Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in the Midlands, these are her individual views. Put your hand up if you have ever moaned about a school leader… Thought so. Standing at the bottom of the hierarchy looking upwards, it’s very easy to point fingers and blame leaders for doing a…
Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in the Midlands, these are her individual views. The school had been languishing in stage 7 of the Ofsted preparation cycle for a while. SLT were trying to keep everyone on their toes and we were doing our best to maintain standards and to retain…
Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in the Midlands, these are her individual views. Schools and teachers have a habit of getting rather panicky when an OFSTED inspection is on the horizon. Staffrooms are abuzz with speculation about when they will come next, the bosses start getting even more obsessed…
Our anonymous blogger is a Teach First teacher in an inner-city school. These are their individual views. As children, we battled with my mum over certain “brain foods” she deemed vital. Fish was my nemesis, forcing me to think creatively and come up with various strategies that allowed me to get the nasty stuff down…
As the new school year approaches and over 30,000 new teachers begin their career in the classroom, Katie Ashford gives us the final part in her three part series. Katie is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. The last two posts in this series have talked about…
As the new school year approaches and over 30,000 new teachers begin their career in the classroom, Katie Ashford gives us the second part in her three part series. Katie is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. At the end of summer institute, the prospect of entering…
As the new school year approaches and over 30,000 new teachers begin their career in the classroom, Katie Ashford gives us the first part in her three part series. Katie is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. Every teacher knows that things will never be as…
Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. Teach First: the teacher training equivalent of a bungee jump; an exhilarating, frightening, all-or-nothing experience that is not for the faint hearted. The six week training period, known as ‘Summer Institute’ is like standing on the edge of…
Laura McInerney was a teacher for 6 years and is the co-founder of Teacher Tapp. These are her individual views. To be a McDonald’s floor manager you have to pass 3 exams; to be a teacher, if trends continue, you won’t have to pass anything. How Michael Gove has looked at the problems of our education system…
Katie Ashford is an English teacher in a secondary school in London. These are her individual views. As we all know, being a teacher is tricky. There are so many plates to keep spinning every lesson that sometimes, when we aren’t looking, they come crashing down around us. Is my learning objective clear and measurable?…
