Adam Watson

Today one of our ECTs learnt and signed a speech about a pupil in celebration assembly so that her hearing impaired mum could hear all about share in her achievements. Mum was so touched she cried, staff cried. This is the power of what we bring to our school families everyday.

Great to meet our LGC Chairs this week. In 12 months we’ve reshaped local governance around clear priorities, built strong training, and created a model now seen as leading-edge practice. Proud of the collaboration, challenge and impact. Our local tier has never been stronger.

@MrTeece_ Absolutely! I was an AHT 2014-2019 in a brilliant secondary school. We did amazing things for our students and communities. I would jog the corridors because there wasn’t enough capacity to get things done. AHT are the people who get things done.

Ministers clearly are so out of touch with how modern schools run they keep suggesting daft ideas. Maybe we reduce the amount of clueless ministers and listen to the sector. Who leads all these strategic areas if they go?

@SchoolsWeek 2014-2019 I was the assistant headteacher at a brilliant secondary school. There was so much to do that I would jog down the corridors to save a few minutes here and there. Since then schools have been expected to take on more and more responsibility. It does not seem feasible.

Ministers have suggested rising numbers of assistant heads could be the place to target cost-cutting as schools are forced to make savings to fund future teacher pay rises. So what’s behind the rise, and is a cut do-able? schoolsweek.co.uk/can-schools-re…

We should all be grateful to @tombennett71 for rebutting the study about "isolation spaces" in schools. It's frankly unacceptable that stuff like this is still getting through the peer-review process. substack.com/home/post/p-17…

@Mr_Raichura This session was one of the highlights of my day. Thank you.

Thoroughly enjoyed presenting at #rED25. My main message was: we can get 100% participation in lessons & should strive towards achieving it in our classrooms. Children rise to the expectations we set! Great audience who certainly were giving it 100%!

@cjshore @researchED1 @InspiringPrimAT That is unfortunate arrow placement! Sorry @DrJimHeal however your presentation was really interesting.

@MrAdamWatson @researchED1 @InspiringPrimAT Glad you had a good day. That’s an unfortunate positioning of the arrow in your last picture 😂

✨ A fantastic day at @researchED1 with colleagues from @InspiringPrimAT Days like today remind me why collaboration and continuous learning are so powerful in education. I’m looking forward to many coffees, reflections, and discussions over the coming weeks.

Sensible seat allocation so I didn’t need to pay extra to sit next to the kids. Well done @PLAYairlines !

Today I’m flying with @PLAYairlines from Stansted to Baltimore. £1500 cheaper for the family than any other flights I could find. I’ve got to say I am really impressed and it’s been an excellent experience right from online check in yesterday #HappyCustomer

Love this by @kavitharia and reckon it's pretty spot on. The few times I've been in off site meetings they have been super productive, creative and focussed. Always a challenge in schools but not impossible.

@rugbyontnt Nowhere near a yellow card. It was a legitimate charge down attempt and there was no way he could pull out. Gutted for Dan Cole.

Nightmare for Dan Cole! 😐 The prop receives a yellow in his final game which could be his final act... #GallagherPremFinal

A wonderful evening spent with our governance heroes as we celebrated the achievements of the past year at IPAT. Your time, energy, and commitment are vital to helping our schools grow, thrive, improve. We couldn’t do it without you! #EducationLeadership #GovernanceMatters

This is a brilliant thought provoking piece. It is clear the current system is not working despite the efforts of so many committed school staff. Many schools are on their knees trying to deliver everything in Section F of an EHCP.

Fan girling over the WRITING Rope right now 🤯 Provides such a great connection to the Reading Rope! @ReadingLeagueKS

@XpatEducator @C_Hendrick @Inner_Drive As brilliant as always. Thank you.

🏗️ SCAFFOLDING LEARNING! This NEW A3 poster unpacks the art of scaffolding—a precise, adaptive process that supports students ☝️upward, not lowering expectations👇downward. Inspired by the great work of @C_Hendrick & @Inner_Drive 🌱 Support my work by tapping REPOST and grab a FREE high-quality copy here: jamieleeclark.com/graphics

Very pleased to see this, and honestly, I know anecdotally of dozens of parents up and down the country that should read it and consider their actions: theguardian.com/education/2025…

@naomicfisher I doubt this. Will you post the evidence that this actually happened?

The detentions will continue until you are good at Maths? A school is giving those who score below 90% in their maths homework detentions. They say this is to improve standards in maths. It won’t improve children’s maths or their learning and this is why. Giving a detention is a punishment. It assumes that the child has done something intentionally that they should not have done, and the detention will incentivise them not to do it again. It essentially assumes that not doing well in Maths homework was a choice. This isn’t how learning works. A child can work hard, but even then, everyone will not get the same results. Learning, particularly children’s learning is not as simple as ‘information in, information out’. Punishing those who find maths harder will not turn them into people who find maths easy. In addition, learning is affected by our emotions and how we feel about what we are doing. If a child is anxious about maths, they will find maths harder. Maths anxiety is a problem for many children, because they are scared to get it wrong. If you can't risk make mistakes, it's very hard to learn. By adding detention for those who get under 90%, this school is making homework higher stakes. They are saying that mistakes are punishable behaviour. They are doing so in the belief that if they put on more pressure, children will do better. Unfortunately this approach has side effects, including high anxiety, performance anxiety and could lead to school attendance problems down the line. Why does it matter? Detentions won't help children learn, and they will have other consequences down the line. Learning is so much more complicated than 'just try harder'. No child should be punished for making mistakes.