Paul Middleton

Assistant Head: Teaching, Learning & innovation, Chartered Teacher and Churchill Fellow 👨🏻‍🏫🏳️‍🌈

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

A lot of conferences promise “inspiration”.
But often it’s a day of listening and not much changes in practice.

SANDBOX is different.

Practical ideas. Real challenges.
Work you can actually take back into the classroom.

📍 27 June | St Albans
🎟️ https://t.co/Lf40zGxIW9

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

“Hackathon” isn’t a word you often hear in education.

So what does it mean?

A fast‑paced, collaborative session where educators work together to tackle real classroom challenges.

Less sitting.
More thinking.
More doing.

📍 27 June | St Albans
🎟️ https://t.co/Lf40zGxIW9

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Saturday 27 June - St Albans School

Get your tickets here: https://t.co/Lf40zGxIW9

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

There’s a pattern with a lot of conferences.
Big venues. Big price tags. A LOT of sitting!
SANDBOX is an attempt to do something different.
No crowds. No corporate feel. No passive listening. Just teachers working together to design solutions to education's biggest problems.

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Excited to be joined by our amazing speakers - @thosethatcan , @TheAverageArday , @NLad84 and Purvi Gandhi!

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Get your tickets now for SANDBOX.

A teaching & learning conference for fresh ideas.
📍 St Albans School
📅 Sat 27 June 2026
💷 £20
🧩 Keynotes | Workshops | Hackathon

Big ideas. Bold voices. New approaches.

https://t.co/0ZAdLyY1ox

#Education #EduEvents #TeachingAndLearning

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

@XpatEducator @dylanwiliam Rosenshine

[Jamie Clark @XpatEducator]

🎁 FREE GIFT: FULL ROSENSHINE CPD PACK!

To celebrate 50 consecutive weeks of ⚗️DistillED, I’ve put together something quite cool…

Over the past year, Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction has been one of the most requested topics from teachers and school leaders. So I’ve put together a complete, ready-to-run CPD pack to help schools explore and implement all 10 principles.

The download includes:

→ 10 CPD PowerPoints (ready for 30–45 min sessions)
→ 10 strategy checklists (practical classroom actions)
→ 10 planning templates (put principles into action )
→ Covers all 10 of Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction

Everything you need to run ten focused CPD sessions — one for each principle.

👉 REPOST and comment ROSENSHINE and I’ll DM you the link. Cheers!

⏰ Available until Sunday 22 March!

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

I always think this about teaching Russia (1894-1945) - so much contextual knowledge that pupils need right off the bat. Are there any European/World depth studies that don't require as much of this? USA at A-level is generally OK(ish)... #HistoryTeaching #History

[Sian - She/Her @MsAylingHist]

On reflection, teaching the start of Weimar Germany is tough. The period is so rich and requires students to have so much background knowledge external to the struggles within Germany to contextualise it.

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

‘A mental model is an idea we have of how to do something’

In climbing:
Prior knowledge is a foothold (solid foundation)
New knowledge is a handhold (reaching for)

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Getting a post-lunch fix of cognitive science from @HealJim - ‘if we are going to be better at teaching, we need to start with a foundational understanding of how learning happens’

[Dr. Jim Heal @DrJimHeal]

Delighted to attend #rED23 today and catch up with old friends. Find me in the 2:10pm slot when I’ll be talking about…

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Useful summary of how a school culture can improve teaching and learning #rED23

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

A packed house for @informed_edu’s talk on expert teaching. Loving the promo of @StanDehaene work (never too early for a bit of neuroscience) #rED23

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

‘We have no curiosity for things that are unsurprising…or if something is ridiculously complicated or out of our control’

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Secure attention
Engage in questioning
Respond to knowledge gaps
Check prior knowledge
Practising and rehearsal
Effective scaffolds

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

“Responsive teaching is creating conditions such that ALL students are THINKING, MAKING MEANING, and PRACTISING” - excellent summary from @teacherhead to get back to basics

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

@rlrossi64 😂

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

Anyone else heading to #rED23 dressed for a day at the beach?

[Paul Middleton @MiddletonHist]

@d_a_ellison Sounds great. I’ve gone for ‘let’s dress for a day of walking around the sites, but give up after an hour and sit in a bar’

Looking forward to your session at 3pm 🙌🏻