Two years ago the Department for Education introduced a new framework for the teaching of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in secondary schools. The intent might have been understandable and welcomed, but the result is hard to understand and unwelcome. It has led to a variety of education ‘providers’ supplying schools with assets that include…
An alarming poll of almost 1,000 primary school teachers and senior staff revealed that half of new pupils aren’t ‘school ready’. There has for some time been a percentage of four-year-olds who turn up at school barely able to eat properly and still wearing nappies. Some parents, who perhaps began school in this manner themselves,…
Teaching is a professional job. Teachers must be professional at all times and leave their politics outside the school gate. What they must never do is seek to influence their pupils in a partisan way. It is a fundamental expectation of the profession to present all subject matter in a balanced manner. It should not…
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…