A Position of Knowledge

A Position of Knowledge

By mattwo8 Comments
When working within cycling both at the 2012 Olympics and onwards with the SKY or INEOS racing team, Sir Dave Brailsford employs a significant principal in all he does. The 1% principal is based on the small changes that TOGETHER make a big change. As Brailsford said, Speaking to the BBC… “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of, that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.  There’s fitness and conditioning, of course, but there are other things that might seem on the periphery, like sleeping in the right position, having the same pillow when you are away and training in different places. They’re tiny things but if you clump them together it makes a big difference.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34247629 He believed that if it were possible to make a 1% improvement in a whole host of areas, the cumulative gains would end...
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Every child deserves a Champion

Every child deserves a Champion

By mattwo8 Comments
When you visit a supermarket, you will often find a seconds aisle or money-off promotion. Buy-one- get-one-free or “money-saving” offers will entice you in and always make you buy that extra chocolate bar or that second beer you don’t need. You don’t look at the individual price anymore, just what you think you can gain. You usually end up spending more but feeling weirdly better off. The individual price has been removed, the label takes over. The power of a label is immense. We look at people differently because we label them as something else. Rumours, gossip.. “I didn’t know that!!” dominate social media and public culture. A politician or public figure’s career can be brought down to a shuddering halt by a label being attached. The individual has been removed, the label takes over. Are we in danger of doing the same thing within education regarding our reaction to COVID-19? Lockdown Lockdown has brought many difficulties and challenges. Pupils will have spend many months away...
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Put the Personal Back

Put the Personal Back

By mattwo12 Comments
And the most important first step is to put the personal connection back into the education system. Firstly, there are positives... Huge strides in online education have been made in months that perhaps previously would have taken years. Teachers have created learning packs, online lessons and updated communication systems - rising to the challenge of how to educate their pupils without the the essential face-to-face contact and personal interaction. However... Children have spent weeks and months away from the support bubble of a school, from their friends, from their safe place. Some will have thrived in a new family bubble – building new self-esteem and confidence. Others will have found it a challenge. Learning will have been lost but more importantly, their circumstances could have changed. They may have learned a deeper understanding of what it means to live in poverty, or encountered this for the first time. They may have learned to hide, to become invisible, to protect themselves from...
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Home Learning

Home Learning

By mattwo63 Comments
We present a wide range of fun, educational and engaging resources schools can share with pupils and families. This long list of links and resources was put together over the summer of 2020 and has continued to grow ever since. Many thanks to those from around the world who have suggested ideas and links. We hope you continue to find them useful! “Such an Inspiring collection of Links & Resources” Learning Check out these links for Primary and Secondary age. Early Years Activities for 2-5 year olds - stories, craft and more Exploring See the world from space and live elephants in Africa... Craft Ideas 100s of ideas from a variety of sources.. Colouring Here are over 100 patterns and pictures to choose from.. Museums Visit the Louvre, British Museum and more... Fun Activities 100s of Ideas and Links "What a huge help for families!" Science Create giant bubbles, a rocket that blasts off and more.. Baking Loads of recipes and ideas from cupcakes to pizzas. Reading Escape to a new world with these reading links. Discovering Fascinating facts about Space,...
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Ofsted Inspection Judgements and IDACI

By mattwo7 Comments
On 14 January 2020 Ofsted released data regarding its latest judgements as of 31 December 2019. Now that 4 months have passed since the introduction of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework, there are sufficient schools to do a meaningful analysis of trends under this new framework. There is a correlation between deprivation and attainment but is there one between deprivation and Ofsted's judgements, and has it changed from previous years? This article will use the IDACI measure as a measurement of deprivation and consider Ofsted's Full Inspections only. We have considered those inspections which resulted in an Overall Effectiveness judgement of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, for Primary and Secondary schools. More details are at the bottom of this article. Overall Effectiveness Firstly, for these 619 schools, what is Ofsted's Overall Effectiveness judgement? The full details are in the table below: In headline terms, for primary schools, the chances of getting an Outstanding/Good judgement is 60%, whereas for secondary schools it is 45%. There is...
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Question Level Analysis and the new Ofsted Inspection Framework

By mattwo1 Comment
How does a Question Level Analysis fit with the new Ofsted Inspection Framework? When the new Ofsted Inspection Framework came out in 2019, we noticed a real shift in how assessment was viewed with the focus on teaching and learning and not on data. Inspectors will ask... What you are drawing from your assessment data?How that is informing your curriculum?How has that informed class teaching? https://youtu.be/nj-cK6S0OCU This article is available as a video here.. Ofsted Inspection Handbook The draft Ofsted Inspection Handbook says that: 170. When used effectively, assessment helps pupils to embed knowledge and use it fluently, and assists teachers in producing clear next steps for pupils. …171. Inspectors will therefore evaluate how assessment is used in the school to support the teaching of the curriculum… So therefore, whatever assessment you use has to start with taking an overall view (for example, how many pupils passed or nearly passed), but also at the important topic strands, seeing how the school is doing, and “producing clear...
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