How do we know whether normal individual variation and differing speeds of maturation are masking a special need? Sal McKeown reports on an important new study
We know it can be tough to enrich the vocabulary of our students, but Stephen Parsons shows that it can be done with sustained effort and by incorporating fun along the way.
The latest metrics show that many gaps remain in the education system. Sam Butters from the Fair Education Alliance asks what it would take to really create a fair education system.
A philosophy-based program called askit is helping students at Central Bedfordshire College learn how to ask questions and reason with problems that don’t have clear answers. Professor James Crabbe and Ali Hadawi explain how this program is transforming aspirations for learners at risk of underachieving.
There has been a growing body of evidence that reading for pleasure is the most important indicator of the future success of a child. Dr Beth Southard considers a book scheme in Norwich that encourages children in care to read more.
One in three children leave primary school with a reading level that is below national expectations, with profound consequences for both the child and society. It doesn’t have to be this way, argues Jonathan Douglas.
The new early years system is lacking, regressive and unlikely to deliver. Natalie Perera, Head of Research at the Education Policy Institute, exposes the strategy’s major flaws.
It is widely recognised that vulnerable children struggle to access learning and experience success at school. With interventions purely designed to move them on with learning they often have difficulty engaging and making progress. Perhaps something else is needed?
Maureen Hunt examines the quality of the reading ‘diet’ children are getting and how important it is for those children from more disadvantaged backgrounds to have rich reading experiences in school. She explores why solely using a phonic based approach is not enough and gives some top tips for teachers to make the reading experience into a metaphorical banquet for children.
Ems Lord considers how you can enrich the maths experiences of the children in your classroom or early years setting, whatever curriculum or approach to maths you use. She discusses maths activities from NRICH – a collaboration between the faculties of maths and education at the University of Cambridge and part of the Millennium Mathematics Project.
How our approach leads to confidence building in children with SEND.
Two years into the new SEN and Disabilities system, how do we maintain the changes that are making a difference? A personal view from practitioner Dr Simon Jenner.
Children as young as six can write off maths as a subject they dislike and just can’t do. Louise Matthews writes about an intervention which is designed to recover the subject for these children.
SEND provision in the early years has been in desperate need of reform for a long time. But has the new Code of Practice hit its mark? Maureen Hunt explores the key challenges thrown up by the recent reforms and some of the steps exemplary settings are taking to deal with them.
