not repaid in positive impact on pupils’ progress' - Ofsted, 2016 With ...

'Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on' - Louis L'Armour Hello there and welcome to my blog. The blog is inten...