I have seen a disgraceful article. @bucksfreepress published a list of the 10 best/worst primary schools in the county.

The damage this will do to schools is untold. Years of work, dedication and reputation building undone in the blink of an eye.

And for what - clicks? 1/3 Because it’s nothing to do with giving an informed view to parents. These schools will offer so much more than ‘results’ and the children they educate will be so much more.

It does nothing but stir up trouble and ill feeling, putting careers and mental health on the line 2/3

A thread of apps to get you through a new school year.

Most are iOS, but many have android and windows alternatives as well. These can make your workflow much easier, streamlined, organised and simpler.

Something here for everyone! To Do List

Sync across devices and have web versions as well. Due dates, priority flagging, shared lists, repeating tasks - most of these apps do it all:

TickTick @ticktick
Todoist @todoist
Things 3. @culturedcode

Strikes.

The ballot results are, overall, disappointing. The profession is now in a significantly weaker position for negotiating pay deals. NEU getting a yes vote is a big deal given the other two results.

1/n It’s disappointing there wasn’t bigger turnout in any union. We won’t know the real reasons, buts it probably a mixture of a few - apathy, postal strike, wanting to vote no and abstaining, ballots not turning up. All will contribute to the issues we’ve seen.

2/n

At the end of a long term it is easy to feel despondent. Once the relief of getting to the holidays is gone, it can often be a time of feeling a bit low. In fact, that feeling can often come towards the end of term.

Did I do enough? Am I good enough?

1/n Everyone else seems to be better than me, they have a handle of everything more than I do, they control them better than me, the kids prefer them to me.

It’s easy to wallow a bit, but don’t let the tiredness do the talking for you.

2/n

Parents, a thread with a few ideas on how to help your child at home/school and build good relationships with teacher and a school, from a headteacher’s perspective… 1) Listen to them read.

This is so important. Even if it’s just for a little bit. Even if it’s the same reading book as they’ve already had. Even you you read some and they read some.

It’s so vital. Every little bit helps. Share books together, make it enjoyable. Model reading.

Dear school staff everywhere,

You are valued. You are cherished. You make a difference.

As we reach our busiest time of year, when more and more gets piled on and we feel like we are drowning, know that what you do matters.

You might not feel it. You might not see it

1/ but others do. They probably won’t say it, but they see the hours you put in, the work behind the scenes, the late nights the hours spent to get it right.

You see it in others, so see it in yourself. You do enough, you are enough and you make a massive difference

2/

If you work in a school and you’re feeling disillusioned, you aren’t alone. Pressures are no less, workload is no less and cumulative fatigue is no less. You aren’t alone.

But don’t forget that you still do something amazing every single day. Don’t believe me?
1/ Even the tiny things you do make a big difference to a lot of people. The one smile you give, the child you ask ‘how are you doing?’ to and it’s the first time they’ve been been asked all day. The way you make children feel valued are all amazing gifts. 2/

This last few weeks has seen me crippled with anxiety, worry, self doubt, feelings of inadequacy and lack of sleep.

Every waking moment has been consumed with contemplating what has seemed like a tsunami of high profile issues from Ofsted complaints, parental complaints,
1/13 the pressure of the Ofsted call coming any time soon, trying to handle staff who are over stretched and also feeling low.

This malaise has been crippling. It has affected my sleep, mood, my wellbeing, my behaviours and my interactions with people both at school and at home. 2/13

10 things every teacher should know. 🧵

1) You make a difference. Every day. Even when it doesn’t feel like you do, you do. People appreciate you and your work and you are changing lives.

Just changing one is enough for a career, but the likelihood is we change many more. 2) If some things don’t get done sometimes, it’ll be OK.

The world won’t end if something doesn’t get done every know and again. It’ll be fine. It’ll keep turning.

For some balance.

50 things that make teaching great:

1) No two days are the same
2) You’ll laugh every day
3) You’ll meet amazing people
4) The children will astound you
5) When the penny drops for a child
6) Holidays
7) Reflection on things is always worthwhile 8) You’ll get some great stories to tell at dinner parties
9) You’ll learn all sorts of useful life hacks
10) You get to stay ‘down with the kids’
11) You find more ways to embarrass your own children
12) You find strength you didn’t know you had

Hi @nadhimzahawi and @educationgovuk,

It’s the end of another week and I wanted to fill you in about life in school at the moment.

It’s intense. It’s tiring. It’s really full on. We’re trying to do too much with too little resource. We’re stretched to breaking point but 1/n somehow making it work. I’m trying to juggle a deficit budget. I’m spending 90% of staff yet don’t have enough to meet need. None of my classes have a full time TA yet most of them have a number of children SEN or intervention needs 2/n

Top Ten Tips for ECTs

1. Relationships are key

Build them with everyone. Pupils, teachers, SLT, TAs, cleaners, office staff, parents, governors.

They’ll be the ones with knowledge you need and who can help you out. And with the kids - no relationships hinders learning. 2. Know your expectations

Know the behaviour policy, know what you’ll stand for and what you won’t. Set it out for the kids and stick to it as consistently as possible. Know your boundaries and they’ll soon come in line.

Just a few ‘challenges’ we have had to face:

- Last minute guidance issued.
- Last minute guidance changes.
- Inviting parents to complain to Ofsted.
- Threatening schools with legal action.
- Saying that schools have been too quick to send whole bubbles home. - Adamant we’d be open then closing the next day.
- Vague key worker lists meaning huge numbers in school.
- The exam fiasco last year
- The huge workload of CAGs and TAGs
- No priority vaccines for teachers.
- Constant re-writing of history over expectations.

I spent my days as a teacher unaware of many, many approaches that are now held up. I didn’t know about cognitive load or retrieval practice or anything like that. I didn’t plan my questioning to the nth degree to make sure it was enquiry based or something else. 1/n I didn’t use knowledge organisers. I assessed using sub levels and progress grids, and I wrote next steps in every book every day. Lots of the things considered as ridiculous now were standard practice. Did it make me a worse teacher? I don’t think so. 2/n

THREAD:

Unfortunately, government views are all too short term. Education is too much of a long term investment to make it worthwhile during a parliament. They may have lost the next election by the time funding comes to fruition, so unless you have proper values 1/n and are doing it for the right reasons it will never be a vote winner. People’s memories are short. By the time the next election comes around Covid, catch up and education will be long forgotten. Spending money on it now doesn’t turn into votes in 3-4 years 2/n

Ofsted: A thread.

I’ve kept out of this so far, because I’ve seen so much varying positive and negative viewpoints on this. Firstly, yes, we do need to be accountable to someone. There have to be standards which schools are expected to meet. The problem is that those become hoops to jump through. They always will. Give a teacher a What is Good Teaching grid and their next lesson one will mirror it. Get a reputation for liking talk partners, and you’re sure to see it next time you go it.

English starter and warm activities, a thread: 1. Adverb Charades

Child leaves the room and comes back in acting out an adverb. Others have to guess what it is. One who gets it gets to do the next one.