Great Approach Needed!

I know change is always with us but education and learning are facing another important round of initiatives and reviews...

Powerful initiatives like Academies, Free Schools, Teach First are reshaping the learning landscape.

The True Measure!

"The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children: their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialisation, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born"

UNICEF

A New OFSTED Category: Magic!

"Only if we expand and reformulate our view of what counts as human intellect will we be able to devise more appropriate ways of assessing it and more effective ways of educating it." 

Howard Gardner

In uncertain times we need somewhere to stand and that must mean establishing a clear and powerful picture of what a GREAT SCHOOL looks like.

Guardian Children's Manifesto!

In January, ten years ago, Education Guardian asked children to design their perfect school. From over 15,000 entries from pupils aged five to 18, they drew up the Children's Manifesto – a recipe for the school of children's dreams.

Now they've done it again and asked. 'Is your school just as you'd like it to be?' 'Or are there things you would change?' 'Is the building right?' 'Should you sit exams?' 'Are you allowed to express yourself?' 'Are your lessons interesting?' Ideas flooded in from children all over the country about the kind of school they would like. Here is a summary of their new manifesto...

William Booth Primary and Nursery School Interim Executive Board!

I have been asked to chair the William Booth Primary and Nursery School Interim Executive Board which has been established to help the school through the challenges it is facing having been placed in Special Measures after a critical inspection report by our friends from OFSTED.

Top Ten Countries for Children's Well-Being!

1. Sweden
2. Italy
3. Spain
4. Germany
5. Austria
6. France
7. Iceland
8. Norway
9. Switzerland
10. Luxembourg

Source: Save the Children

'Look at Me'!

I used to work with a brilliant team in Leeds who provided support and training to deaf and hearing impaired children and young people and their families. It was great therefore to see that this week is Deaf Awareness Week.

Be Creative!

‘Creativity is the new currency’

It's up to us to develop this key quality in our little learners.   As Piaget stated ‘the principle goal of education is to create people who are capable of doing new things’. Our job is to bring out the creativity, to encourage children to take risks, to explore, discover and get excited by learning.   Einstein said that every child is born a genius! They start out in life with such an inquisitive nature and it's up to us to make sure it isn’t knocked out of them by the system.
Chris

Harlow Carr!

I started the day at Harlow Carr, the Royal Horticultural Society's, gardens in the North of England...

Great Coaching!

Whether we like it or not, your colleagues know what you think of them and as teachers we all know that children, young people, colleagues and friends live up to, or down to, our expectations of them. We tend to get what we expect...

THANK YOU!

"Our brains are hardwired to help us perform at our best when they are filled with positives rather than negatives."

Today, 1st May 2011, I have reached an important milestone in my professional life.

SO WHAT IS?

In spite of all the many strategies used to turn around low performance nothing changes unless teaching and learning changes.

NOT THE ANSWER!

We all want to improve the education, learning and skills. We all want to drive up standards and outcomes so that we can compete in an increasingly global business landscape. We all want every school to be a GREAT SCHOOL.