What do you do when your child, who is no longer a child, but a young adult, is diagnosed with Dyslexia? This has just happened to a parent I know and it has come as a big shock. Why? Firstly, we are entitled to ask why such a diagnosis has only just been made? Why…

Labour want to scrap SATS for primary pupils. A good move or not? There is no doubt that SATS have developed a bad reputation, mainly because many schools have given in to the temptation to teach for the test, rather than in the interests of each pupil’s individualised learning. SATS has also developed into a…

A strange title you may think but if we want to motivate children to write and prevent many children from becoming reluctant writers, schools need to think more deeply about their approaches and responses to childrens’ spellings. Spelling is a developmental journey – a very long and arduous journey for some children who struggle to…

When children succeed: schools succeed. Unfortunately too many children with SEND have not achieved their full potential and therefore have not succeeded to the best of their ability. It follows that too many schools have not succeeded to the best of their ability either. So could the proposed OFSTED grades be a strong influence for…

I have previously written about the importance of understanding as the foundation of applying mathematical methods. Working with a Year 6 child on finding percentages of numbers, and having taught her different methods to apply to various types of problem – you can imagine my surprise, and frustration, on hearing that her teacher insists on…