Blog

We get excited about what we do - talking to teachers, and authors, chatting with pupils and turning conversations and ideas into practical educational series. Find out more about our guest bloggers.

To find out more about how teachers are using our resources in schools, visit our Impact in Schools page.

Curriculum

I'm forever blowing bubbles!

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Sue Evans - Science coordinator at Phoenix Primary

Teach your children how to describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials with this fun and free practical lesson plan!

Curriculum

Designing Your Curriculum Part 3: Impact

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Kate Weston

How can we measure the impact of our teaching on our students? - In the third and final part of his blogs about designing your school's maths curriculum, Nick Hart discusses how we can measure impact on students. Read more »

Assessment

KS1 Assessment and Reporting Arrangements

Posted on October 15, 2018 by RS Assessment from Hodder Education

On 15th October 2018, the DfE announced the modification of KS1 teacher assessment frameworks.

Teacher assessment frameworks

English Reading, mathematics and science frameworks have been modified for use from the 2018/2019 academic year onwards.
English writing frameworks will remain the same as those introduced for the 2017/2018 academic year.
The 'pupil can' statements have been refined for clarity to ensure they represent the key aspects of the national curriculum and reflect classroom practice.

Assessment

KS2 Assessment and Reporting Arrangements

Posted on October 15, 2018 by RS Assessment from Hodder Education

On 15th October 2018, the DfE announced the removal of KS2 teacher assessment judgements for English reading and mathematics and revised science teacher assessment frameworks.

Removal of teacher assessment for English reading and mathematics

The DfE state that this change has been made in response to the public consultation on Primary Assessment in 2017, and aims to reduce assessment burdens on schools. Test results in English reading and mathematics will continue to be used in school performance measures.

Assessment

Challenging ‘Behaviour Policies’: Misunderstood, inappropriate and unfair

Posted on October 15, 2018 by RS Assessment from Hodder Education

I believe that proper assessment would reveal that these children have a range of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) problems that are the real cause of their misbehaviours.

Thanks to Rob Long, educational psychologist and author of SNAP-B, for the following article.

Recently I attended a meeting on school exclusions where clear evidence was presented which highlighted there are certain ‘at risk’ groups that are more likely to be excluded. For me this reinforced the article I had read by J O’Brian in which he suggested that there is a systemic bias in the education system against certain ethnic groups.

With this thought in mind I began to wonder if there is a similar bias to explain why children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) or Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) statements are also a vulnerable group to being excluded as the data suggests that they are higher than other non-disabled groups on exclusions.

Curriculum

Implications for Teaching and Learning 2018

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Natalie Bailey

Free analysis of pupil performance in the 2018 KS2 national tests for reading, maths, and grammar, spelling and punctuation. Read more »

Curriculum

Wednesday Words: Year 5 vocabulary teaching activity

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Alexandra Taylor

This week's Wednesday Words blog, brings you a Year 5 vocabulary teaching activity which uses Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem The Eagle to explore how vocabulary choices change and enhance meaning.

Curriculum

Dyslexia Awareness Week

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Lucy at Rising Stars

Today marks the start of this year's Dyslexia Awareness Week and we will be updating this page with the latests SEN blogs and updates throughout the week.

Assessment

SENCO or Superhero – how on earth can any one person even start to do it all?

Posted on October 1, 2018 by RS Assessment from Hodder Education

At first glance, the key issues related to SEN support and provision seem overwhelming. It gets worse at second glance, and the third … Small wonder so many schools find recruitment so hard for this role.

Thanks to Charles Weedon, educational psychologist and author of Special Needs Assessment Profile (SNAP) SpLD and SNAP-B, for the following article.

Who are they, who should they be?

The SENCO is the only role in a school that must be a qualified teacher and have a post-graduate qualification (unless they were in post before 1 September 2009). As a SENCO, you're responsible for some of the most challenging pupils in a school – at the same time you're at the confluence, the crunch point, for an ever-increasing barrage of expectations and demands.

Assessment

The most common SpLDs found in the classroom: How identification and intervention can remove barriers to learning

Posted on October 1, 2018 by RS Assessment from Hodder Education

By identifying and minimising the barriers to learning, the child can feel more comfortable in the learning situation and will usually respond more effectively to the intervention offered.

Thanks to Gavin Reid, educational psychologist and author of Special Needs Assessment Profile (SNAP) SpLD, for the following article.

Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs)

In every classroom in every school there will be a considerable number of children experiencing some form of specific learning difficulty. These can include: literacy difficulties (dyslexia), movement and coordination issues (dyspraxia), numeracy problems (dyscalculia), handwriting issues (dysgraphia), speech and language problems (Specific Language Impairment) and auditory processing difficulties (APD).