August Monthly Round-Up
6th September 2019
Written by Hannah Saunders
I have discovered that we have made some hugely exciting changes at work with developing our new Interactive Games and Learning Video Clips and so have some brand-new skills and processes to learn. I’ve had an emergency pair of school shoes and PE top to buy, GCSE food tech ingredients to get, car insurance to renew, after-school classes to book and not to mention paying the French speeding fine that somehow managed to find its way onto my doormat as a welcome present for me returning home from the airport. Just typing that paragraph has made me wonder when my next holiday is!
I would like to say that this is just ‘first week back’ mayhem. However, I am experienced enough to know that this is very likely not to be the case. The chaos and charging around will inevitably continue well into the autumn and across the brink of winter. At times I will love it, and at times I will loathe it. More often than not, the only time I don’t really relish the mayhem is when I forget things or if I feel out of the loop. This is because the forgetfulness and not knowing only serves to fuel personal feelings of ‘not doing my best’ and being ‘a bit rubbish at things’. If I’m honest, I feel a numpty for forgetting to pack, collect, or do A, B and C. I feel useless for not knowing X, Y and Z. I don’t think I am alone (– or is that wishful thinking?) I believe that this is a common symptom of the lives that we lead in today’s busy, busy world. What I also know – from bitter experience – is that these feelings were multiplied by what felt like a billion-fold when I was teaching in the classroom.
As a teacher, I had many coping strategies to try and organise my chaos: from lists of lists; digital reminders and alerts set in iPads, iPhones and Alexas; to the hand-written diary that I treasured protectively and which closely resembled an encyclopaedia of my life! And yet still, I felt that I was missing bits, especially when it came to the developments going on in the world of education. So, with our Monthly Round-Up blog post, we hope to bring you a one-stop shop each month with some useful links to reports, websites and articles which will keep you in the loop with news and developments in teaching and education – with minimum effort on your part!
Without further ado….
NEW OFSTED FRAMEWORK:
If you are anything like I was at school and normally only hear or realise about these things whilst supping on your coffee in the staffroom (and debating if a digestive can be classed as a healthy grain or not), Ofsted have produced a new framework. In a nutshell, they are extremely keen to communicate the point that they are not interested in data but about the learning experience (a.k.a. the design of the curriculum and how creatively it can be delivered). Here’s a link for the finer detail….
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/education-inspection-framework
PROVISIONAL HEADLINE INFORMATION FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL CURRICULUM ASSESSMENTS AT KS2:
This is hot off the press and was released only yesterday. A useful read, even if you aren’t based in KS2. No doubt the information here will be used within your school in some way to help formulate their school improvement plan. Be one step ahead and put yourself in a position to get involved by reading the report below…..
MATHS TEACHING FOR MASTERY PROGRAMME:
One thing I struggled to juggle with such a busy life was being creative and informed enough to suggest development and CPD ideas to improve myself, my colleagues and my school as a whole. At times, my brain and life just didn’t have the space for it. So, here is a freebie for you! Below is a link from the government website where there are details about how to join the Maths Teaching for Mastery Programme. You may have heard about it before, but I thought it would be worth a share with you all as the government has recently updated the number of hubs and details of who can join the programme.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/join-the-maths-teaching-for-mastery-programme
And finally…
REMINDER – Date for your diary: PROVISIONAL INFORMATION ON THE 2020 PHONICS SCREENING CHECK AND ASSESSMENTS FOR KS1 - DUE OUT ON 26TH SEPTEMBER!
Call to Action