The year’s started and there’s a more uncertain feel to it than most. The new examinations system and associated point scores has produced the predicted turbulence, in reality and people’s minds. Continue reading
The new linear A-level results will soon be announced; starting with linear GCSE English & Mathematics examinations the move towards students memorising large volumes of information, for public examinations, seems inexorable. Continue reading
Marking in many schools has reached fetish level. It’s out of all balance with other key activities teachers must undertake most noticeably planning. Ofsted reports, for too many years, have obsessed about marking – I managed a hat-trick of marking as a key issue for action in consecutive reports over a decade – but subject and curriculum planning is rarely mentioned. Continue reading