Andy Stevenson

Deputy Head & Year 6 teacher

[Mr P MBE @ICT_MrP]

what is the actual point of KS2 SATs? Do you think they’re a true and accurate reflection of a child’s learning? Or an expensive test designed to catch kids out, a stick to beat schools with and discriminate against children with particular send needs?

[Jamie Clark @XpatEducator]

🚨 BEHAVIOURAL LEADERSHIP! In this week’s ⚗️DistillED, we draw on the work of Aussie behaviour guru Bill Rogers to show how calm, clear and consistent classroom management builds focus, reduces disruption, and strengthens relationships.

https://t.co/bvQ6ABUaWd

[Jamie Clark @XpatEducator]

The complete ⚗️DistillED series on Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction — 10 editions filled with practical insights, tools, and resources for evidence-informed teaching. Please share with colleagues and fellow educators in your network. Enjoy!

1. Daily Review 💭https://t.co/SLYmmMTzqN

2. Small Steps 👣https://t.co/Ix7ZT9Z1DI

3. Ask a Large Number of Questions 🗣️
https://t.co/Oim0iSV5yd

4. Provide Models for Difficult Tasks🗼
https://t.co/uPd8NXWQsj

5. Guide Student Practice 🪜
https://t.co/eybs3y3pm1

6. Check for Student Understanding ✅
https://t.co/zMLxATtOOb

7. Obtain a High Success Rate 📈
https://t.co/MvbZeJC2Ic

8. Provide Scaffolds for Difficult Tasks 🧱
https://t.co/smaH0pXe8O

9. Require and Monitor Independent Practice ✍️
https://t.co/S7UNIJb9I4

10. Weekly and Monthly Review 🗓️
https://t.co/vZDWMULRJp

[Tom Sherrington @teacherhead]

Systematic inclusion: Is literally everyone thinking, talking, practising, learning? How much does it matter to you? https://t.co/BxTyllNkqP via @teacherhead

[InnerDrive @Inner_Drive]

Better questions = better memory. How teachers can nail it 👉 https://t.co/MWdIZfajoV

[Ashley Booth @MrBoothY6]

Adding that 2025 folder just really added to the reality that we are back next week. I keep all my reading lessons in here - they are for Year 6. You are welcome to use them for free. It will just update whenever I add anything.

https://t.co/MMLoHljGYu

[Paul Garvey. @PaulGarvey4]

It’s really not been a good couple of weeks for @Ofstednews, has it? But when does Ofsted have a good week?

HT suicide, appointment of a ‘flattening the grass’ HMCI, a clearly not independent ‘’Big Listen’, where they didn’t, research that is just laughable…

I could go on! 🙄

[Vic Goddard @vicgoddard]

For clarity @Ofstednews. I know coloured boxes don’t feel like gradings to some but they are. They will be treated no differently and create just as much stress/anxiety and we know you know that but don’t care.

[National Education Union @NEUnion]

Ofsted has failed to take seriously the enormous concerns of the profession. It is a discredited organisation with its name continually in the mud. It is incapable of introspection or change – time to #AbolishOfsted and replace it with a new system that is supportive, effective and far.

Make your views known by completing the consultation now. 🔗 https://t.co/kyJjMQ2MHc

[Learn Something @cooltechtipz]

Unit conversion table https://t.co/NFA4xchpaD

[Lindsey @Linds_Bennett]

To support ECTs with blogs & research relating to the Teacher Standards, we have a new dedicated ECT padlet page.

Mentors have used this page to direct reading for discussion, alongside ECTs independently exploring the content.

Feel free to use or share:
https://t.co/yGPUJ1Y8oT

[Jamie Clark @XpatEducator]

📒 Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction offers 10 evidence-based strategies that all teachers should know based on key research from cognitive science and research on master teachers. This poster outlines the lot!

👊 REPOST and grab a free HQ copy here: https://t.co/Xj2XpPGvnu

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

We become so used to the stability and safety afforded by a society broadly governed by the rule of law, that it’s easy to forget how precious it is, how fragile it can be, how it relies so heavily on a) a structure of laws b) an understanding of those laws c) consent to abide by them d) professionals who patrol and uphold those laws e) consequences for breaking them.

None of this happens by chance, although societies develop them by necessity. If they don’t, they don’t survive. It is charming to imagine large groups of people will simply spontaneously agree to get on with one another, but history is replete with counter examples and thin on supporting evidence.

The desire to break rules that also frustrate our desires, is practically universal. And whenever there is even a rumour that the rule of law might be toppling, absent or fading, there is an army of vicious and predatory opportunists ready to exploit that weakness. The 2011 UK riots. The New York blackout of 1977. The fall of Baghdad in 2003. Legions of people who saw the chance for self-gain, theft, violence, rampaging for hundreds of reasons, none of them kind.

So I find it strange to see normally sensible people puzzling over why these riots are happening. Chaos is the consequence of human nature free from restraint, writ large in a minority of uninhibited, desperate, avaricious thrill seekers, too cruel or stupid to see beyond the end of their arms desires.

I remember talking to groups of otherwise normal people who, once a week, would organise into gangs and turn up to football matches looking for fights. They had jobs, bank loans, normal lives. But they thought it was great to run through the streets causing mayhem. Selfish, impulsive, cruel idiots, in other words. Their racism wasn’t a grand theory of politics. It was the water in which they swam. They were barely aware of it. They were barely aware of anything beyond their hedonistic entitlement.

The racists pelting mosques with bricks don’t have ‘legitimate concerns about migration’. They’re violent racists, and there have always been violent racists. The ones looting the phone shops or sucker punching officers aren’t ’the voice of an unheard community’-they’re criminals and morons. I understand our prison estate has been left to dwindle through neglect. Well, that needs to be fixed. Make space for the hundreds who deserve incarceration, and make a stand for civilisation. Send the message: society demands the streets are safe, calm and free for all to walk. And if you set yourself against that, expect society to be firm with you.

[The Literacy Shed @LiteracyShed]

We’ve really enjoyed planning lessons for The Final Year. We think as many children as possible should be able to get their hands on it. So, we’re giving away a class set!

Simply like this post, repost it and follow Literacy Shed on X. We’ll draw a winner at random on 13/2/24

[Dave McPartlin @dave_mcpartlin]

Ofsted: "If we don't try to break the headteacher, how do we know you're strong enough to lead the school?"

[Jade Pearce @PearceMrs]

🧵🧵Some great education resources/guides have been published (or come to my attention) recently. A thread on those that I have found most useful. 🧵🧵

[Peps @PepsMccrea]

Why is teaching so hard to master?

There are several reasons—but one biggie is the noisy relationship between teaching and learning.

Aka the 'fuzzy feedback loop'... a thread:

↓

[David Goodwin @MrGoodwin23]

Who doesn't like a freebie? @teacherhead and I created this little visual summary of ten teaching and learning themes/ideas. You can download each individually or as a neatly packaged free-to-download booklet. Enjoy

[Sophie Bartlett @_MissieBee]

tl;dr 👉 reading analysis in numbers

[Simon Smith @smithsmm]

Promised to share some great #PicturebookBiographies

Only sharing books I own and can vouch for how good they are.

This Thread are all musicians…1/6