Outstanding Lessons

#OutstandingIn10Plus10: Mid-Year Report

In September I launched our first CPD programme that had been deliberately written for teachers who were good, stuck at good and to be frank pretty fed up that they had not yet been able to take their desired step to outstanding.  The professional development sessions that we have shared were, without doubt, one of my highlights of last term.  Teaching and learning just fascinate me. Continue reading →

When Feedback Met Bloom

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to Dylan Wiliam or reading John Hattie’s work then you will see there is definitely a meeting of minds, the meeting of two great minds if truth be told.  They both champion feedback as one of the most powerful ways of enhancing learning but are also very clear that this is not just any old feedback.  Assessment for learning has now been so re-worked, abused and adapted we have probably lost sight of its real power and purpose.

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When Didactic Met Co-operative

The debate about teacher or pupil-led teaching has to stop, for me it is “wrong jungle” thinking.  There are both teacher centric and student centric approaches that work, the research evidence is pretty clear.  Equally both approaches have some pretty uninformed and dodgy practices that unfortunately have find their way into our classrooms. Continue reading →