Scaffolding is essential for novices, but for experts, it can become cognitive clutter. Discover how the Expertise Reversal Effect informs adaptive teaching strategies: https://www.innerdrive.co.uk/blog/expertise-reversal-effect-scaffolding/

Beautifully articulates something that has always bothered me with “consistency” the one size fits all fallacy. The nice thing about coherence as articulated here is that it avoids education doublespeak such as “tight but loose” mrnickhart.wordpress.com/2024/05/31/c...

I’d like to say I’m surprised but given the outcome we were left with being so unpalatable to the majority inside the sector, they absolutely need to cling to the mantra we are giving the people what they want! It’s pure Orwellian double speak!

Our “crisis” in SEND is a direct symptom of poor funding and hasn’t simply been exacerbated by poor funding. Had per pupil funding kept up with inflation and the expected £6k spend per child likewise would we have this many students needing EHCPs? www.specialneedsjungle.com/19-5-pupils-...

Being a reader in the world not just “doing” reading. Love this by @carlhendrick.substack.com

Lol to the way old things get new names in education and then some people act as though they just invented them. 'Turn and talk' or what we used to call pair work or talk partners before the idea that group work was a bad thing got rammed down our throats. 🙄

Known unknowns: Exploring In-Service Teachers' Metacognitive Sensitivity and Efficiency: https://osf.io/49ynr

This is brilliant from @lizrobinson.bsky.social - we need pluralism, diversity and autonomy across the schools system. And leaders who have the courage to be different, whatever that might look like.

🚨 LIBERAL OVERREACH When applying our values backfires: ↓

Joel Mokyr won the Nobel prize today Here is what I think he can teach us about improving schools: samsims.education/2022/06/08/e...

I’d love to see this level of statistical understanding among the population at large, or even teachers in general. The important point for teachers to realise is that test scores are indicative, not descriptive or prescriptive surely? 100assessment.substack.com/p/why-school...

I think this has nicely summarised my fear of an education landscape dominated by MATs with packaged formulae which work…overall the bottom line may be up but does the lack of “messiness” provide a more vanilla diet that never captures or inspires to the same heights? And if so for how many?

What a fantastic and much needed dose of positivity from @strickomaster.bsky.social. It resonates because it is true!

When NHS services that are designed to support CYP in school, with early help, (however limited they may be) require parental support and an acceptance of recording on a CYP’s NHS record this presents yet another barrier to uptake of preventative early help.

It is so important for schools to be part of the solution for parents. How to do so in those areas with high suspicion of authority and institutions is the gnarly issue!

Couldn’t agree more!

These are your words of the week indigenous visionary triskaidekaphobia remigrate pococurante www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/the...

Excellent work here from @geographicalassoc.bsky.social drawing together the lessons from the Ofsted subject reports into geography. A lot here for teachers and leaders to take away and reflect on. geography.org.uk/standards-in...

Quite the spectacle to see media outlets who've cheered on austerity saying 'oh god, SEND spending is out of control'. Well, if you gut councils, fail to provide local special school spaces, collapse SureStart and leave public/collective transport to rot, that's what happens. Cuts are expensive

I’m in a room where a whole ass faculty member said “Chat GPT 5 would be able to write a better NSF proposal than me” and… well… My inside thoughts got the best of me BC I said loud as fuck “that’s unfortunate, because there’s not a machine on earth that writes better than me.”

So if the Y8 reading test shows a teacher - who probably already knows - that the child is working below the “expected standard” (whatever they decide this is) for reading. Exactly what resources and expertise will the overstretched secondary school have to address this?

A great summary of why deliberate and joined up thinking of the curriculum is needed within every subject. The demands of the KS4 specifications would just be too much if you hadn’t already sequenced KS3 to lay the foundations and bridge the KS2 to 4 gap.

This has been one of those reports that makes you feel worse and worse as you uncover the layers of a system that just isn't working. Change is desperately needed so that all children can thrive in education without having to rely on parents spending money they may not even have to get support.

All the Heads I know are on their knees, seeing children presenting with more complex needs than ever before, extreme behaviour and limited funding. The majority of this is in EYFS and Year 1. So instead of announcing something to help this, we'll raise a target to add pressure.

Plans are not more important than pupils Recently I’ve heard colleagues say that they feel that they have to get through the content, particularly with bought in plans. /1

🚨 NEW POST 🚨 ‘Scaffolding and PEAL paragraphs’ “What should teachers do? Do paragraph plans, PEAL, and similar scaffolds have a place? Should we get rid and do things differently?” alexquigley.co.uk/scaffolding-...

What a thoughtful addition. Yes we want inclusive schools but the mechanisms and strategies we currently deploy seem too ineffective and often come from “educationally adjacent” professionals with little evidence or insight for the work and expectations they create.

I couldn’t help but think of OFSTED when I read this….harsh but having watched one of their webinars, which felt more like a Clockwork Orange piece of brainwashing, I am less convinced than ever 😩

Welcome to our second post on authentic school culture...can't believe it's been almost a year since the first one! Thanks to @teachertapp.bsky.social for making the original post the blog of the day. theeducakers.substack.com/p/authentic-...

I still come across class teachers, middle and senior leaders who can’t appreciate the data informed reflection that article captures beautifully a really useful clarification of assessment as a more collaborative and non linear process.

A fantastic reflection and some excellent questions to wrap up. If nothing else this will provide a really good starting point for a future leadership meeting thanks @claireharley.bsky.social

About time we saw some acknowledgment that this much needed strand to post-16 education requires a long term resolution! Fingers crossed the detail matches the hopes of the sector!

Children’s views on ability groups: breaks your heart In 'Assessment for Learning without Limits' Alison Peacock found this 'When pupils going into Year 6 were asked what they thought about ability tables, their responses related to the level of work they were given: /1

Great article that reinforces some key points about addressing barriers for our most challenged learners alexquigley.co.uk/great-teachi...

Word of the Day is ‘snerdle’ (19th century): to stay warm and still beneath the covers for as long as humanly possible.

The always excellent Professor Tim Shanahan on disciplinary literacy in elementary school [primary school]. Though specific DL practices emerge, lots of non-fiction reading & building of content knowledge in the curriculum with rich reading is key: www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/discipl...

“You do not need the universe to bend to your comfort. You need to find your place in the world and contribute.” Huge care and humility needed, from all sides, when trying to navigate communicating this effectively given the often progressive nature of conditions. Interesting read!

HOCUS POCUS…Everybody focus! 🪄🔮 14% of you read our blog on classroom attention grabbers, making it the most read of the week! If you missed it, here’s your chance to read now... 🔗 bit.ly/3I956cx

Nicely summarised some of the key issues with the new toolkit. Also slightly concerned with them abandoning a “best fit” on grade descriptors in favour of a “secure fit”. Will those parents whom OFSTED themselves admit are the only fans of the new framework really appreciate the distinction?

An important point that demonstrates the often unhelpful distinction between pedagogy, curriculum and assessment!

Great article, and after hearing her speak in the Spring leading the charge on creating a more useful understanding of inclusion assessment indicators! schoolsweek.co.uk/inclusion-is...

committees.parliament.uk/publications... Lots to digest here but it’s clear that underfunding and a paucity in the professional SEND ecosystem like EPs, OTs etc is exacerbating our current problems.

"Outsourcing the entire writing process to LLMs may deprive us of the opportunity to reflect on our field and engage in the creative, essential task of shaping research findings into a compelling narrative..." 'Writing is thinking' www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Couldn’t say it any better! If it’s supposedly worth doing on this timescale at least TRY to do it right!

The Chief Inspector of Schools thinks it's a problem that scrapping headline school gradings will stop local house prices shooting up and down in response to Ofsted reports? For real? www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The task of building effective classroom relationships requires far more than being a 'nice, approachable adult', explains @jarlathobrien.bsky.social

Adrift on the seven Cs - help is at hand @mab-dallah.bsky.social #belonging #edusky #education #mentalhealth open.substack.com/pub/thebelon...

Absolutely delighted that my friend @andrewoneill.bsky.social has been appointed to this important role. He’s one of the most credible, inspirational leaders I’ve known, a thoroughly decent & kind person, always championing others. It gives me huge hope for the sector that he will advise the SoS.

“The cynicism of the NI debate is not just disdainful of the working class. It is also corrosive of democracy.” My Observer column: observer.co.uk/news/columni...