I question how well they knew the text. Being able to say ‘at the beginning of the play Birling is presented as arrogant through his interaction with the family, talking ‘at’ the company when giving speeches’ is a textual reference & a tiny quote. Most pupils will leaf aimlessly

On this occasion, I agree with Sir Martyn Oliver and Ofsted. The aim is not, I think, to increase failure, but to improve balance. The 5 point scale is also a safeguard against failing schools on small faults. I prefer Mike T's 7 point, but 5 is an improvement.

Potty training is a national parenting problem . . . Michael Merrick

John Bald It’s true. I have two such scholars, myself. Do you have any plans to transfer your knowledge from TypePad to another platform? I regret that I did not find your posts before October.

And the good news is that brain science gives insights into how to do it.

I do not teach all tables at once. I usually take up to 5x of a table at a time, and don't go past 2x until it is rock solid and fully understood. Then 3x ditto, and 4x. This builds number awareness. 5x quite easy, like a pendulum. Then 10x and 11x easy, except at the end. 12x,

Miliband is an expensive liability.

True, and various reasons for this, including the utopian nature of the assessments, and the idea that if it were not funded, the issue would go away. Which it has not.

In recent years, conference motions have been dominated not by debates on rewilding or energy transition or Net Zero, but resolutions on gender identity and the policing of language.

More likely that they don't understand what happens when utopianism falls flat on its face.

The "summer born" effect has been known for decades. Perhaps the check should be used as close to birthdate as possible?

A Home educator in Texas finds that my approach to multiplication tables works. Here it is. Multiplication tables: the issue is co-ordination. Multiplication tables are important, not so much as a body of knowledge In themselves, but for their role in solving all types of