SKILLS COUNT: EVALUATION MATTERS!

We need to get children and young people to develop their own ideas and make judgments and decisions...

REMEMBER THAT WE LEARN WHAT WE LIVE!

I sat in a meeting with an OFSTED colleague this morning and afterwards reflected on that wonderful piece 'A Child Learns What They Live' by Dorothy Law Nolte.

BE HAPPY THIS SUNDAY!

BE PERSISTENT, DISCIPLINED AND WORK HARD, STAY CONNECTED, VOLUNTEER AND GIVE!

The Longevity Project is the most comprehensive longitudinal evidence for how to live long and prosper. As I have said for a long time we simply need to be persistent, disciplined and work hard for as long as we possibly can, stay connected with friends and colleagues and volunteer and give to others whenever and whatever we can.

SKILLS MATTER!

We need to remember that knowledge and skills work together to achieve anything worthwhile...

ALWAYS BELIEVE...

BRILLIANT: Get Up to Speed With Engineering & Manufacturing 2013

This brilliant event, which took place at The Blue Shed on 17th April, was specifically designed for young people and their families and teachers to see some of the fastest vehicles, innovations and people on earth first hand, hear from and talk to those involved in their successes and learn about how their success has been achieved and the fundamental role design, engineering and manufacturing have played in that success.

CAREER DETECTIVES!

I met Joseph Leech this morning. Joseph who is a director at 'biggreenfox' wanted to show me the game he has developed.

INVENTING THE FUTURE: The Cutlers' Education Committee

I was in Sheffield again this morning meeting with the Cutlers' Education Committee to look at how we continue to develop the work we have been doing this year with Bradfield School, Firth Park Community Arts College, Stocksbriodge High School and Yewlands Technology College.

27 WAYS TO BE A BETTER TEACHER!

HAPPY SUNDAY... SAY IT WITH FLOWERS!

McKINSEY REPORT: ‘How the world’s best performing school systems come out on top’

We need to develop more evidence based approaches to improving teaching and learning. I have been re-reading ‘How the world’s best performing school systems come out on top’, which McKinsey & Company published in 2007 and which examined the common characteristics of high-performing school systems.

McKINSEY REPORT: ‘How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better’

In 2010 McKinsey & Company published ‘How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better’ which analysed twenty systems from around the world and examined how each has achieved significant, sustained and widespread gains in student outcomes.

THE HOLSTEE MANIFESTO!

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING MATTERS: Adria Steinberg’s 6 A’s!

Project-based Learning provides us with the opportunity to connect with young people's interests and passions in a way that is authentic, academic, rigorous, applied and active.

THIS WEEK, WHATEVER YOU DO, BE HAPPY!

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Relax, unwind and remember to get a haircut!

OECD: SYNERGIES FOR BETTER LEARNING!

The OECD has published ‘Synergies for Better Learning’ An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment which highlights the increased demand for effectiveness, equity and quality in education to meet economic and social challenges. This interesting and thought provoking publication, which you can read on line for free, also recognises that there is a growing trend towards greater school autonomy, which requires systems to monitor how schools are doing.

THE ARTS MATTER!

"The arts are a central part of the human experience and young people cannot participate or understand our history without engaging in the arts..."

NINE WAYS TO BE HAPPY!

Found this on-line and it sums up the things that matter!

EVERYBODY IS A GENIUS!

HAPPY SUNDAY!

MAKE SURE YOU SING!

When I visited William Booth Primary School  it was great to hear that their brilliant new school choir was going from strength to strength. When they performed for parents and guests they sang this song by R Kelly.

"I am a giant

I am an eagle

I am a lion

Down in the jungle

I am a marchin' band

I am the people

I am a helpin' hand

And I am a hero

If anybody asks u who I am

Just stand up tall look 'em in the Face and say

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I'm that star up in the sky

I'm that mountain peak up high

I made it

I'm the worlds greatest

And I'm that little bit of hope

When my backs against the ropes

I can feel it

I'm the worlds greatest"

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Malcolm Gladwell argues that it is practice that makes perfect...

PASSION, SELF-BELIEF, DETERMINED, FOCUSED AND DELIBERATE PRACTICE AND HARD WORK!

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." W. B. Yeats

If you read the McKinsey Report, analyse the PISA data and listen to people like Ken Robinson it is increasingly obvious that, while recognising what has been achieved over the last ten years, we are still not doing enough to ignite and inspire our children to become brilliant little learners.

FIVE STEPS TO HELP RELEASE THE MAGIC!

If we are really serious about changing the culture and creating a culture of excellence we must incentivise and reward co-operation, teamwork, collaboration, networking and partnering. Here are five steps that help to release the magic!

SEARCH AND YOU WILL FIND!

The world around us is full of success and failure, inspiration and boredom, happiness and sadness, opportunities and problems. So if you’re looking for success, inspiration, happiness and opportunities, you will find them.

CREATING INNOVATORS: THE MADE IN SHEFFIELD WAY!

I think Tony Wagner has captured some really important messages in his book “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World”. I read this brilliant piece by Thomas L. Friedman again which I first saw in the New York Times. I have highlighted and underlined some sections which confirm the importance of the work we are doing with the Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield" approach which is about to be launched into its next exciting phase. Lord Nash is a fan but I am not sure Michael Gove has read it!!

THE CHALLENGE WE ALL FACE!

"The principal goal of education... should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things... men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers."

Sitting here on Easter Monday reading reports of the Easter union conferences and the DfE's responses to their concerns, I must admit I am confused. There seems to me to be a huge contradiction between the freedom and empowerment for headteachers and schools and the command and control mentality of the new curriculum which is being imposed on schools.