Designing a Science Curriculum: my #rEDRugby talk On Saturday 9th June, I was lucky enough to attend and speak at my first reserachED in Rugby, hosted at the stunning Rugby School, by the marvellous Jude Hunton. Here, I share my talk with some additional thoughts I didn’t...

Observations at Michaela APRIL 10, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE The culture of observations at Michaela is truly phenomenal. It provides a structure conducive to genuine improvement and honest reflection. Observations at Michaela are frequent, low-stakes and random. Since starting in September (around 24 teaching weeks), I have been...

Retrieval Cues: Do Your Questions Help or Hinder? MARCH 19, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE It’s so easy, when we really want our pupils to answer a question correctly, that we give them cues to help them reach the answer. Sometimes we see our pupils still struggling and we become...

History at Michaela  MARCH 6, 2018 / MIKE TAYLOR The weekend before last, I spoke at the West London Free School History Conference. The event was a superb gathering of history teachers and it was a real privilege to be able to share some of our Michaela...

The Influence of Michaela FEBRUARY 26, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE I started teaching at Michaela Community School in September 2017. Learning about, applying to and joining Michaela has permanently transformed my view of education forever. Learning about Michaela has been like constantly learning new threshold concepts: my view...

We're squeamish about scripture FEBRUARY 10, 2018 / JHCPORTER Every teacher should look at Eton’s ‘King’s Scholarship’ exam. It reminds you what is possible. It’s the exam that boys take at the age of 13 if they want to stand a chance of becoming a ‘King’s Scholar’ (named...

Explanation, Feedback & Practice FEBRUARY 9, 2018 / BUNSENBLUE Recently, I was observed by a member of my SLT (the wonderful @BrettWYale), and he gave me some feedback that sparked a brilliantly clarifying conversation. In this post, I want to share my reflections on this discussion. During the...

Precise Practice Posted on February 3, 2018 by Katie Ashford As I explained in my last post, practising the final skill over and over again does little to develop the final skill. Experts in any field won’t simply have practised the final skill in isolation: they will...

What I Remember Doing in (Private) Primary School Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 by John Ashton Current discussion of learning through play/sitting down at a desk in Reception/Year 1 made me realise I have absolutely no idea what a normal primary school/EYFS experience is like. I only ever went...

Is all practice effective? Posted on January 20, 2018 by Katie Ashford Back in my early years of teaching- in the high-pressure ‘Special Measures’ school where I cut my teeth- I spent hours planning lessons that aimed to get kids through the GCSE as quickly as possible. I...

First term at Michaela In September, I started teaching at Michaela Community School. This last term has been a brilliant introduction to a warm and happy school that has learning at its very core. I started at Michaela after completing the Teach First LDP, where I spent...

Practicals in Science Now that I’ve been at Michaela for over a year, I have come to see that one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching science are our practical lessons. Whilst in the past this might have filled me with dread, the systems and...

Teach French à Michaela We’re looking for an amazing French teacher. Here’s some of what we do: The highest expectations of what pupils can – and do – achieve. The highest expectations of ourselves as teachers. Beautiful accents, exceptional pronunciation, fantastic range of knowledge. Lots of reading...

Is this the best we can do? Part 7: the spacing effect JULY 29, 2017 This is part of a series offering my views on some problems with and solutions for UK maths education. The first part looked at the state of affairs with regards to GCSE and PISA...

Is this the best we can do? Part 6: the problem of forgetting JULY 26, 2017 “If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.” – Edgar Allen Poe “The palest ink is better than the best memory.” – Chinese...

Yes he can! In my career as SENCO so far, I’ve often found myself at loggerheads with people who tell me that pupils with Special Needs can’t do things. Whether we’re talking about learning to read, writing for extended periods, or retaining focus in class, I...

Maths Muddle: alternate segment, same segment, alternate angles I had an insight into Y9 minds this week, realising that two (maybe three) things I thought were obviously different look really similar to them. It came about with similarity proofs, and realising that, to them, it is really hard...

#Mathsconf10: Worksheet-Making Extravaganza JUNE 25, 2017 / ADMIN / 0 COMMENTS On Saturday, I spoke at #mathconf10 in Dagenham. The workshop was titled “Worksheet-making Extravaganza!” Indeed it was that. When I started teaching I regularly went onto TES to download resources for my pupils. Usually, I would be...

UK Maths Challenge JUNE 21, 2017 On Friday, I spent a couple of hours with a pupil in Y8 who has been selected to go through to the Junior Kangaroo challenge. Over half term, he was given past papers to attempt. We went through his answers and...

Never Let Me Go At which stage in a topic do you stop modelling examples? I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest the answer is probably….too soon. I’m going to go further and suggest that the rationale you have for doing so is probably wrong. Here are...

Year 7 History at Michaela MAY 14, 2017 / MIKE TAYLOR One of the great things about working at Michaela is watching the rapid transformation of our Year 7 pupils. From their baptism of fire induction in the first week, through to the end of the summer term,...

Arithmetic Average: Reflecting on Property 5 In my last post, I discussed whether an instructional programme could be created to teach a deeper concept of mean. I mentioned five different properties. After a conversation with Kris Boulton about the blog post, he spotted something interesting about property...

Arithmetic Average: developing conceptual understanding Many pupils are taught how to calculate the arithmetic average (the mean.)  They are also taught a shallow understanding of the concept: it goes along the lines of “the mean is a calculated ‘central’ value of a set of numbers.” Or...

Lesson Observations at Michaela At Michaela, lessons are not graded. Like many schools, we have moved away from the old paradigm of observing teachers once per half term in a high stakes, pre-planned, pay-determining observation, towards a new one. We have a truly open door policy in which...

The Summer Project (#French) may 3, 2017 jlmfl In the past, my hands-down-favourite thing about teaching was being in the classroom, with the kids, bouncing off their energy and enthusiasm and teaching them French, and seeing them grow in knowledge and confidence and ability. That feeling only increased...

Changing my mind on grammar schools When I was 16, after having completed my GCSE examinations, myself and a few friends travelled to London for a few days of sightseeing. We visited the Palace of Westminster on our last day and out of the corner of...

Drill and Thrill This is a summary of the presentation from Maths Conf 9, held in Bristol on 11/3/2017. Thanks to everyone who came and who asked questions! What is a drill? A drill is narrow. It should be focused on a single thing, such as: Decision-making Which...

Mathsconf9 – Automatising Procedural Knowledge for A Level study On Saturday, I delivered a workshop which looked at seven specific high-leverage procedures that should be automatised for pupils to successfully learn certain concepts taught in AS Mathematics. The purpose was to raise awareness of the amount...

Holier than thou  I try to avoid polemics, or being divisive. The topic below is one where, I suspect, opinion is already sharply divided and each side views the other with suspicion and some incredulity. 1) It really gets my goat when a teacher reserves an efficient...

Mastery in Art At Michaela, we receive hundreds of visitors each year. As Head of Art, I find that the most common questions visitors ask me fall into two camps: first, people often ask something along the lines of “when are the pupils allowed to be...

Teaching mathematical grammar Consider these questions: 3361 × 100 = 336100 3.361 × 100 = 336.1 33.61 × 100 = 3361 0.3361 × 100 = 33.61 336.1 × 100 = 33610 To a maths teacher, or a pupil who achieved old-money KS2 level 5 in maths, these...

Six Months In Six months ago, I started working at Michaela. As a Wembley native, growing up just around the corner and attending a local state school, it has been an experience and a pleasure to teach pupils in the community and to see them thrive....

Deciding the first step – Different decisions for different problem types MARCH 4, 2017 Deciding the first step is a type of question where pupils are only asked to decide explicitly which step to perform. A pupil reviews the problem type and identifies what steps he/she needs...

Creativity? Just footsteps in the snow learn (v.) – Old English ‘leornian’, ‘to get knowledge, to be cultivated’. From the Proto-Germanic, ‘liznojan’, ‘to follow a track’. Robert Macfarlane seems to be the closest we have in Britain to an Innuit: not only does he actively seek out...

Algebraic Circle Theorems – Pt 2 JANUARY 14, 2017 Last week, I explored different number based circle theorem problems that can test (a) a pupil’s ability to identify the circle theorem being tested and (b) problem types where a pupil has to find multiple unknown angles using...

Creating Problem Types – Circle Theorems Part 1 JANUARY 7, 2017 Last summer, I made as many different problem types for the topic of Circle Theorems. I looked through different textbooks and online resources (MEP, TES, past papers). I did this because when I last taught circle...

Making the Most of Every Minute January 15, 2017 by chengreaction Since starting at Michaela in September, I’ve learnt that every second counts. I’m still shocked at the speed of routines, and how they enable us to squeeze every last second of learning in every lesson. There are lots...

Under Pressure Posted by Dani Quinn I’ve had two interesting conversations this year with some of our weakest pupils. Fadekah is in Year 8. For all of Year 7 we despaired if she would even be able to pick and microwave her own meals, or complete routine...

Vertical vocabulary January 8, 2017 / jhcporter One of the great things about working at Michaela is the symbiosis that happens between colleagues. Inevitably for me, this exchange of ideas is most keenly felt between the Humanities and English Departments and, specifically, between the essays that...

You Turn Me Right Round This is just about some ideas for angles we’ve been using in the department. Polygons: angles as turn We’ve been trying to demonstrate to the pupils what it actually means to say the sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 degrees. On...

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Katie Ashford CPD for Knowledge Fans CPD has the potential to be the stuff of nightmares. At the end of a long day, the last thing I would choose to do is spend an hour sitting around discussing questioning strategies for...

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Jonathan Porter Michaela Summer Projects Michaela is a free school, which opened in September 2014. It is a mixed community secondary school in Brent for pupils aged 11-18 of all backgrounds. We believe that an elite education based upon traditional values...

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Bodil Isaksen Nature abhors a vacuum Nature abhors a vacuum. Human nature abhors a power vacuum. Idealistic teachers often propose a classroom set up where co-operation reigns over command and control. Whilst lovely in theory, in practice we end up with more of...

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Katie Ashford How to Overcome The Curse of Knowledge On a recent trip to my Nan’s, I was asked once again to fix her iPad. She was unable to watch something on “that BBC button” and was quite distressed about it. In exchange...

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Naveen Rizvi Right is Right: Why it is very challenging? Whilst teaching, I asked a question to my  class after delivering a worked example listing all the factors of a number. Specifically, I was demonstrating that the number of factors of a square...

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Jonathan Porter No excuses discipline works People bandy around the term ‘no excuses discipline’ in a way that I think is often highly misleading and, ultimately, very unhelpful. ‘No excuses discipline’ is parodied as a cruel and heartless system administered by Gradgrindian monsters...

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Katie Ashford Personalised Learning Harms Children Here is a transcript of the speech I gave at the Michaela Debate at City Hall yesterday. I was debating the brilliant Tom Sherrington on the subject of personalised learning. Here is where videos of the debates will...

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Naveen Rizvi Assessment: Marking…not of books but of weekly formative quizzes. I remember marking books; I didn’t find it very useful. However, I found marking exit tickets incredibly informative because I was able to act on the assessment of pupils’ learning the...

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Katie Ashford How can we get kids to read widely? Getting kids to love reading is difficult at the best of times. Reading is hard, particularly for children who, for whatever reason, aren’t exposed to new language or reading in the early years....

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Katie Ashford How can we help the weakest catch up? “So let me get this straight: we’re behind the rest of our class and we’re going to catch up to them by going slower than they are?”- Bart Simpson   Our instinct is often to...

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Katie Ashford Women: Know Your Limits. Growing up, I was fortunate enough not to have to worry about gender inequality. As far as I was concerned, I could run just as fast, shout just as loud, and be just as smart as my...

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Bodil Isaksen Going postal about posters Posters lessons. We’ve all done them. Maybe we were naive NQTs, who believed it really would be a great way for 7 set 4 to synthesise their understanding of the formation of ox-bow lakes. Maybe we...

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Lucy Newman Starting at Michaela I love working at Michaela. Unlike at other schools which do not have tight behaviour systems, Michaela brings out the best in the children and they are lovely and polite. At my old school I had...

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Jonathan Porter Did it work? Year 8 history essays on medieval England Essay title: What was the most significant challenge to the king’s power in medieval England? Conditions: Exam conditions. 50 minutes. No notes. From memory. Pupils DO know the title of the essay in...