Teachers On Tour

@Suchmo83 Brilliant, isn’t it?! I share the opening with every class and always have a queue of children waiting to read it. Neil Gaiman is a genius!

@TeachersTour "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." Yeah... That'll do it!

It's the Easter holidays (2026), and I have two copies of Primary Reading Simplified to give away! For your chance to win, simply retweet this tweet *or* reply below with the name of a children's book that you love. (Or you can do both to double your chance of winning!)

@Suchmo83 It has you hooked from the first sentence. It is my favourite opening to a children’s book.

@TeachersTour I haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman, but people I respect on this subject tell me this is an amazing book. Thanks for the recommendation.

@undercoverteac3 @ofsted Not easy to stick to your plans but I’m really glad we did. I hope the staff at your son’s school are ok.

@undercoverteac3 @ofsted Last time we had OFSTED, we had reading cafes organised for pupils and their parents/caters. Over 200 parents came in across the 2 days OFSTED were there. They were impressed that we stuck to our plans and with the levels of parental engagement. No intention of changing for them!

So, my son’s school have had “the call” and Ofsted will be in school tomorrow and Wednesday. As a result all of the “nice things” planned for tomorrow and Weds have been “put on hold” I am beyond fuming! I actually HATE @ofsted #Ofsted #Education #School #Teachers #Teaching

@dylanwiliam @son1bun @tes I’ve taught year 6 classes with children capable of sitting a gcse paper and children operating at reception level in the same class. It is incredibly challenging and I’m not sure any child gets the best of me despite my efforts.

@tes I am personally in favour of mixed-ability grouping, even in mathematics, but I am also aware that if we insist on mixed-ability grouping in schools with teachers who cannot deal effectively with a wide range of achievement, we are sacrificing students at the altar of our beliefs

Imagine if setting was outlawed in schools: MAT leader David Hatchett argues that this would improve both students' outcomes and teachers' skills tes.com/magazine/leade…

@llewelyn20 @tracyswinburne1 Thank you so much. This is brilliant. It’s going to be the blog of the week on our T&L Bulletin next week.

Got the title for this from @tracyswinburne1 There is nothing in here that is new, or original, but if I had known this as a new teacher it would have helped me. philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/02/22/we-…

@laura_AmeliaF @Samstricko181 Similar to experience. Teacher asked my mum why she wasting her time as my dad was just a builder.

It’s worth remembering, when trying to lecture teachers about disadvantage, that not all teachers grew up in rich affluent homes. Many teachers are driven to help the most at need because they were like that as a child too.

@Samstricko181 Disadvantaged background. First in my family to go to uni. Neither parent finished school yet they both instilled importance of education in us. Heard read and read to every day. Hopefully I can pass this on.

@adamboxer1 ASC child - WTS in writing in years 3-5. Y6 teacher gave laptop to type in writing lessons- GDS in writing. Moderator cried when she read their work because it was so good. Just a word document. Spelling/grammar check switched off.

No student should be allowed to use a laptop, tablet or phone in class. You might think you "can use them well" but you can't, sorry. You stand to lose everything for a tiny gain that will never materialise.

@Matt_Pinner Josephine shortened to Josie. It’s a beautiful name x

WHAT was your grandmother's name... I'm looking for a vintage girl's name. Not Doris.

@beejdeva @adamboxer1 I’ve had a number of colleagues that think if they ignore it long enough it will go away!

@adamboxer1 I’m on the side of finding out why they arent not doing it and removing the barriers. Because, there must be a reason why this person who is qualified to be in a higher paying job isnt doing what they are asked. But maybe i’m just a hopeless romantic 😁

I think we often have a problem with professional challenge in schools. I'm a big believer in buy-in and taking people with you. Ultimately though, if you've launched something sensible, explained it properly to colleagues, given them the time and support they need, allowed for discussion and debate, and then a few colleagues *still* aren't doing it? We need to challenge them. This is one of the top 5 conversations I have with leaders: colleagues need to be treated with respect and dignity, but they also have a job description. Teachers are employees. And we can't just decide "oh I'm not going to do that perfectly reasonable thing that I've been asked to do."

@SchoolsWeek As an asst.head who is maths&RE lead, curric. lead, assessment lead, EVC, parental engagement lead, class teacher and do lunch time duty every day, I think I earn my salary. 4hrs SLT time to support staff, deliver training, manage behaviour issues, contact parents, monitor, etc.

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…

@StuartLock @bedsfreeschool Could we be considered for a future visit please? ☺️

On 20th November, @bedsfreeschool, we're hosting a visit day focussed on behaviour and attendance. We'll share everything, you can take it away and copy it, and it's all free. Contact me for a place, first come first served. Please RT.

@adamboxer1 Nothing left to cut in our school. We have reduced everything to the bare bones. No supply teachers no matter how desperate. It’s bordering on dangerous.

This is confusing. How much of the pay award will be unfunded? If any, I'll be cutting my labour membership card. I've had enough of this unfunded pay rise nonsense. It's just asking schools to make staff redundant.

@adamboxer1 @VinceBoley When is the webinar please?

@VinceBoley I guess so!

I am blogging again!!! Like many others, I've moved over to Substack for a bit of a refresh. First entry is on school improvement - where to start, and what things matter. Link is in the first reply, I'm weirdly a bit nervous about it it's been so long 😭😭

@MrTeece_ I know a high school where a science teacher is teaching a class of 60 year 7s. They’ve dropped another adult into the room so they can tell parents there are two teachers in there. School system is incredibly broken!

Is that because they've smashed it out the park and recruitment crisis has been fixed 🤔🤔🤔 More hall lessons, more remote tuition, more large glasses, more non specialists. Yet leaders are still judged as if all is well 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

To celebrate the release of Disciplinary Literacy in Primary Schools by @ShareenAdvice we’ve got a copy to give away! This book has already received glowing reviews from Alex Quigley,Mary Myatt & Dame Alison Peacock – and it’s set to be a fantastic resource for schools. To enter: Like Repost Winner will be picked at random on Fri 22nd Aug

Back-to-back European champions 👏 Huge congratulations to the @Lionesses on an incredible win in the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Final against Spain! Tonight, the Blackpool Tower will shine red and white in celebration. You’ve made England proud 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 📷 Sky Shots Karl Houghton #ENGSPA #Euros2025