Primary

Thursday

26th Sep 2024

Do we really need to ‘fix’ the primary maths curriculum?
Talks about reforming maths learning for the youngest students may be overlooking some important points, argues Christian Bokhove
Broken abacus

Tuesday

24th Sep 2024

How we’re improving attendance and behaviour with additional roles
Thinking beyond traditional student roles has enabled our school to make remarkable improvements to engagement, writes this executive headteacher
How we’re improving attendance and behaviour with additional roles

Thursday

19th Sep 2024

School literacy experts are disappearing, yet we need them more than ever
Unpicking the pandemic’s effects on literacy in primary will be a long slog, not a walk in the park, writes Megan Dixon, but do we have the right people for the mission?
Sculpture of letters

Wednesday

18th Sep 2024

How to fix the primary maths curriculum
‘Phonics’ for maths and more pleasure in the subject should be the aim of the primary maths curriculum, and this is how we achieve it, argue Peter Foulds and David Thomas
Stacked numbers

Sunday

8th Sep 2024

AI tools for planning lessons? It just won’t work
The government’s move to use AI to help teachers with workload is well-meaning, but fundamentally misunderstands the process, writes Ed Finch
Broken robot toy

Friday

2nd Aug 2024

Is this the ‘right’ way to teach early maths?
What does the research say about the best way to teach early maths and build better mathematicians? Two maths experts explore five things every primary teacher should know

Thursday

1st Aug 2024

Inside the primary writing wars
With general agreement now about how to teach reading, attention is shifting to improving writing instruction – but can the research provide a clear solution?
Is there a formula for teaching writing?

Thursday

18th Jul 2024

Transition: We made Year 6 more like Year 7 - and it’s helped
For pupils moving up from primary to secondary, the shift to having different teachers for each subject can be difficult, but a radical change to Year 6 at this school has been hugely beneficial
Transition: How we made Year 6 more like Year 7 - and how it helped

Sunday

14th Jul 2024

A new plan to end the reading wars
‘It’s not about phonics vs whole language,’ say two researchers who offer their new theory on teaching reading and writing effectively
‘It’s not about phonics vs whole language’ - our plan to end the reading wars

Monday

8th Jul 2024

Thirst for knowledge left reading comprehension in the shadows
The previous government’s obsession with building knowledge was counterproductive for teaching reading comprehension – now I’m hoping for a new era with less focus on knowing more, says Megan Dixon
reading book

Sunday

30th Jun 2024

How to have a pupil-led art lesson that actually works
Letting pupils take the lead on creative activity might be a scary thought, but the benefits can be enormous, writes specialist art teacher Mandy Barrett
How to have a student-led art lesson that actually works

Monday

17th Jun 2024

What works (and what doesn’t) when teaching reading comprehension?
New research is exploring what teachers really need to be able to help pupils improve their skills at understanding texts. Megan Dixon takes a look
Woman lantern book