Mark Houlgate

1/3 A 3-part blog series from @DerbyRS_Wyndham on marking and feedback, and using the EEF's guidance report as the basis for a new feedback policy. @NST_forschools @TransformTrust @Archway_ALT @TrnsfrmApplied researchschool.org.uk/derby/news/blo…

Hello - I wrote a new blog about the teaching of whole class reading, which I haven't in a while. It's over 9000 words so quite a read, but I hope the comprehensive nature of it comes across as helpful, rather than patronising. Anyway - hope it's useful! mrboothy6.wordpress.com/2025/01/03/who…

The last question to the panel was "what would you like the new government to do on curriculum and assessment?" My answer: If we are talking about curriculum and assessment, the biggest thing for me is a reduction. There's too much content across the board, and we need to strip back. We also need to stop assessment backwash, where exam mark schemes become a part of the curriculum and determine what students do and don't learn. But that's if we're talking curriculum and assessment. If we're talking education in general - if @bphillipsonMP picked up the phone to me and said "what's the biggest thing in education" I would say something else: Broadly, the education system itself in this country is working. Training is getting better, standards are improving, professionalism and professional knowledge is increasing and slowly, slowly, outcomes across the board are heading in the right direction. Curriculum and assessment need some changes, fixes, and tweaks, but in a broad sense they work. What isn't working is everything else: we can't access CAMHS and we don't get hold of social workers. We have a two child limit and a benefits cap that keeps children hungry and in poverty. We have income cliff-edges that mean children whose parents can't afford meals are also not eligible for free school meals. We don't have Sure Start, we don't have youth centres. The SEND infrastructure is byzantine, underfunded and on the verge of collapse. The very fabric of the social security net is tattered and frayed, and vulnerable young children are falling through the gaps. Parents have lost faith in the system, and are losing their trust in schools and teachers. Despite this, schools are heroically battling the odds to provide students with a high-quality, robust and meaningful education. But when everything outside our gates is in such disrepair there's a limit to what we can do. So yes, there are things within education that need fixing. But the main thing - the biggest thing - is everything else. The best thing you can do for us is to fix that.

Thread: Oracy is heading to a school development plan near you soon but according to Isaac Hinton Brown, it was ever thus. In 1885, Brown published a book called ‘Elocution and Oratory’ with the following remarkable subtitle…

I've spent the last few years working with hundreds of schools, enough to spot some patterns and (I hope) to write some useful threads over the coming months. Here's the first one... In my opinion, what do primary schools commonly get wrong with their reading lessons? 🪡

Responsive Teaching:  The challenge and necessity of checking in on every student.  teacherhead.com/2024/04/29/res…

60% of our children don’t speak English at home; some came in boats, or the boots of cars. Some have been evicted, living on food parcels. Next week we will have statutory tests and our outcomes will be compared to the most affluent, stable and resourced schools in the country.

This is my goal of the season. For the 90 seconds after it went in, I had a feeling I am certain I will never have again. We were 3-0 down to Man Utd at Wembley in an FA Cup Semi Final with 20 minutes to go, came back and got a winner in the 120th minute. Pure joy #PUSB #Torp

*** 7 Helpful Vocabulary Websites *** Have you heard of Rewordify or 'Describing Words'? Here are 7 handy websites to support vocabulary learning: alexquigley.co.uk/7-helpful-voca…

*** Questions About Oracy *** "Is oracy the next big thing? Are we destined for interminable arguments about it in the coming months or is there a healthy debate to be had about oracy?" alexquigley.co.uk/questions-abou…

Attendance awards being discussed again. If you're sure you're against them in all circumstances read this. It's a post that genuinely changes people's minds. Via @DisIdealist disidealist.wordpress.com/2020/12/06/100…

Thought hard about whether to post this - to go there! - but the kind response has been lovely so I’m glad I did. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

A Model for Great Teaching. This fantastic evidence review from @EvidenceInEdu is really helpful for professional learning, development, dialogue & thinking about the key dimensions & elements of teaching & learning. Find out more here evidencebased.education/great-teaching…

NEW POST Step Away From The Speaker First in a series looking at bite sized changes you can make in your teaching that won't break the workload bank 💪💪 #more-5329" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">achemicalorthodoxy.co.uk/2024/01/18/ste…

Writing is a hot topic for the primary sector. There has been so much emphasis on reading and then the wider curriculum that it has been badly neglected. I look forward to reading the upcoming DfE guidance on writing and was happy to say so in my interview for this TES piece.

New blog. What do inclusive classrooms look like? bennewmark.wordpress.com/2023/10/17/wha…

Classroom teaching is one of the hardest tasks ever devised. Yet many people think it's easy. Let's talk about 'the paradox of teacher expertise'... ↓

A couple of months ago I had some thoughts about Ofsted changes that I wrote down. They aren't comprehensive or fully formed, but maybe they will help the discussion, and I checked them with some Smart People who said they weren't entirely stupid. >

THREAD: Sometimes, blogs/articles can be more time efficient, easily accessible and give more practical ideas for classroom implemented, than academic research papers. A potential reading list of 30+ such blogs/articles by aspect of T&L below:

@iTeachPri @ZaytounaS @FlyingHighTrust @Killisick_jun Congratulations Richard!