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...
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...
Lockdown has brought many difficulties and challenges in education.
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.
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 adults who are not safe, without the respite that school can provide.
Many...
How well is your school using the additional funding for pupil premium and Year 7 Catch up?
Ofsted will be looking for how you are supporting your new Year 7.
The 2019 Ofsted Inspection Handbook says:
In evaluating progress in literacy and mathematics, inspectors will take into account the progress of those for whom the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium provides support.
[In Outstanding schools,] Governors systematically challenge senior leaders so that the effective deployment of … Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium … secures excellent outcomes for pupils.
In Outstanding Schools..
The following quotes are taken from Ofsted Inspection Reports of Outstanding secondary and all-through schools in 2018/19:
Leaders use additional funding very effectively for disadvantaged pupils and those in Year 7 who need extra help to catch up with others. … Year 7 pupils who join the school with low starting points are provided with targeted support to improve their reading.
Pupils benefit from work that closely matches their abilities and...
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...
