Fe Brewer

Ah, yay! He’ll have a fab time, I’m sure!

Macbeth gem I learned this week:

We compare ‘thane’ to ‘lord’, but it’s more than that. Thanes had a duty to provide military support and defence to their ‘lord’ (often the king). So, (if Shakes knew this) Mac being a thane deepens his treachery even further. #englishteaching #shakespeare

This week’s surprising news: some readers aren’t concentrating as hard as we’d like. My Trust has an online reading programme which sets quizzes based on short texts. The pupils have a choice of text at the right level for them. The quiz pass rate is 8/10. We’ve analysed quiz…

Who knew - sometimes when pupils are reading in class, they aren't paying full attention! Evidence here: readingforlearning.org/2025/05/24/t...

For all the guides and scouts out there:

1: Campfire’s Burning
2: My dad is a lavatory cleaner
3: Cecil is a caterpillar
4: There are no bananas in the sky
5: Vespers #propercampfiresongs #professionalcampers

When half term starts with a delivery from your publisher! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Thanks to @bloomsburyed.bsky.social for the advance copy. ❤️ @gwenelope.bsky.social @litliverbird.bsky.social

Starting half term with a rare hour of child-free time and a good hill. #happyhalfterm

a man wearing a hat and earring says " that 's a full circle moment " ALT: a man wearing a hat and earring says " that 's a full circle moment "

Lovely day today in our adaptive teaching ITaP: one of our first cohort returned as a facilitator for our current cohort, and one of the women who trained me came to train our trainees.

One of the barriers to reading aloud in class:

It's enjoyable

So we think it can't be work

But it IS work

Not everything has to be difficult

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How to avoid the testing traps and make assessment better Both national and classroom assessments can become meaningless with the wrong approaches or context, argues leading expert Therese Hopfenbeck

'We should be trying to avoid assessments that increase anxiety in children': Tes speaks to leading expert Therese Hopfenbeck about how to build better tests in schools

The double-edged sword of SEND labels:

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Curriculum and Assessment Review: interim report An independent review of the curriculum and assessment system in England, with statistical analysis.

Since July the Curriculum and Assessment Review, led by @beckyfrancis.bsky.social, has been engaged in understanding deeply the current state of what children learn and how this is assessed from KS1-KS5.

The interim report with initial findings and next steps can be read here:

shorturl.at/FFg7Z

Ultra-processed babies: are toddler snacks one of the great food scandals of our time? For time-poor parents, straws, sticks, pouches and powders can seem like a quick, convenient and even healthy option. But these oversweetened, mushy foods are creating a generation of choosy consumers...

If you want to feel mild terror this Sunday morning, I can thoroughly recommend this article. Fascinating, and something for us to really think about in schools too.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Why Motivation Theories in Education Haven't Changed in Decades (And Why It Matters for Schools) New paper suggests that our understanding of motivation has been stuck in the 1980s which is good for academics but not useful for teachers and parents.

Why Motivation Theories in Education Haven't Changed in Decades (And Why It Matters for Schools) carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-motiva...

Tolstoy’s handwriting apparently couldn’t be read by anyone but his wife. 8 times she copied out War and Peace so it could be sent to published. 8!

It’s never too late: Spotting and supporting SLCN at secondary school - SecEd Many secondary students have unidentified speech language communication needs. How do SENCOs and teachers support them?

The data suggests that nearly half of secondary students with #speech #language #communication needs are going unidentified. This article with @speechandlanguage.bsky.social asks what schools can do to spot & support these young people: buff.ly/4bd9NvY #SendTips #Teachers #Sponsored #Edusky

Do worked examples boost the spacing effect on lasting learning? Apparently not! 🤯
This study examined what the impact would be of the spacing effect and worked examples were combined and the results were... surprising.

Animal sightings on my morning walk.

First 2 miles: 2 deer, 2 hares, 1 flock of geese; loads of birds.
Last mile: 6 humans; 5 black labs.

🧵An important part of the primary experience is having a lovely time- adults ringfencing the unique state of childhood and ensuring that primary is a glorious place to be little. Playful and joyful are not the antonyms of high standards and aspiration.

Really interesting research study published about school mental health awareness interventions in secondary. Well worth reading assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a0f0... #secondary #mentalhealth

Starting half term with breakfast in bed, a good book, and then a 3-mile muddy walk/slip-and-slide venture. Perfect. 👌🏻

When Teachers Teach Teachers | A Conversation with Dr. Ciara O'Donnell Education Leaders · Episode

Are you a teacher educator? Or fancy becoming one?

Either way, This conversation with Dr Ciara O’Donell is essential listening 🎧
open.spotify.com/episode/2RBv...

When you hold off on your afternoon treat until you feel you’ve really, really earned it, and the universe rewards you with a factory-mishap bonus chocolate. 🙌🏻

Forget flower and cards etc, this is a real Valentine’s Day must. ❤️

Now half way through. I can feel the heart-wrench approach, and yet I almost yearn for it. What a stunning piece of literature.

Oooo, yes. You wear stripes, I’ll wear sequins, and we’ll go to the theatre!

I’ve been interviewing potential trainee teachers this week. Two, completely unrelated, mentioned how much their religion brings them solace and peace. Really quite beautiful.

I so often forget about Derby Theatre. Anything good coming up?

FREE Flash Webinar – Adaptive Teaching with Jade Pearce Join Jade Pearce and Bradley Busch as they explore the importance of Adaptive Teaching and how to weave it into your classroom practice.

📣 New Webinar Alert! 📣

Adaptive Teaching could be the key to meeting student’s needs, but how do you actually do it? 🤔

Join Jade Pearce on Monday 3rd March at 4pm GMT for a FREE webinar exploring:

✅ What Adaptive Teaching is
✅ Why it matters
✅ How to make it work

📅 Book here: buff.ly/3QdrEt2

Collaborative note-taking resulted in better writing performance despite requiring more cognitive effort ajet.org.au/index.php/AJ...