70% of British primary schoolteachers have noticed a rise in the number of 3-7-year olds wetting themselves during the school day. As a former Deputy Head and Class Teacher for 22 years I also taught 35 five-year olds in Reception but I certainly didn’t think it was my job to toilet train the children in […]
British author and speaker Sir Ken Robinson is known for several accomplishments, from his books to his professorships to his TED talks. But in 2006, he gained recognition for something that no other TED speaker in history has done. It was back then that he delivered a TED talk on the topic of whether […]
I can only say that I am so glad I left teaching 10 years ago as I just watch in horror at my friend’s stress levels as they continue to battle the obsession with data driven, stress imbued, teaching and learning. Stressed teachers create stressed learning environments so children as young as 5 equate learning […]
I’m being interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds today about an Ofsted Report that says how chatter, calling out without permission, swinging on chairs, play fighting, throwing paper planes, using mobile phones and quietly humming was “very common” in schools. As regular readers of my blog know – I used to be a Deputy Head and Class […]
I used to be a Deputy Head and Class teacher and I know first hand about teaching in a Reception Class where children first start school at 5 here in the UK. I’ve also watched as education has become obsessed with data – stressing over whether 5 year olds have gone up 2 sub levels and then watching […]
Today thousands of teachers in the UK are on strike. I sympathise because education has become a world of what I call “Tick Box” Teaching – where teachers are snowed under with data. Ticking boxes about whether a 5 year old in Year 1 can “ Recognise common graphemes and common alternative pronunciations” in […]
I know just how this teacher feels as a former Deputy Head ! Schools quake in fear of Ofsted instead of seeing it as an opportunity to get inspiring new ideas and positive feedback. The culture of blame and shame really doesn’t help schools or teachers feel valued or improve morale as everyone has become […]
I had a super day filming about the wonderful One Page Profiles that are being introduced in to schools through the UK by Helen Sanderson Associates and myself. I was delighted to have been invited to do the voice over and filming for the launch of this ground breaking video that was launched in The House […]
