Capturing Energy from Walking? What a Bright Idea!

A team of four Year 9 students from Whalley Range High School in Manchester, have fought off tough competition from hundreds of schools across England, Scotland and Wales to become the national champions of Shell’s annual science competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge. The team won £5,000 to spend on state-of-the-art science and technology equipment for their school.

Discovery School – Newcastle to be shut down

Discovery school in Newcastle to shut after Ofsted report said it was at ‘rock bottom’ Standards at a flagship free school have hit “rock bottom” with a group of “predatory pupils” roaming the institution and making others feel unsafe, a report has revealed.

School Leadership and Management

Education reforms creating system of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’

Inequality in England’s schools appears to have increased following government reforms, with fewer children from less well-off backgrounds now attending higher rated schools.

School Leadership and Management

Ofsted supporting stricter punishments for unruly pupils

Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, says she wants inspectors to focus more on behaviour in schools including “low level disruption” – such as swinging on chairs and talking in class.

School Leadership and Management

Jane Reed believes we are living in unprecedented turbulent times and doubts whether we are equipping current and forthcoming generations of children to meet the big challenges sufficiently. She describes a project which sought to restore the primary focus on learning, provides a set of core practices, and explores the professional development implications.

The Ten Commandments of creative leadership

After a brief encounter with a Harvard Business School book, Jude Brigley put on a (metaphorical) beard and flowing robes and wrote her own commandments of good leadership.

For the love of learning: Lessons from an international school in Hong Kong

Good GCSE results are just a byproduct of the learning journey at Island School in Hong Kong. Vicky Hill reports on this international school’s groundbreaking curriculum for Years 9, 10 and 11, which sees teachers share their passions in exciting courses on art, marine biology, drama, business and more.

Creating risk takers

Children do not learn resourcefulness, responsibility and independence by having everything planned for them. But how far are you willing to let your pupils take charge of designing and managing their own learning experiences? Start small, says Professor Guy Claxton, and you might be surprised how high they can fly.

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Teaching Times author reviewed in Gifted Education International

Author Ann O’Hara and the team here at Teaching Times were pleased to see a review of our primary leadership toolkit, Learning and Assessment Pathways, published in peer-reviewed journal, Gifted Education International.

Tackling extremism

The government’s Prevent duty, imposed on schools without any extra resources, begs lots of questions. What exactly is radicalisation? What are British values? How can schools practically monitor student views, let alone divert them from dangerous ideological paths? Ian Pringle makes some initial suggestions.

Stars, sounds and simple circuits

The new science curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2 encourages a variety of approaches to pupils’ scientific investigations – but how creative can you be in a subject where the boundaries are so fixed? Ed Walsh inspires with a range of ideas to spark pupils’ imagination in physics and encourage creative, learner-led enquiry.

Is your assessment fit for purpose?

Why do we assess our students? Is it to please Ofsted? The government? External accountability isn’t going away, but the freedom from levels gives schools the unparalleled opportunity to refocus assessment on its true purpose – to drive learning and support mastery for all. Ann O’Hara explains.

Closing the achievement gap with P4C

Philosophy for Children reaps remarkable results for all pupils, but it does seem to work particularly well for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Now, an exciting new project seeks to harness that power to raise achievement and build resilience, confidence and self-esteem in some of the most deprived regions of the country. Bob House shares the story so far.