Is there a word1 more likely to cause stress and panic amongst teachers than OFSTED? We get a phone call, up to 48 hours before arrival and then they're in, looking at everything and anything they want. Then they disapper, and providing everything is okay, they disappear for three years. They are switiching to a... Continue Reading →
Parents’ Evening
You are now most likely entering the time of year where everyone's favourite evening of the school calendar happens1. Yep, it's time for the first parents' evening of the year! People do though.... Parents evening should be a time for you to give feedback to parents as to how their child is getting on. Every... Continue Reading →
It’s mock time!
At some point in the next couple of weeks, or possibly already, year 11 will start their first round of mocks. Before I go any further, I should say the majority of my experience was in a 11-16 school, so if you also have year 12/13 mocks then I feel for you, and particularly your... Continue Reading →
Half Term.
It's the holidays. What the fuck1 are you doing reading an education blog? Get outside, play with your kids, read a book, watch a film, do something else. Look! It's outside! Until next time. FOOTNOTES
You made it!
It's half term! One half term down, five to go. No, wait, come back, don't go cry in the corner... Have a beverage of your choice - you've earned it. When we reached this particular half term, my overriding feeling was relief. This one is always a monster. We go from the light evenings and... Continue Reading →
Inspirational?
A few years ago, there was an advertising campaign which had celebrities naming a teacher who had inspired them. I can't remember much about it1, apart from Bob Hoskins growling someone's name. There's also a video on YouTube of Ian Wright meeting his former teacher guaranteed to melt the heart of anyone except the biggest... Continue Reading →
Bad teachers?
Nope, not the Cameron Diaz film, which I admit I found pretty funny, although I am easily pleased1. The reason for all the lesson observations and performance management shenanigans is down to bad teachers. Nothing improves a blog like a random picture of Cameron Diaz2. In an earlier post I said that bad teachers are... Continue Reading →
Lesson Observations
Following on from last week's musings on Performance Management, let's take a look at the other bit to PM - having a lesson observed. Lesson observations are weird. They are undoubtedly nerve wracking, but they shouldn't be. See, the problem is teachers work in isolation most of the time. Sure we have the 30 (or... Continue Reading →
Performance Management (PM)
Ah, is there any other two word phrase designed to invoke a mixture of fear, disgust and feelings of inadequacy in a teacher than 'performance management'? The process involves looking at your performance (clues in the name!) over the past academic year. It is meant to look at the training you recieved, your job description,... Continue Reading →
The grind starts…
So I had some feedback from people1 reading this and as a result, I'll do less footnotes this week, promise. Okay, with that out of the way, let's get on with the grind. You've been back in school three weeks. What's that? No, really, you have. The summer seems a lifetime ago (and it was),... Continue Reading →
David Watkins 