Ashes during marking season has no sense of humour

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Steve Bunce @stevebunce is a legend. Alongside Simon Finch @simfin, Bunce has set up a very relaxed, monthly Teachmeet at Blakes’ coffee shop in Newcastle which, trust me, is well worth your attendance. Due to the pressures of controlled assessment marking, I attended the most recent Teachmeet Blakes in desperate need for inspiration.

Memories of my last lesson with Y10 were swimming in my mind. Controlled assessment marking had addled my brain. The lesson took place in someone else’s room; the kids were sitting in rows and I was spouting some boring nonsense (boring to them not me) about Shakespeare’s use of language. It was awful. One boy spoke out of turn, resulting in punishment from me and when the Year 10 support assistant came in for a standards check, he quite rightly stated: “something she usually finds funny got me in trouble.” What was going wrong?

As part of the AQA English Literature course, pupils are required to compare Othello and Wuthering Heights and explore the theme of love. Last year my Year 10 class loved this (blogged about their work here). With such fond memories, I had entirely forgotten that this new class are not the same students. They have very different likes and dislikes and what worked last year was most certainly not going to capture their imagination in the same way. The slate needed wiping and I needed a new approach. Taking the TeachMeet stage first, Bunce asked: “What could you teach using just a ruler?” and BOOM there was the inspiration I needed.

I got my sense of humour back and thank you to @billgibbon who swapped his raffle prize to make me smile!

Connect

Needing to make amends for the disgrace that was the lesson previous, Brian Adams’ Everything I Do I Do it for You was playing as pupils entered. Rulers were laid out, one for each pupil, and the Shakespeare quote “If music be the food of love play on” was displayed on the board. I sang along and channelled the words at each and every one of them. Being a lively class, many of them began dancing, singing and joining in. Instead of barking at them to take their seats (I may have done this the lesson previous while in strict teacher role), I let them enjoy the moment, encouraging them to play along with the tune on their rulers.

NOISY but FUN

Some beat out the tune perfectly, others I encouraged to slow down and listen to the beat; soon enough we were all strumming along in unison and loving the rhythmic moment. I used the words of the song to remind them that, although last lesson wasn’t perfect, I was doing my best for them, everything I did was with their best interests at heart, and today we were coming at it from a different angle. My heart was warmed as the same boy who put me right last lesson said “Don’t worry Miss, these differences in opinion are a perfectly healthy part of relationships.” I think I was forgiven and it was now time for the ruler playing to have a purpose.

Search for Meaning

The pupils were provided with a sonnet, a free verse poem and a rap and were asked to investigate the differences using their rulers. No longer was I standing in front of them imparting knowledge to deaf ears; they were now very noisily beating out meter, exploring the rhyme and discovering iambic pentameter entirely accidentally on purpose. I was on hand to provide them with the poetic terms of their discoveries while they were happily discussing the differences in effect between the three forms. Best of all, we were all smiling!

Demonstrate

Pupils are still in the very early stages of exploring Othello. Its storyline and language is complicated for a disinterested fourteen year old to master and so it requires lots of reflection and investigation. If they do not yet understand who does what and why, they are very unlikely to ‘get’ how Shakespeare uses meter to expose Othello’s outsider status. Therefore, we did not use this new understanding to dive straight in but instead used it to further explore the relationships within the plot.

The tasks were differentiated into gold (for pupils who felt confident with the plot and with the construction of a sonnet) silver (for pupils feeling less confident with the plot and poetic forms) and bronze (for boys who think poetry is for girls). Pupils had the choice to either:

Create sonnets from Othello at different points in the plot demonstrating the development of his feelings

Create a free verse poem that detailed the plot of Othello

Create a rap detailing the plot of Othello.

This learning was fun and purposeful. Pupils were noisily playing out sonnets of their own making and asking questions to firm up their knowledge of the relationships within the plot. “Can I say black miss? It rhymes and it’s true but is it racist?” led to a discussion about the differences in context between then and now. “What was Iago’s wife’s beef?” Led to a debate about how Iago appears incapable of love. The pupils’ end products, imperfect though they are, can be used to help them recall plot points at a later date. I still remember songs that I made up at school (pointless songs about lolly pops coming to an end and parks for geriatrics) and I hope that the same will be true for them (although their work will have purpose).

Review

To any teacher that has not attended a Teachmeet, I urge you to get yourself to one. This was just one of the many simple, effective ideas shared by enthusiastic educators that evening. As I said at the start, Bunce is a legend but so are all of the other teachers that came along to share. I arrived that evening worried that I should have been spending my time planning not eating nibbles and enjoying myself; I left with enough ideas to plan memorable lessons for weeks to come.

Sunshine that is…

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THIS EDUCATION SPECTACULAR 

We teach in a world much like Dillydale. Like the Mr Men, we are all very different. In classroom 228 you might find Little Miss Magic who, like a sorceress, is able to magically organise assessments to support students’ learning but who struggles to make learning fun. In the opposite classroom, you might find Mr Messy who creates the most inspiring learning experiences for children but cannot organise his assessment data and therefore fails to differentiate to support his students’ needs. We all have strengths and weaknesses and that is why we need effective collaboration to share expertise and support each other’s growth.

Pedagoo is an awesome place to make effective collaboration happen. The growth of Pedagoo from a conversation between Scottish educators on Twitter to what it has become is amazing. Now Pedagoo provides a platform for teachers to blog and share their expertise, a reason to come together and explore ideas about the future of education and providing inspiration to grow. Little Miss Magic does not even need to be in the same school as Mr Messy to learn from his strengths; they can come together in the positive staffroom that has been created by this awesome space.

Pedagoo events are on another level again. Inspirational but everyday teachers give up their time to provide sessions that attendees can take from and use to support the growth of their practice. These events are fun and free. Little miss Magic is able to provide simple strategies for Mr Messy and, the very next session, Mr Messy is able to return the favour by creating a master class of fun ideas. Of course Miss Magic isn’t the only one to benefit from Mr Messy’s brilliance as Mr Grumble also takes from Mr Messy’s approach to return the fun back to him room that was taken away by his excellent behaviour management techniques. Do not be fooled by his name as Mr Grumble, like every educator,  has plenty to offer; he puts on a surgery to inspire ITT students who are worried about controlling their classes. His experience is valuable and appreciated.

We are all different; we all have something to offer

Pedagoo isn’t passive; it isn’t about listening to what others do and feeling inadequate about your own practice. It is about real life collaboration between nationwide colleagues who all have something to offer no matter who they are. We all arrive as equals; we are all there to grow our practice and learning community, to be inspired by the positivity of other professionals, to share thoughts, ideas and resources.

Our next event (for details and sign up follow this link) Pedagoo Sunshine, takes place on May 18^th at Joseph Swan Academy and promises to well worth attending. This festival of collaboration will include lots of fun, prizes, a BBQ and of course inspirational educators sharing their expertise for your growth.  Every Monday, during staff briefing, Joseph Swan’s Head Teacher Heather Scott reminds us that this is a school where “everyone can shine.” If we take the time that Pedagoo events offer us to grow our practice, share our ideas, inspire and be inspired, no matter whether you are Miss Sunshine or Mr Grumpy, we all have the ability to shine. 

Our Next Event Will be the Best Yet! Get involved.

Thanks Jim

This lesson was inspired by an idea in The Lazy Teacher’s Handbook called: ‘Just a minute.’  I finished reading this book from cover to cover over two weeks ago; however, I still find myself flicking it open! Every time I do, no matter which page falls open, I am inspired! This was the case when page 68 fell open while planning this Year 11 lesson.

Why Did We Need This Lesson?

The class are working towards their Literature GCSE; last lesson they completed a mock exam comparing poems from the anthology. While reading their essays, a common issue arose. Although pupils’ analysis of the poems was great, their essays did not sound confident. This was as a result of  hedging (language which lessens the impact of what is being said – eg “I think”). This over use of hedging was not confined to their written work but was also noticeable when they responded verbally in class.

What Was Involved?

The following lesson was set up firstly, to respond to this hedging issue and to show them how removing hedging can assist in sounding more confident and articulate. In addition to this, they were also gathering their multistructural knowledge of the poem To His Coy Mistress using a range of sources (paper based – Google – dictionaries – questions – me) to support their knowledge acquisition.

In their Literature exam, pupils need to be able to dissect poetry that they have never seen before; therefore, me dictating about rhyme schemes and similes is nowhere near as purposeful as them doing it for themselves (lazy teacher style). Pupils needed to work out what the poem was about, what language was used to what effect and the same for structure…plenty to be getting on with!

Connect

To get the cogs spinning, pupils arrived to cut out quotations from the poem on their grouped desks. They were told to predict what the poem could be about using the quotations as examples. As each group fed back their ideas, the other groups were tasked with noting down any features of spoken language (a unit covered earlier in the course) that they observed in the speakers.

As expected, pupils’ initial spoken responses included hedging, fillers, and stuttering among other things. Other interesting points included personal idiosyncrasies and that are common features in spoken language of the North East such as tagging on “like” at the end of each sentence. Pupils were able to spot these non fluency features but had not been aware of how often they were using them. There’s nothing more satisfying than holding up a mirror to support pupils in making purposeful improvements. 

Pupils were told that today, they would prove their learning about a poem by articulating what they had found out at the end of the session. I would time how long they were able to speak (thank you Mr Smith for this idea) deducting seconds for non fluency features and hedging.

Search For Meaning

Pupils are well versed in independent investigation but I never just send them off without direction. Support was built into the lesson in the form of multi structural questions that would keep them on the right lines should they need direction in their investigation; I had four computers open on Google (Google is there to use – I want them to learn how to use it effectively). There was also printed information around the room about the context of the poem.

Multistructural question box

To further challenge pupils, relational questions were available to relate what they knew about the poem to alternative ideas. Also to challenge pupils, question stems were placed in the extended abstract box to support pupils in their own questioning.

Example of relational question

Demonstration

As pupils listened to other’s findings, the class continued to learn from each other and made notes on their poems and using each other as teachers (I have not had to dictate a single thing today…lazy). The difference between the spontaneous responses at the beginning of the lesson in comparison to the end was wonderful to see and hear.

Review

As well as learning lots of new information about another anthology poem, in contrast to the start of the lesson, pupils had also slowed down the pace of their speech. They were noticeably more fluent and articulate than they had been previously. Non Standard English was being avoided and their language choices were excellent (not a “like” to be heard). Although non fluency features were not altogether eradicated, pupils were far more mindful of their speech. One pupil was discussing a different matter with me after the lesson and said “I can’t help but notice every time I use a hedge or filler now.”

 Although I am very proud of their newly acquired, almost perfect articulation, I cannot wait to see how this translates into their written work.

FIND THE ORIGINS OF PEDAGOO HERE

Above is just a tiny selection of tweets from teachers wanting to share great ideas from their week in the classroom. By teachers, for teachers, Pedagoo rocks! Pedagoo is the reason why I drove north (who knew there was anything further north than Newcastle) for five hours on a Saturday to join in with the very first Pedagoo Fringe event in Glasgow – I know it does not usually take that long…I got lost. It was more than worth the time and the weekend!

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being surrounded by like minded educators, all as thirsty as you are for new and exciting ideas to enhance their practice. It is this very enthusiasm, passion and excitement about the possibilities within our profession that make Pedagoo’s heart beat. We want more and more people to catch the Pedagoo fun bug so that each event brings together even more great educators and great ideas.

Whether it be collaboration through following and contributing to #PedagooFriday with your weekly classroom ideas, contributing to the blog at Pedagoo.org (new bloggers always welcome), joining in with #PedagooResolutions and contributing to the forums creating a focussed online TLC, your collaboration is wanted and will be well received.

Pedagoo originated in Scotland but its positivity is now reaching far and wide. I did offer to personally visit sunny Australia and spread the word there but it turns out that, thanks to our wonderful digital world…they have already received the message!

It does not matter if you are a student teacher, an NQT, a teacher, a member of SLT or even head of the school; perhaps you are a teacher from England, Scotland, Australia or Zimbabwe, it does not matter, Pedagoo wants you!

Find out more… visit pedagoo.org

Two half terms into the academic year is a good place to be. So much ground has been covered that students’ strengths and weaknesses are now utterly exposed.  It is likely that you now have spreadsheets full of data and lots of critique on students’ work; you may also have lists of strengths and weaknesses if you record marking events in a similar way to me (click here to see what I mean). Do not let valuable data and reviews fester, waiting pointlessly for Ofsted. Instead, give it a purpose.

Year 9’s enquiry question this term is: “Why the bloody hell not?” I wanted to go with “Why the F not?” but that was considered too risqué for this enquiry into taboo language so ironically, we went for the softer approach.

Thanks has to go to Kenny Brechen as this idea was born from his crazy killer rabbit groups, an idea introduced to us on a Cramlington training day. My classes’ data and my analysis of their strengths and weaknesses have been utilised to set up three working groups:

Group 1 The Squirrels (Main enquiry group) 

A scrolling powerpoint introduces pupils to their group names and team mates

Each main enquiry group has at least one pupil who is stronger in their reading and writing abilities. They act as a model to the others; the rest of the group is mixed ability.

The group are challenged to answer the enquiry question “Why the bloody hell not” by the end of the term. They are all aiming for an extended abstract level in their final response. For this purpose, they will be exploring a wealth of texts, situations and ideas but not necessarily always as part of this base group.

Group 2 (cats) Challenge Groups

Challenge groups have new names and are allocated by ability

To challenge and or support pupils, the first break away group is set by ability. All pupils in these groups are working towards the same target level. Therefore, I am able to use this group to differentiate any questions that I want them to explore. I use the same criteria that I use to mark their work to set challenging questions one sub level above the pupils’ working at grades. I have included the first lesson of term below so that you can see how this group works in action.

Group 3 (dogs) Support groups

the funnier the group the better

This group was created by selecting pupils from three different  ability levels to create peer support groups, they will support each other through peer critique.

The First Lesson of the Term

Connect

The outcome of this lesson was for pupils to begin their enquiry into taboo language. They needed to recognise what their challenge for this term is ( to reach extended abstract in their understanding of spoken language with a particular focus on taboo language) and understand how, through effective participation and communication (ticking some PLTS boxes here) they will be successful.

Pupils demonstrated that they were at a prestructural level for spoken language. When I asked what they knew about the topic they responded with the fact that they speak and they use language. They were unable to identify basic terms used to analyse spoken language such as “hedge,” “filler,” and “back channelling” so it was safe to assume we were starting from scratch.

The class were introduced to their main enquiry groups via the scrolling Powerpoint of squirrels. Pupils love giving their groups their own name; however, to be able to call pupils quickly into the correct group for the correct purpose throughout the term, giving each group a collective feature (squirrels, dogs, cats) makes it easier for me to get them to the right group quickly. For example, if I want to challenge pupils and I have set questions according to ability, I can simply say, “Get with your fellow cats” and pupils know where to go.

The enquiry scene was set by introducing the question “why the bloody hell not” and we were ready to go.

New Information

As a result of focusing on different enquiry questions each half term, pupils know that only way  to reach extended abstract (or an expert response) in their enquiry is ensure research is rich and varied creating excellent multistructural base knowledge.  Today’s examination of a modern play is merely the tip of the iceberg; there are no set texts at Key Stage 3 therefore, we are using this final year of freedom to provide as rich and cultural a diet as we possibly can (any excuse to get them reading my favourite play).

Complete with soundtrack and my best scouse accent (oh yes, they were impressed), I introduced an overview of the plot of Blood Brothers and read an extract in which Micky and Eddie meet for the first time. Micky introduces Eddie to new vocabulary such as “pissed off” and “the F word” while Eddie demonstrates that he is far more educated than his new friend by introducing Micky to the “dictionary.”

Search for Meaning

By the end of the lesson, pupils are expected (in their main enquiry team) to construct a response to: “How is taboo language used for effect in this play?” Their communication skills are challenged as they must breakout into their new research teams to examine this problem further.

Firstly, pupils go to their cat groups. Remember that this group is set by ability and this allows me to set the right level of challenge for each pupil. I set three questions for each cat group by looking at one sub level above their current position. For example:

High ability: Can the extract be compared to Lord of the Flies in any way?

Drawing on knowledge from other sources and making comparisons Level 7

Mid ability: What can you tell me about the social class of the characters?

Considering the wider significance of information or ideas Level 6

Low ability: How does he director show an audience differences between the characters? 

Explaining inferred meanings Level 5

As this was pupils’ first lesson in these particular working groups and the assessment this term is based on speaking and listening, my role was to assess pupils’ confidence, whether groupings were going to be successful or did I need to make adjustments? I was also assessing discussions for any future teaching needs in reading and communication.

After pupils had formulated answers within their challenge groups, they were asked to share these answers with their dog groups (three abilities to be used for peer critique). Each pupil offered their ideas and their peers offered kind, specific, helpful advice ensuring that they returned to their squirrel team with excellent responses.

Demonstrate

Once back with their original enquiry group (squirrels), pupils shared their new ideas and used them to form a group response to the original question.

Review

For many teachers, this is a dark term; to me this is a term where the lights are really switched on and the potential to exceed expectations is great. The past two half terms have been used to get to know pupils’ strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. This knowledge has been utilised to create groups that will support and challenge each other effectively. Setting the groups up may be time consuming but the progress that we are about to make as a result will make it worth the effort.

Inspiration for 2012 Favourite Lesson

Oops!

As luck would have it, after hearing about the #pedagooreview (share your favourite learning experience from 2012 on pedagoo.org) , I happened to have my favourite lesson of the year. This lesson was inspired by Hywel Roberts’ amazing Oops! This wonderfully inspiring book is packed with fun, ideas, lists and laughter; I am now desperately trying to avoid a cliché but if you are struggling to think of a good Christmas gift for a teacher friend, this book is one of those gifts that keep on giving!

My favourite lesson of this year came from a chapter named Accidentally Learning, in which Hywel took the idea of a mountain range and transformed it into a myriad of learning experiences. This is where I took it…

Connect

Year 9’s ‘class reader’ for the term was Lord of the Flies. This novel depicts the carnage that is a group of school boys shipwrecked on an island creating their own laws and society. The SMSC possibilities that arise from exploring narrative are so rich! After a term of exploring democracy, dictatorship, Freudian concepts such as the id, ego and superego, the pupils were armed and ready to create their own society.

We began with the question “What keeps our world calm?” Their answers demonstrated a wealth of social and moral content that studying this novel had provided; my favourite answer was “fear.” One boy explained how each thing that keeps our world from breaking out into chaos is born of fear. We are afraid of the consequences of our actions and this keeps our society as it is; he explained how very few people allow their id to rule their existence as the id can result in negative consequences. 

During our discussion, we used a thought bomb (an idea also born from the Oops book) to keep the peace in our microcosm by passing it from person to person as the shipwrecked boys did with a symbolic conch shell when creating their democracy. Pupils were only allowed to speak if they held the bomb and, as it was passed around the room, our thoughts exploded into amazing ideas.

Boom!

Just an image and storytelling required

No sooner had conch calm fallen, when I suddenly wrecked the peace with the revelation that Christmas 2012 saw the destruction of our planet. Humans had finally gone too far; the world had blown up. All that remained was a small section of England, surrounded by nothing but an expanse of water. Pupils were hooked by this story! These pupils are thirteen and fourteen years old but their imaginations are still alive. There’s nothing quite like an apocalypse to get the imagination cogs whirring. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have heard that the world is going to end (I totally remember believing it when I was young) and you could see the pupils had that “this could actually happen” look in their eyes.

This lesson was not designed to create mass panic; the idea was to enthuse the students to WANT to learn how to speak persuasively. I was keeping that fact a secret for the time being. They needed to draw the outline of their island and draw five things of their choice which had survived the blast. This wasn’t an art lesson and this task did not take very long to complete. Conscientiously, they discussed ideas and possibilities in pairs, creating a really positive vibe in the room.

An Island

Some pupils thought very carefully about the consequences of their choices and drew fresh water lakes filled with fish and working farms complete with livestock to ensure the survival of their species. Others drew establishments such as Macdonald’s, ADSA or Pizza Hut. This was a fantastic opportunity to explore what good decision making looked like and helped us to begin to decide on the qualities of a good leader.

The pupils had a real purpose for exploring leadership qualities as the next step was to become the leader of the other survivors. We looked atEngland’s leader David Cameron for a moment and explored what kind of leaders we wanted to become. They all agreed that they wanted to be honest and trustworthy….qualities of which they decided Cameron was not a great role model for.

After using a version of QFT to get a fuller image of their island (I became God for a moment and allowed them to ask me anything) they were told that their people were in panic! Much like the littuluns on the island, their people had become afraid of the future. They feared famine, disease and even each other! As leaders, they would need to gather their people together and use their powers of persuasion as fair and just leaders to restore calm to their island.

Questions

It was amazing! The pupils seemed to genuinely care about the plight of their imaginary people. They cared enough to analyse a speech by Martin Luther King to ensure that they got their speech just right. They wanted to learn from a true leader so that they could become great leaders and take their nation forward to a happier situation.

Independent Analysis

Review

This ‘Oops learning’ idea had resulted in high levels of engagement, students acquired the knowledge required to create their effective speeches rapidly and their final products were outstanding. If an Ofsted inspector had been sat at the back of my room, they might have wanted to see more checks for learning every few minutes or that I had created a bar chart of progress to evaluate the impact of this task within an inch of its life. However, there is no doubt in my mind that this learning experience was, for them and for me, outstanding. They enjoyed the lesson, they achieved, they felt awe, wonder and passion over the topic and WANTED to do well.

My favourite thing about this learning experience

This exploration could result in so many other learning experiences! From the idea of a new world we could have debates over decisions that have to be made, develop creative writing or develop ideas in role as characters. I think that the possibilities with this kind of learning are endless. Thanks Hywel! You’re on the good list for sure!

September 2011

We all want well behaved, receptive students that have the ability to sit in silence and hang on our every word as we impart to them our wisdom. That’s exactly who were waiting outside my classroom last September, 10X1 at your service miss. Model pupils, you would think, until the moment that they sat in my environment.

“Group work?Independence? What do you mean miss? Aren’t you just going to tell us what to do? We will listen, promise!” Errrrr no!

This class had varied origins but it appeared that, although they had all experienced a variety of teachers and teaching styles, they were all very used to sitting in rows, passively learning and generally behaving themselves. When they were presented with group work and exploration, they could barely cope.

Autumn term 2011

Time, perseverance and a whole lot of effort went into independence training during 10X1’s first term with me. Group work began as a nightmare. They were off task, silly, giggly teenagers and did not resemble the perfect X1 that I knew sitting in rows could create. When I asked them to review their behaviour at the end of one such group work lesson, the response came that they were not used to working like this.

Our first controlled assessment was a piece of creative writing named “You Don’tKnowMe.” An apt title considering this first half term was spent holding a mirror up, helping them to get to know themselves. We were learning about genres, audiences, writing purposes, techniques, structural features among other rich content but we were also learning how to be effective and independent learners. We needed to discover what effective learning looked, sounded and felt like and also the benefits of working in this way. I needed them to experience the success of their own achievements, not the success of what I had told them to do.

The class were taught to make decisions about their own levels of involvement and progression using learning outcomes linked to SOLO; they were taught techniques for creating their own responses using their own creativity; they explored  tools such as Fox’s thinking tools, thinking hats and planning techniques so that they were able to make choices about the best tools to use given different learning situations. This was hard work, continually reflecting on ourselves, learning new tools and techniques as well as ensuring all of the relevant content of the GCSE course was covered while making rapid and sustained progress.

Jan 2012-12-06

Life got easier for me. After the long hard winter slog of ensuring my new class were independent, creative learners, the pupils began to flourish. They were able and willing to apply their new skills to whatever content I threw their way. They tackled Wuthering Heights, Of Mice and Men, the reading exam, writing for many different purposes, poetry and much more. I was free to set them up and watch them go. My role became facilitator, inspirer, assessor and proud teacher.

These well behaved pupils had been ready to learn from the moment they stepped foot into our school but now they can be so much more than just passive learners.Recent conversations with them have included:

“Miss this song would link so well with the content of what we are learning about; do you think you could use it in your planning?”

Miss, I’ve had a beast of an idea – we all need to look for the least obvious feature so that we stand out from the other pupils being examined.” 

The more amazing they become, the more imaginative I have to get in setting up effective learning experiences to stretch them. That said, the end results are always so satisfying that it is more than worth it. Today they were working on tranforming the literature poem manhunt into a new genre; they had to use the meaning, language and structure of the poem to influence their end result.  They also had to analyse a base text of that genre and prove that their end product was a perfect representation of that genre. This is great for the language exam preparation. It is however, an A Level task. I am so proud of them!

September 2012

A lively class stood waiting outside of my classroom. 10X3 were awaiting their first lesson with me and they were in exactly the same boat as last year’s class. I am nearing the end of my second half term of independence training with them and they are doing fantastically! They too were willing and able to be independent, they just needed the training. If they were willing and able, last year’s class were willing and able and indeed, every class that I have ever taught have been willing and able, why do I spend the first term in training?

Imagine receiving a class in year 7, fresh from primary school and full of enthusiasm. Imagine harnessing that enthusiasm and developing independence to go along side it; you teach the class enquiry skills, to be reflective and resourceful and you show them what amazing tools there are out there to enhance their learning and ability to be independent. Imagine keeping that same class throughout Key Stage 3 and allowing them to use those skills during rich enquiries, full of rich content that sparks their curiosity of the world in which they live. Imagine being able to take that same class and watch them grow and develop in their GCSE years and even on into A Level. Imagine watching that class leave you, off into their successful futures, ready to enjoy and achieve as independent citizens. That would be my ideal.