No, honestly, I *wanted* to be awake at 5:30 on the first Saturday of the half term...

We have to understand the link between the SEND Review and the curriculum review. A developmentally appropriate Primary curriculum built from EYFS up is essential to help us meet needs - we can’t be all things to all people - but doing curriculum properly now will support inclusion.

I love the commentary at the Winter Olympics... One of the commentators at the snowboarding has just said, "Watching that trick if you're a judge is akin to watching The Shining when you're home alone." What does that even mean?!

NEW POST On questioning, respect, and hearing the voice of every child. Link in reply, please share if you can! 🙏🙏 open.substack.com/pub/carousel...

I'd be really interested to hear people's thoughts on this:

Question: If learning isn't about transferring things (words, experiences etc)into long term memory, what is it?

Rookie error: today I wrote 2/7 x 3 as an example in maths. Oh, the hilarity.

I've mentioned this quietly, but - since the summer my hobby has been making this ambitious murder mystery podcast. A story. Narrated by me, with a mouthwatering cast. Partly interactive. Trailer is coming tomorrow but if you like the sound of this, please follow @murderbastard.bsky.social.

Will we look back at this in a few decades and think, "Ah, THAT'S when we started to be enslaved by the robots that we'd built?"

Recently, BlueSky seems to be getting far too much like Xitter; people posting confused, angry replies without properly reading a post, and/or a linked-to article. Please everyone, let’s try not to do this - or we will just end up with yet another social media hellscape.

I'm running a webinar on adaptive teaching next Wednesday. Lots of practical advice about inclusive approaches to teaching. Pay what you can to attend. Very grateful for shares. Thank you! #EduSky www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ultima...

Literal perfection. ;) www.youtube.com/shorts/8-lgJ...

#Insultoftheweek Discussing a member of staff who is leaving at the end of term – Me: “How do you feel about that?” Pupil: “Annoyed.” Me: “Oh dear, why’s that?” Pupil: “Because it’s not you.” Got an #Insultoftheweek? Share below

It's still not Friday. And it's STILL Autumn 1.

If I’m being honest, I’m feeling pretty crap about my small business. It’s so bloody difficult at the moment with rising costs, US tariffs, Brexit nonsense and the threat of AI. Please have a look at what I do and repost to spread the word gailmyerscough.co.uk

3) So maybe the question is: how do we balance structure with trust? Enough scaffolding that no one drowns, but enough freedom to feel like a teacher, not an actor reading a script. That, to me, is the heart of supporting ECTs. Thoughts?

Nothing is more relaxing than sitting around a firepit on a summer's night.

We visited the Eden Project today and the rainforest biome was mind-blowing. So glad we took the detour into Cornwall for it!

It's the summer holidays, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away. Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win. I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August. Good luck!

Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares, accessories and stationery. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk

Important enough for a second repost. It was so short sighted to get rid of them.

School culture is not created by a laminated vision statement, a slogan or even policies, but it is created by what everyone does everyday.

We are learning about countries all over the world. Please print this elephant drawing and take a photo of it where you live telling us where you are- we will explore on Google earth and add it to our display. #WhereIsEllie Bluesky please do your thing. @bsky.app #EduSky #EduskyPrimary

"Poor attendance is rarely the problem… it’s the symptom." Lots of food for thought here.

We made it to February. Finally.

I'm doing a free giveaway to celebrate the publication of my latest book! Like and repost to enter (UK only). Winner announced on Sunday. See the link below to find out more about the book. #freebie #giveaway

The sky just exploded with colour above our Shetland house. One of the best displays I've seen. Many colours visible to the naked eye and it was dancing and flowing and changing constantly. Breathtaking! #AuroraBorealis #NorthLights #MirrieDancers #Shetland

Word of the Day is one I keep posting at the end of the year, hoping its time will come. ‘Respair’, from the 16th century, is fresh hope, and a recovery from despair. Here’s to a few drops of respair in 2025.

Got roasted by my 7-year-old: Kid: What's it called when you add an s to something? Me: Plural Kid: *stares blankly* Kid: That's not right Me: Yes, it is. Kid: No, that's not the word Me: *sighs* I'm an English teacher Kid: Well my teachers teach ALL the subjects #education #primaryvssecondary

It’s time for the annual posting of this Private Eye cartoon by Dave. Festive greetings to all English teachers.

“The adjective for metal is metallic, but not so for iron, which is ironic.”

I've been ignoring emails from ATG Tickets for months, telling me I have credit to use. Thought it was a scam. Turns out I'd forgotten about a cancelled show during Covid and the money has been sitting there for 4 years 🤦‍♂️

Word of the day is ‘suspiring’, from the 16th century: a deep sigh. (Covers exhaustion, relief, sadness, collapses onto the sofa, or whatever fits the bill).

Should teaching be a research informed profession? 🧵 I think about this question a lot. So much so that I am undertaking a doctorate to better understand what the issues are and where we go next.

Today’s poem celebrates Fibonacci Day. It’s called ‘Word Crunching’.

"Teachers are amazing at making bad ideas work" - @pkainsworth.bsky.social What does this mean for how we implement new ideas in our schools? Would love your thoughts. Full conversation here: www.shaneleaning.com/podcast/82

New blog: On rewards and praise. How do we create a system that builds the behaviours we want in our students? Was supposed to be short, but instead I hope it's comprehensive and useful. #EduSky #UKed #education #cogscisci adam-robbins.com/2024/08/20/p...

Clay Bank to Kildale along the Cleveland Way today. Head cleared ready for Autumn 2!

A very interesting read, here. We are really focussing on improving children's recall this year and I'm determined not to invent some sort of sticking plaster that gives the illusion of improved memory. This has really got me thinking about what retrieval practice shouldn't look like.

Find out about the hugely exciting roster of events for #historyteachers in 2024/25 from the Schools History Project (@1972shp.bsky.social) in my Director's Blog which you can read on our website here: www.schoolshistoryproject.co.uk/directors-bl....

I've had a truly wonderful day, but it's a hard way to make a living isn't it 😂

Love this. I think that sometimes when we need to have difficult conversations with parents we forget that we are talking about someone that they love more than anything in the world. Starting the relationship from a place of positivity helps no end.

Have just finished rewriting the overview for a weekly picturebook assembly which focuses on equality, diversity and inclusion. It's still a work in progress but please feel free to use and adapt. All shares appreciated! The link is on my Padlet: padlet.com/Jon_Biddle/r...

It appears target grades are a topic of discussion right now. Time to reshare the seminal insight from @fftedudatalab.bsky.social “More children get to the ‘right’ place in the ‘wrong’ way, than get to the ‘right’ place in the ‘right’ way!” ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Is Primary Rocks going to be on here from September, I wonder? Have any of the facilitators moved over?

Just checked in on X. There's talk about staying to make it better, about it being like a familiar pub. But IMO it's just a business, one which isn't providing us with the service we expect, and we shouldn't feel guilty about voting with our feet. The community is the people, not the platform.

A stunning sky over Whitby tonight. We really do have a beautiful country.