Blog

It ain’t what you do…

Whenever there is a new Ofsted framework, there is an understandable rush to identify hard and fast rules to inform decision-making. As inspection reports are published, recurring themes emerge and quickly become shared as guidance for others.

Reflections on the year

Members of the SSAT team reflect on their highlights of 2022 and what they are looking forward to in the coming year…

Resource Hub from mental health charity, Beyond

As our member schools often observe, school holidays can be a challenging time for pupils who are experiencing mental health issues. We are pleased to let you know that the resource hub produced by Beyond, goes live next week.

Seeing school through the lens of your learners

After highlighting Empathy Week in the last SEND Update, I was reminded about some of the most impactful training I undertook during my 30 years within the classroom. Early on in my career I attended a course at Nottingham University which focussed on teaching science to SEN learners.

Teachers are the best curriculum designers

The DfE does not think that teachers are good curriculum designers, so have provided Oak Academy with £43 million over three years to provide curriculum materials to schools. Oak’s purpose is to “improve pupil outcomes and close the disadvantage gap by supporting teachers to teach, and pupils to access a high-quality curriculum.” This is another example for me of the DfE not having due regard for the professionalism of teachers.