EdBlogs

 Teaching is a highly nuanced, complex art, where the most effective teachers build up a range of strategies over years and years of practice. I opted out of the classroom too early to do that, and moved into what in many ways is a less complex, but equally demanding, role of senior administrator, or leader, in schools. I taught for about 15 y...

It's a widely recognised fact that the quality of our schools, our teachers and leaders varies too much. Good leaders are proven to transform schools and so demand for top 'superheads' has soared, leading to salaries that are nothing short of eye-watering.  But the latest research, hot off the press from the Centre for High Performance, throws...

By Siobhan Woodhouse Children are never too young to start learning about the world around them. I soon learned this after discussing topics such as the war in Syria and the EU referendum with children as young as six. Friends, family and even teachers recoiled in horror as I talked about these discussions – how could I possibly discuss horrif...

Every year at BETT I play a little game: I go up to stalls and ask how they know whether their product makes a difference to what or how well children learn. In the past, I have been met with blank stares or told that "children just love it". This year was different, though: I was impressed by the number of companies that could talk about how resea...

If there's one thing that schools have plenty of, it's people. There aren't many jobs that require you to interact with so many people every day; in addition your pupils, there are parents, members of staff in your department, those in other subject areas and the wider school community. It can be tempting to stay in your classroom and soldier on wh...