The adventures on trains series is excellent.
I'd add Cambridge to the list. London prices without the weighting. Totally unaffordable for a teacher on anything less than M6 pay band.
Martin Lewis has a list of these small fixes that would help. E.g. Universal child tax free childcare isn't universal because of who is or isn't eligible. Some families might earn up to a total of £198k and qualify, whilst families with one parent earning £100k don't. Feels unnecessarily unfair.
Great news. Thanks.
Is there a way the app can notify you if your ticket is the winning number, please? Seems to me like there's going to be winners who don't ever realise they've won, otherwise. Just an idea.
There will be no extra funding for next year's teacher pay award, the Treasury has confirmed. The DfE would have to fund any award from existing budgets.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
No. 12 in my #FavePicturebooks25: “My Friend, Billy Whiskers” by @dc-litchfield.bsky.social, a tender triumph of imaginary friendship, courage & empathy. Dreamy art, gentle storytelling make a snowy-day hug in book form. Kids feel seen, brave & beautifully understood. #PicturebookPage
❗Some schools are at 'breaking point' amid a widening gap between the schools with the most and fewest numbers of pupils with education, health and care plans, research warns
schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-at-b...
Reading Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick with my Y5/6 class is always an absolute pleasure. Not a single word is wasted! Six lines in and we're already straight into the action. Such a talented writer and such a sad loss.
>> A diagnostic alternative to ks1 #maths tests that help establish what KS1 children know and can do: atm.org.uk/news/ks1-tas...
Thank you for your hard work on this. There will always be commentators from the sidelines, and you won't make everyone happy, but it's important work. I am one of many grateful educators who are pleased that the ball is rolling on necessary curriculum evolution. Thank you, again.
How can we close the attainment gap for disadvantaged boys? An initiative at United Learning has succeeded in improving behaviour, attendance and engagement among boys on free school meals, finds @ellencph.bsky.social
Me too! Important and exciting work.
Really enjoyed this session. Thank you both.
Just finished rewriting the overview for a weekly picturebook assembly which focuses on empathy, inclusion and diversity. It's still a work in progress but please feel free to use and adapt. All shares appreciated. The link is on my Padlet: padlet.com/Jon_Biddle/r...
Great. Thanks for the recommendation, John. I've just bought it.
Great. I really hope you enjoy it.
Earlier this summer I read the debut novel by Marie O'Hare. It's brilliant and I keep thinking about it. I found it to be funny, dark, colourful and compelling. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I'm recommending this now because the Kindle edition is only 99p at the moment.
amzn.eu/d/hC3iV9B
#summerreading #bookclub
Haha. I actually did 5 when I read this.
(This only works in a font where 1 looks like a lower case L.)
It's the summer holidays, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.
Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win.
I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August.
Good luck!
These four books are absolutely essential. I can't stress enough how important these have been to fundamentally shifting who I am as a teacher and a leader...
Thank you to @marymyatt.bsky.social @suchmo83.bsky.social #MichaelChiles & @pepsmccrea.bsky.social for investing such time into these.
Anyone interested in Cadbury World tickets? I accidentally booked tickets for the wrong date and I can't go. It's for 6 adults a child (6-15yo) and another child under 5years old, for the 3rd September (not the 3rd August as I planned). If you're interested, send me a message. Please be kind.
I learnt quite a lot from the reading, made some really great contacts through the face to face sessions, but the final assignment felt like a really big tick box exercise. If I could improve the course, I would remove the final assignment entirely and add more practical advice for doing the role.
A quick note for the record: I enjoyed my NPQ course. The delivery was great. The networking and sharing of ideas etc was invaluable. It's the final feedback I find fault with.
It begs the question: Is it worth it?
If the NPQ feedback is so poor that it devalues the experience and doesn't help the participant, is the assignment really worth the effort?
I'm not so sure.
@bphillipsonmp.bsky.social @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social
Same. I was left feeling like, "Is that it? I put so much time and effort into this, and that's all I get?"
The feedback totally undervalued the accomplishment and failed to give me any sense of how I could do even better.
I can now see why many participants feel numb about their NPQ experience.
For those who didn't meet the 60% threshold, the feedback is slightly more detailed but still not detailed enough to be useful.
E.g. 'Your script was marked and moderated and you did X, but not enough of Y to pass.'
It would be useful if this came with specifics or advice, but both are lacking.
For those who have been successful, you don't get any sense of why you were successful or any recognition of the bits you did well. It's a mystery.
This is one of the worst cases of professional feedback I've experienced. Although successful, there's nothing much to indicate achievement or growth.
The NPQH and NPQSL final assessment feedback I've read recently is dreadful.
If you've passed, you get an email saying congratulations, but no feedback on your assignment at all. None.
If your assignment has been marked below the threshold, the feedback received is too vague to be helpful.
