Rita Hindocha MBE

Demonising migrants won’t fill jobs or boost falling popu... ‘Stop the boats’ is a popular refrain but it obscures the real issues rich countries across the world are facing

My feature for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on global migration trends and why the battle between economic wellbeing and nationalism is only going to get more intense.

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Love the clarity and precision

A rare bit of good schools news for the government ...

An increase in applications from people wanting to teach, mixed with better retention rates and fewer pupils coming into classrooms mean that recruitment numbers are looking much healthier

Story by @lydiach.bsky.social

Photo of three longhorn cows grazing at Knepp Estate. Photo credit: Knepp Wildland.

#RewildingWin 5 is Harborough District Council’s plans to create a new 54-hectare rewilding site, using herbivores like ponies and rare breed cattle to graze the land more naturally

🧵5/7

“The wealth of bands, orchestras, concerts and gigs we see today isn’t a predictor of our musical future, it’s a reflection of our educational past”: powerful @theguardian.com letter on the bleak decline of music in state schools …

*Diagnostic overshadowing* can thwart inclusive teaching.

What's useful for teachers to know:

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NEW How can we teach do that all students experience success? open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

Statement from CST on the appointment of Sir Hamid Patel as interim chair of Ofsted. Sir Hamid is a leader who illuminates the darkness by serving a wider common good. I am extremely proud to work with him. cstuk.org.uk/news-publica...

The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O’Sullivan review – do no harm A doctor’s brilliant study of the dangers of overdiagnosis, from ADHD to long Covid

My review of the rather excellent new book by Suzanne O’Sullivan, the Age of Diagnosis www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

I'm pleased with this.

Efficiency is a mechanical metaphor which is dangerously innappropriate for education.

I think it's one of those ideas that weaves its way into every aspect of education, causing damage wherever it goes -like a tapeworm.

Could not agree more. We’re in danger of creating *another* unhelpful dichotomy, between autonomy and codification. The truth, as always, lies in the nuanced middle ground - evidence-informed practice and teacher agency.

‘Reading is part of my identity’: the woman taking on Goodreads owner Amazon

Medieval image of Joan of Arc.

New education post.
Is it useful?
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2025/01/31/i...

Not all heroes wear capes.

Hey Bluesky! 👋 I’m a reporter for the Leicester Mercury.

Excited to start sharing local news and stories from around the region 📰

You'll see me posting about breaking news and more!

Always up for a chat about what's happening in Leicestershire.

Been a while since I’ve been able to do any ‘active’ Shakespeare. Today I did a lovely lesson with a few moments of active approaches that genuinely illuminated Miranda’s opening lines to the Tempest. Here’s a little 🧵 for #TeamEnglish

7 key questions for schools arranging SEND provision Schools and trusts looking to become more inclusive face challenges along the way - a trust leader who has been on this journey shares her advice

As schools look set to be nudged into setting up more SEND bases that enable specialist provision within a mainstream setting, this piece sets out 7 important questions that leaders need to ask about such provision

#TeamRE

Seamus and Year Eight and me In Reading Lessons, I write about the shadow colleagues who share my classroom and help with my lessons: the novelists and poets and playwrights without whom I couldn’t do my job. This week, with Y…

Fantastic blogpost, saying so much about #English_teaching, from @CarolAtherton8. passing-it-on.com/2025/01/12/s...

‘It’s been life-changing’: meet the adults making big changes later in life Some people never learn to read or swim or even cook as children - but with the right spirit there’s still time to make things right

If you want an uplifting Sunday morning read, this is the thing.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Schools that are seeing improvement in attendance:

1. What do you do in addition to the usual stuff of home visits, phone calls, letters etc?

2. What is behaviour like during unstructured time?

You can DM me if you prefer. Thanks

#edusky

‘They see it is living’: Durham professor’s mission to get more pupils into classics Arlene Holmes-Henderson wants all children in UK to have equal access to classical education

“Traditionally, Latin was taught to the highest achievers to push and stretch them. “This study showed that actually we’ve been teaching the wrong people,” www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Thread complete: all 274 #Leicestershire villages are now here. When I started this (18 months ago at the other place), I didn’t consider how much effort it would involve. So I’m grateful to those who have offered likes, retweets & general encouragement to make it seem worthwhile sticking with it…

About 8 years ago, @siobhanleahy50 and I prepared a Quick Reference Guide for Embedding Formative Assessment. It's now out of print, so the copyright has reverted to us, and we are free to share it with anyone who wants it: bit.ly/EFAQRG (pdf).

Becoming Better People Are your pupils more polite at the end of Year 7 compared to the start of Year 7? Do pupils in Year 8 work harder than pupils in Year 7 because their habits of working have improved over their time…

*NEW post* Becoming Better People.

Do your pupils become more polite, more hard working & more responsible each year they progress through school?

bunsenblue.wordpress.com/2024/12/23/b...

I really like this letter from a Brasenose don.
It’s too easy to mistake for intelligence a mixture of confidence, orthodox manners, and a familiarity with your own cultural touchstones & pet turns of phrase.
Working with clever people is a huge privilege - making sure you know what clever is helps.

5 Key Ideas from Primary Reading Simplified First, let’s cut to the chase: this blog is a thinly disguised advert for my new book, Primary Reading Simplified. I devoted a frankly absurd amount of time and energy to writing the book, an…

A *new* blog - 5 Key ideas from Primary Reading Simplified

primarycolour.home.blog/2024/12/22/5...

OMG, yes! I often feel behind, like I’m not being productive enough and don’t have the time to be as productive as I should be. It’s a constant struggle. This article does a good job of shedding light on how backward and damaging that thinking can be, not just for ourselves but for society.

The schools waging war on smartphones As fear mounts over the impact of smartphones on young people, what does being a phone free school really mean?

The government doesn't believe a national ban on smartphones in schools is needed, because schools are doing it for themselves. But are they? We investigate where the battlelilnes are being drawn in schools' war on phones