Dad of 3, husband, runner, speedcuber, and Primary Headteacher.
Sep 25, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Our words shape the worlds of our children.
👉🏻Instead of using the word “work” - we could talk about “learning”.
Work is something you do for someone else. Work is from the adult world. Not from a child’s world.
Thread 🧵👇🏻
Remember, we work because we have to, and we learn because we want to.
👉🏻Instead of saying “clever” - we could talk about effort, perseverance and the process of learning.
Sep 25, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Just a few thoughts:
Wellbeing isn’t tokenistic gestures or acts of ‘being nice’ to people. All those acts *contribute* to wellbeing, and can help people feel valued and appreciated. I’m NOT saying don’t do them. But they are not wellbeing.
Wellbeing is a state of comfort, health and happiness.
We need to address how staff can reach a state of ease, rather than dis-ease, by addressing workload, use of time, expectation of communication and feedback streams.
Jul 17, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
With schools trying to develop a ‘recovery’ curriculum, there are a few people outside of education who I would be keen to work with to develop wellbeing in schools.
I don’t run a podcast yet - but if it meant I could speak with these few - I’d make it happen.
Using concepts from Rebel Ideas tells us there are people outside of education who can contribute to the problem space.
I’d love to be able to find out Matthew’s take on how schools and education could use Rebel Ideas to bounce back and recover.
Jul 1, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I've seen a lot of media reporting and talk on #edutwitter about a 'catch up curriculum'.
My question is catch up with what?
The age-related expectation of a pre-Covid world?
Thread...
For more than the next ten years, we will have children in the education system who have not attended school during this time.
Is this not enough to suggest the age-related expectation of the pre-Covid world no longer applies in today's world?
Jun 28, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
4 things about failure...
1/
Failure doesn’t mean it is the end. Failure means it is the start of a new journey.
2/
When we fail or get something wrong and tell ourselves we are not good enough, smart enough or strong enough, we chip away at our level of self-esteem and self-worth through negative self-talk.
Jun 24, 2020 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
👉🏻26 things about education...
1. Schools are like factories.
2. Children are the products.
3. They are created in batches and time stamped.
4. They’re all measured and assessed by how well they perform in a test.
5. An expected behaviour for good learning is good sitting and listening. Usually at a table.
6. Those who do well on a test are labelled as clever and those who do not are labelled as not clever.
Jun 13, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
⭐️My thoughts about the virus, society and how it might be making us feel...⭐️
A mega-thread...!
One of the worst feelings is anticipatory uncertainty. Also described as worrying about imaginary futures that haven’t happened.
We sense there is a storm coming. That there’s something bad “out there”.
Jun 12, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
The point of what I do...
A thread...
Teaching is a vocational choice – and often believed to be a lifestyle choice.
Jun 10, 2020 • 11 tweets • 1 min read
10 tips for NQTs (and maybe experienced teachers too 😉)
You probably won’t get through everything you’ve planned. Don’t worry about it and move on.
Jun 1, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
5 thoughts on wellbeing...
THREAD...
1/ A misconception for many is confusing wellbeing with ‘being nice’.
May 29, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
What you say around children is just as important as what you don’t say.
Children are not always the best at listening to you – but they are very good at becoming you.
Those turns of phrases, gestures, and throwaway comments. They hear and see them, internalise them, and reuse them.
They are connected with family, friends and the local community. Strong connections to wider areas of life can provide a shield to depression.
2. Use their strengths regularly
When you use what you're good at more often, you'll perform better, and be more motivated.
May 17, 2020 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
Even though it feels like times will never return to normal or get better, I have faith in humanity that we will adapt, survive and go on to thrive.
Humanity has come back from hardship, catastrophic events and Earth changing moments before.
We will again.
Being constrained inspires innovation.
Great thinking isn’t done outside the box. It’s done within the confines of the box. Think Apollo 13 and using what’s available and possible in new, different and diverse ways.
May 12, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Some early thoughts about schools reopening 💭
👉🏻 Start planning now
👉🏻 Social distancing might not be possible in a lot of areas in school - so cleanliness must be a high priority
👉🏻 Plan for how toilets will be used, checked and cleaned
👉🏻 Small groups of children with adults (15:1) in what could be called ‘Bubble Groups’ to stop cross contamination
👉🏻 EYFS will still need to be 8:1
👉🏻 Use a one-way walking system around school - may need to demarcate lines and routes
May 9, 2020 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
⭐️ 5 ways to develop your own wellbeing⭐️
A thread...
1. Understand what wellbeing is and isn’t
Wellbeing isn’t cakes in your staff room, delicious soap in the staff toilets, or a duvet day. It isn’t being able to clock off early, yoga after school, or an anonymous mug of chocolate treats left in your pigeon hole.
May 4, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Entropy and wellbeing...
A thread...
Entropy is a measure of disorder.
Imagine throwing a whole pack of playing cards up in the air. The chance of them landing them in order is statistically possible - but highly improbable.
The outcome of them being in order is one outcome amongst a sea of other disorderly outcomes.
Apr 19, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
💭5 things we already knew about education that the pandemic impact has confirmed💭
Thoughts from #edutwitter appreciated.
1
The National Curriculum is out of date already. It is designed for children to survive in a world of the past. It needs to be for children to thrive in a changing and challenging world.
#edutwitter1. Understand what wellbeing is and isn’t
Wellbeing isn’t cakes in your staff room, delicious soap in the staff toilets, or a duvet day. It isn’t being able to clock off early, yoga after school, or an anonymous mug of chocolate treats left in your pigeon hole.
I am so disappointed by @RishiSunak ‘s announcement for the self employed.
I don’t have a loud voice like @piersmorgan@MartinSLewis or @BorisJohnson - but that doesn’t mean I cannot express my voice about the #selfemployed during this #CoronavirusLockdownUK
The most vulnerable people within that group are the recently self employed. They are a group who have slipped through the net and not covered by any support.
It’s not about a sense of entitlement. It’s that this government has decided some people are worthy and some are not.
Mar 20, 2020 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Hi, I’m Simon. I am an experienced primary school teacher and former headteacher.
