The examinations regulator, Ofqual has published draft guidance on how the appeals process will work for teacher assessed grades this summer. Beyond reports on the Ofqual exams 2021 appeals process… Continue reading Ofqual Exams 2021: Plans For Appeals Process & Quality Assurance
Judging a professional on unforeseeable circumstances is obviously unfair – yet teacher standards are judged all the time! I wonder what it would be like if others were treated the same way? Like doctors, for example, or maybe dentists… Continue reading Teacher Standards: If Other Professionals Were Judged like Teachers…
With the latest exam coming to a close, here are some enticing alternatives to recycling any spare papers lying around… A bonfire Setting light to a pile of scripts goes against our eco-friendly principles but it has been an unseasonably … Continue reading 4 Uses for Leftover Exam Papers
This should be an easy list to draw up… Breaking up for first half term. Breaking up for Christmas. Breaking up for second half term. Breaking up for Easter. Breaking up for third half term. Breaking up for summer. Tempting … Continue reading The 6 Best Moments of the School Year
Forget pride, sloth and the rest. Here are the 7 deadly sins of teaching which can stop educators in their tracks! Guilt An essential quality for being a teacher is to care – we all invest a lot emotionally in … Continue reading The 7 Deadly Sins of Teaching
If teachers made films they’d probably be the best in the world. There’s no element of modern life we haven’t encountered. But marking, planning and teaching take up too much of our time, so we’ll have to leave the cinematic … Continue reading 10 Teacher Films That Have Never Been Made
It’s been a hard year. You’ve done parents evenings, extra-curricular activities, revision sessions, exam marking, twilight CPDs and school trips. Not to mention planning, marking and the lessons themselves. But now, the end is in sight. As you say goodbye … Continue reading 5 Things That Make The Summer Term the Best
Penny S-K discusses exams, the US college admissions scandal and the determination to succeed at almost any cost in tonight’s blog. I’m not usually one for celebrity gossip, but the scandal currently rocking Hollywood has had me hooked. Earlier this week, it was announced that actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among 40 people charged for plotting to cheat on college entrance exams. Partially because I am a big fan of Huffman’s, and partly because I am a teacher, this story has captivated me. The ins and outs of the case are for finer minds than mine, but what … Continue reading Feeling the Pressure
There’s probably not a teacher out there who hasn’t had that conversation. The one where you’re being introduced to someone for the first time and they ask what you do. You tell them you’re a teacher, and they smile, nod and say something along the lines of, ‘How rewarding. Knowing that you’re shaping future generations. It must be great to share your knowledge with young people.’ And it is. Mostly. Of course, I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days when I’d rather poke out my eyes with a blunt stick than stand in front of a class, but … Continue reading Teaching: A Two-Way Street
Here’s a handy checklist to ensure you have a successful day at school. Confiscate 3 phones, lend a tie that never returns and tell everyone to tuck their shirts in a few times before the end of form time. Remind your eager year 7s in period 1 that lining up to show you their first sentence isn’t necessary. You’ll mark it later. Explain that body spray is not a substitute for taking a shower to those year 9 boys during period 2. Spend your 15 minutes of break trying, and failing, to do some printing. Either because the queue is … Continue reading A Successful Day at School
