Things I learned today (or ‘Why you should get involved in a local teacher network’) 1. Alabaster was used to carve religious images for personal devotion in the Middle Ages 2. They were a bit too ‘picture-y’ for Protestantism so lots of them were destroyed if left in England

The article below describes the Ofsted process for a school judged good. An increasing number of Head Teachers, with good inspection outcomes, are talking to me about a “brutal” process which was one of the worst experiences of their professional lives. theguardian.com/education/2023…

How many more examples of skills-based curriculum failure do we need?

Looking forward to this!

Word of the day, should it be needed, is ‘apanthropy’ (18th century): a love of solitude, an aversion to other people, and the desire to be left alone.

My impression is that where the ECF is working better, it’s because mentors are largely ignoring the materials that the DfE spent millions on, and doing their own (much more appropriate) thing, whilst paying lip service to the platforms so it looks as if they’re complying .

Guerilla mentoring!

Look at this from my secret Santa Queen Elizabeth's!!! Incredible. What a way to end the term!

The one thing non-teachers simply do not and cannot grasp is how MENTALLY EXHAUSTING IT IS TO TEACH ALL DAY. There are very, very few jobs that require the constant mental attention that teaching does. I'd love to see all the people criticizing teachers to teach for a week.

The tour guide for our incredible Berlin trip was full of praise for QEA students. ⭐️Impeccable behaviour ⭐️Asking thoughtful, insightful questions ⭐️Polite at all times ⭐️Great sense of humour Find out more following this incredible trip👉 bit.ly/3Pju49e

I look at brilliant strategies for teaching well and then the size of the GCSE spec I teach and despair sometimes. They aren't compatible. Predominantly GCSE success is about the motivation of students to do lots of independent work.

Historic Vids This teacher knows how to keep the class attentive.. 😂 x.com/Nefertitibarni…

The fantastic Miss Carter is one of the authors of our #KS3History Fight for Rights Depth Study. An experienced mentor and #HistoryTeacher, Becky has worked to diversify her school's curriculum, focusing on LGBTQ+ history. 🌈 Evaluate the book for free: ow.ly/POp450RJX8L

As our Lead Mentor PGCert draws to an end, I feel thankful that I've had the opportunity to engage in such important developmental & reflective conversations about #mentoring as a professional endeavour with our amazing #historyteacher team Chris Gilmore @swerupa Sally Wilson

This has been a real highlight this year. Thank you all for such interesting discussions, I've learnt so much from them!

Like this. Not saying most patents I’ve encountered would take much from it. But, in school, there’s a chance of influencing staff & pupils with this message. Focus on circle of influence. If pupils & staff live this message.. huge potential. If parents support it - bigger still.

Andrew Old It is very odd to have legislation that says assaults on emergency workers are criminal offences with harsh sentence, but some lawyers suggesting that assaulting teachers shouldn’t mean you have to leave a school.

Love all the GCSE celebrations and associated positivity and euphoria. Just spare a thought for the teachers and leaders who worked *just as hard* but are feeling rather punched in the guts. It’s a brutal system really. There are winners and losers and that’s a knife edge.