‘I taught my kids to read by the age of two,’ a friend of mine said recently. ‘How?’ I asked her. She related to me how the use of Ladybird books had helped her, as a young parent, to teach her child to read; in an age that now seems a lifetime ago. Fifty years?…

A Panorama programme (BBC1,17th March 2025) has highlighted the negative aftermath of Covid 19 on children currently at their Early Years Foundation Stage of education (EYFS): suggesting that, five years on from lockdowns, a significant proportion are not ‘school ready’. In addition, a  considerable number of these children do not have English as their first…

The SEND system in our schools is governed by legal frameworks such as: The Equality Act 2010, Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. Schools are therefore required to meet children’s individual needs through tailored approaches and resources. The key word here is ‘individual’. Children with SEND do not all belong…

An article in the Times by Headteacher, K. Birbalsingh (Feb 2025) suggests that parental guidance by middle-class authors is ruining child rearing among the working classes. Birbalsingh, often described as Britain’s strictest headteacher, has also criticised parents for not teaching their children how to read and count. She also suggests that parents who want their…

My last blog was all about Reading, and my latest educational book, ‘Becoming a Reader’ explores this fascinating set of skills at its many levels. A recent home tutoring session reminded me how much reading there actually is in the subject of maths: and why many children, especially with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)…