University of Buckingham
This year's theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is "Loneliness". Spear-headed by the Mental Health Foundation, their press release published earlier in the year stated, "Loneliness affects millions of people in the UK every year and is a key driver of poor mental health. The Foundation’s Mental Health in the Pandemic research has found that... Continue Reading →
The Skills for Jobs White Paper published in early 2021 and the Lifetime Loan Entitlement (LLE) consultation (closes May 2022) set out the government’s plan for how people will be provided with a loan entitlement equivalent to four years of post-18 education to use over their lifetime This February saw a further raft of changes... Continue Reading →
It is a strange phenomenon, particularly in Education that coaching and mentoring are always lumped together. It is not unlike the pairing together of Science and Maths as if they have exactly the same thinking processes, but don’t get me started on that. However, with coaching and mentoring we can even see people/institutions/courses declaring to... Continue Reading →
Nick Gibb departed last week but had been Schools Minister since 2010 with one short break. There are numerous reasons to be grateful to him. 1) He had a clear agenda based on an understanding of what works. In his famous 1953 essay, The Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah Berlin wrote that ‘a fox knows... Continue Reading →
Methods to Explain Memory When studying what memory is and how to advise teachers to enhance their pupils’ memories, there are two approaches which can be used: Neuroscience: the ways in which the brain accommodates and represents memory (localisation of function, neurons, neurotransmitters, etc.) Cognitive Psychology: representations or models that explain how information is absorbed... Continue Reading →
The most remarkable fact about this summer's GCSE results was the dominance of girls. 33% of girls gained a grade 7 or better compared to only 24% of boys, a widening of the gap since 2020. If one looks at subjects which require more coursework, the gap was huge. In Design Technology (traditionally thought of... Continue Reading →
One thing you can be certain of is that, within seconds of schools breaking up, shops will be taken over by huge advertising campaigns proclaiming that we should all be thinking about going ‘Back to School’. What this means in reality is piles of neat white socks, Teflon coated indestructible trousers and pinafores, endless rows... Continue Reading →
On 5 July the Government published a consultation on reforms to initial teacher training in England. The proposals, which come from a panel of only five people, represent a radical change to the current system and envisage all teacher trainers having to apply for reaccreditation early next year. In common with many universities we are... Continue Reading →
There are so many sayings about time; we can have it on our hands, be running out of it, be in the nick of it, it can fly, it can heal, and it can certainly be a-changing. In schools it is a precious commodity, it is actually a place where time costs money. Our lives... Continue Reading →