Teaching and Learning

Creating pupils who take responsibility for their own learning

Creating responsible children and encouraging your students to begin to take responsibility for their own learning is an admirable ambition for every school. Fiona Aubrey-Smith draws on some examples of good practice to offer advice, ideas and guidance

Music education: An evaluation of In Harmony

The In Harmony project has received £3 million in government funding to bring music opportunities to primary pupils in six disadvantaged areas. Dorothy Lepkowska looks at a new evaluation of the scheme’s impact so far

Teaching memory skills

Memory champion and school leader Jonathan Hancock has always been amazed that more schools don’t focus on memory skills. He argues why they should and offers some ideas for memory games and other approaches

The growth mindset in key stage 2: Part 2

In the second part of his four-part series on the growth mindset approaches to teaching, Ross McWilliam discusses how to implement ‘starter’ growth mindset at key stage 2

Getting to grips with teaching Shakespeare

Engaging young pupils with the work of Shakespeare is not as hard as you might think. Emma Lee-Potter speaks to two schools who have been working with the Royal Shakespeare Company to great effect

Boosting fitness skills with PE homework

The homework debate does not often stretch to PE – but should it? Child development specialist Tania Swift discusses introducing PE homework to boost the activity of our pupils out of school

A character education SEF

Make a difference to personal development, behaviour and welfare – Matt Bawden explains how character education might set the tone across a school and offers a self-evaluation framework

Pupil leadership in action

The importance of pupils taking ownership of their learning and having greater roles within school decision-making is increasingly recognised. Jo Corrigan looks at the principles of effective student leadership and examines the work of pupils at Eastlands Primary on its anti-bullying programme

The growth mindset in key stage 2: Part 1

In the first of a four-part series, Ross McWilliam looks at the growth mindset theory in action at key stage 2 and discusses implementing ‘starter’ growth mindset approaches

Developing your pupils’ emotional intelligence

With children and young people facing so many challenges to their wellbeing and mental health, having active strategies in the school environment to develop their emotional intelligence can make a real difference. Expert Shahana Knight offers some quick ideas

Learning behaviours: The Learning Superheroes!

Learning behaviours are something we are all familiar with, but to children they can seem abstract concepts. Headteacher Heather Madsen explains how they overcame this challenge at Red Oak Primary

A whole-school guided reading programme

Deputy headteacher Auveen Twomey describes her work to introduce a whole-school guided reading programme to raise standards of literacy, boost reading for pleasure and raise pupil outcomes

Case study: Talking about death

Talking about death is something we are not very good at and often do not tackle in schools. Yet a vast majority of pupils will experience a significant bereavement before the age of 16. Emma Lee-Potter reports on a pilot project linking one school’s pupils with their local hospice

Diary of a Parent: Sexism? At age 6?!

In a new regular feature for Headteacher Update, we get the view from the other side of the school gate. What do parents think about the many issues affecting education – from policy and leadership to the curriculum, testing and pastoral issues?

Achieving effective differentiation

Differentiation is accepted as part of teaching, but do we really offer true differentiation to all students, including those with SEN? Daniel Sobel says that too often we don’t. He looks here at a more nuanced and investigative approach to differentiation

Outdoor learning: Outside and outstanding

In the drive for outcomes, the contribution that outdoor learning can make is sometimes neglected. Suzanne O’Connell talks to headteacher Ruth Dean about how it’s become a foundation of their school

Case study: The Phonics Champion

The appointment of a ‘Phonics Champion’ and a focus on the most vulnerable pupils were among the strategies introduced by David Harrison to improve early reading outcomes at his school

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Best practice: Spending the Sport Premium

Making good use of the PE and Sport Premium is a key challenge for England’s primary schools – especially as it looks like the funding will be around for some years yet. Suzanne O’Connell looks at new research into the best practices that are emerging

Trialling of the Visible Classroom in UK schools

A funded trial of the new ‘Visible Classroom’ approach to helping teachers see their own impact in the classroom is now open to applications from UK primary schools. Dr Janet Clinton explains more

Case study: An in-school museum

The arts are at the heart of life and the curriculum at Sidegate Primary School, including a pupil-curated, in-school museum. Jane Ryder and Emma Annis explain more

Tackling sensitive subjects

Talking about sensitive news stories and difficult issues with primary pupils can be challenging. Deputy head Helen Crowther explains the value of bringing current affairs into the classroom and how the staff deal with those tougher subjects to discuss

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Headteacher Update is the only magazine delivered directly to every primary school headteacher in the UK. It is published six times a year, at the beginning of each term and half-term, to keep headteachers up-to-date with everything going on in primary education.

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