How easy is it for teachers and school leaders to game the KS2 SATs? According to the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), last year 2,688 test results were annulled, the year before that the figure was 723.
Author Archives: Andrew Lifford
25
Apr
Apr
It can always be useful to use the first few lessons after the holidays to reassert rules and routines and to introduce new ones to keep pupils on their toes. This is especially true if you are working in a school with challenging behaviour and inconsistent application of the rules from class to class.
17
Apr
Apr
There’s been a number of news stories recently where some multi-academy trusts (MATs) have been testing employment changes to teachers’ pay and working conditions. These changes have looked at seeking changes to notice periods, sick pay, parental leave and probation.
08
Apr
Apr
How effective are school staff meetings and do we spend too much time in them? Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be any specific research available which looks at the amount of time teachers attend meetings or look at their impact on school outcomes.
28
Mar
Mar
How long would it take for a teacher at the beginning of their career to save for a house deposit in England? I thought it would be an interesting experiment to calculate how long it would take for the ‘average teacher’ to save towards a house deposit for the ‘average’ house price in England.
14
Mar
Mar
The working world is changing for the professional workforce and the school sector has been dragging its feet to catch up. There seems to be lots of well-intentioned initiatives that are trying to identify and tackle the issue of teacher retention.
15
Feb
Feb
Are morning lessons redundant for secondary school children? I always thought that period 6 was the toughest time to teach with pupils itching to go home! E-petitions actually make a difference A debate, which featured in Parliament this week, originated from an e-petition launched from Hannah Kidner, an A-level student which gained significant press coverage….
15
Feb
Feb
We’re proud to announce the launch of our new website which will make it easier for you to interact with us. It boasts a clean design and intuitive and consistent site-wide navigation to help you find your way around with ease. It is also fully responsive with mobile devices, making it easy to navigate on…
12
May
May
What is Early Conciliation? Early Conciliation came into force on 6 April 2014 meaning that any teacher or school employee will need to notify ACAS in the event they intend to pursue an Employment Tribunal claim against their school or local authority. There are very limited exceptions to this and most types of claim will…
24
Apr
Apr
Our anonymous blogger is Teach First teacher in an inner-city school. These are their individual views. There is that old saying that your friends are the family you choose to keep. Well there should also be a saying that teachers are the parents many need to have. When you step back from all the…