Ben Ward

Join us on Sunday 7th September 8pm here and on X

Image defining difficulty and quality models of assessment

It’s worth also remembering that a significant proportion of the students on both tiers will be faced with questions they are unable to do and need to learn not to be knocked by that - that is the very nature of any exam paper that distinguishes students based on the difficulty of questions.

No we’re just a little further away so we can only hear the bass and odd notes that carry…

Somewhere over to your right I think…

View of Lake Garda from balcony of holiday house overlooking Tignale

Snap…

Useful post and thread...

Note there is no change to the PP eligibility threshold, so this will not see an increase in PP eligible children or in associated funding...

I have used it to help with writing policies. Prompt included the old policy, new information information, statutory elements, principles, processes etc. & asked it to formulate it into a policy. Needed tweaking &tidying, but I would say it cut my time by half. It's all about the quality of prompt.

“We might also benefit from placing a greater value on the ability to do things. What purpose education if young people cannot go out into the world and change it?”

Thought provoking and insightful…

“The phrase, then, invites us to be humble, and careful, when announcing our perspectives. It invites us to act with systems, rather than acting on them.”

Really enjoyed this read today…

I did enjoy the candidate who used the ‘any questions’ bit of the interview to offer some feedback on the interview process and our interview technique…

a cartoon of tom and jerry walking down a path Alt: a cartoon of tom and jerry walking down a path

Today marks the end of a chapter. After Easter I embark on an exciting new challenge. Days like this are always bittersweet.

2/2
10 years or so. Previously, we had a range of quals & had more freedom to vary the curriculum to meet needs. Now many of those courses are not accredited & Ofsted would view a bespoke offer as a narrowing. So all students study 8-9 largely academic subjects where before there were alternatives.

Was thinking today about both the crisis in SEND provision and increase in exclusions. And I am of the opinion that (along with the usually cited reasons) the two big changes that have created much of the issues are the changes to curriculum and Ofsted of the last 10 years...
1/2

📌

I feel like everyone has missed the fact that it’s our doing that we got PSG in the next round. Had we won our final group match it would have pushed PSV down and meant PSG would not have been one of the 4 teams we could have faced.

📌

“More than that, just because professional dialogue can be an informal form of learning, that doesn’t mean it can’t be planned for. Indeed, professional dialogue is simply too important to leave up to chance”

Massive opportunities to guide & influence T&L by being intentional. Excellent read:

Absolutely agree! It would be hugely problematic with a high stakes/ cliff edge framework. I was thinking more hypothetically, if paired with an appropriate framework, to enable the expertise of the HMI to be invested in support and next steps etc. rather than data gathering and collation.

To be clear, I think the huge expertise of HMI is vital and we should never remove the human element. I also think you need a framework which doesn't lean towards 'checklist'. But the best inspections are when I have had time to actually talk to the HMI, and gain from their wisdom and reflections.

I can see value in a system that can collate and catagorise inspection data and could significantly increase the consistency of the experience and outcomes of inspection. Too many times I have had an inspector who has a particular 'been in their bonnet' and confirmation bias dictates the rest...

The Knowledge: How AI can build confidence in inspections Our trials have show AI has the potential to improve many critical aspects of the school review process

Perhaps an unpopular musing... But this opinion piece from @schoolsweek.bsky.social really got me thinking, and I can 100% see a place for AI in inspections. Done right, I can see it shifting inspectors role from evidence gathering to seeking to understand.

schoolsweek.co.uk/how-ai-can-b...

Screenshot showing 2111 days streak on TeacherTapp

Still trying to get into the top 20… suspect not quite there yet!

I would quite literally have got a better score of I’d have flipped a coin!

Can you tell which is the ‘better’ descriptor…?

Take the quiz and find out…

Superb post from Ben; considered and thought provoking. Ideas and issues around labels, SEND provision, evidence bases and impact are handled with nuance and clarity.

Grab a coffee and have a read:

That said… in truth I have never felt written reports offer bang for buck. Hence my original reply - I would much rather invest that time elsewhere as long as we stil have a meaningful way to report to parents.

Almost certainly not enough, but try to build some time in to acknowledge the time and effort that it takes. I always work on the basis that if a task is of value you show that but providing time to do it. Not always possible I know but an aspiration at least.

I only included the hours that were strictly directly to do it (so you’re right it may well have a bigger human & time cost). It was a task that was included in 1265 and so it could (arguably) be better invested elsewhere.

I’m torn on this one. Set aside GDPR (as we know there are solutions to that), I once costed writing an annual report for 4 year groups at over £30k in staff time and the quality wasn’t great. If done well tidy paragraph to help parents interpret some data that gives insight could be really helpful.

Have seen Jacob live twice and there are few concerts, gigs or events that have matched his mix of incredible musicality, performance and atmosphere/energy. Gutted I missed the most recent tour but couldn’t make the Manchester date.