Has anyone on here been to Alpe d'Huez at Easter before? What's the snow like in the main village? Is it reliable? Cheers!

Incredible snowfall in Val d'Isere.

All aboard the F&B paint train! @jopayne.bsky.social 12 hours of sanding, cleaning up and priming the kitchen cabinets for a re-dec and sorting out some water damage.

Fantastic last day! Merry Christmas to all.

Go big or go home was my thought!

Had the first of 20 Headteacher insight chats this week. I'm asking the same 8 questions and collating responses to support my knowledge and insight into the role and all it encompasses. If they all live up to the first one, then it could be the best leadership CPD I could think of.

Scenario 1 was really interesting and led to some fantastic conversation and ideas. Looking forward to digging into scenario 2!

Having now been at a school that does whole-school CPD in the Hall every two weeks, I can say with reasonable confidence, that it is starting to have a large impact in classrooms a year on. Why? Every session we watch a lesson & unpick it. How could it be even more effective. Why? Very powerful.

In Jan I set myself the goal of getting into fairly decent shape prior to the big 40 in 2025. I'm 17kg lighter and have dropped 3 inches off the waist. Far more toned and feel in the best shape since I can remember. Swimming x 2 a week, weights x 3 a week and Huel for lunch. If I can do it...

🧵 I used to think I used MWBs a lot and quite effectively. Now that I ask almost all questions that way and rarely use other strategies, my knowledge of what the students do and don't know and can and can't do is far better than it ever was in the past.

Really enjoyed reading the guest insight from @carter59.bsky.social on the first scenario from @getrealleadership.bsky.social Some really sound advice that I've noted. 🙂

Anyone know when the Ofsted Data Dashboard will have the 2024 data?

Will try and remember to get online and be part of the last 30 mins after whole-school CPD.

Absolutely buzzing this morning. We took our two girls (5&3) for their first ski lesson at The Snow Centre in Hemel yesterday. Proud doesn't even capture the feeling. Cannot wait till we hit the slopes at Easter!

Well this looks like a fantastic idea! Great to be able to collaborate and reflect on scenarios. Already got my thoughts on scenario 1 and looking forward to Monday evening.

Privilege to lead whole-school training at our INSET day this morning. The focus - the bread and butter of effective teaching - checking for understanding.

I so look forward to I'm a Celeb every year.

How many non-contact periods (secondary) do your AHTs get a week/fortnight on average? Genuine time slots to be strategic. Not learning walks, line management, on call sessions for example.

We need to go back to planning more often IMO. Too often the focus is on teaching strategies, but rarely at what point are they strategically deployed and why? E.G. I see cold call used often and well, yet I think - why MWBs aren't being used to increase the sample size and CFU of all?

Great work Jonny. Hugely important.

How many non-contact periods (secondary) do your AHTs get a week/fortnight on average? Genuine time slots to be strategic. Not learning walks, line management, on call sessions for example.

How have I only just found the TV programme 'Ski A&E'? Perfect low stakes viewing for a Friday evening after two weeks of marking Y11 mocks.

One simple (but expensive) solution to improve teacher retention and to help to maintain a positive morale/planning culture, would be to never have staff teach a full day. (Secondary phase). This would be my plan if appointed a Head. Would also be the reason I wouldn't be appointed a Head. 💰

Here's a blog I wrote 4 years ago on the necessity for us to focus on how we plan our lessons to ensure students are attentive as much as possible. Large nod to @mikehobbiss.bsky.social. researchschool.org.uk/durrington/n....

Beautiful family walk, an epic roast dinner and a banana bread in the oven. Love autumnal Sundays!

There are few better ways than starting a Saturday than with a gallette complete. A taste sensation.

Northern Lights in Horley, Surrey. Simply stunning.

Every lesson I still have to tell myself 'more thinking time' after questions. When I do the quality of the answers becomes their best effort and not their first effort. Obviously, still might not be right, but at least they have had time to process the question and think. So easy to rush.

Open Evening season. My thoughts - just book a tour and watch the school in action. Is there really a need to have an Open Evening any more? Seems an awful lot of work and preparation. As a parent I want to see the school on a normal day.

Really looking forward to delivering some training tomorrow night on cold call, wait time and T&T and how they intertwine to support ratio and CFU. Moving away from routines that align for successful usage to precision deployment at the planning stage. Second phase of implementation. (Year 2)

Every lesson this week I kept thinking about @pepsmccrea.bsky.social talk last Saturday about distractions being like a boat's wake. Couldn't be truer. I was specifically looking at how long it took me to get my attention back to where I was thinking and how much longer it takes students.

This will be a wonderful event. Grab your tickets now!

Ace keynote!

Pleased to be presenting at @researchedsurrey.bsky.social on the 12th of October. “Mastering formula use” Tickets here www.eventbrite.com/e/researched...

Get the band together! School tickets for groups of 5 and 10 staff. Road Trip! #rEDSurrey24 researched.org.uk/event/resear...

Thanks for writing this Matt. An excellent read and I completely agree with the point around candidates at interview.

Not taught AQA GCSE geography before. Could I just check with those that have. What is the correct terminology to use for the different plate margins. I have always used convergent, divergent and conservative and wanted to check that those are correct to use for AQA TIA. #geogchat

A fantastic day of learning and reflection. Very thought provoking presentations from @pepsmccrea.bsky.social, @didau.bsky.social and @bradleybusch.bsky.social. Thank you to all involved for a great day. @tombennett71.bsky.social @hgaldinoshea.bsky.social #rED24

A wonderful start to the academic year at #rED24. The best afternoon catching up with the primary crew in the pub afterwards. Bring on Surrey!

Didau's talk on school systems was really informative. Do school systems do what we want them to do? An interesting point made was around there being two schools within a school. What is the school like for experienced teachers and SLT, in comparison to what it is like for supply teachers and ECTs?

With lots of excitement around the researchED National Conference today, a reminder that the next event in the south east is on Saturday 12th October in Reigate, Surrey. #rED24 #rEDSurrey24 To see more details on talks and tickets please click on the link below: researched.org.uk/event/resear...

On the way to #rED24. A silly level of tired, but know I will be energised at the end of the day having reflected on my classroom practice and leadership, whilst at the same time catching up with lots of wonderful people who help to make this job the best in the world. See some of you later on!

This time last year only Maths and some Humanities rooms had MWBs out and on the go. Today, in roughly 80% of classrooms MWBs are on desks and consistently being used. The culture of relentlessly checking for understanding is building. It's only when you look back you see how far you've come.

Really looking forward to the researchED National Conference tomorrow. Here are my reflections from my first researchED at Durrington in 2018. rftcf.blogspot.com/2018/04/rese...

A key understanding of middle leadership is to realise that instead of teaching students being your primary role, it is now the professional development of adults and the development of the curriculum and how it is assessed. Those three things are really challenging on their own, let alone together.

Please share on here how your SLT meetings run? Always interested to hear how other leadership teams do this. What works for you?

Back teaching geography this year after not teaching any last year. What a difference! Pure enthusiasm for the content and an absolute joy to be teaching it again.

Who's going to be at researchED National conference this weekend? Come and say hi!

Such fond memories of presenting at rED Surrey 2021! Met many who have become dear friends. If you get a chance, GO! #powerfulteaching #powerfulclassrooms 👇

I missed this SO much last year. Glad it’s back. #rEDSurrey