Finally shared my thoughts on my visit to @ArkSoaneAcademy
With thanks to all from the school, including @MJBurnage who answered all our questions.
https://t.co/TOuSuWPp5n
I mentioned a blog about middle leadership - so here we go (the first of a series.... eek!)
Thanks to those who encouraged me to post it a month or so back ❤️ Finally got around to it - enjoy!
Middle Leadership Chronicles: The importance of gratitude
https://t.co/UFc7kmKWyl
Schools use these strategies as a last resort. So when numbers rise it’s usually because of a rise in behaviour that requires a suspension or exclusion. Which is only done in response to intolerably violent, abusive or disruptive behaviour. I use the word intolerably deliberately- no one should have to endure abuse or disruption, no one can teach or learn in its presence, and no one can manage it in a purely conversational way. Sometimes, rarely, these responses are required in order to keep children safe, and I’m deeply grateful to all the teachers and leaders who make the tough choices and do the hard work making this possible.
Every word of this post is beautiful & true. It is all too easy to lower our expectations of what children can do. We must guard against this by being open to challenge about whether we expect enough, not just with respect to curriculum, but also with behaviour & character.
‘Supporting exam preparation: the final mile’
6 strategies to ‘improve the learner, not the work’, including self-regulating timing, key wording, and more.
https://t.co/flgfWI39yT
I have the absolutely best English team at work, I cannot even tell you how important it is that you have a team that collaborate and align. I honestly think this is down to our HoD who drives for a unified team. It's soft skills at leading a department but so important.
We loved hosting A Christmas Carol at Gloucester Academy yesterday! A fantastic chance for our KS4 pupils to visualise their English GCSE texts in real life! #ambition@GreenshawTrust
Really great thread, the support you get early on in your career really does shape you, i’m so grateful for all the wonderful educational powerhouses that have shaped me and mine💓
Direct instruction is joyful & leads pupils to success. Here is a *clip* where I use high frequency & high participation questioning in 3 phases:
1. Check for listening
2. Rehearsal
3. Check for understanding
Established routines: all hands up, turn & talk, SLANT & ruler reading
Congratulations to all at Gloucester Academy - what an incredible Ofsted report that showcases our significant progress https://t.co/s6dpQhTGAO
@GreenshawTrust
Finished reading Zana Fraillon’s ‘The Bone Sparrow’ with my tutor group last week and it was the first time a book has made me emotional in front of students. I adore our tutor time reading programme. Reading is so powerful💓
Our next set of ‘Ready to Teach’ books are underway, including our first for A Level! Released across 2025 and 2026 🤩
All available to preorder now!
@JohnCattEd @teachals @HelenBuzzTurner @Xris32@watercart@HughesHaili@MiriamHussain_
Behaviour 101:
If children see behaviour that is not sanctioned, they will copy that behaviour because they think it’s acceptable.
If you give an inch they will take a mile.
They’re human. Don’t pretend adults don’t do the same. Don’t pretend if we ignore things they go away.
My creative writers’ entered the Young Writers’ competition last academic year and they have all been published in this beautiful anthology that arrived today! Seeing their names in a published book has given them SO much confidence and has made me VERY emotional🥹 PROUD♦️🗻