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How can we show we care?
Join here www.consciousliving.app We all need support when our working life throws challenges at us and, let’s face it, whilst the role of a teacher can be very rewarding it can also be challenging…
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Conscious Living, your Coach in your Pocket
Would you like to feel calm, in control and positive in your role? Conscious Living in the Workplace could be just what you are looking for! Amanda and Kathy have combined coaching…
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The Little Devil
ADVERTORIAL All copyrights belong to The Happy Brain Co Ltd 2023 What a devil of a job I had a few years ago, dealing with a 10-year-old lad who, quite simply, believed…
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Helping schools get the most out of heat pumps
Many schools are switching from old, fossil fuelled heating to energy efficient, environmentally friendly heat pumps to beat rising energy bills and do their bit for carbon reduction. What’s key to getting the…
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Cost vs. Quality in the Purchasing of Air Purifiers For UK Schools
(advertorial) Cost vs. Quality in the Purchasing of Air Purifiers For UK Schools When it comes to air purification in schools, cost has become more important than quality, yet, in the long-term, quality…
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Education Ventures Company and Blenheim Schools announce new partnership for a new world-class education facility in Dubai
Dubai UAE: Education Ventures Company (EVC) a wholly owned subsidiary of Al Zarooni Emirates Investments (ZEI) and Blenheim Schools, part of the Chatsworth Schools family, today announced a new education focused partnership. Working…
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The Value of a Mainstream Educational Environment for Children with Moderate and Mild Learning Needs
Riverston School The value of a mainstream educational environment for children with moderate and mild learning needs September 2021 During our many years of operation, at Riverston School we have come across a…
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Classroom Ventilation, a Hot Topic this September
(advertorial) As unions call for improved classroom ventilation, and government backed trials of air purification systems are set to begin in West Yorkshire Schools, action is being demanded in order to improve the…
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Sanitisation and Safety in Schools
Stopping the spread is one of the many issues in this Corona Virus pandemic. Schools are excellent at educating our children and keeping them safe, at the best of times. However, currently, these are not the…
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Finding the Right Candidate for SEND Role
One of the biggest challenges facing schools and senior management teams is finding the right staff to fill their vacancies. Most departments simply don’t have the time and resources to sift through hundreds…
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Importance of STEM subjects
ADVERTORIAL What are STEM subjects? These are the sciences which are usually taught at school and range from Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science and Physics. Technology encompasses ICT and other areas within PC/Apple PC…
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Sports canopies can turbo charge a child’s school day
(advertorial) Increase your Schools Daily Levels of Physical Exercise As a nation we are simply not active enough and the situation is even more critical for children. Regular exercise not only affects physical…
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Senploy is UK’s first jobs site for special educational needs sector
(advertorial) Manchester charity worker launches website to nurture talent and cut recruitment costs Senploy, the UK’s first recruitment website dedicated to uniting prospective employers and candidates within the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)…
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Why goals in PE should reach further than nets and hoops
With childhood obesity and mental health coming increasingly under the spotlight, the need to promote an active lifestyle amongst young people is greater than ever. For many children, active habits begin in PE…
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Cyber Security training for staff and head pupils?
In a recent article in UK Authority on an audit carried out by The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the London Grid for Learning (LGfL), on 432 schools around the UK earlier…
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Finding confidence in speaking up
An interview with former Headteacher Jackie Beere OBE: Jackie Beere OBE is a former Headteacher of a large secondary school in Northamptonshire. She was awarded an OBE in 2002 for developing innovative learning…
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Discovery Education and Probrand Announce Partnership to Help School Budgets Go Further
Discovery Education and Probrand are delighted to announce a new partnership which will give schools access to the latest education technology and help teachers make budgets go further. It’s also an example of…
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Data security incidents show over 10% from the Education sector
Figures for Q2 of 2018/19 from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) Of the 4,056 data security incidents reported to the ICO for Q2, 511 came from the Education sector. As you can see…
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New Education Technology Fund
A new education technology fund will provide up to 20 organisations with grants to develop digital products to support schools and colleges. The fund, managed by innovation charity Nesta with money from the…
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New course aims to help young women
My name is Natalie Walker Brimble and I am an accredited life and performance coach. I am fully accredited by both EDI (Education Development International) and NCP (National Council of Psychotherapists). I am…
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Enhancing your playground? That’s child play!
Ask any pupil and they will tell you that the playground is one of the most important areas in a school – certainly the most popular. It’s where children can come to let…
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Encyclopaedia Britannica to light up Bett 2019 with Gogglebox’s Baasit Siddiqui and the launch of LumieLabs
In its 250th year, Encyclopaedia Britannica, will launch its new edtech resource, LumieLabs at Bett 2019. Allowing educators to use personalised, project-based video lessons to promote creativity, student voice, and choice, LumieLabs is…
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Leadership by Design
Scholar 6, Transforming the Sixth Form There is a memorable scene in Oliver Stone’s film Nixon where the US President is confronted by a group of students about the Vietnam War. At first…
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Making facilities hire work for your school
Figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies confirmed per pupil spending in England has fallen by 8 per cent since 2010 – news that will come as no surprise to school business managers…
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Managing risks from school transport
One of the greatest risks children face is daily travel to school. This can be by bus, car, cycling, or walking, but each poses unique hazards you’ll need to manage. The good news…
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Phonics: How we teach needs to change to fit with how children learn
There has been a welcome focus on the science of learning over the last ten years. But has how we teach evolved to take account this? Being a phonics specialist, I have spent a great…
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Eye training to help children with dyspraxia
Children with a coordination disorder can improve skills like throwing and catching with new training videos developed by the University of Exeter. Developmental Coordination Disorder (also known as dyspraxia) affects the learning and…
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Growing Holes in Head Teachers’ Budgets
(advertorial) Time constraints is one of the many problems faced by Teachers and support staff alike, due to the increasing pressures on them to raise standards of pupil achievement, but with limited funds…
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Meet the avatar helping schools and academies safeguard children
Meet Sam; the education sector’s first ever ‘virtual’ safeguarding consultant, lending a cyber hand to busy school and academy leaders in meeting all the latest requirements to protect children and adults from abuse….
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Increasing the Employability of People with Autism
By Mrs Ania Hildrey, headteacher of Abbot’s Lea School – an outstanding school in Liverpool which provides the highest quality of specialist education for students aged 3-19 living with autism and a range…
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What is Leadership?
‘The action of leading a group of people or an organisation, or the ability to do this’ Leadership ……….beyond this definition people become leaders or move into leadership for many different reasons and…
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Swotting Up on Payroll
Running payroll in the education sector can be a real challenge. Every month is different and every once in a while, something turns up that casts everything in a new light. Teachers’ salaries…
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North West entrepreneurs back life-saving anti-bullying app
North West based tootoot, creators of the award-winning anti-bullying app for schools, colleges and universities, has successfully raised over three quarters of a million pounds in Series A investment. The app, which has…
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GDPR for Schools – a Primer
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) is the hot topic of 2018. Never before have we witnessed a piece of legislation having such an impact on a wide range of sectors. What does…
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Playground specialist shows creativity and imagination to encourage kids to get active
Leicestershire playground and outdoor equipment specialists Red Monkey Play is proud to be supporting the Move It Boom initiative organised by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT). To get the event up and running…
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Teachers Guide: Detecting Signs of OCD in the Classroom
While schools have a responsibility to look after the health and safety of a child in their care, it can be difficult for teachers to observe mental health problems which aren’t so readily…
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Hacked HVAC: The BMS that could close your school
Cyber attacks. They’re highly disruptive, can result in a loss of data and severely hamper the functioning of a school or university. Small wonder then that educational establishments go to significant lengths to…
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Managing People in an Academy – Strategies for Success
With increasing pressure from the government, it looks like every Local Authority maintained school will eventually become an Academy. One of the barriers that discourage many schools is the complex conversion process and…
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EduGeek and ICT Direct to join forces at Bett 2018
EduGeek, one of the world’s largest educational IT communities is joining forces with school ICT equipment supplier, ICT Direct at Bett 2018. Having exhibited at Bett since 2007 when they ran the EduGeek/Bett…
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The Week Junior’s New Partnership Aims to Unlock the Power of Children’s Curiosity
National scheme launches between The Week Junior Magazine and Ormiston Academies Trust Pupils from four Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) academies are participating in a new enrichment programme pilot which will see award winning…
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Changing lives with Special iApps
Tablets and smartphones are a way of life for children in the second decade of the 21st Century – but how much screen time is healthy? As the debate continues about giving young…
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To Risk or Not To Risk?
It is widely known that nowadays most children are given less freedom than the children of previous generations. My own parents told me stories of how my grandparents allowed them to spend their…
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Blue Planet II Creates A New Wave Of Interest In The Undersea World
Much-loved broadcaster Sir David Attenborough’s latest dive into the Blue Planet has created a big wave of interest in the undersea world, with a sharp increase in school group bookings at SEA LIFE…
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HCL wins award for school meal excellence
HCL (Hertfordshire Catering Ltd), which provides catering in most of Hertfordshire’s schools, has won a national award for excellence. HCL won the Local Authority Caterer of the Year award at the EDU Catering…
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Online Educational Game Portal Emile Helps Children Learn As They Play
Children will be able to learn as they play with a new online games portal developed by university education specialists and a company supplying web-based resources to primary schools. The platform, Emile, provides…
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Nationwide training launched to close safeguarding loophole around UK’s most vulnerable children
For the first time ever, taxi drivers can access nationwide standardised training to improve pupil safeguarding for children with special educational needs. The fully accredited online programme by Spectrum Courses offers taxi drivers…
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How schools can encourage pupils to cycle to school
Childhood obesity is on the rise in the UK with 70% of girls and 55% of boys predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050, according to the walk and cycle charity Sustrans….
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Bottled Water: the High Price of Convenience
Bottled water is becoming more and more common in schools across the UK – but is the convenience really worth the price tag? In the following article, we’ll take a look behind the…
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The Bulwell Academy benefits from the rope access treatment
As any educational institution will know, keeping buildings and premises in good condition is important not just for health and safety, but also to provide a pleasant environment that encourages students and staff…
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Outstanding Leaders Partnership to deliver new-look leadership qualifications from September
Outstanding Leaders Partnership (OLP) has been confirmed as a major provider of the new-look National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) by the Department for Education. OLP – a national partnership of schools, teaching school alliances…
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Keeping Staff in Check – 100% Satisfaction with Quay HR Training
On 14th July 2017, Quay HR Solutions offered Dorset School and College leaders a free place at a Managing Employee Discipline training event, held at Rubicon Recruitment’s offices in Poole. ACAS state that…
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The Classroom Essentials Every Primary NQT Needs
As the start of the school year approaches, the time has finally come for you to be in charge of your own class, and in your own classroom! The prospect of preparing for…
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How effective UV protection can help children enjoy the sun safely
Schools have a responsibility to protect children from the sun when they are in their care. Paul Jakeway, Marketing Director at skin care expert Deb, assesses the risk that Ultraviolet (UV) rays can…
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Industry Immersion: teachers get hands-on experience at IBM Computing Summer School
This July, teachers will have the chance to step out of the classroom setting and into the technology industry with the IBM Computing Summer School, which will take place 3-5 July 2017, at…
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When is a teacher a salesperson?
Teaching is selling I was chatting to a headteacher at an event I had organised recently and I can’t even remember what we were talking about exactly, but he said to me: “So…
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Irlen syndrome – Wear your rose-coloured (or blue or green) glasses…and read on!
Most folks have never heard of Irlen syndrome. When people ask why my daughter wears tinted spectacles, I tell them it’s because she has Irlen; the usual response is ‘what’s that?’ or ‘isn’t…
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Nottingham Trent student develops virtual reality technology to help people, like him, who stutter
An MSc student who has stuttered since the age of six is using virtual reality technology to help rehabilitate people with speech impediments. Gareth Walkom, 24, an MSc Medical Product Design student at Nottingham…
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UK Air Pollution and its Impact on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in Schools
The UK – alongside Germany, France, Italy and Spain – have been issued a final warning by the European Commission for failing to address breaches of air pollution limits for nitrogen oxide. EU…
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How to empower students with SEN through drama
Last week, Labour started an investigation into access to the arts to look into what prevents working class people from entering the world of drama. Not only are actors from less privileged backgrounds…
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The importance of using CCTV in schools
When parents send their children to school, they expect that the school will do everything in their power to ensure that all pupils are kept safe at all times. An increasing number of…
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What is This Morning’s Be Kind Campaign and should all schools be a part of it?
Whether you’re a fan of This Morning or not, you may have heard about their Be Kind Campaign. I’ll explain what it is and whether your school should be a party of it….
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Kids to go bananas over their lunchbox with Seafarers Awareness Week
24,000 primary schools across the UK are being invited to ask their pupils: ‘How does a banana get to your lunchbox?’ The question forms part of an educational campaign run by the…
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Teaching the Hand Hygiene Curriculum
Paul Jakeway, Marketing Director at Deb UK discusses how to reduce germ transfer and encourage hand washing in schools. At school, children are exposed to all kinds of germs and bacteria that they…
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How Schools Can Be Energy Efficient
Reducing energy emissions is beneficial to both your utility bills and your carbon foot print, so how can you work towards being energy efficient? It’s more important than ever to reduce energy emissions…
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A Murmuration of Starlings – working together to drive improvement
By Gary Handforth, Director of Primary Education at Bright Futures Educational Trust A murmuration of starlings is a breath-taking sight – a swooping mass of thousands of birds whirling in the sky above…
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School managers are struggling to recruit teachers because the process is too long and complex
90% of teachers want a standardised application form introduced Two thirds have given up on an application because of the complicated process Just 10% of teachers would apply for two jobs 84% schools…
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Making education recruitment easier could help ease the current teaching shortage
Nine out of ten teachers believe the job application process should be made easier, according to new research. Two thirds have been prevented from applying for a job because of the lengthy and…
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Leadership In Outstanding Special Schools
Leadership in Outstanding Special Schools DR MIC CAROLAN Having spent two years in a northern local authority as the education officer including Special education (which then included seven special schools, the EWO service,…
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Online Booking Software Can Help Support Schools To Conform with New Regulations
Caitlin Roxburgh | Booking Live | August 2015 Changes in government policy mean schools are now being encouraged to provide wraparound childcare both before and after school. As part of the government’s extended…
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Scrapping practical science: damaging and counterproductive
Ofqual’s decision to remove practical science experiments from GCSE assessment is causing a lot of concern among the scientific community, and education minister, Nicky Morgan is deeply frustrated with the outcome. Ofqual has…
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Continuous Professional Development is essential
With recent changes to the curriculum and with technology developing at a fast pace, there is a constant need for teachers to develop new skills and subject knowledge. It comes as no surprise,…
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How does your school stand out from the crowd?
The Marketing Cycle is a practical marketing model that can help you both focus on what is really important to your community and communicate it well. Wow – the last few years have…
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Tapping In – How Schools Can Save Water and Money
With more than half of England now under drought conditions, water conservation has become a hot topic for teachers and school managers alike. Britain is experiencing its worst drought in a generation. Half…
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Smile for the Camera – Does CCTV in school provide peace of mind or an unwelcome intrusion?
School security is a hot topic for school leaders, but are CCTV cameras keeping students and teachers safe or raising pupils in a climate of fear? The UK has witnessed a massive expansion…
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Here We Gove Again – Michael’s response to critics: you’re all lefty Marxist old trots, so there!
COMMENT – He’s been at it again, hasn’t he? The current secretary of state for education, who clearly feels that a week when he isn’t making the headlines is a week lost in…
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‘The Right Stuff Fluff’ – The qualities heads need and Wilshaw’s plan to pay governors
COMMENT – Someone I know – we’ll call her Rachel – was recently interviewed for a primary headship. On paper she was an excellent candidate – already an experienced and successful head, she has…
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Thin and Twiggy – The shadow education secretary’s values, aims and beliefs?
COMMENT – I’ve been thinking about Stephen Twigg quite a bit recently. He’s principally famous for that cheeky grin when he realised, back in May 1997, that he’d created what was to be…
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Why Academy Schools are Seeking Expert Help with Managing Their Accounts
In recent years, Academy schools have become a key part of the educational landscape. In May 2010, when the coalition government came to power, there were just 203 Academies in England, but the…
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National Curriculum – Why the new curriculum is not grounded in reality
COMMENT – I decided to wait a while before writing about the new National Curriculum, because there are times when your own reactions need to be measured against those of other, possibly less…
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U Beginnings – Talkin’ happy talk, a new curriculum & a massive u-turn
COMMENT – There I was, all set to write a piece based on three articles that appeared in the same issue of the Daily Telegraph, when up popped my favourite little bête noire, Michael…
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Turning a DfE Ear – Gove presses on with deeply unpopular ‘deep thought’ reforms
COMMENT – The news recently that Michael ‘if I haven’t changed it, it’s soft, leftish and unfit for purpose’ Gove proposes to reform A levels – apparently on the grounds that people keep…
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Free Schools to Frisé Cool – Gove acquires new lap dog to have by the short and curlies
COMMENT – I was beyond delighted this morning when I heard the news that Michael ‘No Scots accent for me, Jimmy’ Gove and his wife had adopted a rescue dog. I almost entered…
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Safeguarding Technology in the Classroom
With technology now an essential part of the learning process, how can schools protect themselves from expensive repair bills as a result of the inevitable classroom accidents? Technology is fast becoming an essential…
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The Estelles 2012 – Celebrating the year’s golden moments of ineptitude!
COMMENT – I’ve come only latterly to Facebook, which I used to view as a showing-off tool for young people; however, I’ve discovered that through it I can foist my bon mots, pearls…
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Heads we lose – The real reasons why schools find it hard to recruit leaders
COMMENT – I found myself gazing at a photograph of Michael Wilshaw today. It accompanied an article in the Telegraph of 17th November, describing a speech at the London Festival of education by…
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Excuse Abuse – Racism, child abuse and the culture blame game
COMMENT – I had occasion to complain to the BBC last week. Now that I’m in my early 50s, I’ve reached the age where I actually complain, rather than just banging on at…
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Gravity, Not Mediocrity – The real reason kids do not always reach for the stars
COMMENT – I’ve been out of the education news loop for a while, dealing with real-life issues of my own (God bless the NHS for saving my mother’s life – a couple of years…
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Plan Out – Gove’s cunning plan for education laid bare
COMMENT – Do you remember how Baldrick was forever offering Blackadder his latest ‘cunning plan’? And how these plans invariably ended up being totally ludicrous, like the one in Blackadder III, in which…
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School Photocopier Rip-offs: Just the Tip of the Iceberg?
A recent investigation by BBC’s Panorama highlighted a widespread phenomenon of schools overpaying for ICT products by many times the worth of the equipment in question. The programme makers found 169 schools in…
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Clock Wise? Calling time on Wilshaw’s pay and performance policy
COMMENT – I can’t help it. I’m fast becoming completely obsessed by the increasingly barmy, illogical and paradoxical utterances of Gove and Wilshaw or, as I’ve begun calling them, MichaelDum and MichaelDee. In…
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Bacc Passage – Gove gives GCSEs an old-school seeing to
COMMENT – I’m always amused by the notion that changing the name of something will de facto cause all and sundry to believe that the thing itself is better. For example, I’ve always…
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Unhelpful Labels – OECD Education Report States the Bleedin’ Obvious
COMMENT – Have you noticed how most educational research, conducted by seemingly elite bodies and organisations, has a tendency to culminate in what Basil Fawlty would have described as a ‘statement of the…
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Keeping Schools and Students Safe in the Cloud
A few years ago information security expert Thomas Parenty warned, “You have no idea who is managing the computers with your information. You have no idea where they are. You have no idea…
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Stranger than Fiction 2 – Gove’s Epic Dickensian Nightmare on Waterloo Road
COMMENT – A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece which mentioned how badly television fiction represents schools. It was with some astonishment, therefore, that I realised this week how wrong I had…
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Bum Deal – A permanent bruise on the backside of state education?
COMMENT – A while ago, whilst working in the garden, I pulled enthusiastically at a deeply rooted plant. It gave way much more quickly and easily than I had anticipated, causing me to…
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Old Hat? Teaching qualifications are so yesterday.
COMMENT – It’s been a quiet couple of weeks for the education satirist. What with the Olympics and the wonderful stories emerging of chaos and calamity, I’ve felt quite bitter and resentful that…
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Trotting About – The truth about schools is stranger than TV fiction
COMMENT – Writers don’t do teachers and schools very well on television, do they? Whether it’s sitcom, soap or drama, any pretence at realism is seen off at the door by realism’s arch…
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Seeing the Light – Super fast broadband for less than the LEA
Craig McKee reflects on his school’s decision to take a leap into the unknown by moving away from their LEA broadband provider. Why change broadband? Well, the first point I would make in this time…
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Roman Seizer – All hail Gove’s classics comedy coming to a school near you!
COMMENT – I decided today that Michael Gove has been avidly reading the pieces I write for SMT and that the result of this is him spending time trying to come up with…
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Hit and List – A Simple Guide for Budding Education Secretaries
COMMENT – It’s the time that every primary teacher loves, isn’t it? The latest secretary of state for education gets his paws on the national curriculum. Of course, in Gove world, what you…
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Applying for headship – the application form and beyond!
Advertisements for headteacher posts are seasonal, appearing near the start of each term so applicants need to be prepared for a fair amount of work to secure an interview! Those hoping to secure…
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Communication Matters – Supporting Pupils with Speech, Language and Communication Needs
Effective communication is a prerequisite of effective teaching and learning, but a broad range of speech, language and communication needs are stopping many pupils from achieving their potential at school. Speech, language and…
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How to achieve ‘Outstanding’ stress levels – Ten Tips for School Leaders
Our esteemed leader from OFSTED hit the headlines last week when he dismissed the stress of 2012 as being ‘inadequate’ when compared to the standards of stress he endured back in the 70s…
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Leading CPD Effectively
In these days of tight budgets and external pressures to improve, it is more important than ever for schools to get the most out of their continuing professional development budgets. When professional learning…
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Impossible feat – Balancing workload as a school manager
I’m not sure if I really believe in work-life balance. I do for staff, of course. Not for Senior Leaders – I truly don’t believe that you can reach Outstanding with half an…
How can we show we care?
Join here www.consciousliving.app We all need support when our working life throws challenges at us and, let’s face it, whilst the role of a teacher can be very rewarding it can also be challenging…
The Little Devil
ADVERTORIAL All copyrights belong to The Happy Brain Co Ltd 2023 What a devil of a job I had a few years ago, dealing with a 10-year-old lad who, quite simply, believed…
Education Ventures Company and Blenheim Schools announce new partnership for a new world-class education facility in Dubai
Dubai UAE: Education Ventures Company (EVC) a wholly owned subsidiary of Al Zarooni Emirates Investments (ZEI) and Blenheim Schools, part of the Chatsworth Schools family, today announced a new education focused partnership. Working…
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