@bphillipsonMP One word judgements aren’t the sole issue here. Removing them doesn’t make all the teachers suddenly happy and stress free. Paperwork, lack of PPA time, lack of work life balance, Ofsted judgements based on 2 day visit - these all need solving!!!
The last question to the panel was "what would you like the new government to do on curriculum and assessment?"
My answer:
If we are talking about curriculum and assessment, the biggest thing for me is a reduction. There's too much content across the board, and we need to strip back. We also need to stop assessment backwash, where exam mark schemes become a part of the curriculum and determine what students do and don't learn.
But that's if we're talking curriculum and assessment. If we're talking education in general - if @bphillipsonMP picked up the phone to me and said "what's the biggest thing in education" I would say something else:
Broadly, the education system itself in this country is working. Training is getting better, standards are improving, professionalism and professional knowledge is increasing and slowly, slowly, outcomes across the board are heading in the right direction. Curriculum and assessment need some changes, fixes, and tweaks, but in a broad sense they work.
What isn't working is everything else: we can't access CAMHS and we don't get hold of social workers. We have a two child limit and a benefits cap that keeps children hungry and in poverty. We have income cliff-edges that mean children whose parents can't afford meals are also not eligible for free school meals. We don't have Sure Start, we don't have youth centres. The SEND infrastructure is byzantine, underfunded and on the verge of collapse. The very fabric of the social security net is tattered and frayed, and vulnerable young children are falling through the gaps. Parents have lost faith in the system, and are losing their trust in schools and teachers.
Despite this, schools are heroically battling the odds to provide students with a high-quality, robust and meaningful education. But when everything outside our gates is in such disrepair there's a limit to what we can do.
So yes, there are things within education that need fixing. But the main thing - the biggest thing - is everything else. The best thing you can do for us is to fix that.
@Headteacherchat We do this as standard for most of the year- continuing that EYFS pedagogy has been excellent for developing independence, and strong outcomes at end of Y1. Some whole class sessions- same approach to phonics as in Reception, build on whole class number/English etc.
@HalilMrT4Real Happy Birthday to your son- have a great day!
I’ve had a lie-in and slow start this morning, will be heading out for a walk and a potter, looking forward to being with family later. 😊
Can you #help please? My elderly parents have gone missing in #Venice They got separated & my dad (with Alzheimer’s) has both their phones. They didn’t arrive back at the pick up point & no one knows where they are. They’re called Bronwen and Stan. Please share!
Lady in blue, "I've been in the NHS for 37 years.. You've had 14 years to sort out social care.. It's been decimated"
"There are patients in our hospital in beds while there are ten beds outside.. They are patients in corridors.. There are patients dying in corridors"
"If you sorted out social care and put your money where you mouth is then all these issues would be resolved as there's a knock on effect"
"But you're talking absolte rubbish. You're trying to decimate the NHS and we all know that. You don't want it. You never wanted it" #BBCQT
@llewelyn20@chrisdysonHT Cheers to you, glad to hear that. Wishing you a happy half term and continued recovery… and an extended winning streak in Scrabble.
If only people would stop pretending that all faiths are treated equally and that a ‘secular school’ is a non-political space. We all know what Muslim communities face and the deep stereotyping/ prejudices against Muslims in this country.