Ben Rackstraw

An official hello from newest Co-headteacher Manjit. He returned to Reach this year and is 'all guns blazing', thanks to the humble digestive! See below to find out why he’s happy to be back. Join our online community Reach Out to receive blogs, events and vacancies: reachschools.uk/reach-out/

Metacognition for all- Thinking about Thinking for all - Michelle Haywood Metacognition For All - Thinking About Thinking for All with Nathan Burns.Metacognition is a hugely important part of effective learning, for all students. The crucial word here, is all. This 60-minut...

How we support our SEN students develop their metacognitive skills is huge. I'm glad that this area is getting more focus now, since the updated EEF report.
On Monday I will be unpacking exactly how we can support our SEN students in developing their metacognitive skills
calendly.com/ordinaryclas...

Exploring confusion around modelling: “I do, we do, you do” vs “Guided and Independent Practice” In the last couple of days I’ve seen a couple of resources posted online that made me question my understanding of the idea of ‘I do, we do, you do’ and how this fits with ideas o…

Interesting exploration of 'I do/we do/you do' and 'guided - independent practice' from Tom Sherrington. If things feel too linear and straight-forward, they probably need more thinking! All the details matter.

teacherhead.com/2025/11/21/e...

Feedback: A message in a bottle Approaches to feedback, such as written marking or 'whole class feedback', are popular classroom strategies that are undertaken daily with students of all ages and stages. But do they truly land with ...

💡NEW POST💡

‘Feedback: A message in a bottle’

“If teachers are pouring hours into writing feedback, they need to know it won’t drift aimlessly like a message in a bottle, but land exactly where and how they intend.”

alexquigley.co.uk/feedback-a-m...

The Miracle of Schools Why Simplistic Narratives Miss the Point

In my latest Substack post, I look at why schools are so complex - and why that’s what makes them beautiful, not broken.

📖 The Miracle of Schools
👉 enserm.substack.com/p/the-miracl...

It was a pleasure to visit @liftschools.org Firth Park Academy
🔹Discuss school improvement with Nigel Whittle
🔸Look at progress since ResearchEd Warrington
🔹 Meet colleagues
🔸Talk T&L playbooks
#Thingsarechanging

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 ⬇️
“Teachers are not broken and they don’t need us to fix them. They need us to walk alongside them.”
— Jim Knight, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘊𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦

@lilystaff.bsky.social English Lead at Reach Academy Hanworth Park has written a Children's Commissioner blog about their Reading Programme's success. We're so proud of our pupils! www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/news-and-blo... Join our education community here: reachschools.uk/reach-out/

Teaching metaphor using tenor, vehicle and ground Giving students names for the parts of metaphor can help them to better understand how and why they are effective

Most students can spot a metaphor. Few can define one. Teach tenor, vehicle and ground. Metaphor is transport: the vehicle carries the tenor across the ground. Stop device-spotting. Start explaining how the image reshapes the idea and why it matters.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

Beyond Neuromyths: Why Teachers Still Embrace Ideas That Don't Work A new study surveying over 3,000 Spanish teachers, offers the most comprehensive picture yet of educational misconceptions in the wild.

*NEW POST* The Enduring Persistence of Neuromyths in Education
A new study surveying over 3,000 Spanish teachers provides one of the most detailed snapshots to date.
Fantastic work from @juanfernandez.bsky.social @ferreromar.bsky.social and colleagues

open.substack.com/pub/carlhend...

Proud of this one!
Our new OPEN ACCESS article: McMillan, Anderson & Jess (2025) Adaptive Teaching and the Interactional Order of Classrooms.
Scottish Educational Review (just published online).

brill.com/view/journal...

Online Metacognitive Training Courses | Mr Metacognition Learn metacognitive strategies online. Individual training for teachers & educators. Expert-designed courses to enhance your professional practice.

Wanting some end of year PD on effective questioning approaches and methods to develop metacognitive questioning in your classroom?

My third webinar - Getting Questions Right - is now available to access free online, with PPT too!

Get access, and share now! www.mrmetacognition.com/individual-t...

🔥 16 hottest education related research papers from the last 8 weeks:

(all open source 🔓)

↓

Why we shouldn’t rely on acronyms to help students write Acronyms like PEE and AFOREST, designed to help students structure their writing, don’t come close to capturing the complexity of learning in English, writes Zoe Enser

New TES piece from me and back to an old bugbear of mine.
I thought we'd started to put it to bed, but it's marching back into lessons

www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Screenshot of text from the linked blog post.

New blog post.
Difficult conversations about Special Educational Needs.
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/d...

Online Metacognitive Training Courses | Mr Metacognition Learn metacognitive strategies online. Individual training for teachers & educators. Expert-designed courses to enhance your professional practice.

Wow!! Metacognition webinar #1 was an absolute blast, and the recording is already available!

It was a joy to be joined live by so many amazing educators looking to find out more about metacognition!

The feedback so far has been amazing! Check this out...

Quote

Apart from unusual episodic events, what gets remembered is due to the degree of organisation with which it gets organised. Or, much as Michael Eysenck says.
It's still my favourite quote. Never loses its power.

*NEW POST* The first in a series of posts on how to move away from strategies and activities to applying the science of learning in a more effective way. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/bright-lin...

Mums who return to teaching part-time more likely to stay New study reveals how the first 12 months back are crucial for retaining new mums

Exclusive: Mums returning to teaching from maternity leave are more likely to stay in their jobs if they work part-time, a major new study suggests

🚨 Flash Sale Alert! 🚨

My first book, Inspiring Deep Learning with Metacognition, is now available at 37% off (now £13.27; was £20.99)

Develop your understanding of metacognition, and practical strategies to embed in the classroom!

👉 Grab your copy here: www.amazon.co.uk/Inspiring-De...

Distractions consume more learning time than we tend to think.

Here's the lowdown:

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School engagement plummets in Year 7, research finds Separate studies warn that students’ enjoyment of lessons drops, and stress levels rise, after moving to secondary school

Tracked data from over 100k English students shows:

• More than 1:4 pupils begin to disengage from school during Year 7

• Less than half ‘happy to go to school’

• Girls feel increasingly less safe at school

www.tes.com/magazine/news/secondary/school-engagement-plummets-year-7-research-finds?amp

The end of the math wars? Memorization or thinking strategies? It's both in the right dosage, argues a new paper

Can we declare victory for the Math Wars? A new paper argues that it's not memorization *or* thinking strategies: it's both—but dosage matters, and order matters. And timed practice really matters. Read more at The Bell Ringer! hollykorbey.substack.com/p/the-end-of...

🔥 IT'S FINALLY HERE 🔥

We know CPD doesn't work. Teachers don't enjoy it, and say they don't learn from it.

NO LONGER

...because CAROUSEL TEACHING is now officially here 🥳🥳

...bringing you CPD that works and helps you get better at teaching.

Read on 👇👇

Article of the year is right here!

The incredible @samgibbs.bsky.social argues with passion and clarity why the erosion of teacher autonomy has devastating consequences.

Still pinching myself! ☺️

Today @compscitsui.bsky.social & I received our copies of ‘Learning To Lead Computing’ & it’s OFFICIAL.

A huge thank you to @johncattedu.bsky.social , @marymyatt.bsky.social & @milesberry.net for their belief & kind words of support.

#Teachers #Education #Computing

But what are you trying to be free of?

*** BIG NEWS ***

My and @greeborunner.bsky.social BRAND NEW BOOK is out soon with @crownhousepub.bsky.social.

In it, we explore what it is that sets amazing schools apart and answers the question, 'How DO they do it?'.

Check it out here www.crownhouse.co.uk/how-do-they-...

This Department for Education short course on ‘Supporting reading in secondary school’ is an excellent free resource with useful video to build understanding for this crucial area:

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Supporting all readers in secondary school A short course for secondary school staff and leaders to support readers at all levels.

After 2+ years, many rewrites & piloting, I am so pleased that this has been published! A free, online training programme for non-specialist secondary practitioners about the development of reading. Includes practical strategies that can be adapted for any classroom. 1/2
www.gov.uk/government/p...