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Blog

Update yourself with the latest news for both job seekers and recruiters alike.

  • Is our education system broken?

    By Mark Richards, 24 Jan 2020

    It’s a shocking question to pose but many people working within the education system would say that we do have a broken system in our schools today. For those in the midst of it all, it’s in electioneering season that the stark realities are truly laid bare. Once again, during another election...

  • Has OFSTED Had Its Day?

    By Alan Peters, 24 Jan 2020

    We have an Ofsted outstanding school near to us. Every inspection says the same. Its students get among the best results in the county. Not the very best, admittedly, but in a pure numbers game more of its pupils gain the required set of five GCSEs, A* to C in old money, than most of its...

  • 5 Steps to Revolutionize Your Teaching Style

    By Ryan Crawley, 24 Jan 2020

    If you are still using the same lesson plans day after day that you first originally created 20 years ago, it might be time to update your curriculum. After all, two decades ago, trucker hats were in style and skinny jeans were not even a thought. Things change! Your lesson plans and teaching...

  • Do Small Class Sizes Improve Student Achievement?

    By Ryan Crawley, 24 Jan 2020

    As all school budgets tighten a bit as funding shrinks, a common theme is to eliminate teachers and just make the class sizes larger. While there is no doubt that this strategy can save a good chunk of money, the question is whether it is worth it. Is there an academic benefit to having smaller...

  • How to put teacher wellbeing at the top of a school’s agenda

    By Mark Richards, 24 Jan 2020

    There are very few people that would take any issue whatsoever with staff wellbeing being seen as a key priority in schools. Indeed, probably next to concern about school budgets, workload and the impact it has on the wellbeing of staff is generally recognised as the most pressing issue of the day...

  • Character building: Is this what the school curriculum is missing?

    By Mark Richards, 24 Jan 2020

    The extent to which the current school curriculum is fit for purpose is a debate that rumbles on and on. On one side of the fence, it can be argued that there are more Ofsted-judged ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools than ever before. If this is the case, surely it points to the curriculum being...

  • The Uncertain Future of Middle Schools

    By Alan Peters, 24 Jan 2020

    Back in 2009, Bedfordshire Borough Council’s website announced the closure of its middle schools. The method it employed to do so – we might call this ‘opaque’, for want of a better word, of which there are many – gives a clear answer to the question regarding the future of middle schools. It is...

  • Season Greetings for Educators

    By Ryan Crawley, 24 Jan 2020

    There is no time in the school year for a teacher quite like the last couple of weeks of December. The students are excited for not only Christmas and New Year, but the break from school that comes along with it. And no matter what the teachers say, they are thrilled as well. It is a reprieve from...

  • Ofsted blames school leaders for teacher workload

    By Mark Richards, 24 Jan 2020

    Following the announcement that Ofsted is to begin asking staff at schools who are being inspected to evaluate their own leadership team in terms of workload, several questions might be asked. For example: Is Ofsted essentially blaming school leaders for workload? What do Ofsted inspectors...

  • Is there a crisis in Modern Foreign Languages?

    By Mark Richards, 24 Jan 2020

    Exams regulator, Ofqual, has published the results of a research project that began in 2015 to look at the differences between grading at GCSEs, AS and A levels. It will come as no surprise to many – especially Modern Foreign Languages – teachers that the news is now official: some GCSEs have...