(Updated Autumn 2024, to link to Sept 2024 version of Ofsted EIF and Handbook)

This blog summarises some of the key points I made in my recent talk given at the Herts for Learning Curriculum Symposium, which focused on the role of assessment across the curriculum, with particular reference to the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF)  and School Inspection Handbook. Not that I think we should ever do things just because we think they are what Ofsted wants us to do: I truly believe and have always advocated that educationalists should act in the way that they believe to be right and in the best interests of the children. But, when that also happens to coincide with what Ofsted are saying, it’s a win-win. And this new Education Inspection Framework represents some real shifts (for the better) in Ofsted’s approach to assessment.

There are a number of key paragraphs in the School Inspection Handbook that relate to assessment practice. I shall explore a few that I think are particularly significant.

Firstly, regarding the implementation of the curriculum, paragraph 243 indicates a number of key areas on which inspectors will focus. The two bullet points that specifically refer to assessment state that inspectors will focus on the extent to which teachers:

"... check pupils' understanding systematically, and identify misunderstandings and adapt teaching as necessary to correct these

use assessment to check pupils’ understanding to inform teaching"

(School Inspection Handbook, paragraph 243)

In relation to the school’s use of assessment, the Handbook states:

"When used effectively, assessment helps pupils to embed knowledge and use it fluently, and assists teachers in producing clear next steps for pupils."

School Inspection Handbook, paragraph 387)

NB this paragraph then goes on to warn that:

"However, assessment is too often carried out in a way that creates unnecessary burdens for staff and pupils. It is therefore important that leaders and teachers understand its limitations and avoid misuse and overuse."

Looking at these points, we can see a clear emphasis on what is going on in the classroom - i.e. in the moment, informal assessment. So we need to ask ourselves the questions, how well are teachers using formative assessment techniques to:

• find out what children already know so that they can build on this?
• unpick children’s misconceptions?
• check learning within (as well as at the end of) lessons?
• provide effective feedback to move learning forwards?

In addition to these points about classroom assessment, the Handbook discusses (in the section 'Talking about the curriculum with leaders') how inspectors will want leaders to set out the scope of what they intend pupils to learn, including how the subject content has been mapped out across the year groups and the extent to which clear end points have been established. (Paragraph 259)

So we also need to ask the question, how do teachers (and subject leaders):

• evaluate whether children are where they should be in their learning journey through the school curriculum?

In answering that last question, though, we need to take note of the messages around data collection and analysis not creating excessive workload. It’s not that practices such as tracking pupil attainment over time need necessarily disappear altogether, but such practices must be proportionate and purposeful. More on this later in this blog.  But for now let’s keep the focus on the formative.

The first four of the above questions are all about formative assessment, whilst the fifth is slightly different in that it focuses on evaluation in a more summative sense. (Evaluation can of course also be used formatively, e.g. if it leads to curriculum development, but often summative assessment is a means to an end). For me, that ratio of 4:1, formative to summative, is a good guide to how we should be investing our assessment energy: overwhelmingly focusing on the formative, as that is where the greatest benefits to learning will lie.

There is plenty of evidence that formative assessment, or ‘assessment for learning’ (AfL) if you prefer, can have powerful impact on learning, when its core principles are at the heart of teachers’ practice. Formative assessment is fundamental to becoming a ‘responsive teacher’ – one who skilfully uses questioning techniques to find out what every child in the class thinks, knows and understands, and what the misconceptions and gaps are – and then, crucially, responds to this information: addressing those misconceptions in the moment, adapting the lesson plan as necessary. 

Here’s a reminder of the ten principles for formative assessment that were set out by the Assessment Reform Group in 2002.

The above image can be downloaded as a pdf.

But AfL can sometimes be misinterpreted when it comes to classroom practice or school policy, and can end up being distilled into a set of strategies or rules that might be somewhat divorced from the core principles. Our ‘Focus on Formative’ work with schools is aimed at supporting teachers to develop a meaningful understanding of the purpose of formative assessment strategies, so that they can embed these into their practice in a truly impactful way.

There are many strands to this.  For now, though, I will just mention one area: feedback.

Effective feedback, whether it be written or verbal, should move the learning forwards. For me, the following quotation is still a fundamental guide to the purpose of feedback:

"Comments should identify what has been done well and what still needs improvement, and should give guidance on how to make that improvement…to be effective, feedback should cause thinking to take place."

Working inside the black box, Black et al (2002)

School marking/feedback policies may dictate that teachers use particular colours of highlighter pens, or give ‘three stars and a wish’, or refer to polishing pens or indeed state that the school has moved away from giving pupils written feedback altogether in favour of verbal comments or a conferencing approach.

However I would argue that all of those things are peripheral. The most important thing to consider is the impact of the feedback: to refer again to the above quotation, has that feedback caused thinking to take place? 

Regardless of how the feedback is given, what matters is the content of the feedback and the timing (i.e. focused on the intended purpose of the learning, and the more immediate the better). And it’s important to note that feedback might need to look different for different learners. Let’s not worry ourselves about consistency in terms of what things look like. School policy can, and should, dictate consistency in terms of the principles to which all staff are expected to adhere, but should allow the flexibility for teachers to use their professional knowledge of the child and give the feedback that is going to be of greatest benefit to that individual at that point in time. Feedback to a novice learner may very well look quite different to that which is given to a learner with a more advanced understanding of a particular concept. For some learners, a coaching approach might be hugely beneficial, although a learner already needs to have a pretty good grasp of where they are in their learning and where they want to get to for a coaching approach to be effective. This blog, written by my colleague Sophie MacNeill, provides further thoughts on effective feedback.

To return to my earlier questions, effective techniques to gauge children’s understanding of subject content prior to teaching a unit of work, during the teaching and at the end are also very important. Knowledge organisers, concept cartoons, mind maps, true/false quizzes etc can all be useful tools to use as starting points for class discussion which can illuminate for the teacher the areas of the subject where the knowledge is already secure, areas where misconceptions lie, and areas where the knowledge is lacking.  Such techniques are particularly useful when there is a spiral curriculum in place. For example, children will have learnt about the topic of ‘animals including humans’ during Key Stage 1, and will likely revisit this topic at various points in Key Stage 2. It will be important for teachers to ascertain what has been remembered from the previous teaching when planning the next unit. One cannot rely on a simple record of what was taught in the previous year as a guarantee that those concepts made it into the long-term memories of all the children. During the Curriculum Symposium, we heard from both Mary Myatt and Clare Sealy about the importance of understanding schemata - the conceptual frameworks we internally construct as we learn - and the importance of challenging misconceptions that may exist within these schemata. Good classroom assessment techniques play a vital role here.

During teaching, the idea of the ‘hinge-point question’, explained by Dylan Wiliam in brief video clips on Vimeo and YouTube, is a hugely powerful strategy to enable teachers to make evidence-based decisions about the direction of the lesson. This absolutely strikes a chord with that Ofsted bullet point I quoted earlier:

"Teachers use assessment to check pupils’ understanding in order to inform teaching"

Amongst the various competing demands on teachers’ time, I feel that time spent devising really good hinge-point questions to use in lessons is particularly worthwhile. As Dylan Wiliam explains, the trick to devising a good multiple choice hinge question is that it considers the possible misconceptions that different learners may have. The wrong answers should be those typically given when common misconceptions are held, and it should be extremely unlikely that someone would arrive at the right answer but for the wrong reason. For further professional development in the concept of the hinge question, a read of ‘Embedded Formative Assessment’ by Dylan Wiliam is recommended.
This blog cannot hope to cover an exhaustive range of formative assessment strategies, but what I hope I have achieved with these few examples is to illustrate the importance of teachers continually developing and upskilling their classroom techniques - not just because of Ofsted but fundamentally because it will improve teaching and learning across the school.
 
In terms of end-of-unit assessment - the means by which teachers seek to determine how well the students have learned the material - thought needs to be given to:

• the particular areas of knowledge, skills and concepts that we wish to assess
• the range of approaches that we might use as vehicles for the children to demonstrate their learning
• the extent to which the approach to assessment genuinely explores that knowledge has gone into children's long-term memory, not simply regurgitated on a surface level soon after the point of teaching

On the first of those points, this is where the curriculum mapping is essential. Across your school, is there a clear map in place that shows in which year groups you expect children to learn key concepts? Are there particular milestones, in terms of skill progression or areas of knowledge? Which key skills do you expect children in Year 4 to develop in art? What are the expectations of a Year 1 child in geography? These things will vary from school to school. Tim Oates encourages us to teach fewer things in greater depth, and each school will make different choices about what to prioritise in its curriculum. The curriculum choices you make will determine the key milestones on which your summative assessment should focus. They will probably also determine the choices you make about what data to collect.

In terms of the range of approaches, the only limit is your imagination. Whether you ask your children to produce a dramatic presentation, a cartoon, a poem, a website, a poster, a podcast, an assembly, a piece of writing or even a good old-fashioned test (or whether the children make their own choice from any of the above) - one thing we do need to ensure is that we are maintaining the integrity of the subject. Cross-curricular work can be wonderful, but we need to be clear about the focus of our assessment. If we ask our children to write, for example, a diary entry or letter from the perspective of a particular historical character, are we assessing it from a literacy perspective, or looking for accurate historical knowledge, or both?

Before I finish this blog, I would like to briefly return to the topic of summative assessment and the extent to which subject leaders in schools need data to be able to demonstrate the progress pupils are making across the school.

Paragraph 389 of the School Inspection Handbook indicates that inspectors will consider whether data collections are “proportionate, represent an efficient use of school resources, and are sustainable for staff”. Crucially, any data collection should serve a purpose - it should inform clear actions, for example indicating areas of the curriculum that require greater teaching focus, or professional development, or groups of pupils that need further support etc. I would encourage school leaders to think about their current data collection practice and carry out a quick cost/benefit analysis. Consider how much teacher time and energy goes into each data collection, and consider what benefits they bring. Do the benefits justify the costs?
Paragraph 388 states that "assessment should support the teaching of the curriculum, but not substantially increase teachers’ workloads". The 'Making Data Work' report recommends a maximum of three ‘data drops’ per year. 

It is particularly important to note paragraph 250 of the Handbook at this point, which I quote in full below:

"Inspectors will not look at non-statutory internal progress and attainment data on inspections of schools. That does not mean that schools cannot use data if they consider it appropriate. Inspectors will, however, put more focus on the curriculum and less on schools’ generation, analysis and interpretation of data. Teachers have told us that they believe this will help us play our part in reducing unnecessary workload. Inspectors will be interested in the conclusions drawn and actions taken from any internal assessment information, but they will not examine or verify that information first hand. Inspectors will use published national performance data as a starting point on inspection, where it is available."

The significance of the above should not be underestimated. It opens the door for true data honesty. We no longer need to worry about external eyes looking at our internal data and basing judgements upon it, so the ongoing assessments that teachers are making can genuinely reflect how securely children are learning key concepts, without any pressure to, shall we say, over-optimistically massage the figures. In fact the opposite should be true - we need teachers to be brutally honest in their assessments, because the fundamental point of the assessment is to provide an accurate picture to school leaders which they can use as the basis for decisions. If boys’ standards in maths in Year 4 are slipping a bit, or girls’ progress in reading across the school is not as strong as one would hope, then leaders need to know about this so they can consider what actions may be required - resourcing, training, targeted support etc. To reiterate a key phrase from paragraph 250, ‘Inspectors will be interested in the conclusions drawn and actions taken from any internal assessment information, but they will not examine or verify that information first hand’.

Matthew Purves, formerly Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Schools, talks about the rationale for inspectors not looking at internal data in this short clip. 

This blog has only scratched the surface. There is much more for us to consider in terms of how we refocus our thinking on assessment. Its place is to support and inform our teaching of the curriculum, not to drive it. Our curriculum should not be determined by what’s going to come up on a test. The curriculum must come first and should be the master. Assessment should be the servant.

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References

Assessment Reform Group (2002) Assessment for Learning: 10 principles

Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall & Wiliam (2002) Working inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom

Wiliam (2017) Embedded Formative Assessment

 

Why is reading stories with children so important?

Storytelling is a fundamental element of being human, with childhood storytelling being the most prolific form, as it has been for generations.  Stories were shared verbally long before the invention of the printing press after which the accessibility to written stories for all elements of society became the norm. 

It is well understood that reading to children is vitally important, supporting the acquisition of language alongside social and emotional development.

So I thought I’d take some time to look a little more deeply into exactly why, scientifically, this is so.

 

 

Goldilocks and The Three Bears

My research into this took me to a blog from National Public Radio (NPR), written by Anya Kamenetz, an educational correspondent for the NPR and author of several educational books.  She refers to a study that was presented to the Paediatric Academic Society in Canada in 2018.  This research concerned the ‘Goldilocks Effect’ -   such an apt name for research into reading with children in the Early Years.  This research was led by Dr John Hutton.  He describes differing types of storytelling as being rather like the porridge that Goldilocks stumbled across in the home of The Three Bears.    The delivery of storytelling might be too hot for some, too cold for others but also, if we take care, might be ‘just right’ for many!  This is described in more depth following Dr Hutton’s work at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where some children aged four years were observed in an MRI scanner whilst being engaged in various styles of story sharing.  This allowed their brain activity to be closely observed during the story sessions.  The story sharing sessions included an audio-only version of a story, an illustrated storybook with audio and a cartoon version of a story.  For those children engaged in an audio-only story, this appeared to be ‘too cold’, the language networks in their brains were active but there were definitely fewer brain connections being made overall.  These children seemed to be ‘straining’ to understand the story.  For those children who had animation only stories, there was much activity in the visual/audio perception centres of the brain but little was happening between other areas.  The research team deduced that whilst the children’s understanding of language was helping them to keep up with the story that was being told, the animated pictures did the donkey work for the child, children’s ‘comprehension of the story’ was at its worst during this activity.

 

 

However, the illustrated book with an audio accompaniment being given simultaneously had the porridge that was ‘just right’!  The children were paying attention to the words within a framework of understanding supported by the illustration.  The most important factor of this ‘porridge’ is that the connections between all parts of the brain were heightened to include ‘visual perception, language, imagery and default mode’.  For children who are aged 3-5 years, the last two areas generally mature at a later stage so these would not be developed at all by animation alone.  Now, you may be wondering what the ‘default mode network’ (DMN) of the brain is?  So was I! So I did some more research that I found to be very interesting indeed!  Scientific evidence is still being gathered to support the DMN theory but this is becoming more robust as time goes on. It is an element of the brain that is most active when the brain is at rest and deactivates when the brain is involved in a task.  Sections of the brain included in the DMN are areas that are involved with internal thought, memory, recognising thoughts and feelings in others, and the ‘posterior cingulate’ which is involved in the integration of internal thoughts.  Scientists seem to have concluded that the DMN is used to enable us to daydream and retrieve memories.  So you can see how this would impact on (and be impacted by) storytelling, using the imagination and making connections with personal experience to name but a few.

 

 

So as you can understand from this research, reading aloud to our children from an illustrated storybook is giving them the gift of exercising their brain and so much more is happening than we can actually see.  Of course, this research was all undertaken within the confines of an MRI scanner, which most certainly excludes the additional emotional impact of warmth and physical closeness during the sharing of a story book. 

But it might not be as simple as ‘just reading’

Something else that was not taken into account directly through the research was the dialogic elements of reading.  This is not a word I’ve come across very regularly throughout my own teaching career but something I’ve heard mentioned more frequently in recent times.  Dialogic reading, with our youngest children supports their understanding and expansion of aural language, as the adult helps the child to become a storyteller. It is very much about the adult reading with the child rather than to them.  The adult takes the role of the listener, the questioner, the audience for the child.  The ‘Reading Rockets’ website, tells us about the PEER sequence when sharing stories with children dialogically.  The acronym stands for Prompting the child to talk about the book, Evaluating the response of the child, Expanding – reply by rewording and adding information and then Repeating the prompt to ensure the child has understood.  An example of this could be when reading the aforementioned Goldilocks and the Three Bears…

Prompt from Adult: What’s this? (pointing to the Daddy bear’s chair)

Child: Chair

Adult: Yes, (Evaluating) it’s a big chair that belongs to Daddy Bear (Expanding).  Can you say ‘Big Chair for Daddy Bear?’ (Repeats)

It is not recommended that that this happens on the very first reading of a book, but can take place on subsequent readings.  The child must have the opportunity to just ‘drink in’ and absorb the story, simply enjoy the storytelling for its own worth, when first introduced to a book.  Dialogic reading supports children in so many different ways, through developing skills in Communication and Language and oral language in particular.  Children become more engaged with story books through these high quality interactions, adults are able to check a child’s understanding and discover where further support might be needed.

The key is to find really good story books where the illustrations are rich and closely follow the text.  All the better if they are about something that interests the child or is a firm favourite that is chosen often. 

Making reading fun!

In these times of social distancing and school closure, we have to find ways in which we can create opportunities to engage our children in high quality story sessions.  Sharing stories online would model high quality reading of books to the adults who are caring for the children, disseminating good practice that will hopefully reach far beyond the current situation we have all found ourselves in.  It’s so important that we keep children interested in books, keep them wanting to engage with reading whilst they aren’t having their daily dose or two (or three or four!) of story times with their friends in school.  We can provide this online and also help parents to understand the importance of sharing story books, explaining the importance of sharing real books and not limiting the book-sharing to animated or other online book formats.

• provide an online story session through your school’s website or another electronic communication system that you have available. 
• encourage adults to sit with the children whilst you read the story, helping them to answer questions and extending language
• set up a process to enable the children to choose the book for the next day as practitioners often do for self-registration.  This might retain a sense of normality in our socially distant lives
• let the parents know in advance which books you will be sharing on which days.  Parents can then read them beforehand with their children.  The children will delight in knowing the story, anticipating what is coming next, the comfort of the familiarity and finding new things to look at or talk about. 
• invite parents to make puppets for the characters, props and environments to support the storytelling in the children’s own homes
• choose some books that might support PSED, in particular emotional wellbeing – see some suggestions below

Some great examples are The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas published by Templar Publishing, The Huge bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside published by Hachette Children’s Group and How do you Feel by Anthony Browne published by Candlewick. 

 

 

 

 

What comes to mind when you think of family? Asking children this question could throw up all sorts, including amusing anecdotes and plenty of sentimentality. No doubt, in a classroom full of children, there will be a broad range of reflections on families, which bring to light similarities, as well as differences. A sensitive exploration of these variations will allow you to embrace diversity and champion tolerance and respect within your classroom.

On the 15th May each year, International Day of Families is celebrated around the world. It’s a great opportunity to explore and celebrate the importance of family, in all its wonderful and diverse forms. As is so often the case, children’s literature offers up plenty of beautiful books to support rich class discussion. These books make a great starting point for deeper conversations. As Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop stated, books can act as “Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors”, as children make sense of themselves, their experience, and the world around them. In this blog, the Primary English team share a few beautiful books about families, and ideas of how you could use them in the classroom.  

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Book and author: Dragon Loves Penguin by Debi Gliori 

Recommended by: Kirsten Snook 

Recommended age group: Primary 

Reason for recommendation: Adoption; looking different from the rest of the family; anti-bullying  

Suggested activity: Write a school report on the character of Penguin – which of Penguin’s qualities are becoming strong? How does their teacher know?  

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Book and author: Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love  

Recommended by: Kathy Roe 

Recommended age group: EYFS and KS1 

Reason for recommendation: Beautifully illustrated, with very little text. A celebration of love, belonging and acceptance. A story set at a wedding of two brides. 

Suggested activity: Innovate text for the wordless pages, including thought and speech bubbles for the characters.   

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Book and author: Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer 

Recommended by: Amanda Webb 

Recommended age group: EYFS and KS1 

Reason for recommendation: A book which highlights the one thing that makes a family a family, and that is love. Diverse representation of loving families written in a repetitive form.  

Suggested activity: Who is in your family? Create a collage of our families.  What does your family do together?  Create a class poem following the repetitive form of the book ‘Love is...’.   

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Book and author: Pirate Mums by Jodie Lancet-Grant and Lydia Corry 

Recommended by: Michelle Nicholson 

Recommended age group: KS1  

Reason for recommendation: This is a fabulous story to share with KS1 on World Family Day (or even International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is on September 19th this year). Many of us will have wished, at times, that our parents weren’t so embarrassing, or our families were more like other people’s. Billy’s mums are pirates, and he doesn’t want them to come on the school trip. But the other children don’t seem to mind their unconventionality and slowly Billy begins to embrace the quirks of pirate life. 

Suggested activity: Write about a special skill or unusual hobby that someone in their family has and how it makes them feel proud. Compose ‘thank you’ letters to Billy’s mums for saving them on the school trip. Or, they could just sit back and enjoy this cleverly written, empathetic story while you ‘do the voices’… 

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Book and author: In Every House on Every Street by Jess Hitchman and Lili La Baleine 

Recommended by: Kayleigh Valentini 

Recommended age group: Primary/KS1 

Reason for recommendation: Written in rhyme, this is a warm celebration of homes and the diverse families that make them.  

Suggested activity: Explore the intricate illustrations of the different families in each house. (Gatefold) Can you see any families like yours? Behind every door, there is a different story to tell. Add a page to the book by writing a rhyming poem about what happens in a special room in your house. What does home mean to you?  

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Book and author: Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker 

Recommended by: Alison Dawkins 

Recommended age group: Primary 

Reason for recommendation: A child’s growing independence is explored within the security of a day out with his dad. Stunning illustrations created from collages of natural materials.  

Suggested activity: Discuss and/or write about ‘days out’ with family. What do children do? What do adults do?  Use collected, natural materials to make background collages.  

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Book and author: The Missing Piece by Jordan Stephens and Beth Suzanna 
Recommended by: Juliet McCullion 
Recommended age group: Primary 
Reason for recommendation: An exploration of community, family and friendship. 
Suggested activity: Explore the different family homes that Sunny visits and the descriptions of what they look and smell like. Discuss own homes and what makes them special. Design a page that explains what their family house would look, feel and smell like if Sunny visited. 

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Book and author: Picture Perfect by Serena Patel and Louise Forshaw 

Recommended by: Ellen Counter 

Recommended age group: KS2 

Reason for recommendation: Diverse representation of family life (British Gujarati). Focus on themes of love and belonging, all families being different. 

Suggested activity: Compile a class compendium of family home languages – how many languages do family members speak?  What are your favourite home-cooked meals? (p.44) Gather stories from parents/ grandparents (p. 46) and create class book of family stories/ biographies. 

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Book and author: Silence Is Not An Option: You Can Impact The World For Change by Stuart Lawrence  

Recommended by: Theresa Clements 

Reason for recommendation: An excellent read for upper KS2 teachers to share with their pupils.  

Suggested Activity: Read Chapter 1 – ‘You Are Your Own Superhero’. Within Chapter 1, on page 29, we find a sub-headed section - ‘The Superhero of Your Family’. Here is the opening paragraph: 

‘The things that your family say and do have an effect on you. These effects can be both positive and negative but everything you experience is a lesson. Some of you may have a family that expects only the highest of achievements from you and you feel incredibly pressured. Some of you may have a family that is not so pressured and you sort of feel there isn’t any expectation at all’  

Explore the term ‘expectation’ with the children. Provide an example of some expectations that you have of them. Can they add to this list? Can the children articulate their ideas of expectations that they have of you and/or others? Are there other people who have expectations of them? This should provide enough context for the children to discuss any family expectations they have or experience if they desire. Further discuss why having expectations of themselves is important. Provide some examples for the children to contribute towards. Create a celebratory display. 

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Book and author: The Light in Everything* by Katya Balen, cover illustration by Sydney Smith 

Recommended by: Juliet McCullion 

Recommended age group: UKS2 

Reason for recommendation: A sensitive and searing exploration of blended family life, told from the perspective of two children. *There are themes of loss and abuse in this book. 

Suggested activity: Discuss the theme of hope, and how Tom and Zofia make a very important wish for their family, using the origami cranes. Ask children to write a wish for their family on a piece of paper, before folding it into an origami crane of their own following the instructions in the back of the book.  

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Book and author: My Granny is a Queen by Madeleine Cook and Rebecca Ashdown

Recommended by: Rickella Griffiths

Recommended age group: KS1/Primary

Reason for recommendation: A beautiful, heart-warming book celebrating grandmothers across the world. 

Suggested activity: Explore the wonderful illustrations and delightful descriptions. Discuss the similarities and differences. Compose individual descriptions of grandmothers and create a class book to celebrate the special queen in the family.

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Book and author: Grandad’s Camper by Harry Woodgate

Recommended by: Jane Andrews

Recommended age group: KS1

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Enjoy exploring everything that makes our families different and the same this International Day of Families. We would love to see the work and/or displays that are produced. Do tag us in any photographs on Twitter @HertsEnglish.

 

My own memories

I am very much aware of my own privilege when I think back to my earliest memories of being outside in the garden and growing up in Derbyshire. From shelling fresh peas on the back step, summers spent collecting wild elderflowers and standing on a chair in the kitchen to help my grandma make her elderflower wine in huge glass demi-john bottles, collecting lavender and rose petals to make my own ‘perfume’, and feeding garden birds through the winter with seeds and dried fruits mushed up into leftover fat from the kitchen, I loved how being outside made me feel, and even in the colder months I was always to be found outside, in my anorak, digging around in the soil with a stick.

One of my earliest school recollections of learning about the natural world was the class ‘nature table’. I remember bringing in an abandoned birds’ nest to display and talk about, and I also, rather embarrassingly, remember my teacher explaining carefully and sensitively to me, aged seven, why she’d prefer it if I did not pick wildflowers for her on my way to school. We would go outside and spend time watching and naming birds, trees, and flowers. Through being outside in all weathers I quickly learned about the changing seasons and how these influenced the garden calendar. I was aware of which vegetables and fruits were harvested in which season and why. I thank my early teachers and family for this natural education, and I have tried (not always successfully) to replicate it for my own children.

 

 

Why gardening?

Even now, several decades later, tending to my own small London back garden is where I feel happy, less anxious, and more able to relax, the sense of satisfaction of having aching limbs and dirty fingernails from a day spent weeding, planting, and pruning is like no other. I am not claiming to be a good gardener, far from it, but I like and appreciate creating a colourful, attractive space which attracts bees and butterflies. I gain satisfaction from picking figs, tomatoes, chilli peppers and herbs that I have had some hand in growing. Gardening, I have realised, slows you down. It is something that you can do when you’re feeling angry, sad, or anxious. Every action you perform in the garden is almost like some pronouncement that something good will follow on, an act of huge trust in the future, and I like that.

During the 28 years I have spent working with young children, many of whom have often had no access to a garden, or even a balcony, it has always been vitally important to me to try and offer gardening experiences that spark an initial flame of interest in growing and caring for plants, understanding where we get our food from and hopefully start a lifelong interest in looking after and caring for our natural world. I have never doubted for a minute, the positive effect of being outside as part of normal daily practice, has on our children’s mental health and their ability to self-regulate. Children find joy in the smallest things and anyone who has ever witnessed a child discover a family of woodlice under a log, observe rain drops on an intricate spider’s web or taste their first cherry tomato that they grew from seed will understand how ‘real’ and ‘in the moment’ these experiences are. Such experiences cannot be replicated with a book or a film but must be nurtured and enabled by us, as practitioners.

Gardening is often very much about delayed gratification and the practising of patience. This is in stark contrast to the fast-moving, digital world our youngest children now occupy, and practising these skills will serve them well as they go out into the world. Of course, there are many other skills children will practise in the EYFS garden; scientific cognitive skills such as observation, prediction, and comparison to name but a few. Physical, perceptual, and motor skills will be developed by manipulating tools to dig, pour, plant, and weed, as well as sensory awareness skills developing through the exploration of different scents and textures.

Many of us will have seen the joy and high levels of engagement that children demonstrate during their weekly or fortnightly ‘Forest school’ sessions if this is part of their curriculum offer. I’ve also noticed the rich language opportunities that such sessions provide and the ambitious vocabulary that is taught and contextualised during this time. The daily tending of plants and observing wildlife in the garden has very much the same impact. I have seen children, including those with English as an additional language or with speech and language expressive delay, quickly learn a range of new nouns for plants, insects, birds, trees, fruits, and vegetables. They are able to pose questions and seek answers from adults who may skilfully encourage them to find the answer through further exploration or by referencing nonfiction texts. Opportunities to enhance the early reading offer are also in abundance in the garden; seed packets and signs for different plants, spotter sheets in the tarpaulin covered ‘bird hide’ with the binoculars, authentic environmental print burnt into tree slices to label the raised beds, the bug hotel, and the vegetable plot for example.

 

 

Points for consideration

Not everything goes smoothly and to plan all the time, and I always think that is part of the beauty of working in the EYFS, I remember children being upset when their runner beans were eaten by caterpillars and their spring bulbs dug up by a tenacious squirrel. All these opportunities provide starting points for further discussion and of course opportunities for children to problem solve and think critically. Below are some of the things I have learnt along the way about my experiences of sharing my love of gardening with our youngest children:

• don’t over plan or impose your own interests too much! I have made the mistake of assuming that children will love an activity I have planned, but often children will have better ideas or will follow a line of inquiry I had not even considered
• following on from the previous point, consider carefully the learning opportunities that may or may not be offered by activities that you set up for children. Sticks and acorns brought in by the teacher for example, would be no replacement for children going out to explore whole trees in all their glory
• hand over ownership of the investigation station, curiosity cube or good old fashioned nature table to the children more. Provide them with clear pots and trays to display items that are of interest to them and cards for their captions and labels to be scribed or written by them
• maximise the use of the whole school site and local area. Some schools and settings’ outdoor areas might lend themselves to a garden area being developed more than others but there might be a hidden corner somewhere else on site that would be ideal
• involve families; explain what you want to provide for children and why. In the past I have been able to recruit regular, green-fingered volunteers to work on setting up the environment or support children in the garden. I’ve also had donations of seeds, bulbs, cuttings, and plant pots from lovely families who really appreciate what we have been trying to do and wanted to help
• work with local businesses. I’m always amazed by what I’ve managed to get for free from generous community partners. It’s always worth a friendly phone call, social media request or email to local supermarkets and garden centres. I have received a huge bag of bark chippings, compost, end of season plants and old sleepers to create raised beds this way

 

 

National Gardening week 2023

National Gardening week 2023 is held between 1st and 7th of May this year. It is an event planned to celebrate and raise awareness of the difference that gardens and gardening can make to the lives of everyone in the UK. It hopes to ‘inspire more people, particularly the next generation of gardeners, to experience the joy of growing and creating beautiful green spaces.’

If you are in the early stages of developing a gardening offer for your children, this weeklong celebration seems like the perfect time to launch your project and drum up some support and excitement in your team and with your families. More information about this event can be found on the RHS website (Royal Horticultural Society).

I hope this blog has perhaps inspired you to develop your gardening offer further and I wish you all a joyous spring and summer in the garden with your children.

 

This blog was originally published 02/05/2023

Schools are always busy places to be, but the summer term can sometimes feel like a runaway train! Statutory assessments for multiple year groups, completing the curriculum, sports day, trips, handover…the list goes on! With all this and more going on, it can feel like the hard-won progress towards subject leadership priorities to date can start to go off the rails. This was a key topic in the latest webinar in our ‘Leading Primary Maths’ series and in this blog, I will outline five things to consider to keep you on track this term.

1. Review curriculum coverage to maximise the summer term

With a packed maths curriculum programme of study in every year group, pacing the curriculum to balance coverage and security of learning can be a challenge. Keeping an eye on how each class is progressing through your chosen curriculum structure is something we recommend keeping a check on throughout the year. Annotating a long-term plan is one way for class teachers and maths leaders to keep an eye on curriculum progression in a manageable way:

 

 

Red: insecure for many pupils in the class

Amber: insecure learning for some pupils in the class

Green: secure for most pupils in the class

But what if time is running out and there are 10 teaching weeks left but 12, 14 or even 16 weeks of content left? Should the teacher rush through to ensure everything has been ticked off but perhaps not secured?  Should the teacher to carry on and just stop when mid-July comes with several weeks of content untouched?

Working with teachers recently, the most workable solution we are finding is to prioritise the remaining content and to liaise with SLT and the next teacher to support handover for the new academic year.

To begin with, we considered, ‘What must be prioritised, taught in full and not rushed?’

When working with a year 5 teacher, we identified this was the percentages units. Fractions had been a challenge for many pupils and as percentages is a fundamental part of the year 5 curriculum, we felt it shouldn’t be rushed. It was agreed that this would become a key priority for the summer term.

Next, we considered, ‘What aspects could be condensed and moved to daily fluency?’ For this year 5 class, we identified content such as Roman numerals and reading timetables.

The key actions for subject leaders are:

• to find out whether there are year groups with pace / coverage issues, given the remaining teaching time in the summer term
• to support teachers to maximise remaining time by identifying high-value learning and using the knowledge of the class to guide decision making
• to ensure curriculum decisions are agreed and communicated to relevant teachers and leaders.    

2. Keep a supportive check on year 5

With the end of Key Stage 2 assessments on the horizon, the focus in UKS2 is often on year 6 at this time of year. But what about year 5? Once SATs has passed, many teachers comment about the dynamics in UKS2 shifting. A key challenge for year 5 teachers is maintaining business as usual in terms of their maths curriculum diet.

Some year 5 teachers report that in the summer term, feeling the pressure of pupils being ‘year 6 ready’ can sometimes increase and they feel unsure how to balance the curriculum in terms of coverage vs security of learning. For those with mixed age classes for year 5 and 6, there is an extra challenge of balancing the end of primary experience for year 6, whilst balancing the completion of a packed maths curriculum programme for year 5.

Year 5 teachers, especially those in one form entry schools, can often value having 10-15min together to look at their plan for the term and to talk through any concerns now rather than voicing them in July.  

3. The drip, drip, drip feeding of your key priorities

You’ve spent two terms or more driving your key priorities for maths. You can see progress is being made, the intended outcomes are starting to show, there are signs of it becoming embedded…and then the summer term hits!

With such a busy time ahead this term, big chunks of time to dedicate to developing your priorities may be lacking. But there are a few ways of stop your focus areas slipping off the agenda.

Whole staff or phase meetings may not be available, but could you borrow 10 minutes to update staff, share successes or take feedback on a specific initiative? Simple discussion points, shared in advance of the meeting, such as ‘Can you share one small thing in the last week which has worked well in your fluency session?’ or ‘What is the one thing that is the barrier for getting in your three fluency sessions a week?’ will not only support staff but allow you to maintain a subject overview in the things that matter.  

Subject leaders alone can’t keep tabs on what is happening in every maths classroom all the time. This point in the year could be a really key time to refresh the minds of SLT and other allies (e.g., ECT mentors, phase/year group leaders) about the key aspects you’re targeting. They can then keep an eye on progress, share successes and identify where further support could be targeted. Any small steps you can make now to keep your key priority a focus will pay off in September when you are planning the year ahead.

4. Look for progress, not perfection 

With two-thirds of the academic year behind us, it is always tempting to look at our action plans and home in on what hasn’t been secured and what is left to do. Whilst whole school, fully embedded impact may not have been secured yet, there will be specific strengths and improvements to look for.

For example, fluency sessions may not be fully in place for all classes in the exact format you are aiming for yet, but you may have seen evidence of daily counting becoming a feature in all classes.

The summer term is an ideal time to capture examples of great maths in your school whilst the walls, books and corridors are full of two terms of good practice to share. This could be simple as a photo of a working wall or a pupil’s use of jottings or an explanation.  At the start of the autumn term when you are inducting new staff or ECTs, it can be hard to show what ‘good’ looks like when the walls and books are a lot emptier.

Capture great examples before they disappear:

 

 

 

5. Finally, if in doubt…. check the guidance!

With statutory assessments for the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2 plus Year 1 phonics and the Year 4 multiplication check, keeping up with the finer details of the (quite literally) hundreds of pages of guidance documents is a huge task. At such a busy time, you may be ambushed in the lunch queue or at the bathroom sinks with a question about arrangements, rules or regulations. We would always advise ensuring all staff involved in any stage of the assessments have access to the relevant documents and have the opportunity to clarify any queries. It’s certainly not a very exciting part of the job but making sure everyone is clear makes for a more relaxed atmosphere for pupils and staff alike. 

We can support you to support your school

Our team of HFL primary maths advisers are passionate about supporting subject leaders and members of SLT to support their staff and provide the best maths education for their pupils.

Here are just some of the ways we can support you:

• Consider joining us for the 2025/2026 webinar series, ‘Leading Primary Maths’
• The HFL Education Maths Subject Leader Toolkit is packed with templates and guidance to support all aspects of your role
• Subscribe for free to our blogs: HFL Education Primary Maths blogs
• Sign up to our free half-termly newsletter: HFL Education Primary Maths newsletter

Do get in touch with the HFL Primary Maths team with any thoughts or questions at primarymaths@hfleducation.org

 

It’s Black History month: a time to promote and celebrate the achievements of black people, recognise their contributions, and learn about Black history in general. Like me, in my former role as a class teacher, many of you will probably celebrate black voices and stories from around the world, possibly touch upon the transatlantic slave trade, or, more than likely, delve into the civil rights movement. But what about Black British History? Why do we overlook the history of our own country?  Should this not be our first point of call? I don’t have the answers to these questions but what I can do is share my journey that led to this blog.

In my previous role as an English subject leader, I noticed that the books chosen for Black History Month were heavily focused on the civil rights movement, following the journey of legendary activists such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman. Black American athletes were also a recurring theme, detailing the inspirational lives of Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson. I vividly remember discussing this with my headteacher at the time, and we thought about the message that this was sending to the children at our school. Are black people only good at being athletes and activists? Are all black inspirational leaders simply just part of our past? Certainly not! But this was the message we were unconsciously sending to children, and I’ll tell you how I knew this. I was talking to my previous year 6 class about Barack Obama and his achievements as the first African-American president of the United States. We were discussing the book, ‘Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope’ by Nikki Grimes (a lovely book, might I add) and one child yelled, “What do you mean he’s still alive?” At the time, I honestly thought he was joking. But then, I looked around at the sea of faces - surprised, confused, and curious. It was at that moment, I discovered that my class thought a celebration of Black History meant a celebration of people from the past who were dead. I don’t know why I was so shocked because that was what we had unconsciously taught them throughout their whole primary life.  

So, I began my mission sourcing books which celebrated Black people of the past and present. I truly wanted to consider a range of experiences through books that were commemorative, not just those which focused on struggle. I aimed to have an equal gender balance, thought about a cross-curricular approach and I considered the children’s interests too. Looking back, there was so much that I wanted to ‘get right’ but what I struggled with most was Black British history. In all honesty, it was a challenge that I never did quite overcome because at the time there was so little out there. It was as if Black British history did not exist. This is why the remainder of this blog is dedicated to the small collection of books that I’ve found along the way. Many of which were first published in 2021. It’s a shame that it’s taken so long, and sadly I wasn’t able to share these wonderful books with the children I’ve taught over the years. At least I get to share them with you, with the hope that you’ll provide the children in your class with the opportunity to celebrate the brilliance of Black British History. 

 

Black and British: an illustrated history by David Olusoga 

A beautifully illustrated book which took me on a chronological journey through 1800 years of Black British history: from the first recorded African community living in Britain during the Roman times, to a Black Victorian celebrity, Black soldiers fighting for Britain in the First and Second World War, and right up until the Black Lives Matter movement. This book is full of historic wonders which will spark curiosity whilst informing and engaging KS2 readers too. 

 

Superheroes: Inspiring Stories of Secret Strength by Sophia Thakur 

With an introduction by grime artist Stormzy and curated by his team at Merky books, Superheroes details extraordinary stories of over 50 modern day, Black British icons. My previous year 5 class would have loved this book’s unique spin on how ambition can be transformed into a superpower. Set to inspire KS2 children to follow their dreams, this might even be the key to unlocking your class’s full potential.

 

John Agard's Windrush Child by John Agard 

Poetic and radiating beauty, Windrush Child tells of a story of a young boy who leaves all he has ever known on the shores of the Caribbean to sail across the ocean to a new life in Britain. Rich in literary language and Caribbean culture, I was in awe with how this magnificent book brings to life the incredible story of the Windrush Generation. 

 

Where are you from?: A book celebrating Black British History for Children by SJ Penni 

In reading the fascinating biographies of both legendary and unsung heroes, I discovered so much about our country that I didn’t know before. Packed with a plethora of facts, this book celebrates a variety of accomplishments and contributions of black people throughout the ages. A rich text which I would certainly use across the curriculum.   

With the new texts that are being published, it’s clear that we are in a period of transformation. It brings me so much joy to witness the shift from a history that focused on past struggles to one that honours achievements. I know that my collection of texts might be small, but each book is filled with a breadth and depth of knowledge that will certainly celebrate Black British history - an important part of British history. 

In most schools the above might apply to cleaning and catering, breakfast clubs and ASC 

Outsourcing can seem like the ideal for a very busy school with busy business/office managers who would rather not spend their time recruiting, training/induction and managing a team. 

Insourcing can give the school more of a sense of control with regards management and costs. 

But what is the most cost effective and what will give you value for money?

You should sit with your Head and/or SLT to discuss the following: 

• what do you want to achieve from the service? 
• what standards are you expecting from the service? 

It is probably best to start with a simple 'pros and cons' list for each of the two options. 

 

Pros and cons for insourcing your cleaning provision  

Pros	Cons
Greater control over the work being done	Managing the contract as additional work
Enables you to choose the individuals who work at your school	Recruitment processes, costs and time
TUPE regulations apply if moving from a contractor to in-house	Staff absence
Salary costs are usually cheaper than a contract cost	Cost of covering absence, be that additional insurance cover or overtime payments to staff to cover

 

Pros and cons for outsourcing your cleaning provision 

Pros	Cons
Contract managed externally	Less control over the delivery of the contract
Staff absence should be covered by the contractor	Contract cost and fixing to a set term
Equipment purchased by contractor

 

The above is not an exhaustive list but gives you an indication of sort of areas you should be looking at.  

Applying the same technique to any service you are considering should give you a clear picture of which avenue to want to pursue.  

One thing to always remember is that value for money should be your first consideration and that this doesn’t necessarily mean that the cheaper of the two options is best value. You need to consider the impact on the school, staff and pupils as well as costs.  The more expensive option might have better outcomes than the cheaper one.  

 

 

This blog will explore the link between active reading and developing vocabulary which is also a link between reading and writing. Many schools are currently focused on their writing standards after a couple of years of focus on reading. In reality, we need to pair the two. As we know, the best writing outcomes tend to be as a result of a deep understanding of the reading that prompted it (whether that be text, film or picture). Having that deep understanding of authorial intent, can then support children to ensure that the reader is foremost in their mind as they write. They will have been taught a wide range of grammatical skills with which to craft their writing and with focused authorial intent, they can hook, interest and perhaps even delight their reader.

Before beginning, I will explain my interpretation of ‘active reading’ and also ‘vocabulary’ for the purposes of this blog. 

To consider active reading strategies, let’s first consider those children who can read every word on the page and yet struggle to discuss what they have read. Phonic teaching has worked for them. They can decode and some of them with increasing accuracy. However, as a member of the Reading Fluency team, I, like the others, have asked myself – do they sound good to listen to? Does it sound as if they understand what they are reading? Often, the answer is no. This can be due to lack of active reading. We need to ensure the children stay alert while reading and use a range of strategies to check that they understand. They will do this by bringing the content to life as they read; questioning what they read (that internal monologue e.g. ‘I wonder if…’ or ‘Why did he do that?’ etc). As teachers, we have to model our inner monologue often so that all of the children realise that you are reading with a ‘busy brain’. Checking that everything they read makes sense. One strategy to combat passive reading – just reading the words because you have been asked to - is to ask the children to visualise: picture what you are reading as you read. This alone makes a remarkable difference. One of the key indicators that this is working is when children begin to self-correct. The other day, I was reading the national curriculum for primary English (well it is my job), and I read ‘elephants’. It brought me up short because I know there are no elephants in there. The word was ‘elements’. As I was expecting what I was reading to make sense, this flagged up immediately. However, I’m sure, like me, you’ve all read with a child who would just continue reading. So, by active reading, I mean bringing it to life, making sense of it as we go.

Now to define what I mean by ‘vocabulary’ - not a term we would usually clarify. However, from conversations with children and displays in classrooms, I believe vocabulary is often seen as isolated words. As a team, we have decided to speak about ‘language’ rather than ‘vocabulary’. In the past, I have asked a child to read through a text, underline any words they don’t know or are not sure about, look them up in a dictionary and perhaps thesaurus. I would then ask them to write the words into sentences of their own, giving a good gauge of the child’s understanding and they will have learned how to use more words. However, if during this exercise a KS2 child were to read ‘It was a cutting remark’, and not fully understand it, they are unlikely to give the word ‘cutting’ the same level of attention. For this reason, it’s an idea to tweak your language in class and ask children to identify anything in the text that ‘doesn’t make sense’. You may be familiar with the DfE KS1 reading exemplification based on a reading of ‘The Tear Thief’ by Carol Anne Duffy. In the transcript, the teacher asks the child what they believe the author was saying when they said the ‘Tear Thief had sharp hearing’. The child’s response was focused around the Tear Thief having pointy ears. At this point, the child may think it still makes sense but it’s a good indicator to the teacher that they did not understand the language and thus the authorial intent. 

The following is an example of embedding active reading strategies and engaging with the language to draw through into the children’s writing. In this instance, drama is that linchpin between reading and writing.

Let’s look at some extracts from well-known novels and consider what this would look like in the classroom. My suggestion is to model active reading as often as possible. Show the children how to remain alert while reading. You model this by slowing down the process in your own head and telling the children what is happening in your mind as you read, e.g. visualising, questioning, predicting. Whenever possible, linger to use drama to bring some of the language to life. Verbs and adverbs offer a fabulous opportunity for this. For instance, in this extract below from Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Graveyard Book’, I would ask a child to ‘slip’ out of the door (or I might model it myself). I might ask two children to ‘slither and twine’ themselves through the legs of a table and ask another to ‘pause’ to watch. When the children are used to this, it doesn’t take too much time.

The street door was still open, just a little, where the knife and the man who held it had slipped in, and wisps of night-time mist slithered and twined into the house through the open door.

The man Jack paused on the landing.

I might do even more at this point. I may want to further deepen the children’s language knowledge by introducing more vocabulary. For instance, I could introduce a list of 10 verbs (and/or verb phrases) and ask them to consider which of these might also be appropriate to show how the mist is moving (perhaps in a zone of relevance). They might order them from most creepy to least creepy. They could act them out. They could try them out in sentences of their own and then read expressively to a partner to consider the effect. I would then ask the children to re-read the original text with ‘busy brains’ bringing the scene to life.

It’s not just fiction that can be brought to life in this way. There are so many lovely, language-rich non-fiction texts for us to use in school today too. 

As I was writing this blog and rethinking the process, I realised that I had an acronym: AARDVARK

Active
Alert
Reading
Drama
Vocabulary (language)
Active (returning to the original text / and/or actively reading their own text).
Reading
Knowledge (building their understanding and use of language)

We have heard and, I’m sure, used the term ‘pleasure for reading’ many times in recent years. Let’s build this pleasure through reading lessons where children learn the joy of lingering in books and bringing them to life. Let’s be more AARDVARK!

 

 

There is no doubt about it, being responsible for animals provides a sense of purpose, fosters responsibility, and encourages caring behaviour.  There have been studies into how pets can support children with additional needs to be the best versions of themselves.  Animals offer us unconditional acceptance; they are non-judgemental and endlessly forgiving of humans.

W.C Fields once famously said; ‘Never work with children or animals!’ As fearless Early Years practitioners we already have 50% of this covered; why not throw in the odd guineapig, gerbil, or goldfish?  Surely, all we need to do is buy a cage or tank, decide on a name and head to the nearest pet shop!

Well, before you hail yourself as the next ‘hamster whisperer,’ take some time to consider the wider implications of owning a pet in school. The RSPCA strongly discourages the keeping of animals in schools/settings. Housing animals in educational establishments can cause the animal significant distress. In all discussions on keeping a pet, the welfare of the animal must be prioritised; any negative impact on the welfare of the animal far outweighs the benefits for your children. However, if this is something that you are considering here is some food for thought…

Could you create an ‘animal friendly’ school?

There is no doubt that children benefit from learning about animals and their natural habitat. Promoting an understanding of moral responsibility, encouraging a love of living things and stimulating discussions on animal behaviour, can all result from children interacting with animals. However, do these animals need to be pets contained in your school/setting? The RSPCA suggest creating an ‘animal friendly’ environment that will ensure that children can regularly observe animals ‘in situ’. Creating a damp log pile will encourage a range of interesting mini-beasts; an area with wildflowers will be an attraction for butterflies and bees. Research where you might find bird nests, rabbit holes and pond life in wildlife areas close to you.

Purchasing non-fiction books on local wildlife and mini-beasts will provide children with information. Equipment such as magnifying glasses, bug pots, pooters and tanks/pop up nets can all lend themselves to offering children rich exploration of animal life without keeping animals as pets.

 

 

Can you offer the right environment?

If you are still keen to house a pet, consider where this animal will be located. An indoor environment in a school or setting can be frightening for animals and will not contribute towards replicating their natural homes. Several factors in the classroom can have an adverse effect on a pet: temperature, noise, and curious fingers! You will need to consider how to keep your animal at a constant temperature, how to ensure that loud noises do not cause distress and how to prevent a well-meaning child from sharing a half-eaten snack (did you know rhubarb is poisonous to a guineapig!)

Outside there can be a whole new host of dangers, extreme weather conditions, vandals, litter, foxes, and other vermin. An animal in a cage will find it hard to protect itself from extreme weather conditions. There are limited places for a pet to access cool shade in a hutch compared to a burrow underground; will you know that your guinea-pig’s water bottle has frozen late on a Saturday night when you are sat at home watching TV.  Keeping rabbits outside would be far preferable to indoors but anyone who has seen Watership Down will be all too aware of the potential horror that can befall a defenceless rabbit in the face of an urban fox.

Consider the measures that you will need to put in place to ensure that the environment dedicated to housing the animal is clean, appropriate, and safe.

 

 

Responsibility - who’s chicken is this anyway?

Prior to taking on the advisory role at Herts for Learning I worked in a school that housed several animals: hamsters, guineapigs, rabbits, and chickens to name but a few! I was fortunate enough to work in a team of staff who were exceptionally dedicated and would organise rotas over all holiday periods including Christmas. At least one of us would pop in on Christmas day to feed and check on the animals. And, of course, check that Father Christmas had left a present of fresh hay and perhaps the odd chew stick. However, this took an enormous amount of planning, continued effort and money!

Members of staff responsible for a school pet are legally obliged to ensure that the needs of the animals are met (as outlined in the Animal welfare act 2006.) Prior to taking on a pet, it is imperative that you have an open and frank discussion, as a staff team, regarding your ability to commit to the care of the animal(s). This discussion should cover:

Who will co-ordinate the care of the pet on a day-to-day basis and during holiday periods – including Christmas day?

What will happen in the eventuality of members of staff being absent?

Who will make the difficult decisions should the animal suffer poor health?

We are all aware of our duty of care towards children. Keeping them safe when in contact with animals can be a minefield. A thorough risk assessment will need to be conducted to cover aspects such as health and hygiene, allergies, bites, and scratches. This risk assessment should ensure that potential risks have been considered and are minimised by a series of robust measures being put in place. None of us can predict the future, but your next cohort of children might include a child with serious allergies and what would happen to Fluffy if that was the case?

 

 

What are the financial implications?

Keeping animals can be costly. The initial outlay for purchasing the pet and the equipment is the easy part. Far harder is ensuring enough funding is available to finance the ongoing costs that come with a pet. You will need to consider the following:

How will the ongoing costs be met? i.e., Food/veterinary checks/new equipment

If the animal does contract a serious condition who will pay for a visit to the vets?

Who will be ultimately responsible for making financial decisions regarding the pet?

You might have the agreement of a senior leader that some costs can be met from the main budget. However, given the current climate, leaders are having to make difficult budgetary decisions. In the face of staff restructuring and redundancies looming, poor Fluffy’s regular grooming appointment could be the first item on the list of cuts.

You could consider asking your PTA for small contributions or organise fundraising events. Parents/carers may be able to contribute towards food, perhaps donating a small bag of vegetables or grain.

Till death do us part!

And finally, prior to taking on a pet, staff need to carefully consider a protocol in event of the animal dying. This might seem a morbid plan, however, it is far better to be prepared for this eventuality than have to make decisions when both children, and staff, might be upset. Acknowledging the end of a pet’s life can provide a gentle introduction to loss. Always inform parents immediately of the event and outline what will be happening in your school or setting to support children through this potentially upsetting time.

With clear plans in place, the skilful support of staff and signposting to resources and services, children and families should feel well supported. Be mindful that for some children and families this event might serve as a reminder to previous events in their family history. Death is embraced differently in families: openly acknowledge this and respect the beliefs held by children and their families. Remain factual and use correct terms. Consider purchasing age-appropriate story books that deal with loss. These can be shared in class and children can share at home where necessary.

 

 

Not ready to keep an animal in school?

There are many alternatives to keeping animals in schools, whilst still giving children quality positive experiences to care for animals.  Why not consider a visiting dog scheme such as Pets as Therapy - Read2Dogs? The Blue Cross offer a free of charge visit from volunteers and their education dogs to speak to your class about pet care or you could ask a parent/carers or member of staff to bring their pet into school to share their experiences of pet ownership – all with a robust risk assessment in place!

Teachers often buy their class an end of term gift or toy, why not consider adopting an animal from a zoo, farm park or charity? The children receive regular updates about their animal and the money is going to a good cause.  I did this very successfully one year, as I didn’t want to give the children plastic toys as a gift.  Some children from the class visited our penguin at Whipsnade Zoo!

In summary…

There can be great benefits that come with keeping pets and looking after them can create an abundance of cross-curricular learning opportunities.  Choosing the right animal for you will be important; just because you have the space for three alpacas (seriously, one school did consider this!) does not mean that this is the right choice or the best use of that space! Remember a rabbit can live between 8-12 years: your current cohort of children will have moved on during its lifetime (as might your managers and staff members responsible for the primary care of the pet!).  

If, after looking at our ‘Keeping an animal in school checklist, the information on the RSPCA website, reviewing your environment, identifying staff members responsible, organising a financial plan, and conducting a risk assessment, you think that you can offer a safe and secure place for a pet you might be at a point to proceed…or consider the alternative suggestions for experiences without commitment.

Good luck!

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Useful links

RSPCA: Education

Legislation.gov.UK: Animal welfare act 2006

Blue cross: Pets in schools

Pets as therapy: Read 2 dogs

 

Do you ever hear someone speak about a topic of interest and spend the whole time nodding emphatically and inwardly screaming agreement? This was me at the start of the term, having listened to Dan Nicholls, Director of Education at Cabot Learning Federation, speaking about disadvantaged pupils in our schools. This is an issue close to my heart and is something I have always felt compelled to champion. It needs to go beyond inspirational words and quotes, and beyond images of 3 children trying to look over a wall to help explain equality vs equity.

My aim for this blog is to share key messages from Dan Nicholls, my own thoughts, and to provide some guidance about practical changes that can be made in schools to keep chipping away at the disadvantaged gap.

What do the government mean by ‘disadvantaged’?

Pupil eligibility definitions can be found in Pupil Premium 2022 to 2023: technical note

Schools must use Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) funding for the purpose of raising the educational attainment of Previously Looked After Children (PLAC), Looked After Children (LAC) and pupils who are eligible for FSM Ever 6.

In line with the 3-tiered approach in EEF’s pupil premium guide, activities must be those that:

• support the quality of teaching, such as staff professional development
• provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring; and
• tackle non-academic barriers to academic success, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support

 (Education & Skills Funding Agency, 2022)

It is important to note that there may be some children for whom the school still receive PPG, but who are not currently in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM). How can this be? Well, these are children who have experienced disadvantage at some point, but who economically are now above the threshold for FSM. The PPG continues to be provided for a further 6 years as it is known that economic hardship has lasting effects, well beyond the time in question. This group of pupils are often referred to within data as FSM6 or FSM Ever 6.

Accumulated disadvantage / advantage

Dan Nicholls used the phrase ‘accumulated disadvantage’ which was really powerful when considering the journey these children have had to date. This suggests that advantaged children generally have led a life thus far where their economic situation has meant that they are in a much more secure and stable position mentally and emotionally to be able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, and that when they do experience a setback, they bounce back much more quickly. With each and every successful experience, their ‘advantage’ grows.

In comparison, a child who has experienced economic hardship at some point, may not have developed a deep sense of self, built up over years of making meaningful connections with others and so do not feel that this community, this education system, is for them. They are ‘done to’ rather than active participants in the experience. So, each and every unsuccessful experience fuels their need to withdraw to reduce possible future failure. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer if they do not actively engage.

The bottom line is that it’s not just about not being able to afford a computer!

How does this translate into mathematics?

Maths is a rich subject, full of connections and possibilities, which can feel overwhelming to a disadvantaged child, who may just be wanting to get the answer ‘right’. Problem solving and reasoning require an inquisitive mind, one that asks questions and interrogates the information provided in order to find a solution. The very nature of maths as a subject requires a great deal of resilience, which is what we know our disadvantaged pupils can lack. This is also why we, as subject leaders, often hear teachers say ‘child X just lacks confidence’ in maths. It is because these children have opted out from the very beginning, as a way of protecting themselves from failure. They simply are not advantaged enough to take risks. The real issue here is not the lack of confidence; it is limited experiences of success.

Why is this relevant?

This level of understanding about our most vulnerable pupils is crucial if we are to make a difference. Not just because Ofsted says so, or because our data shows that fewer FSM6 children make age related, but because it is our duty to try to make sure that every child reaches their potential and that we see them into the wider world with the skills and knowledge to enable success.

What does the data say?

National data shows that FSM6 pupils achieve below that of their non-FSM peers across the board, at every age and in every subject. Below shows the data for mathematics from 2022.

Note: this data is provisional at the time of publishing.

 

 

Is this a similar picture in your school?

­­So now let’s delve a little deeper. Where are these pupils?

Data suggests that disadvantaged pupils generally do well in schools where there are either small proportions of disadvantaged pupils or large proportions (see image below), where disadvantaged become the majority, rather than minority. Those schools who have a significant, but not a particularly large or small, population of disadvantaged pupils are the ones who tend to not be as successful at closing the gap.

 

 

As a leader in your school, this is your first step: what does your data say?

• How many disadvantaged pupils do you have?
• Are there any year groups that have more or less than others?
• What are their start and exit points like?
• What is the progress of disadvantaged pupils in your school?
  Don’t forget to look at both their attainment and progress in maths as well as combined (reading, writing and maths), as this can help you to pin-point where the need for improvement is.

How can we advantage the disadvantaged?

1. Identify the children

First from the data and then on an individual basis.

As a teacher, you should know these children. What do they like? Who are their friends? Who drops them off in the morning? These are all important things for the class teacher to know or else they have no chance at all in helping the child to feel like they belong.

2. Shift the language

How are these pupils referred to?

Dan Nicholls suggested the term ‘delayed attainment’ is helpful as it suggests potential. ‘Ability’ should be avoided as it gives the impression that their attainment is innate and pre-determined. ‘Those presently experiencing disadvantage’ is another phrase worth sharing with staff, as it separates the child’s economic status from who they are as a person. Shifting the language used to talk about this vulnerable group can lead to raised expectations and even alter the mindset of adults working in the school about what this group could achieve, if given the chance.

3. Disadvantaged FIRST and ALWAYS

When conducting pupil progress meetings, leaders should focus on the disadvantaged group first. By doing this, leadership sets the precedent that they are important. Similarly, teachers could mark their disadvantaged children’s books first to ensure the highest quality of feedback (before the tiredness sets in!!). Despite what some may argue, this is not at the expense of the non-FSM pupils. We are simply giving advantage to the disadvantaged in a bid to make it a more even playing field.

Timing is everything.

4. When is maths taught in the day?

If it is always taught first thing, and you know that some of your FSM children come to school hungry or tired, or even late, then always having maths first means that this time will never be as productive as in other subjects that come later in the timetable. Similarly, if you know that some of your children struggle to regulate emotions at breaktime, and maths is always straight after, they may be missing crucial learning time simply from needing time to resolve and restore. The key here is to know your pupils and adapt to suit their needs. It may also be that little and often will make the difference to the pupils’ retention. Just because it’s not a maths lesson, doesn’t mean you can’t ask them the time, or ask what 6x7 is and how they know.

5. CPA all the way!!

Using consistent models and carefully chosen manipulatives help pupils to see the maths and make connections.

If you have a FSM child who is attaining below age related in their reading and writing, as well as maths, this will obviously impact lessons where they need to read and interpret the question. Using images and resources that are familiar will instantly help them to access these kinds of problems and overall make the maths much more achievable. And let’s be honest, CPA is good for ALL anyway!

6. Effective teaching and learning is what will make the difference.

We know that children don’t just ‘lack confidence’ in maths. They have grown to lack confidence due to a series of unsuccessful experiences. So, we need to try to build them back up again in a meaningful way. Telling them that it’s ok they aren’t good at maths because they’re great at PE is not overly helpful. Ensure work is initially pitched slightly below where they are working, so that they can whizz through a few questions and feel the buzz of being right. Then increase the challenge slowly but steadily throughout the lesson in small steps. Pre-teach concepts that are due to come up in the following week or introduce language beforehand. Whole class fluency is perfect for this if you don’t have the luxury of extra adult support.

7. Pre-empt behaviour

Touch base with your FSM children as soon as the independent work begins.

Don’t leave them to flounder for 10 minutes first, or else you might not get them back for the whole lesson. Remember why they do not have as much resilience. They are not waiting for help just to be annoying!

8. Fill gaps

We find that FSM pupils often have gaps in their maths understanding, which then hinders their progress.

This is inevitable really, when you remember that they may have had a time in their lives when things were tough at home, due to money being tight. Economic hardship is hard, even for the most loving of families. Perhaps their parents argued more, or they were more stressed generally and that can impact a child’s openness to learning. Therefore, it is our job to close these gaps. Quickly. That might be small group catch-up in addition to the maths lesson, but for the majority of pupils, it shouldn’t necessarily mean that they are regularly given work pitched lower than age related. Obviously, every child is different, but it is crucial that teachers have high expectations of what these pupils can achieve. They must have exposure to age related (and deeper) learning. Or else, what are they aspiring to?

9. Be resilient and patient

We usually talk about the children needing resilience, but when it comes to FSM pupils, often it is the adults that need it more. Feeling like you are repeating the same thing time after time is tiring. But necessary. The repetition is what is needed for learning to be retained. Be patient. You are trying to undo years of ineffective learning behaviours (zoning out, reliance on teacher, no confidence etc) so that is unlikely to change within two lessons.

10. Give status

In most classes, there is a superb calculator; a child who knows all their multiplication facts and is quick at mental calculation. So, when you ask a question, you know that their hand will shoot straight up. And they will be correct. And every time they are correct, their ‘advantage’ grows. This is what we need for our disadvantaged pupils. Actively seek opportunities where they can share and be accurate in public way, to build their status within the maths classroom.
Fluency sessions can be great for this because the content has been taught before, so if it’s pitched accurately, they should be able to offer a response. Check in with them while the class are busy solving problems to make sure they do actually have the right answer, and then ask them to share it. Sometimes we need to actively find out what they have written on their whiteboard, because they may not have the confidence to share it themselves. If you have children who hate to share whole class, you can still give status 1:1. Speak to them and offer genuine praise in a way that shows it’s what you expected of them all along because they are a mathematician, like every other child in the class.

With the economic situation in the UK as it is, it is likely that things will get worse before they get better. The rising cost of living is affecting all families, but those who were experiencing hardship previously will be finding things even more challenging. Unfortunately, we can’t really affect that. But we can affect what happens in the classroom for these children.

Dan Nicholls suggests that there are three key things we can do for disadvantaged pupils: Give status, foster a sense of belonging and fuel esteem. Couple that alongside a rich maths curriculum and effective teaching and we might just be able to make a difference for these pupils.

If you’re looking for support with primary maths teaching or subject leadership through in-school or remote consultancy, staff meeting or INSET sessions, please get in touch for further details.

Primary mathematics teaching and learning advisory services

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Bibliography

Education & Skills Funding Agency, 2022. Guidance - Pupil premium 2022 to 2023: conditions of grant for local authorities. [Online]

Available at:

Gov.UK: Pupil premium 2022 to 2023: conditions of grant for local authorities

 

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