A recent Guardian report (Jan 11th 2018) talks about  a warning from teaching unions of an “epidemic of stress” as research revealed that 3,750 teachers (one in 83 teachers) were signed off on long term sick leave last year because of pressure of work, anxiety and mental illness. Altogether 1.3 million days h

Tidying doesn’t always come naturally to children, but sorting does. Put a range of pictures or objects in front of them, and ask them to divide them into different groups, and they will generally get straight to work. It’s a simple and satisfying activity. They may spot categories that wouldn’t occur to us i

Schools have two main aims. One is to help young people develop the skills and knowledge they will need for further study, and the grades that will get them into the courses they want. They will need to know how to write a decent essay, and to get the two Bs and a C that will get them onto that engineering ap

A few years ago, while browsing in a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye, I found a small book called FAST Feedback. It was written in 1999 by Bruce Tulgan, an American businessman interested in the difference between high- and low-performing companies. One of the key differences he identified was the quality of interacti

December is fast-approaching and with it brings the first UK conference on Instructional Leadership. But with the majority of leaders claiming to adopt a transformational leadership approach, we explore with Professor John Hattie what the difference is between the two and the difference it could make: Transfo

If you have talent or natural ability, there is no need to practise. Furthermore, if you have to practise something, then you’re obviously not talented! How many people have heard this saying – and how many actually believe it? My view is that practising is crucial, as it helps you to find out how good you ca

We all know that one-off INSET days can’t, by themselves, create lasting change. But at their best they can inspire, nudge or provoke teachers to make these changes, and they remain very popular with schools seeking to maximise limited time for whole-staff CPD. I was recently asked by a teacher preparing an a

What better news to start the week than the fact that Professor John Hattie will be back in Scotland on 7th November. We had a fantastic day with him last year (all 400 delegates!) and we can’t wait for his return visit. Details will be available soon but in the meantime why not check out the tweets from last