Monthly Archives: October 2016

Originally posted on Things Behind the Sun:
I read through the feed from Tom Barrett’s #creativitychat recently. It made for an interesting yet frustrating e-conversation. Maybe the whole concept of creativity is tough to define in practice, that is in…

It’s Castle Competition time again.  Every year, after a unit of work on the post Norman Conquest, Year 7 are given the opportunity to enter in any number of four categories; model, painting, cake and, since last year, Minecraft. Source: … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Reflections on schools, teaching and education. :
OUR KIDS: THE AMERICAN DREAM IN CRISIS, BY ROBERT PUTNAM A visit to Rome’s colosseum this summer reminded me that we can be quick to judge the moral failings of other…

Originally posted on johntomsett:
I have been a teacher for 28 years, a Headteacher for 13 years and, at the age of 52, this much I know about not publishing data targets to students and parents. One of the biggest differences…

Originally posted on missdcoxblog:
How would you explain these to a student? http://www.storyofmathematics.com/greek_pythagoras.html Recently I’ve been considering what makes effective teaching and I think this is often overlooked as an important aspect of teaching. How a teacher describes, explains, especially…

The above was me last week!! You can’t have failed to notice that last week, in a speech about primary assessment Justine Greening announced that the government “will not introduce statutory mathematics and reading resits on children’s arrival in year … Continue reading →

In 1165 Emanuel of Constantinople received a jaw-dropping letter from an Eastern king calling himself Prester John. ‘Prester John’ describes his exotic kingdom in rich detail. In the letter he claimed to reign over a diverse population of races, including men with horns, … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Trivium 21c:
To be cultured means to nail one’s colours to the mast, and those who fear what’s arbitrary in that (and run to theory for protection) fear culture itself. Howard Jacobson The importance of tradition, the…