Thread by @matthewhood

With thoughts turning to the return to school for more pupils, the next big issue - and ask of teachers - is catch up.

We've been thinking @OakNational how our resources could support teachers through all this. Here's some initial thoughts...👇🤔

First thing’s first. The appointment of the brilliant Sir Kevan Collins to oversee catch up is such welcome news. Whilst he knows there’s no silver bullet, he knows the evidence and will make sure we remain focused on what works, for the long run.

The best thing for catch-up - or any learning? Expert, quality teaching.

Our first priority should be investing to make this country the best country in the world to be a teacher. Recruit more teachers and support all teachers to keep learning and developing.

That can help in the years ahead, but in the short term, we need to clear things off teachers' plates so they can focus on what they do best. Here’s how we think @OakNational might be able to help with this...

Our 10,000 lessons cover a hefty chunk of the national curriculum. We hope teachers can draw on them to fill gaps in learning. Being pre-recorded means they can be done at a time that works for teacher and pupil - with as little disruption to whole-class teaching as possible.

Catch-up only works if we know what pupils have missed.

Teachers are brilliant at this but we hope our thousands of quizzes help teachers to pinpoint gaps and support pupils to address them. We're also seeing if we can share some national lesson data to give indications of gaps

It’s clear from the scale of the work that digital learning will play a role in catch-up. That means efforts to make sure every child has access to both a laptop and data must step up, not stop.

In the long-term we need investment in teaching. Now we must free teachers up, so when they fully return to their classrooms, they can focus on giving pupils the expert support and guidance they do best.

More here in @thetimes: thetimes.co.uk/article/no-mat…