A new study has declared the way school pupils learn to read is ‘uninformed and failing children’, and there have been calls on the government to drop its phonics focus. I disagree. The UCL’s Institute of Education says that phonics learning isn’t ‘underpinned by the latest evidence’ – but it is underpinned by the experience…
With disrupted schooling due to Covid many parents are keen to ensure their children haven’t fallen too far behind… Basic reading and numeracy are the two most important things that children should be competent in, especially before they go up to secondary school. Here are a few tips that will enable parents to help their…
There are fears that the government will impose another strict lockdown due to the new variant of Covid. It must resist. The education of our children has been severely affected during the pandemic and they need to be in school to catch up. A balance must be struck between the risks of Covid and the…
The 2016 changes to the Key Stage 2 SATs tests grading system have been a travesty. Just as the positive 2014 changes to the curriculum saw us rise up the PISA rankings, the 2016 changes to the SATs grading system could see us fall back down. Accurate information about how children are performing means that…
The pandemic and lockdowns have had a massive impact on children’s education – and continue to do so with many students having time away from classes. For the most part schools have been back ‘properly’ this term and we can assess what needs to be done to help students catch up. Firstly, there needs to…