Avoiding the pitfalls: Teaching assistants, behaviour and learning The role of the teaching assistant in supporting good behaviour in the mainstream classroom is crucial, but there are a number of pitfalls to avoid. Sara Alston offers some practical advice
Covid recovery: When the SENCO knows best Communication and language skills have taken a hit during Covid, but techniques to support children with SEN can also improve outcomes for mainstream learners. Victoria Annan describes three interventions in particular
Lesson-planning: Five dos and five don’ts How should you be planning your lessons to ensure the most efficient use of your time and to best support your pupils’ learning? Mark Creasy offers some practical dos and don’ts
Teachers collaborating on the curriculum It is teachers who deliver the curriculum, so curriculum design and implementation through collaboration is a clear way to improve teaching and learning quality, says Richard Jackson
Statutory RSE – a role for all teaching staff Statutory RSE is not just a list of topics to tick off a list, it should be relevant to children’s everyday lives and reach across the curriculum. Indeed, in many ways, all teachers are teachers of RSE. Lucy Emmerson explains
Welcoming the refugees seeking sanctuary from war Every month there are pupils arriving in our schools from abroad as refugees and the Russian war in Ukraine means this issue is at the forefront of our minds. Suzanne O’Connell considers how schools can support newly arrived pupils, and how they might prepare and plan for longer-term integration
The screen-time dilemma: Digitally driven learning disengagement In the past five years, Claire Orange has seen a diabolical shift in childhood’s goalposts through increasing screen-time in many families. This is leading to learning disengagement in primary school classrooms…
Phonics: The debate continues... Synthetic phonics is the accepted way of teaching young children to read in the UK. The phonics screening check, backed up by Ofsted, has ensured this. But not all teachers or researchers are convinced. Suzanne O’Connell reports
Wrap-around provision as part of Covid recovery Before and after-school clubs have been hit hard – first to be cut, the last to be reinstated. But they could be exactly what disadvantaged pupils and your Covid recovery plan need, says Suzanne O’Connell
Hand-washing and hygiene: Improving primary school toilets Toilet areas in schools can sometimes be neglected, resulting in poor hand hygiene and pupils reluctant to use the spaces. Dr Catherine Stones has been looking into how we can change this using some very simple ideas
Post-pandemic language recovery in reception year We know that the pandemic has hit language development and literacy skills among our youngest pupils. In this article, Neil Henty considers post-pandemic language recovery in the reception year
'I forgot my kit’: A guide to poverty-proofing school sports Is your school’s PE and sports kit preventing disadvantaged children from fully accessing school sport opportunities? Craig Watson, from Children North East’s Poverty Proofing initiative, shares some tips for creating inclusive school sports
Writing & literacy: How to help children beat writer’s block For young pupils, writing is one of the skills that has been hardest hit by lockdowns and the pandemic. In this article, Kathy Ewers suggests ways to help pupils develop essential writing skills and learn to love writing
Planning and integrating outdoor lessons and learning Outdoor learning can present many challenges for curriculum and lesson-planning, but it can be worth the effort. Headteacher Matthew Leach talks about his school’s focus on taking teaching outdoors and how it has helped improve outcomes
How can we support pupils who have Long Covid? How does Long Covid affect children and young people in the classroom and what can teaching staff do to help them? In the second of two articles on the impact of Long Covid on the young, Dr Sue Peters offers some practical advice
Discovery and discussion: Running university seminars for primary pupils The Griffin University initiative sees primary pupils at schools across the Griffin Schools Trust experiencing university-style seminars every week. Sue-Ellen Lamb explains how it works at Race Leys Junior School
Exhausting, painful, lonely: The impact of Long Covid on children Tens of thousands of children are suffering with Long Covid. In the first of two articles to help schools support children with Long Covid, Dr Sue Peters considers the impact of this mysterious and often debilitating illness on pupils
Recovering handwriting: Five tips for the classroom One of the consequences of the shift to remote learning at the height of the pandemic has been a subsequent loss in handwriting skills. Year 3 teacher Sophie Lamb offers some helpful tips for recovery
Covid recovery: Promoting playground play and social skills There are anecdotal reports that some pupils are finding unstructured playground play and socialisation difficult after two years of living with Covid. Jenny Mosley looks at what primary schools might do about this
Cooperative learning: Using CLIPs in the primary classroom The cooperative learning approach allows pupils to practise their knowledge and skills and is guided by ‘CLIPs’. In this article, Drew Howard explains how to introduce this approach to your primary school
Poverty on the brain: Five strategies to counter the impact of disadvantage in the classroom What does disadvantage do to our cognitive functions and what can we do about this as teachers? Poverty researcher and teacher Sean Harris examines emerging research findings on poverty, the implications for the classroom, and five strategies we might adopt in response
The school library: A powerful weapon in the battle for wellbeing A new report suggests the school library could play a critical role in addressing young people’s health and wellbeing. Alison Tarrant and Caroline Roche from the Great School Libraries campaign explain how
Curriculum review and redesign: A case study From building vocabulary to cooperative learning and the 60 Curriculum Challenge, a curriculum review at Stalham Infant and Junior Schools led to a range of innovative reforms. Emma Lee-Potter finds out more
Instructional coaching: Cycles, systems and processes Considered by many to be the most effective form of teacher CPD, instructional coaching is gaining popularity in schools. In part two of a two-part article, Robbie Burns looks at implementing instructional coaching across the primary school 1 comment
Pupil Premium tutoring: A Champion for Every Child A Champion for Every Child is a pastoral tutoring programme that has had a notable impact for thousands of Pupil Premium pupils across the Kemnal Academies Trust. Emma Lee-Potter finds out more
