LeadingLearner

Assessment: It’s a Curriculum Not a Data Issue

It has taken time but I sense some of the fog is clearing in the post-levels World.  The title is a simple statement I make when speaking at various conferences about assessment; you could almost see the penny drop with attendees.  Far too many schools replaced levels with something that looked like levels and was equally as flawed and meaningless.  Continue reading →

The 3Rs of Working with Disadvantaged Pupils

Statistically, working in a school with a large number of disadvantaged pupils of white ethnic origin isn’t likely to lead to many accolades or much acknowledgement. Blackpool is one such town; fortunately there is no all boys’ school; the hardest of the hard school improvement miles is raising attainment and showing good progress for white disadvantaged boys.

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Exclusive: Ofsted’s Latest Myth Busters #Myth1 – Consistency and Contextualisation

It was one of those accountability Twitter debates; I had deliberately managed to stay well out of it (despite being tagged in tweets) for about 48 hours; then my fingers itched, ire was raised and there I was again. Continue reading →