FR EE RESOURCES VISIT TEACHWIRE.NET/PRIMARY GREEN EGGS AND HAM KS1 LESSON PACK How to engage with parents MAKE HISTORY REBUILD YOUR CURRICULUM 10 WAYS TO BOOST HOW TO TEACH READING FLUENCY SCHOOL FUNDS Prepare for a deep dive into music TOXIC SCHOOLS I S SISSUE: N 1 714.2 5 6PRICE: - 6 5 0£4.99 9 0 2 WHO SHOULD YOU TURN TO? 9 771756 650016 PLUS SCIENCE VOCABULARY CRITICAL THINKING Ready-made STEM activities Going deeper with language The art of enquiry-based learning WELCOME Hello! POWERED BY... I ’d like to kick off this issue by saying a big thank you to my colleague Jerome Smail for steering the good ship Teach Primary while I have been on maternity leave. Returning to thinking about education after a year in baby world has illustrated to me that teaching, perhaps more than any other profession, is at once constantly evolving, while also remaining much the same. While I’m getting back up to speed with the latest classroom trends and new government diktats, it’s safe to say that across the country, you all continue to do what you do best: getting on with teaching kids new stuff, motivating them to learn and supporting them with life’s challenges, both big and small. It’s those everyday teaching moments and insights that we’re celebrating in this issue. On a subject very close to my heart, on page 38 Emma Mallett advises teachers returning from maternity leave on making a smooth transition back to the world of work. There are also tips on building solid relationships with parents, courtesy of Steph Caswell on page 30, while Lindsey Marsh shares guidance on organising a fundraiser for your school, on page 43. The curriculum is under the microscope on page 53, as Steven Caldwell makes his Teach Primary debut by imparting knowledge on building solid history content. Our subject special this month is music, with a section packed with practical advice on such diverse topics as ukelele lessons from Tom Gates author Liz Pichon (page 94), to preparing for an Ofsted ‘deep dive’ on the subject (Elizabeth Stafford, page 91). I hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time, Elaine Elaine Bennett, Editor @editorteach WHY DO I...? GINNY BOOTMAN says the Danish word ‘hygge’, meaning cozy contentment, sums up how we can increase wellbeing “It is a case of inding what comforts us individuals and respecting the views of others” P19 CHARLOTTE RABY We need to help children with lower language levels develop a wider vocabulary quickly “Young learners need to meet the same word many times and in many diferent contexts” p74 JIMMY ROTHERAM says with the right specialist support, schools can deliver a quality music education “A model music curriculum will not be successful unless those delivering it are trained” Don’t mss ur ext sse, on sle 17 th Aprl p88 Up 50% off all 12 Key Stage One titles to Take advantage of our special offer - only £5.99 per book. Use the code below at checkout: WHY50 O FFER RU N S TH RO U G H MA RC H 2020 Check out our full range of Why Do I... ? titles on our website - www.booklifepublishing.co.uk www.teachwire.net | 3 Contents ISSUE 14.2 FREE RESOURCES VISIT TEACHWIRE.NET/PRIMARY GREEN EGGS AND HAM KS1 LESSON PACK How to engage with parents MAKE HISTORY REBUILD YOUR CURRICULUM 10 WAYS TO BOOST HOW TO TEACH READING FLUENCY SCHOOL FUNDS Prepare for a deep dive into music TOXIC SCHOOLS I S SISSUE: N 1 714.2 5 6PRICE: - 6 5 0£4.99 9 0 2 WHO SHOULD YOU TURN TO? 9 771756 650016 PLUS SCIENCE VOCABULARY CRITICAL THINKING Ready-made STEM activities Going deeper with language The art of enquiry-based learning REGULA RS 8 BREAKTIME 34 SUBSCRIBE TODAY 66 COMPETITION I N TERVI EW We’re all ears! We want to make sure our magazine is a brilliant resource for teachers and are always striving to improve. That’s why we host a reader feedback panel every issue to hear from real teachers about what they liked and what they would change. Got feedback? Contact us via the details in the yellow box below. 15 Eoin Morgan “Now is the right time to celebrate diversity” 11 GAVIN MCLEAN SPECIAL SECTION M USIC 86 88 19 91 Get in touch with your rants, comments, photos and ideas. HOW TO SHOW MUSICAL INTENT Plan your music curriculum to satisfy an Ofsted deep dive by taking these four key factors into account GINNY BOOTMAN The Danish word ‘hygge’, meaning coziness and contentment, sums up how we can increase wellbeing THE TRUTH ABOUT SPECIALISTS Can untrained, unconfident, ‘non-specialist’, ‘non-musician’ teachers deliver music successfully in a primary school? A LETTER TO... Nicola Bridge pens an imaginary note to the DfE on the important issue of the oceans TIME TO GET IN TUNE Here’s why primary schools need to make space for music in an (admittedly overcrowded) curriculum Encouraging enquiry-based learning can help pupils develop the skills they need to cope with a changing world 17 UNDERCOVER TEACHER Who can teachers turn to when they feel they are being unfairly treated by the head? VOI CES We want to hear from you! 4 | www.teachwire.net 21 94 FROM PAGE TO CLASSROOM Liz Pichon shares some musical activities from her latest Tom Gates collection teachwire.net facebook.com/teachwire twitter.com/teachprimary jerome.smail@theteachco.com EDITOR: Elaine Bennett, elaine.bennett@theteachco.com, 01206 505994 GROUP EDITOR: Joe Carter, joe.carter@theteachco.com, 01206 505925 F E AT U R ES 13 GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER: Richard Stebbing, richard.stebbing@theteachco.com, 01206 505957 8 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FACTS TO WOW YOUR CLASS From King Tut and Sem priests to earthquake-making gods and antediluvian toothpaste 25 ADVERTISING MANAGER: Hayley Rackham, hayley.rackham@theteachco.com, 01206 505988 ST PETER’S COFE PRIMARY How this Farnham school is setting an example with its work on curriculum 30 BUILD POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS LE SS O N PL ANS 100 HISTORY, ENGLISH, ART Efective communication with pupils is 102 HISTORY, MATHS one challenge, but mums and dads require 104 MFL a very diferent approach 33 ONWARDS AND UPWARDS 38 49 REV IE W S DESIGNERS: Luke Rogers, Adam Barford, Debbie Pratt, James Philp CHART YOUR PUPILS’ GROWTH 111 AFRICAN DRUM KITS Making the case for why schools need a progression framework for young people on the autism spectrum 113 HEADSTART SCIENCE ASSESSMENTS 112 MYCONCERN SAFEGUARDING SOFTWARE NEWLY QUALIFIED PARENT CUSTOMER SERVICES: aceville@dctmedia.co.uk 0800 904 7000 The key to organising a successful school fundraiser is to come up with a great idea in the irst place 64 TOP SCHOOL TRIPS 68 HISTORY IN THE MAKING 56 60 63 71 114 12 THINGS Ian Goldsworthy takes a wry look at things that only experienced teachers know PUBLISHER: Helen Tudor DISTRIBUTED BY: Distributed by Frontline Ltd., Peterborough. Tel: 01733 555161 PUBLISHED BY: Maze Media (2000) Ltd, 25 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Rd, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8JY. Tel: 01206 505900 GREEN EGGS AND HAM Play with words and the power of persuasion with this Dr. Seuss inspired teaching plan 74 FINDING THE WORDS We need to prioritise language so young children can access the curriculum and succeed 76 AUTHOR IN YOUR CLASSROOM Robin Stevens beamed directly into your learning space – via a free podcast and downloadable resources 79 BOOK TOPIC Explore learning opportunities among the sparse, lyrical prose, stunning landscapes and naturalistic vignettes of The Dam CREATE... How easy is it to make a good spider web with a hoop and string? GO WITH THE FLOW Teaching reading luency can be combined within broader reading lessons DON’T BE BLINDED BY SCIENCE Engaging, curriculum-aligned activities can relieve the pressure of delivering efective STEM lessons A BRUSH WITH FAME Author Lisa Thompson shares thoughts on both her (very) early and current work REGIONAL STORIES, GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE Exploring local history at KS2 – with a journey from cricket in Pudsey to the battleields of the Somme ACCOUNTS: 01206 505995 SUBSCRIPTIONS DEPARTMENT: Andrea Turner GROW YOUR FUNDS Here’s how to design a curriculum with historical content that is both ambitious and carefully sequenced PHOTOGRAPHY: CliQQ Photography, cliqq.co.uk DESIGN & REPROGRAPHICS: Ace Pre-Press 01206 508608 Where to go and what to do when you get out and about with your class this term 53 Jake Burrington jake.burrington@theteachco.com, 01206 505996 ART EDITOR: Richard Allen Preparing to return to work from maternity leave? Here’s some advice. You’ve got this! 43 Hannah Jones, hannah.jones@theteachco.com, 01026 505924 106 ENGLISH, MATHS, SCIENCE, PSHE How can you truly engage with CPD opportunities and maximise their impact? 110 PLAYGROUND SCIENCE 36 ACCOUNT MANAGER: Louis Stephenson, louis.stephenson@theteachco.com, 01206 505927 82 BOOK CLUB We review ive new titles that will excite your class The views in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. Every efort is made to ensure the veracity and integrity of the companies, persons, products and services mentioned in this publication, and the details given are believed to be accurate at the time of going to press. However, no responsibility or liability whatsoever can be accepted for any consequence or repercussion of responding to information or advice given or inferred. Copyright Maze Media (2000) Ltd. www.teachwire.net | 5 MARCH/ APRIL Breaktime News | Interviews | Ideas | Resources | Research Booklist targets KS2 mental wellbeing UK charity The Reading Agency and Libraries Connected have launched a new children’s mental health scheme as part of their Reading Well programme. The Reading Well for Children booklist contains 33 books covering topics “relevant to the children of today”, including grief, anxiety, bullying and staying safe online. The list is targeted at children in KS2 and includes titles suitable for a wide range of reading levels to support less confident readers, and to encourage children to read together with their siblings and carers. Authors including Michael Rosen, Tom Percival, Zanib Mian and Joseph Coelho have been selected to help KS2 children understand and talk about their mental health and wellbeing. For more information see reading-well.org.uk 3 INSTANT LESSONS... (You’re welcome) RECOMMENDED RESOURCES 8 | www.teachwire.net at hs : ng e M Ch al le an d tio ns Ad di ng ct in g Fr ac ra bt Date : Su s: Cha lleng e Math Solv ing Prob lems lving Deci mals Invo Feed back PLAZOOM.COM tor deno mina to: sam e ber. with the e num lear ning the sam fract ions We are iples of subt ract are mult Add and tors that deno mina Nam e: ge Cha llen Sha de Name: to: We are learning up to involving numbers Solve problems three decimal places. and We are Date: learn ing to: Solve proble ms which require knowi decim al equiva lents ng percen of @ , $ , a denom % , E , T and those tage and inator of a multip fractio ns le of 10 or with 25. Tia says: number 0.125 is the largest most digits. because it has the answ ers. = + 0.2 0.05 Is she right? Use = 0.15 0.12 - = Chall enge 0.125 a number line to Ch all Feedback en ge Ma th s: Pe rc en ta an d Fra ge s, De cim als ct ion s Name : Challenge 1 1 in the Date: s Stretch your pupils Because the questions offered by these maths resources from Plazoom are more challenging, they’ll stretch pupils who might otherwise race their way through. Divided into three sections of increasing difficulty and including open-ended problems with many possible answers, they promote thinking at a deeper level. Plazoom.com Frac tion Farming STEMterprise projects from NFU Education take children through each stage of setting up a farm shop business. Practical science and D&T are incorporated throughout the projects and real-life problems are embedded at each stage. education. nfuonline.com/ Stemterprise Fractio ns FARM FUN The Premier League Writing Stars poetry competition returns, with primary school pupils aged ive to 11 across England and Wales encouraged to write on the theme of ambition (see Q&A on page 9). To register and download the free resources, visit PLPrimaryStars. com/resources/ ambition-poetrycompetition-ks2 on s BIG AMBITION Designed to align with the national curriculum, the team at The Monument has produced a self-guided learning resource. With fun cross-curricular activities, this will help teachers and pupils explore The Monument and get the most out of their visit to the famous London landmark. themonument.org. uk/learning Fra cti FIRE INSPIRATION Feedback 1 The green prove your answers. weigh ts are fractio decim als. ns. The orang Fill in the balan ce. missin g e weigh ts labels so The weigh are that the ts on each scales scale add up to 1. + Sha de in the miss ing fraction shows Saturday. This table Amit races every best time. has lost his fourth his best times. He that would 3 possible times Can you write down the table? correctly complete s. = Time in Minutes Position + 26.235 1st = 26.57 2nd - 27.2 3rd = 4th + 5th Page 1 | Y5 ight 2019 27.72 copyr Page 1 | Y5 In each bar, the fractio yellow and ns are green the perce , the decim gaps so ntage s are als are that each orange. row make Fill in the s sense . 3 4 > > 0.5 72% < 51% 7 10 < > = < < copyright 2019 = 25% > 14 25 0.513 70% 5 Page 1 | Y5 copyright 2019 IN EVERY ISSUE A £2m National Lottery-backed project to support children’s learning and ease financial pressure on low-income parents was launched in January, with 128 schools across the UK set to take action over the next three years. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), working with project partners Children North East, will use the funding to help schools remove the financial barriers to learning and participation that hold low-income children back, alongside easing the pressure that school-related costs place on struggling families. The project, UK Cost of the School Day, will roll out to schools in Coventry, Neath Port Talbot, the London boroughs of Greenwich, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, as well as expanding to Moray in Scotland. Sunday-night fear a common complaint A new survey has revealed that over a third (34%) of education professionals sufer from Sunday-night fear, with 33.9% admitting that they’ve called in sick because they were too worried to go to work. The study by CV-Library, which surveyed 2,000 British professionals, found that education workers think 17% that Mondays and Tuesdays are the worst days of the working week, with only 10.2% of respondents choosing either as their favourite day. Unsurprisingly, Friday emerged as the industry’s favourite day of the working week, with 51% voting it number one. In fact, nearly three-quarters (72%) of education professionals regularly get that ‘Friday feeling’ as the week draws to a close. OF FATAL FOOD-ANAPHYLAXIS REACTIONS IN SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN HAPPEN WHILE THEY ARE AT SCHOOL* Look ahead | Book ahead CURRICULUM FOCUS The Harmony in Education Conference, focusing on transforming the curriculum, will take place at University of Winchester on Friday 1st May 2020. See winchester.ac.uk/ harmonyineducation THINKING CREATIVELY Sevenoaks School will host an International Education Symposium on 16-17th October to explore the value, challenge and reward of thinking creatively about teaching and learning in schools. sevenoaksschool.org/symposium Karl Nova Hip hop artist, poet and author What was your experience of primary school like? My experience at Burton End Primary Academy [in Haverhill, Suffolk) was only up until Y3. I remember being creative with drawing and I remember doing pottery in class. It was a good time, although I do remember some teasing from other children. The teacher I had was lovely but for the life of me I can’t remember her name – it was so long ago and so much has happened since then! Did your teachers encourage you to be poetic or creative? Because I left Burton End in Y3, I don’t recall ever doing any poetry. But I do remember being encouraged to read and I did learn to write. I’m sure I learnt all the nursery rhymes I remember from there as well. When I was whisked away from Burton End my mother took me to Lagos, Nigeria, to live with my dad and in school there I didn’t do poetry either. It was the influence of an older cousin, discovering rap music and slam poetry that got me into poetry and creative writing. That’s how I’ve become who I am today. Do you think there is enough onus on poetry in mainstream education? I have been active in creative education for a while now, promoting poetry and creative writing in general in schools. I do think there’s a lot of celebration and promotion of creative writing and reading in British education, which is a great thing. It can only get better. FIND OUT MORE This year’s Premier League Writing Stars competition is encouraging children to write their poems on the theme of ambition, inspired by Karl Nova’s own poem Beautiful Ambition (see ‘Big Ambition’ on page 8). www.teachwire.net | 9 *The Anaphylaxis Campaign Easing the pressure Q&A Gavin McLean VOICES WHY CRITICAL THINKING IS THE FUTURE! By encouraging enquiry-based learning, we can help pupils develop the skills they need to cope with a rapidly changing world edmentum.com C ritical thinking plays a vital role in today’s education settings and, in primary education, should be embraced as an effective way of providing pupils with the foundations and skills set to avoid groupthink and thrive in this new knowledge economy. Critical thinking is an educational methodology that has truly withstood the test of time; in Ancient Greece, Socrates created the Socratic method to establish its foundations. Stemming from a determination to provide a mechanism through which pupils were presented with questions (not answers), this method asks learners to draw upon inquiry, curiosity, reasoning and self-reflection to define the most suitable answer or way forward. Today though, in our modern and technologically driven age, and an era of automation where machine-learning does most of the work, a concerted effort needs to be made to ensure this vital skill set continues to be taught in schools. So what are the skills and traits that critical thinking develops among learners that makes it so valuable? First, it encourages a deeper curiosity about the subjects and topics presented to children in class. It promotes important questions about even the simplest of topics, questioning the status quo and discovering a richer level of understanding. Asking ‘curiosity questions’ like ‘what’s happening?’, ‘why is it important?’ and ‘what’s hidden?’ develops lifelong learners who go on to have a greater appreciation for others’ perspectives and explore issues with a critical eye. Secondly, and somewhat surprisingly, critical thinking enhances pupils’ creativity. This follows critical analysis of issues and problem solving that often calls for creative solutions and thinking ‘outside the box’, transcending more conventional boundaries. With critical thinking comes a freedom from obstacles that may hinder those who haven’t developed critical thinking skills, allowing for more constructive outcomes. Perhaps the most obvious benefit of critical thinking is the well-honed problem-solving skills that follow. Developing critical thinking allows us to make better-informed decisions and use reason to achieve the most effective results. Assessing problems from all manner of angles and perspectives allows pupils to strategically work through the challenge, consider the pros and cons of different solutions and rationally select the path most likely to succeed. All told though, each of these benefits of critical thinking work in tandem to develop independent learners who are empowered to make decisions for themselves – an objective that is central to our job as educators. Understanding the importance of introducing critical thinking to primary pupils is one thing, but effective implementation is another. To help you and your pupils succeed, here are five quick and easy ways to place critical thinking at the centre of your classroom: l Plan for critical thinking time – as with all aspects of teaching, planning is key so keep this in mind when preparing future lessons by allowing extra time for pupils to test their analytical and critical thinking skills. l Make connections to the real world – we all know that real-world examples help give pupils greater purpose to their learning, so integrate practical applications and activities that will allow them to see how they can apply their knowledge and skills in real life. l Encourage reflection to think about concepts – critical thinking isn’t restricted to critiquing the knowledge and views of others; it is also about discovering our personal bias. For this, I recommend creating an online space where questions, thoughts and ideas can be shared. This also creates a safe sharing space for pupils who are reluctant to speak up in front of their peers. l P ose questions – develop your own set of curiosity questions and challenge pupils at the end of each class. This leaves them with something to think about overnight and creates a valuable way of connecting the dots during future lessons. Equally, you can ask the same question at the beginning of the class, and pupils can use the duration of the lesson to come up with solutions and suggestions as individuals or collectively. l Get active – read a statement to your class that has two opposing views. You can then ask pupils to stand on either side of the room to represent their opinion and to move around as their views evolve with each subsequent curiosity question.TP Gavin McLean has worked in academic and educational publishing, edtech strategy and consultancy around the world and is now the international business development director of Edmentum International. www.teachwire.net | 11 FEATURES HISTORY 8 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN facts to wow your class From King Tut and Sem priests to earthquake-making gods and antediluvian toothpaste, these gems are sure to pique pupils’ interest 1 | TUTANKHAMUN WHO? 5 | ODD GODS Thanks to Howard Carter inding the perfectly preserved remains of Tutankhamun in 1922 (nearly 3,000 years after the boy king was buried in his tomb), King Tut has become the most famous pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. He wasn’t that famous at the time though; he became pharaoh at around eight years old and sadly died a mere decade later. Ancient Egyptian gods were incredibly varied. Many of them were inspired by the animals that inhabited Egypt at the time. Ra was the god of the sun and had the head of an eagle. Anubis was the god of mummiication and so had the head of a jackal. Then there was Geb, the goose-headed earth god whose deep booming laughter was believed to cause earthquakes – surely no laughing matter! 2 | STANDING ROOM ONLY Despite Tutankhamun’s tomb being relatively tiny, it was nonetheless crammed with over 5,000 items. There were bows, arrows, thrones, several chariots, board games and even model boats – everything a pharaoh would want to take to the afterlife. 3 | CHANGING THE RELIGION ADRIAN BURROWS is a drama-history practitioner for Imagining History school workshops. Tutankhamun’s father, Akhenaten, was a heretical king who changed Egypt’s religion. Rather than a polytheistic religion (in which many gods are worshipped), Akhenaten favoured worshipping just one – the Aten. His changes were not a hit with the population and led to a ‘chaotic’ period of unrest. Once Akhenaten had popped his sandals he was wiped from history – his statutes were destroyed and monuments dedicated to him were removed. 4 | LOOKING GOOD Along with smelling lovely, Ancient Egyptians (along with the rest of humanity) wanted to look good, too. As most Egyptians walked barefoot, they would rub ointment onto their feet that would ofer protection from both the sun and insect bites. The upper classes would employ manicurists to look after one’s inger and toe nails, while all classes would use toothpaste. One popular recipe consisted of mint, rock salt, pepper and dried iris lower. The paste was initially applied with a inger but later, papyrus mounted on sticks was used as a toothbrush. There are also records of breath mints being used. @imagininghist 6 | PRIESTLY DUTY One of the important types of priest was a Sem. These priests conducted funeral services and so were responsible for mummifying corpses. Each priest was highly respected and they would conduct the spells that guaranteed eternal life. Tick of a Sem priest and you’d be in real trouble! 7 | RESTRICTIVE RULES Egyptian priests had strict rules of hygiene to adhere to. They had to shave their heads and bodies daily (think of the stubble rash!) and had to take cold water baths several times a day. The gods would not have appreciated being tended to by a stinky priest. Indeed many of the spells from the Book of the Dead could not even be spoken unless the priest was wearing clean clothes! 8 | SMELLING FRESH Thanks to some residue found in two-millennia-old amphoras, we now know that myrrh, cinnamon, olive oil and cardamom were all used as ingredients in Ancient Egyptian perfume. This would have created a very musky scent. On special occasions women wore hair cones made of animal fat scented with perfume. The hot Egyptian sun would melt the cone throughout the day, ensuring a constant aromatic scent – though the greasy caked-on residue would have taken more than a Brillo pad to remove. imagininghistory.co.uk www.teachwire.net | 13 VOICES “NOW is the right time to celebrate DIVERSITY ” M y earliest memories of primary school are based around sport. At lunchtime we would go out and play football. It was never long enough. We’d play for around 25 minutes but it would only seem like five minutes, and then the bell would go and we’d have to line up. That was the disappointing part. We’d be having so much fun but it didn’t last long enough. I absolutely loved primary school. And at secondary school, sport provided the motivation for me. I could easily get through any lessons provided there was a carrot dangling at the end of it with rugby, football or cricket. I think school would have been a bigger challenge for me if that wasn’t there. My sporting talent was recognised quite early on. I went to secondary school on a sports scholarship. The school, Catholic University School, was in the centre of Dublin. Children came from both sides of the city, and even from the countryside, but it was a close-knit place when you got there. While I was at primary school it was more my mum and dad encouraging me. In fact, that was continuous all through my time at school, until I left to go to London when I was 16. There was one teacher that really stood out for me. He was the rugby coach and the cricket coach, but also a history and business teacher. So it was no coincidence that I actually really enjoyed those two subjects and was more inquisitive about them over all the others, because I built up a relationship with him through sport and then naturally became more engaged. definitions and terminology surrounding everything about the economy. It was fairly clear cut in terms of what my career would be, I suppose, since I was a teenager. I always wanted to play cricket, and my vision of playing cricket was always in England, and I got the opportunity to go and play when I was 15 and had a trial at Middlesex. It worked out well and I signed the following year. It was my dad who got me into cricket. I grew up with him as a cricket fanatic. I’m one of six children and all my brothers and sisters play cricket. My two sisters play cricket for Ireland and all my brothers have played representative cricket. So my dad’s love and passion for the game certainly rubbed off on us. It’s in the blood. I think now is a really important time to celebrate diversity, given the summer we had and winning the World Cup with team members of different races, religions and countries that they’ve grown up in. We travelled up and down the country during the summer and visited nine different grounds, and every ground we went to replicated what our team looks like. We live in such a diverse society but we’re divided politically, perhaps now more than ever. So it’s important for sport to set an example and get people together and lead from the front. TP England’s ICC Cricket World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan believes sport can bring people together Pretty much everybody who played sport I’d try and be friends with. I think it’s a great way to get to know people and for building memories. And some of my favourite memories are getting the bus to the sports ground on Wednesdays, when it would be sport all afternoon. The sports field was about 40 minutes away, so a lot of my memories are of the time we’d spend on the bus, talking about what happened in school or whatever sporting event that had happened that day or at the weekend. I really enjoyed economics. Again, I had a really good teacher, very engaging. A lot of it was black and white, early curriculum stuff, mainly learning The England and Wales Cricket Board and Premier League have come together to create Roar! for Diversity – a curriculum-linked PSHE resource and competition for seven to 11-year-olds, available to download for free from plprimarystars.com/roar www.teachwire.net | 15 VOICES Each issue we ask a contributor to pen a note they would love to send A letter to... he DfE, whih ees o elp proect oeans I implore the government to look at ways of supporting teachers to deliver marine elements across the curriculum in the future When I was around four years old, I remember spending a family holiday on the beach in Devon. We spent days exploring the plethora of life that lives within the rockpools and I was fascinated with the diversity that we found. There are photographs of me bobbing around in the water that I don’t even remember being taken. From that irst memory, I knew that there was something special about the ocean, and I now know this to be certain. Making up 90% of the living space on this planet and providing half of the oxygen we breathe, each and every day, we quite literally need the ocean to survive. It shapes the features of the earth and makes it liveable – and it connects every single one of us, wherever in the world we are. In the UK and many other countries across the world, young people can go through their entire school lives without learning about topics relating to the ocean. In the UK, which is a maritime nation and a global leader in marine science, ocean-related teaching should be an essential part of the core curriculum ofering – especially in a time when we are experiencing a climate change crisis that is having a very worrying impact. In our modern world, there is a lack of understanding about the ways in which the ocean supports all life on earth and how vital it is for our future survival on this planet – and that is something I believe needs to change, fast. School children are the next generation, and will depend on the ocean to survive as much as we do today – so why are we, as a nation, yet to see the importance of educating them about it? By helping them better understand their connection to the ocean, and their inluence on it, as well as its inluence on them, we can empower children to take steps that will help to safeguard their own futures. And who wouldn’t want to be given that opportunity while there is still time to take action? Creating an ocean-literate nation will ensure the younger generation can choose to live their lives in ways that will help to secure their futures – and our planet’s, too – and we can do that by exposing them to ocean concepts from an early age in schools. Children who are ocean-literate are more likely to adopt pro-ocean behaviours, making small adjustments within their own lives to minimise their environmental impact – ultimately, ensuring a healthier ocean for the beneit and enjoyment of all. There’s a wealth of other beneits of embedding the marine environment into the curriculum, too – from the wide ield of marine-related careers it will open up, to the inspiration and sense of creativity students will gain from engaging with the awe of ocean habitats and animals. A connection to the ocean has also been shown to positively inluence an individual’s mental and physical wellbeing. At the Ocean Conservation Trust, we believe that the addition of ocean elements to the national curriculum at the next reform is of the utmost importance, and would implore you, the DfE, and other statutory bodies to look at ways of supporting teachers to deliver marine elements across the curriculum in the future. There are so many ways that the beauty, geography, history and science of the ocean can inspire and engage students at all levels and across all curriculum subjects, and there’s a wide variety of resources available to teachers online and by interacting with organisations such as the Ocean Conservation Trust. A UK-based teacher survey showed there is huge willingness from teachers to help children learn about the ocean, and many coastal schools ensure they interpret the curriculum to ensure their students get to learn about it. However, we are all connected to the ocean, however far we live from it, so there is much work to be done to ensure it becomes a topic taught in all schools across the country – and that no child inishes their school career without being ocean literate. rom Nicla Nicola Bridge is head of conservation education and communication at Ocean Conservation Trust oceanconservationtrust.org www.teachwire.net www.teachwire.net||23 17 Ginny Bootman VOICES WE ALL NEED SOME HYGGE IN OUR LIVES A Danish word to describe feelings of coziness sums up how we can increase wellbeing – and it can (sometimes) start with a hug... @sencogirl A s a class teacher, I find it really interesting to witness the power of the hug towards other adults in my school. I wasn’t born a hugger; hugging came to me in later life. I don’t quite know why or how but now I am known as the school hugger. I can compartmentalise people into different hugging ‘zones’. We have the non-hugger – “please don’t hug me, I will not hug you back or thank you for a hug”. The reticent hugger – “I would like a hug but will not ask for one or initiate”. And finally the self-confessed huggers – these people hug, well, pretty much just because hugging exists. It should go without saying that you mustn’t hug someone unless you’re absolutely sure they’re OK with it. In my school, if I am in need, I know the people who will give me the hug that I so desperately need. The duration of a hug is also a very important aspect of any hug. If in doubt, hug for less time rather than more. You don’t want to outstay your welcome and you never want to be ejected from a hug – that is just embarrassing! The best hugger in my school is the school dog. He has an amazing capacity to sniff out people who need a hug. Interestingly, seeming non-huggers become huggers where Monty the dog is concerned. I have seen him seek out staff who weren’t even aware they were having a difficult day! He has the ability to calm those around him because of his never-ending kindness and non-judgemental outlook on life. His photo sits pride of place among the other staff photos – in fact, his is largest. One of the children asked the other day if Monty was the headteacher? Out of the mouths of babes… My personal approach to hugging is very ‘scientific’ (in the broadest sense of the word). First, to hug or not to hug, that is the question. My view is not to initiate unless you are committed to the hug. It is better not to have hugged than to do an uncomfortable hug. I have only had one awkward hug moment. It was years ago and someone I didn’t know very well tried to initiate a hug that I did not want to reciprocate so I politely recoiled, and then they high-fived me. All very uncomfortable and a lesson was learned. It’s a bit like putting a kiss on a text message. Once you have put a kiss on one there is an expectation to always sign off like that. Recently, I bought a chair off the internet and the buyer was sending me message replies with a kiss at the end. No, no, no! In the same vein, I once had a headteacher who I messaged without signing off with a kiss. One day, for some reason, she saw a message I had sent to another member of staff that included a kiss. She then went through every message I had sent her, checking for any sign of a kiss on any message but, alas, none were to be found. Suffice to say from that day onwards, I put a kiss on every message I sent her! ‘Hygge’ (pronounced ‘hoo-ga’) is a Danish word acknowledging a feeling or moment that gives a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality, with feelings of wellness and contentment. I, for one, love to snuggle under a soft blanket because it gives me a feeling of comfort. Similarly, as a child, my favourite toy was a dog with beautiful soft fur. By the end of this toy’s life, all that was left was a piece of fabric that I carried around with me as a comforter. I like to think of this as hygge, and I think we can all live by this, whether it is through the act of an actual hug or by making our environment cozy. We all need and find comfort in different ways. It is a case of finding what suits us individuals and respecting the views of others. The word hygge typifies it so well. We can all find wellness and contentment in different ways; let’s embrace them and appreciate how others find this same comfort. Long live the hygge. TP Ginny Bootman is a speaker on the subject of looked-after children and the role of empathy in the classroom. She is a SENCo at Evolve Church Academy, Northamptonshire. www.teachwire.net | 19 VOICES Who can teachers turn to when they feel they are being unfairly treated by the head? The answer isn’t straightforward – or conclusive @fakeheadteacher I am a very good teacher. So I am told, anyway. Ofsted observations have always gone very well, classroom observations have been mostly great. I have been teaching long enough to realise I’m pretty good at my job. There are many of us. However, once you’ve worked in a toxic school, you realise how vulnerable you are. What is toxic school? Perhaps there are too many negative teachers pulling the school down (mood hoovers). Perhaps the SLT is putting too much pressure on staff. Perhaps teachers are being targeted because they are expensive. Perhaps the head is bullying members of staff. It can be a whole range of things. You’ll know if you’ve worked in a toxic school. It’s horrible. My experience of it was when an academy took over the school. A new head of school was appointed and within three months, the morale of the staff plummeted. Staff were systematically targeted with support plans, non-negotiables (not based on research) were introduced and observations were frequent and unsupportive. These were very good teachers working in challenging conditions. The academy had to prove they were impacting on the school. They got it all wrong, in my opinion. So many good teachers left the profession as a result. I was soon hit with a support plan and threatened with capabilities. This was despite a long track record of good teaching and subject management. In fact, Ofsted had visited the school almost immediately after the academy took over and my teaching was deemed good. I was devastated. Unannounced learning walks were introduced and the level of scrutiny that was put into place (to support me) was patronising and unnecessary. As upset as I was, I decided to crack on with it and prove them wrong. It didn’t work. Two weeks later, I was told everything I was doing wasn’t good enough. I was on UPS3. Maybe this was why. Every week, despite the fact I had done everything they had said to do on my support plan, they would find something new to headteacher-newsletter.com criticise. Once I had accepted that I was indeed being targeted, I spoke up. It made no difference. And this is the point I want to raise in this article. Who can teachers speak to about career threatening decisions that are being made about them? In my case, I spoke to the head first. I was very honest. I told him I felt I was being targeted unfairly. He disagreed and suggested someone from the academy could come in to observe my teaching too. Mmm. OK. That might help. A second opinion, perhaps. I was very naive. It didn’t go well. Of course it didn’t. The academy was probably putting pressure on the head to target staff in the first place. Perhaps my union could help. They came into school and spoke to the head. She gave him a ticking off and said he shouldn’t treat staff this way. He said there was nothing the union could do as he was free to make judgments on the teaching and learning in school. My rep wasn’t a teacher. She didn’t observe me. She took no interest in progress in books or my classroom environment. She knew her legal stuff but couldn’t argue my case about my teaching. Back to square one. I wonder if there should be a ‘third party’ support team that could be called upon when a teacher feels they are being treated unfairly. I desperately needed an independent person or a team of people to come in to verify the head’s decisions. Oh, but wait… Ofsted came in. They said I was good. That didn’t matter. Another third party then, away from Ofsted? They could scrutinise the head’s support plans and discuss why capabilities are threatened. Is the head being fair? Career changing decisions should be taken very seriously. When things get as far as they did for me, an independent third party would have been very beneficial – people who have experience in the classroom who could challenge or support the head’s decisions. I was lucky. I was able to find another job before things worsened. Others crumbled and went off long-term sick. They never returned. Would an independent third party – quality control – minimise these occurrences? I still feel very angry about what happened. I felt very vulnerable. It never should have happened.TP “I was soon hit with a support plan and threatened with capabilities” The writer has taught in five schools across a 20 year career. www.teachwire.net | 21 PARTNER CONTENT 5 ReallySchool 30 SECOND BRIEFING REASONS TO TRY… ReallySchool is a cloudbased assessment solution that allows you to capture, record and apply assessments to each stage of skills acquisition for every pupil in your EYFS, KS1 or KS2 classroom as you go – helping you reclaim your time for teaching. An intuitive app and desktop portal for better quality observations and assessments in less time… 1 SIMPLE AND ACCESSIBLE Designed in the style of regular social media apps, ReallySchool is intuitive and easy to use with no training required. This makes it accessible for everyone – even for teachers who are less conident with technology. You can take photos of observations and apply assessments in just a couple of clicks from its in-built, current, UKwide assessment criteria. You can even add existing photos from your device, if appropriate, and enhance your observations with video and audio notes. 2 SAVE TIME, DO MORE! You can apply assessments quickly and easily via ReallySchool’s comprehensive, in-built, UK-wide criteria. With a corresponding online desktop area providing a variety of reports and journals, ReallySchool allows teachers and senior leaders to quickly gain valuable insights into their students’ learning and progress, even down to how much support they had for a particular activity. With so many features readily available in a matter of clicks, teachers tell us that ReallySchool saves around two hours each day! 3 SEE LEARNING GAPS ReallySchool creates a handy online log of observation data that can show you a timeline of each pupil's progress. Together with the student progress reports, you can see how each individual has progressed over time and, most importantly, where their learning gaps are. This eliminates the task of having to look back over historic observations to work it out for yourself – allowing you to focus on the task of illing those gaps and moving forward. Contact: contact@reallyschool.com To ind out more about ReallySchool and get your three-month free trial, visit www.reallyschool.com/ofer 4 LEADERSHIP REPORTS AND STUDENT JOURNALS enhanced ones for staf that will show which statements have been achieved and how many are left to do. For additional insights, senior leaders can also create and download a range of reports that cover class and student progress, baseline assessments, end of KS1/2 assessments, whole-school attainment and SOAP reports. 5 PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT You can share individual achievements with parents directly to their own dedicated version of the ReallySchool app, including images, video and audio clips – as well as leave comments for them to read and respond to. Parents can be updated by checking the app as easily as checking their emails. You can quickly and easily generate journals of pupils’ progress directly from ReallySchool to show to parents at parents’ evenings – or, alternatively, KEY POINTS Encourage achievement with student badges for good efort, behaviour, teamwork – and more! Apply to pupils’ records and share with parents. Use audio and video to include children in their own learning and provide evidence of achievement. Record audio comments to support observations. Realistically priced, ReallySchool ofers a multitasking solution with time-saving, eiciency and wellbeing beneits at a budget-friendly cost. ReallySchool was a Bett Awards inalist in 2019 and 2020 – and a Gold Award winner in the Nursery World Technology and Equipment Awards 2019. www.teachwire.net | 23 Build POSITIVE Relationships with PARENTS Efective communication with pupils is one challenge, but mums and dads require a very diferent approach. Here’s how you can nail it... STEPH CASWELL Advice for NQTs I f I were to ask you to think about the best relationships you have in your life, which ones immediately spring to mind? Maybe it’s with a spouse or a sibling or a 30 | www.teachwire.net parent. Maybe it’s the ones you have with your best friends. No matter who it’s with, these relationships bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your heart when you think of them. But what if we took things a step further? What if I asked you why that relationship is so positive, why it makes you so happy? You’d probably tell me about experiences you’ve shared together or conversations you’ve had that made you laugh until your sides ached. You’d be able to tell me how that person makes you feel when you see or speak to them. And this is what makes these relationships so positive. At the bottom of it, you see, underneath all the layers of laughter and special memories, positive relationships come down to a great level of communication; it enables them to work well and without it, relationships fall apart. So, it makes sense, then, that a good level of communication is going to help you build positive relationships with the parents you meet throughout your teaching career, too. But how can you go about it? Daily habits The easiest way to build great relationships with parents is to develop daily communication habits that you consistently keep – habits that aren’t arduous or diicult to maintain, but that can have the greatest impact for you and for the parents. It all starts FEATURES COMMUNICATION with opening the door in the morning or greeting your class in the playground. Smile and have open, relaxed body language. Make eye contact with parents and with the children. Humans read a lot from the body language of others. If you come out with your arms folded and an I-hate-Mondays look on your face, your approachability levels plummet and parents will begin to form opinions about you. It’s not their fault; they’re human. Have an awareness as to the tone of your voice, too. When it comes to the end of the day, be visible. Expect parents to want a conversation, even if it’s just to check something simple. If a parent asks to speak to you, welcome them into the classroom and give them your time and your undivided attention. If you can’t speak to them for long due to meetings, open your diary and actively show them you’re willing to make time on another day to get to the bottom of whatever the problem is. Get into the habit of sharing positive feedback with parents. Don’t just ask to speak to them when things haven’t gone well for their child. Why not let them know when their child has done something to be extra proud of? A quick phone call or chat after school can work wonders. It’s something most parents will cherish and will go a long way in helping you to build your positive relationship with them. If a situation has occurred where a child has made some poor behaviour choices, make sure you address it in a timely manner. Ask to speak to the parent but don’t make it obvious to the others. It’s embarrassing and can make some parents become defensive. Keep things conidential and take the parent’s feelings into consideration, particularly if you have to speak to them regularly about the behaviour of their child. Structured conversations Part of our job as teachers is to sometimes have diicult conversations with parents about their children. Sometimes, these can be quite stressful for both the parents and the teacher. In order to make these conversations as constructive as possible, there are certain things you need to try to do. Getting this right can really have a positive impact on your relationships and can boost your conidence, too. An easy thing to remember is to structure the conversation in a way that keeps you in control as much as possible. Start by stating why you have asked the parents to speak to you on this particular occasion. If something sensitive needs to be shared, give the parents a prior warning that some parts of the conversation might be diicult to hear. Present the facts as you know them. If it is something to do with their child’s behaviour choices, give them the information that is true, not something that you think happened or hearsay from other children. If you have investigated the situation, explain that to them and tell them what you found out. Give the parents time to respond. Listen to what they have to say. Listen with your whole body, maintaining open body language and eye contact. If they become upset or angry, realise that it’s just part of the process. Apologising for how they feel can help to difuse it to some degree, as it shows empathy. You’re not apologising for doing something wrong, just for how this situation has made them feel, regardless if you think their reaction is right or wrong. Make notes and highlight any actions you have agreed to take – for example, seeking advice from a senior leader. Whatever actions you agree to do, you must do them. It never hurts to follow up with the parents after a few days either. Finish the conversation by reading back through your actions and agreeing to a deadline for these – the sooner the better. It ensures that the situation can be resolved quickly and eiciently. Consistency Keeping a consistent approach will ensure you maintain positive relationships with parents. It isn’t always easy though, so if a conversation becomes diicult to manage, ask a senior leader to step in and support you. Also seek advice and reassurance from your mentor. Managing the expectations of parents is a skill and one that takes practice. Keep to your daily habits and your conidence and expertise will continue to grow. TP Steph Caswell is an educational coach and author. strivecoachingand development.co.uk MANAGING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS – THE CALM APPROACH Conversations with parents can be challenging, particularly if they are angry or confrontational. If this happens, it’s best to have a few tricks up your sleeve. C – Clear the Area Some parents like an open forum to air their unhappiness. However, most like things to be done privately, even if they’re voicing their opinions loudly at the start. Get the situation under control by moving the two of you away and into the privacy of your classroom/meeting room. A – Apologise Apologise for how the parent is feeling at this moment in time. You’re not suggesting that you have something to be sorry about – you don’t even know what the complaint is yet, but you want to open up the lines of communication. L – Listen Listening is the key to success in any conversation with a parent, but so few of us do it effectively. It can be hard but avoid interrupting the parent as they’re sharing their concerns; it’ll only rile them up even more. Let them speak without interruption. M – Make an Action Plan From investigating what happened or passing it on to someone more senior, an action plan is necessary. Arrange a follow-up meeting/phone call, as this will give you a deadline – make sure you stick to it. @stephcaswell_ www.teachwire.net | 31 FEATURES CPD Onwards and UPWARDS Professional learning and development is crucial for reigniting a passion for the job, so how can you truly engage with opportunities and maximise their impact? CATHERINE CARDEN AND VIRGINIA BOWER T eaching can be the most exciting and rewarding profession, but it is also incredibly demanding and we can, as teachers, be asked to enact and endorse practices, pedagogies and principles that are not our own; enforced through a top-down hierarchy emanating from often unseen powers. This can have the effect of diminishing our sense of autonomy and agency, leading to a feeling of disempowerment, ultimately affecting motivation. Professional learning and development is crucial for reigniting a passion for the job and for providing the opportunity to expand and deepen subject and pedagogical knowledge while interacting with like-minded professionals. But why do teachers engage so little in development and learning opportunities? And when they do, why are they often negatively evaluated or have limited impact? There are five possible reasons as to why: l Teachers await permission or instruction from senior leaders or the governing body to engage in professional development and learning, rarely seeking it for themselves; l The professional development and learning is not relevant or suitable for the teacher or leader, or is not taking place at the right time in the academic calendar or career trajectory; l The learning and development offered or available does not match the aspirations and interests of the teacher; l The sessions are instructional and mechanistic – a set of ‘you musts’ and ‘to dos’ rather than offering a space to critically engage, debate and think; l The development happens in isolation, with teachers receiving input rather than having the opportunity to explore topics and create communities and networks. It is important, therefore, that your professional learning and development is suitable, timely and relevant to you – rather than others deciding the agenda and what you ‘need’. The professional learning and development you engage with must be of personal, professional interest, inspiring you and offering the opportunity to change and challenge your thinking, leading to developments and improvements in your own pedagogy and practice. At the same time, your learning should consider varying perspectives and enable you to establish a network beyond your immediate school community. All of the above is achievable but, at times, this might mean sourcing and self-funding your own professional development and learning (particularly if your setting does not have the budget to support you). Professional development should undoubtedly be an entitlement but, certainly in current times, this is often not a school priority. While this is not an ideal, we would argue that time and money spent on germane and powerful learning experiences will always pay you back over and over again. Consider the type of professional development and learning that will best suit your current needs. The following questions can ascertain what type of professional development is most suitable and then help you critically appraise the selection on offer: l What types of knowledge acquisition does the CPD support – procedural or propositional? l Is the principal focus on individual or collective development? l To what extent is the CPD used as a form of accountability? l What capacity does the CPD allow for supporting professional autonomy? l Is the fundamental purpose of the CPD to provide a means of transmission or to facilitate transformative practice? Traditionally, or most commonly, CPD centres around the delivery of information and is based on a training style model whereby material is presented by the facilitators or expert, the recipient playing a passive role with occasional opportunity for group discussion or sharing a response to a task. Of course, there are times when this approach is appropriate – when disseminating policy, for example – but, in the main, this format of CPD is reductive and disempowering. So what does effective teacher development and professional learning actually look like? We believe that a model based on teachers exploring their own stories and narratives, and engaging in collaborative learning directly relevant to their classroom lives, has the potential to empower, galvanise and re-energise, while promoting a commitment to lifelong learning. Transformative professional learning and development creates a space to connect and think, and the opportunity to debate, explore and challenge. Most importantly, take ownership of your own professional development and learning. Invest in yourself and your career by putting development at the core of your professional identity. TP Catherine Carden and Virginia Bower are both consultants with Bowden Education. @bowdeneducation bowdeneducation.org www.teachwire.net | 33 RIBE SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE Subscription order form Air Business Subscriptions, Rockwood House, 9-17 Perrymount Road, RH16 3DW YES!Please start my subscription to Teach Primary 1 DIRECT DEBIT 4 issues for £18.99 2 CHEQUE/ CREDIT CARD 8 issues for £38.99 (1 year) 3 PLEASE INVOICE ME 16 issues for £78.99 (2 years) The Jolly Phonics at Home kit is an extensive range of Jolly Phonics materials that have been carefully developed to be used with children who are at the early stages of reading and writing. 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Read it at tinyurl.com/tpareyounew Chart your PUPILS’ GROWTH Why schools need a progression framework for young people on the autism spectrum How To Write A Behaviour Plan Do your behaviour reports serve a practical purpose? Here’s where you might be going wrong... Read it at tinyurl.com/tpbehaviourplan Identifying Dyslexic Pupils’ Strengths Pupils with dyslexia can and will thrive if schools can properly build on their talents, argues Jules Daulby. Read it at tinyurl.com/tptalents REQUEST YOUR FREE COPY Our sister title SENCo provides useful ideas, practical guidance and thoughtful insights into SEND provision. Request your free copy at teachwire.net/free-senco 36 | www.teachwire.net SUZANNE FARRELL R ecent legislative changes and reports relating to the education of pupils with SEND have focused on the need to consider their wider long-term outcomes and preparation for adulthood. The SEND Code of Practice cites the need to prepare young people for employment, independent living, community participation and health. Resources that support this aim, such as those from Preparing for Adulthood (for more on this see preparingforadulthood.org.uk) now place particular emphasis on the need to work towards these outcomes from the child’s earliest years. The assessment reforms introduced by the Commission on Assesssment Without Levels in 2015 highlighted the need to take a more holistic approach assessing pupils with SEND. More recently, Ofsted’s new ‘Quality of Education’ judgment links a school’s curriculum, in terms of how it’s designed, taught and assessed, more closely with its impact on learners’ outcomes in order to better prepare them for life after school. For children and young people on the autism spectrum, support may be required in areas relating to the social and emotional aspects of learning. For some pupils, making progress in these areas will enable them to access learning in the academic curriculum. Improvements in a pupil’s ability to regulate their own behaviour or sensory needs, for example, may lead to improved engagement which in turn may drive progress within national curriculum subjects. Many practitioners recognise the need to prioritise these aspects of learning, but may lack access to systems that support them in identifying priorities and tracking pupils' progress. In 2015, the Autism Education Trust, with funding from the DfE, commissioned a project to develop a progression framework and accompanying training module specific to the needs of pupils on the autism spectrum. This work involved a literature review and a wide-ranging consultation with practitioners, parents, pupils and adults on the autism spectrum (see tinyurl.com/aet-aa-15). The resulting AET Autism Progression Framework was subsequently made freely available to schools and implemented widely across a range of mainstream and specialist FEATURES SEND services. An evaluation of the framework was then carried out, the findings of which were used to inform a revised Autism Progression Framework 2.0 and suite of accompanying resources. These have recently been launched and are now available as free downloads from the AET website. The AET Progression Framework is designed to support staff in identifying learning priorities and measuring progress in areas that other tools and assessment materials may not cover. It’s intended to be accessible to practitioners working with pupils across the autism spectrum, and can be used in a range of formats according to a service’s needs. The new materials recommend four key steps for using the framework that fit alongside the Code of Practice’s ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle. importantly, it aims to alert practitioners to the fact that the progress of children may depend on support in these areas being available. It’s by no means exhaustive, however, and practitioners are encouraged to tailor or write their own personalised learning intentions according to each individual’s needs. Extensive content Each area is then sub-divided so that users can focus on the relevant learning for a particular pupil. ‘Social understanding and relationships’, for example, is divided into: ‘Being with others’; ‘Interactive play’; ‘Positive relationships (supporting adults)’; ‘Positive relationships and friendships (peers)’; and ‘Group activities’. Those areas are then broken down further into more detailed outcome areas and learning intentions that identify small The progression framework provides an extensive ‘bank’ of learning intentions based on an understanding of autism and the challenges that young people may face within education settings. It aims to address skills and understanding that pupils might find difficult as a consequence of their autism, but also strives to recognise and build on their strengths and interests, and improve their overall wellbeing. Most The main areas of learning in the framework are as follows: l Communication and interaction l Social understanding and relationships l Sensory processing l Interests, routines and processing l Emotional understanding and self-awareness l Learning and engagement l Healthy living l Independence and community participation steps of learning. Practitioners are encouraged to select or personalise a small number of learning intentions relevant to an individual – potentially five or six per term. Progress towards these goals can then be measured against a four-point progress scale over a year or other specified time period. Degrees of progress are celebrated as the development of skills, and understanding across contexts is recorded. The framework isn’t intended as a checklist of skills to be worked through, but rather provides evidence of progress in areas relevant to each pupil at specific points in their school career. Schools have a number of options for ways in which the framework might be used and different formats are available. They may: l Draw on the content of the framework contained in the free PDF document to inform existing procedures, such as EHCPs, IEPs or provision maps l Use learning intentions with existing progress measures within their schools, or the sample individual learning plan template provided in the free PDF document l Use the free spreadsheet version (which includes a guidance document) l Subscribe to an evidence-based online version powered by ShowProgress (see showprogress.co.uk) One of the framework’s key aims is to provide a starting point for identifying individual priorities via ‘learning conversations’ between key people, including parents and the pupils themselves, as advocated in the code of practice. The new resources accompanying the revised materials include a questionnaire for pupils and/or parents and a two-page summary of the main outcome areas for use as a ‘way in’ or discussion tool. ‘Mapping documents’ are also available, which link AET Progression Framework outcomes with 'EYFS Areas of Learning' and 'Preparing for Adulthood' outcomes. The AET Autism Progression Framework materials, accompanying guidance and information on training is available from autismeducationtrust.org.uk/pf-2 TP Suzanne Farrell is the project lead for the AET Autism Progression Framework, developed for the AET by Autism Associates (autismassociates.co.uk) @AutismEducatio1 autismeducationtrust.org.uk www.teachwire.net | 37 Newly qualified PARENT Your year of endless nappies and night-feeds is fast approaching and you’re preparing to return to work after maternity leave. You’ve got this! EMMA MALLETT N QT vs NQP (newly qualified parent). Two surprisingly similar initialisms. Both can feel overwhelming, chaotic, sleep-depriving and are certainly coffee-fuelled. All things considered, perhaps parenthood is the perfect preparation for returning to teaching after all. The end is in sight. Your year of seemingly endless nappies, night-feeds and blitzing nutritionally balanced purees is fast approaching. You feel torn. On one hand, returning to work represents adult conversation (can you remember that?), intellectual stimulation and a setting where you are recognised as a professional first, then a parent. On the other hand (although let’s face it, it’s more like arm now your once-miniscule newborn has grown at such a rapid pace), there’s your baby – the most perfect creature who can literally transform your day with a giggle or a trusting hand gripping yours. It is inevitable that your new life as a teacher-parent will change your priorities and how you structure your day. It is complicated and challenging but has the potential to be both rewarding and fulfilling. You are now shaping the future for children both in your professional and personal life. 38 | www.teachwire.net 1 Keep in touch The first piece of advice is to keep in touch with your school, through formal ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘KIT’ days to informal pop-ins allowing your colleagues to coo over your new baby. These visits enable you to maintain your connection to work and will ultimately ease your re-entry into the profession. Legally, teachers are allowed to return to the workplace to complete ten KIT days during their maternity leave. These days are paid in addition to your ever-dwindling maternity pay, so are worth making the most of. Arrange to meet with your headteacher or leadership team in advance of your KIT days to ensure they are purposeful. Could you arrange to lead a regular intervention slot in the lead up to KS1/2 SATS? Are there any groups of children who would benefit from specific intervention? Creating a FEATURES RETURN TO WORK regular routine ensures that your KIT days have purpose and can be planned/resourced in advance, thus alleviating any stress or uncertainty you may feel upon returning to work. on your partner-teacher to communicate effectively with you. You would need to be proactive in finding out how your pupils found a particular topic to determine whether there are children who require intervention or post-teaching to embed this new learning. You will also have to be prepared to share a teaching space and may find your partner-teacher has different ideas about how best to organise a classroom and 4 Champion yourself 5 Be your own person As each August draws to an end, every teacher begins to be plagued with the return-to-work doubts. Can you still control a class of 30? What if they don’t listen to you? Can you remember the difference between a subordinate clause and a main clause? What even is a modal auxiliary? These doubts rise to the surface of our minds after a six-week break from school, so it Don’t compare yourself to others. You must choose what is right for you and your family. Your priorities are going to be split from now on and this 2 Meet in advance doesn’t make you any less of a Prior to returning to work, teacher or a parent. There will schedule a meeting with your be times when you are asked to headteacher or SLT to discuss work late, cover a club or meet your return. Your employer a parent. If the time suggested must offer you the same does not work for your new contract you were on prior to schedule, be honest but firm. maternity leave. However, you Have a few stock phrases may feel this isn’t right for you prepared: “I’m not at school now. Whether to return full- or that day,” or, “That won’t work part-time, and to relinquish or for me.” This will enable you to apply for responsibilities and set boundaries and maintain a TLRs are difficult decisions to work-life balance. make now they have greater In summation, trust impact on your family life. yourself. Returning to work is Returning full-time may be daunting but you are a trained when to mark those dreaded right for you. You are already professional with years of is utterly expected to experience hot-writes. Another option aware of the amount of work experience under your belt. a heightened case of ‘imposter could be to discuss with your and effort that is required. You Think back to your NQT year; syndrome’ when returning to headteacher/SLT whether would remain fully in charge of tasks that would have seemed work after a 12-month absence. you could be responsible for a your class and could thus plan momentous have become You will inevitably find that your subject specific set, thus giving your timetable to suit you. For second nature. NQP year: you’ve doubts are unfounded and that you full ownership over the instance, if you need to leave got this. Welcome back. TP 12 months away from teaching progress of a particular group work early on a particular day, hasn’t somehow rendered your of pupils. marking can be taken home skillset useless or outdated. and meetings can be scheduled You may find your newfound Emma 3 Get organised around this home-life status as a teacher-parent has Mallett, commitment. As a part-time In order to reduce any potential increased your levels of empathy English teacher, you may not be able anxiety upon returning to work, and will allow you to relate to BA (Hons) to take books home with you you need to be confident in your students on another level. If and Med if they are required the next your chosen childcare. Explore you do still find yourself lacking (Cantab), day by students and likewise, any options you can find, be it in confidence, speak to your is currently there are fewer days available sweet-talking grandparents or colleagues. Is there any training an oracy lead and Y6 for after-school meetings friends, or choosing the right you need to be updated on? teacher, and mum to a cheeky with parents or colleagues, nursery for your child. Are there new policies in place one-year-old sleep thief. so flexibility on these could Consider how each of these you should be aware be limited. options could work around of? Would they be If you decide that working after-school commitments, prepared to allow part-time would best fit your unexpected meetings or a you to unofficially new teacher-parent balance, parents’ evening that has observe their you need to consider the overrun. Have the dreaded ‘chat’ teaching pros and cons of a job with your partner and determine practice? share. Collaboration who is responsible for picking up with colleagues can and dropping off on which days lead to some of the and how you will deal with any most innovative potential sickness. If possible, and effective start this routine early so that teaching your child feels settled and practice; you are confident they however, you are happy in their new are reliant schedule before you return to work. “Consider how childcare options could work around after-school commitments” www.teachwire.net | 39 Explore a new world of literacy resources for every classroom... What can you expect from Plazoom? 4 Resources created by experts with many years of invaluable teaching experience FREE WEEKLY 4 Bright, beautiful designs to inspire children’s curiosity RESOURCES! 4 Free weekly downloads! Featuring wall displays, worksheets, activity ideas and much more! FREE! FREE! Visit www.plazoom.com/free to download free resources plus get 20%* off all collections when you sign up to our newsletter. *Discount applies to all collections FEATURES FUNDRAISING Grow your funds The key to organising a successful school fundraiser is to come up with a great idea in the irst place. Here are some tips to help you… LINDSEY MARSH 1 school performance, or even invite students to sing at community events (like Christmas lights switch-ons and community fun days). polls or surveys and meet with potential supporters to ask key questions, get an idea of numbers and establish any special requirements they may have. The best school fundraisers are not only Make the appealing but inclusive too. budget work Find out what ideas senior Work out your budget and leaders and school governors may generate ideas that will work have for events and factor these with it. If you are on a shoestring into your plans. Engage other key budget, then lowstaff too – for example, if you are or zero-cost planning a fitness fundraiser then fundraisers like invite sports teachers to support sponsored your project. Go over ideas with walks could be a step the school administrator and site in the right direction. manager and get them onboard Another alternative is to too (especially if you need them work with external to stay over late). And don’t forget partners; sports providers like about you! What are your Sports for Schools, for example, interests and what skills do a football fundraiser. can organise free fundraisers in you have? If you love music How much time do you school (so far, they have worked and can play the guitar, why have and when do you need with over 6,000 schools and raised not organise an evening to raise money by? Questions, over £4.2m). You could also lean questions! Factor in your schedule on local businesses for support; if meal and entertain guests with music you play? and any deadlines you need to you don’t have a big budget to Think about what help work to. If time is short, cross big organise a summer fair, then you have. If you are short of fundraisers off your list rather than running stalls helping hands, then plan and focus on quick wins like in-house, why not invite local events where parents supervise bake sales and opportunities businesses to run these stalls their own children and explore to fundraise at school events. instead? Local face-painters and low-key fundraisers like yard For example, you could invite ice cream vans could bring their sales (which are outdoors and parents along to breakfast own resources and manage their easy to manage if you don’t have club for a ‘family breakfast’ own sales, and you could fundraise too much going on). Organise fundraiser, organise a through stallholder fees and fundraisers that give students the raffle or tombola at a donations received based on a opportunity to take on key roles percentage of their profits. too (for example, they could run their own stall at a fete or fair, or Get people host a quiz or show). If onboard early you have time for DBS Once you have decided on a checks then you could target audience, try to find invite parents, businesses, out what type of events charity workers and other people would like. Organise volunteers along to help. Start at the end When you’re planning your fundraising, a good place to start is by working out your outcomes. What do you need to raise money for? How much do you need to raise? What are the end goals? Think of fundraisers that would be a good match for your cause. If, for example, you would like to raise funds (and awareness) for your sports hall refurb, then get the ball rolling with 2 3 www.teachwire.net | 43 4 and use this information to help you win! What resources do you have What education things are access to? Pull out those trending? Check what national inventories and consider any resources you can use to generate awareness events are forthcoming income. If, for example, you have and consider involving them in your fundraiser (by participating old books hiding away in store cupboards then a story evening or in them, you can often access free resources too). What else is book-turned-movie night could make great sense for your school. trending right now? Has a new well-known film or book just been Does your school have an released that everyone loves? If so, orchard? If so, why not harvest take the initiative to link your those apples and make jam and fundraiser to it. chutneys to sell? Are there any other resources you can access? If Think things you can borrow bikes from your local council, or another school, through why not get the wheels in motion Think about your school values with a bike relay or bike-a-thon? and policies, and any messages ideas will send out. For example, is Add extra value your school happy to organise a Can you raise attainment as bingo night, or is there a concern it promotes gambling? Think about well as raise money? If you can safety too – what level of risk is add educational value to your fundraiser then you really are on your school willing to take? If your to a winner! If, for example, your school is not risk-accepting then throw high-risk ideas like bungee school needs to boost literacy levels then a scrabble tournament jumps and abseils out! or story evening could be just what you need. Remember to Generate involve students in organising the ideas event too – they can gain all sorts Once you have considered of skills (leadership, money, these factors, you will have teamwork, communications). hopefully then identified suitable How fun is your idea? No one fundraisers. You could come up wants to attend an event that is with your own fundraising ideas, boring and if you can make the but there are also A-Zs and lists idea unusual and different, it is of ideas online too. more likely to gain attention. So, rather than always organising Think traditional school discos, why not organise a glow party or strategically rollerskating disco instead? When you have an idea you like, work out what the return on investment is. Calculate the Think wider number of attendees you aim to Think about what events attract and multiply this against would work well in view of your the amount you hope to raise per school calendar, the seasonal person, then deduct any estimated calendar and any wider costs. Is the fundraiser likely to fundraising plans you might achieve your targets? If not, you have. Think back to past events your school has had too – Is it time might need to revise the idea to repeat events that have proven or explore other fundraising channels instead. As well as successful in the past? Or do you need to space things out generating income through entry fees, stallholder fees, a bit, to keep things varied and raffles, tombolas and interesting? Look at any event through any products evaluations too (to remind or services you sell, you yourself of what worked and could also appeal for what could have been improved) Be resourceful 7 5 donations. Millions of pounds have already been raised through fundraising sites like JustGiving and Crowdfunder – is your school one the many already signed up? think about food, entertainment, dress codes, themes, decorations, guests lists and special guest appearances. Create an action plan and maybe even set up a fundraising committee – there could be lots of things you need to Secure a work through health and safety, head start Once you have settled on an idea marketing, insurance and that can work, get feedback on it contingency plans. There are a zillion free and approval for it to go ahead. resources you can download off Give it a fun name and, depending the internet to help make life on your event, you might need to easier when planning fundraising events (such as event toolkits, checklists, budget planners, risk assessments, event name generators, fundraising widgets, planning apps and more). These resources can really help you save time so that you can plan with ease and enjoy the process of fundraising yourself! TP 10 8 9 6 44 | www.teachwire.net Lindsey Marsh is author of The School Fundraising Handbook (£16.99, Crown House Publishing). PARTNER CONTENT THE WOW FACTOR A trip to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Bring learning to life at the UK’s largest zoo, where students can head into the wilderness and come noseto-nose with some of the world’s most endangered species. A trip to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo is the perfect way to put current environmental issues into context while empowering students to make a diference. Enhance your visit by adding a curriculum-linked workshop, taught by an expert team of learning oicers. Explore how a trip to Whipsnade can link to your topic. Contact: www.zsl.org/education 0344 225 1826 schools@zsl.org HABITATS ADAPTATIONS LIFECYCLES MINIBEASTS Delve into the habitats of diferent animals from across the world. Explore Asia, meeting nature’s greatest giants; head to Serengeti and meet our pride of lions and journey through a tropical butterly biome. Try the Habitats (KS1/2) workshop where your students will consider how diferent animals are suited to diferent habitats. Explore the adaptations of diferent animal species, discovering how closely related species difer due to the habitat they’ve evolved to live in. Students can encounter real-life examples of ZSL’s conservation projects, showing how animals are responding to changes in their environment. Try the Interactive Adaptations Trail on your next visit (KS1/2). Discover how a variety of diferent animals grow, develop and produce ofspring. Visit the Butterly House, where there’s an interactive Metamorphosis Zone showing students every stage of the caterpillar/butterly lifecycle. Try the Lifecycles (KS1) workshop, where students will consider their own lifecycle compared to diferent animals. Find out what roams between the exotic species at the zoo. Take your students on an expedition exploring the habitats to uncover native species. Try the Minibeast Explorers (KS1), where they’ll collect real data on native species found in our specially designed wildlife habitat. Students will be introduced to food chains through engaging activities. www.teachwire.net | 47 FEATURES TRIPS OUT & ABOUT SPOTLIGHT ON… Residentials A study undertaken by University of Cumbria found that residential experiences had a positive impact on pupils’ progress and sustained attainment among ‘vulnerable’ students. The comparative research project involved Y6 pupils from eight schools in Wigan, who took part in a four-night residential experience. Schools involved found the nature of a residential trip enabled their pupils to establish new ways of being friendly, and children were able to develop friendships across normal social groups. They experienced a sense of achievement, a growing sense of motivation to learn and be part of the community, along with growing respect for each other. Children also developed proactive behaviours in the tasks, in community life and socially. Chris Loynes of University of Cumbria said: “The positive impact on attainment for vulnerable pupils was an important finding. The explanation put forward by teachers was that the confidence gained while away on the residential, coupled with enhanced relationships with peers and staff, compensated for the negative impacts on learning experienced outside of the school’s control.” REQUEST YOUR FREE COPY In our sister title Top School Trips we explore the benefits of getting out of school, highlight the best visits on offer and provide expert planning advice. Request your free copy at teachwire.net/free-copy Where to go and what to do with your class this term… Must-visit THE BRONZE AGE ROUNDHOUSE Beeston Castle, Cheshire Over the past 12 months, a crack team of 60 English Heritage volunteers has been hard at work making use of authentic tools and techniques to recreate a Bronze Age roundhouse like those that stood on the site more than 4,000 years ago. The Bronze Age house at Beeston Castle will help visitors walk in the footsteps of those who inhabited the site around 4,000 years ago. Visit tinyurl.com/tpbeeston WHY VISIT… LEEDS CASTLE, MAIDSTONE, KENT “Leeds Castle offers 13 different educational workshops, which we have developed for children aged 3-14. We also deliver educational talks to a wide range of age groups. In 2017, we were delighted to win our third Sandford Award and our chief executive, Sir David Steel, often refers to the education department as “the jewel in Leeds Castle’s crown”. We are passionate that all children who visit us develop a lifelong love of learning and history.” Helen Ellis, education manager, Leeds Castle www.teachwire.net | 49 PARTNER CONTENT Days to remember “Studying the Holocaust is very relevant for children as a platform for lots of cross-curricular work. It makes them question and think about other issues.” Pat Thompson, assistant head, Wynndale Primary School Take Leo’s journey with us Pupils learn to: The Journey is an award-winning exhibition designed for primary schools and the only one of its kind in Europe. + Investigate ideas + Think critically + Stand up against hate Pupils will visit the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Laxton, Nottinghamshire, and follow the story of a young Jewish boy from 1930s Nazi Germany to safety in England via the Kindertransport. Our educators will empower your Key Stage 2 pupils to: • Experience a Holocaust survivor sharing their inspirational story on ilm or in person. • Explore the nature of choices, identity and what it means to belong. • Challenge ideas, perspectives and stereotypes. Our top three 1. STEP BACK IN TIME Be immersed in historic rooms and examine artefacts. LEARN FROM LEO Watch video excerpts from his diary. not just theory, which makes the day truly special. Pupils leave feeling challenged and inspired, but don’t just take our word for it. “The whole journey that you go on – the work educators do, the way they talk to the children, the artefacts – it’s hands-on, something that the children will never forget. I cannot recommend it highly enough.” Melanie Evans, assistant head, Wynndale Primary School 2. What makes the day special? 3. WITNESS TESTIMONY Watch footage of an inspirational survivor’s story. Leo’s inspirational journey unfolds in seven rooms each designed to relect the time and a key point in his story. Pupils will be immersed in another time and place completely free of text labels and with the focus on age-appropriate sensory learning. This is immersive, investigative learning with lightbulb moments; it’s experiential, “Since I’ve heard the story about Jewish people and how others were treated, I wouldn’t judge people by their disability, religion or the colour of their skin.” Primary school pupil See full details: http://bit.do/fuM9X To Book: Visit: http://bit.do/fuNbC Email: bookings@holocaust.org.uk Telephone: 01623 867650 www.teachwire.net | 51 52 | www.teachwire.net FEATURES CURRICULUM HISTORY in the MAKING Designing a curriculum with historical content that is both ambitious and carefully sequenced can seem daunting task – but this is how to do it... STEVEN CALDWELL P lanning for progression in primary history requires us, as curriculum leaders, to rethink how we perceive progression. We need to move away from the notion that one objective leads onto another, as tends to be the case in hierarchical subjects such as mathematics. The focus needs to be revisiting key themes and concepts that can both broaden, and deepen children’s historical knowledge. Focused study Curriculum as a narrative Historical content should create a narrative in both the short and medium term that in due course culminates in an overarching, long-term narrative. By creating narratives within the curriculum, we can help children to build on existing knowledge and link schemata (areas of knowledge) together to develop interconnected webs of understanding. Within the history curriculum, there might well be multiple narratives being told simultaneously over a child’s time in primary school. For example, my school has three curriculum strands which are broadly categorised as world, British, and local history. Within these three strands, smaller sub-strands emerge, such as transport, explorers and ancient civilisations. Big questions ‘Big questions’ allow history leaders to frame narratives and focus the learning within a unit of work. Instead of having a broad theme such as ‘The Ancient Egyptians’, try developing a focused question such as ‘What was it like to live by the River Nile in Ancient Egypt?’ These overarching questions should have multidimensional answers that require a breadth of knowledge to answer comprehensively. Of course, such a large question might need to be broken down into smaller questions that reveal new insights lesson on lesson. An example of this could be that to answer the big question ‘How has Britain changed from the Stone Age to the Iron Age?’, children would first need to answer ‘What was life like in the Palaeolithic era?’ or ‘What’s new about the New Stone Age?’ Asking and subsequently answering these bite-sized questions allows children to feel a sense of progression as they chip away at the larger, overarching question. Commonly, a primary school history curriculum will mandate an era to be studied and provide no further detail of what is to be taught. If we want a history curriculum to have progression, subject leaders need to be very specific about the aspects of each era that will be studied. For example, ‘The Gruesome Greeks’ (cringe!) as a topic title lacks the necessary detail and direction to ensure learning is tightly focused. This lack of clarity will also adversely impact any attempt at planning progression, as teachers will naturally go off at a tangent without returning to the core purpose of study. Marjory Reeves once wrote that pupils should have the opportunity to “sit down in a good rich patch of history and stay there for a satisfying amount of time”. Children learn what they think about, so we need to give them numerous opportunities to recall and think about the content they are studying. Unless children develop a depth of knowledge about something, they will be unable to talk about it confidently, and will subsequently be unable to write about it coherently. For example, World War II is a multifaceted topic where teachers run the risk of skimming over several key themes aiming to give www.teachwire.net | 53 because they contribute to an overarching historical narrative. Underpinning each big question, a knowledge organiser is written. Year group/age phase colleagues work collaboratively to identify the essential substantive knowledge required to comprehensively answer the big question. Research by the Sutton Trust identifies teachers’ content knowledge as key to driving student outcomes. Knowledge organisers allow teachers to discover and Threshold familiarise themselves with the concepts ‘best that has been thought and When designing said’ in each topic. a curriculum that Put simplistically, encompasses a model of knowledge organisers should progression, the first thing encapsulate what Ofsted refer that needs to be clarified to as your ‘intent’ for each is ‘what’ the children are unit – what you want children making progress in. A core to learn. From this, teachers intention of any history work together to develop a curriculum should be to scheme of work that lays out develop children’s historical the order in which concepts knowledge. However, the and will be taught. key aim is not just to develop As well as detailing isolated pockets of knowledge, the threshold concepts and but to develop webs of substantive knowledge, a interrelated schema. One way knowledge organiser will also to achieve this is to focus on lay out the disciplinary skills conceptual development over that will be taught throughout time. Our school curriculum a unit of work. was influenced by the work Thinking as a historian is of Mary Myatt, who describes a vital part of the curriculum words as being conceptual and by writing schemes of If progression is to be holding baskets. These holding into Europe. Later, in LKS2, work, teachers can carefully preserved, a school’s history children will learn how the baskets are often referred to plot when children will have Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut curriculum needs to have some as threshold or substantive the prerequisite knowledge developed trade routes, leading semblance of permanence. concepts. These concepts needed to interpret and Primary schools can sometimes to a time of prosperity for the thread through a history appraise different sources be very much guilty of Ancient Egyptians. Through curriculum and provide of information or, indeed, to intentional curriculum design, reinventing the wheel when it a mechanism for term on pursue their own historically the concept of trade will appear comes to writing schemes of term, year on year, deepening valid questions. TP work (or topic planning). again and again. of understanding. Furthermore, asking an Each time we encounter a Take the word ‘trade’, for NQT to develop the subject concept, our understanding of example. When studying the knowledge required to plan a Great Fire of London, children it becomes denser and more year’s worth of history (as well nuanced. Other threshold will understand that London Steven Caldwell as getting to grips with English concepts could include: was the centre of trade at the is an assistant ‘invasion’, ‘monarchy’, ‘afterlife’, and maths) is not a realistic, time and the reasons for this. headteacher at a nor fair, expectation. NQTs ‘settlements’ or ‘kingdom’. The following year, children primary school should be handed high-quality, By identifying threshold revisit trade when learning in Cheshire with tried and tested schemes of how trade between settlements concepts, we can then plan experience of work that they can adapt to how other subjects could started during the Neolithic working across all age phases. He their own teaching style and period. This then develops into complement children’s is a history and geography subject the needs of their class. the Bronze and Iron Age, where conceptual development leader and a mathematics SLE. Our big questions questions in creating meaningful hillforts were built to protect remain the same year on year @stevie_caldwell trade routes that now spanned cross-curricular links. children a broad overview. Our school has chosen to focus solely on the Battle of Britain, viewing it from the perspective of ‘a significant turning point’. By doing this, children will have detailed knowledge of the events at Dunkirk, all the way up to the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Britain. Only by studying topics in depth will children be able to grasp historical concepts such as change and continuity, similarity and difference, and cause and consequence. “If progression is to be preserved, a school’s history curriculum needs to have some semblance of permanence” 54 | www.teachwire.net www.teachwire.net | 55 Regional stories, GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE Exploring local history at KS2 – with a journey from the cricket ground in Pudsey to the battleields of the Somme in 1916… STEPH CASWELL T he story of Major (a given name, rather than a military rank) Booth, a professional cricketer from Pudsey in West Yorkshire, is a gateway to themes of national and global signiicance – for example, the importance of the Empire and political struggles among both men and women. Major’s grandfather was a handloom weaver engaged in the Chartist movement, striving for equality for the working man. By the next generation, Major’s father had risen in status to own his own grocer’s shop, packed with products from the Empire. He was so aluent he could aford to have his son privately educated at Fulneck School, where Major learned to play cricket. He went on to become an engineer but his skill and love of cricket led him to play professionally for Yorkshire and his country. In 1914 he was honoured as Wisden cricketer of the year. The outbreak of the war led to Booth turning his back on sport and joining the 15th Battalion of the West Yorkshire regiment – the Leeds Pals. Rising to the rank of 2nd lieutenant, he tragically lost his life on the irst day of the battle of the Somme in 1916. Booth was just one of 20,000 deaths among the British troops that day. Pupils in Pudsey can still visit 56 | www.teachwire.net places associated with Booth’s story, including the site of the grocer’s shop, the memorial with his name and a plaque honouring his achievement. This powerful story was utilised by Peter Daniels and the team at Westminster Archives to support KS2 pupils in schools near Lords cricket ground (where Booth had played) as they grappled with the challenging theme of warfare and its impact. It provides an excellent example of how studying people with links to our locality can make national and global history relevant to our pupils. These stories can also inspire them to understand how they too, like others, from their region can go on to play a part on the national stage of history. The focus of this inal part of my series looking at teaching local history in primary school is KS2. It is vital our content and approaches relect greater challenge, enabling pupils to develop and prepare for studying history at KS3. It should also further develop their insight into taking on a more active role as citizens within the community and valuing and preserving their heritage. KS2 curriculum The national curriculum clearly states that pupils must be taught a local FEATURES HISTORY “Booth was just one of 20,000 deaths among the British troops that day” FIND OUT MORE history study within KS2, and includes some examples on how it can be approached. The emphasis here is on lexibility and being inspired by and working with the treasures your locality has to ofer. l A depth study linked to a pre-1066 aspect of British history. l A study over time tracing how several aspects of national history are relected in the locality (this can go beyond 1066). l A study of an aspect of history or a site dating from a period beyond 1066 that is signiicant in the locality. Making relevant local links is a great way of demonstrating to Ofsted how your curriculum relects the school and its locality, is relevant to your pupils, and is also enriching their experiences. In a recent visit to a school in a former coal-mining area in Nottinghamshire, I was disappointed to ind that pupils there had no knowledge of the link with the industry. The school is now planning a joint local history and post-1066 study for KS2 focusing on mining, which also has strong links to national history and the events impacting on the industry. There’s a range of sources of evidence you can use to study local history units with this age group. They should now be engaging with a number of diferent types of source within an enquiry and using more complex information. Local directories are just one of the written resources available. They provide background information about the area and then go on to list information about all the local businesses. The accompanying advertisements also provide a valuable insight into life in the area in the past. You can then compare the directories from diferent years to look at continuity and change. They can look for periods of most signiicant change, providing opportunities to link with national events. There is also scope to focus on some entries in more depth by cross-referencing with other written sources like the census or newspapers. Meaningful cross-curricular links for learning Studying local history in KS2 provides many opportunities to link with other areas of the curriculum. As Philippa Dixon – history subject lead at St Paul’s primary school in Leeds – found, linking with geography is the most obvious choice. But don’t neglect other areas like citizenship, with the potential to explore heritage and whether the past is worth preserving. Many maths skills can be developed within your ieldwork, especially when investigating sources like census returns. Links to science can be made through investigating materials used over time within the environment. The creative arts and literacy can also have a key role through communicating the knowledge gained and skills developed. Philippa found the potential for learning within local history was so powerful that the staf planned a whole term’s unit of the curriculum around it for their pupils in UKS2. Their main focus was looking at the industrialisation of Leeds, including the signiicance of the canals, railways and mills. The children compare the growth of Leeds during the industrial revolution to the modern-day city, exploring aspects such as Channel 4’s recent relocation to the area. Even the most motivated of you might still be struggling with selecting which aspect of local history to study in a particular age group. If so, ask your subject leader to carry out an audit starting with the staf and then parents and members of the community. Their views should be sought on which local events, people and features are of such signiicance they should be studied by pupils in the school. As a staf you can then map coverage of these over the key stages. Remember to focus on reaching out from the local to make those links to national and global history by Y6. So why wait to get started? Local history makes a great topic for your summer term! TP BOOKS l Geof Timmins, Exploring Local History for Teachers in Primary & Secondary School, available from The British Association for Local History. l Lynne Dixon & Alison Hales, Bringing History Alive through Local People and Places, Routledge. WEBSITES Trade and local directories: tinyurl.com/tpdirectories Census materials: ancestry.co.uk indmypast.co.uk War memorials warmemorials.org/learning/ tinyurl.com/tpwargraves Workhouse records: workhouses.org.uk Images: tinyurl.com/tphisteng britainfromabove.org.uk Maps: maps.nls.uk To ind out more about Major Booth and other sportsmen from the First World War: tinyurl.com/tpsportsmen Bev Forrest is Chair of the Historical Association Primary Committee and the author of Rising Stars History. www.teachwire.net | 57 Don’t be blinded by SCIENCE An easy-to-follow array of engaging, curriculum-aligned activities can relieve the pressure of delivering efective STEM lessons, even for teachers without specialist knowledge JANE DOWDEN T here are several challenges when it comes to teaching science at primary school. First and foremost, teachers have limited time to plan learning activities and may not have access to consumable resources or science equipment. This makes it increasingly diicult for them to plan an extensive and engaging science curriculum. While all teachers want to provide the very best lessons for their children, this is a tall ask when confronted by a lack of resources and time. Therefore, it’s critical that resources are made available to support teachers in delivering fun, afordable and engaging science lessons without having to spend their weekends and evenings creating lesson plans. Secondly, science can be a daunting subject for teachers who haven’t specialised in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking that science is less accessible as a subject for teachers compared 60 | www.teachwire.net to humanities-based subjects, such as history or English. However, with the right guidance and support, science can not only be accessible for teaching staf, but it can also help bridge the gaps between diferent subject or curriculum areas. There is evidence that it can be diicult to engage children with science in the classroom too. Thirty-two per cent of primary school children stated that they ‘agree’ or ‘agree a lot’ that “they worry about science lessons being too hard”, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the Wellcome Trust. Children’s opinions on science are formed as a result of a whole host of interactions, experiences and relationships with others, so tackling these preconceptions is no easy task, but what we do know is that they can result in children feeling less conident in their ability when it comes to science-based subjects. FEATURES STEM These issues can all lead to a decline in engagement with STEM subjects, meaning children are less likely to take them on at the higher levels of education. This lack of engagement in STEM-based topics is increasingly becoming an issue in a world that is growing ever more dependent on STEM skills. Critically, any activities or lesson plans should be designed to give children the freedom to make decisions and come up with their own creative solutions to problems by harnessing the power of learning through play. When participating in practical science, children should be encouraged to take on the role of investigators, using materials available to them to Workload Tackling teachers’ experiment and ind a solution overburdened workloads to the problem they have been must be the highest priority. posed. When teachers take on This means there needs to the role of facilitator, it takes be afordable, ready-made away the pressure for them to resources designed to help be the expert with all the right engage young people with answers and allows them to STEM learning, while focus on supporting individual taking the pressure of class pupil learning. This is preparation of teachers. It is enquiry-based learning, which important these resources and develops skills such as problem activities are lexible so they solving, independent working, can be adapted to meet the decision making, practical individual needs and interests science, relective practice, of pupils. Teachers always reporting and communicating. know what’s best for their These are all key skills in the pupils and therefore overly scientiic process and vital to prescriptive lesson plans could a well-rounded understanding only work to lower the quality of how STEM subjects work in of the class. the real world. The increasing importance of STEM skills across all careers makes it even more crucial that children are given the best possible introduction to science in the classroom. One of the reasons that young people decide to give up STEM subjects is because they don’t see them as relevant to their lives or future career aspiration. Research suggests these attitudes are formed from a young age and it is therefore important that primary STEM activities are set in a real-world context that is relevant to pupils’ own interests and experiences. This is why relevant, child-led, practical investigations, are a perfect way of ensuring each pupil is given access to the ultimate science curriculum without adding to the workload of their teacher. In practice This activity is designed to provide children with real-world challenges that are relevant to their lives. They are presented with a problem and a range of resources to help them solve it, but they decide how they will carry out the investigation. Give it a go: The problem We want to create more habitats (natural homes) for minibeasts in our school or local area. In this challenge you need to investigate what kinds of habitats minibeasts like to live in. The real-world context It’s important to protect our local environment and its biodiversity. There are wildlife habitats all around us. We can help to protect these habitats and create more of them if we know about the kinds of places minibeasts like to live. The materials and resources Magnifying glasses. Paper, pencils and clipboards for recording. l Camera to take photos of diferent habitats (optional). l Pictures of minibeasts to help identify them. l Container to collect minibeasts (optional). l Safe access to the outdoors. l What to do 1 Begin by introducing the activity and the problem they need to solve, perhaps beginning with a story to set the scene. 2 Discuss the areas they might look in and the minibeasts they might ind when they are outside. 3 Give out the resources and discuss how they can use them to help their investigation. Discuss how they will keep themselves and any minibeasts safe. 4 Before they begin, ask children to think about how they will record their results – this could be via note taking, drawing or photographs. Results might include what they have found as well as where they found it and a description of the habitat. 5 Back in the classroom, ask the children to present their indings to the rest of the class. They can be as creative as they like with their presentations. Use the facilitation questions below throughout the activity to help children think through the problem. Questions Where could you look for mini beasts? l What types of minibeasts do you expect to ind there? l How will you make sure you don’t harm them? l Can you describe the places you found the most minibeasts? l What kinds of habitats do minibeasts like to live in? l Why do you think this is? l How could you create more habitats for minibeasts? l Watch out! Ensure all children are supervised. l Risk assess the outdoor areas children will be investigating. l Children should wash hands thoroughly after exploring outside and handling minibeasts. l Ensure any minibeasts collected are returned back where they were found. l Jane Dowden is education innovations manager at the British Science Association (BSA). www.teachwire.net | 61 SCIENCE Engineering with just a hoop and string How easy is it to make a good spider web? You will need 4 A hula hoop 4 String or wool 4 Scissors 4 A timer (optional) 4 Small balls (eg tennis balls) 4 Optional: spray bottle and water How to do it Begin by outlining the activity: the children will have just 15 minutes (time limit optional!) to create a ‘spider web’ within the hoop that will be able to hold ‘prey’ (small balls). The success of the web will be defined by how much prey the web can capture and keep. So that means the web needs to catch the balls without them falling through the string or wool and onto the ground below. Start the timer and begin to create your web. Use wool or string to thread your web within the hoop. Hint: first, wrap the thread around your hoop as though you are creating bicycle spokes. Then create circles within your hoop by wrapping the thread around the ‘spokes’. Time is up! Hold your web horizontally and ask a partner to gently throw the ‘prey’ into the middle. How many items of prey can your web hold? How could you improve your web so it could hold more prey? OPTIONAL: Instead of using a hula hoop, try creating the frame for the web using natural materials such as sticks. Investigate Take a closer look at the architecture of the spider webs in your natural environment. Spray a fine mist of water using a clean spray bottle to make a web’s fine details stand out (this will not harm the web). steel. It also has good extensibility, meaning it is able to stretch a long way without breaking. Because of these properties, humans are interested in creating artificial spider silk for uses such as clothing, military body armour, parachute material, and for repairing ligaments (the connective tissue between bones). TP What are we learning? The frosty early spring weather is an excellent opportunity to appreciate the amazing architecture of spider webs. Spiders often use webs to catch their dinner. A classic orb web is shaped like a bicycle wheel, perhaps like the web you have created. Unlike yours, each web takes about two hours to complete and is made of spider silk, spun from spinnerets on the spider’s abdomen. Spider silk has a high tensile strength, so it is not pulled apart by a heavy weight. Weight for weight, spider silk is stronger than Emily Hunt is a primary school teacher and author. She blogs about STEM education on her website and is the author of 15 Minute STEM (£16.99, Crown House Publishing). @HowtoSTEM @howtostem.co.uk www.teachwire.net | 63 Making YOUR MARK INSIDE THIS SECTION p6 8 Reading fluency can be taught as a standalone skill, but it makes sense to combine the skills within a broader reading lesson p7 1 Play with words and the power of persuasion with this Dr Seuss-inspired teaching plan for KS1 on Green Eggs and Ham p7 4 Language is the bedrock of learning and we need to prioritise vocabulary so children can build the skills they need p7 9 Explore learning opportunities among the sparse, lyrical prose and stunning landscapes of The Dam EX C IT ING WR ITING RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Efective use of metaphor, alliteration and personiication are key to any great writer and this set of composition resources from Plazoom helps to sharpen all these skills and more. There are eight sets of activity sheets in the series, which help children to develop their written work through a combination of creative prompts and engaging images. Plazoom.com Explain Understand Underline the examples of alliteration in this passage. Bhavesh looked up at the milk-white sky. Winter was finally here. The once grey clouds had now emptied, sending snow Language silently down. Explain, using your words, what alliteration is. Create an example to explain your definition. Features The air was cool, not cold, and though the melting snow landing on his skin sent shivers through his body, it was not unpleasant. Alliteration But soon, the weather began to change. As Bhavesh watched the snowfall, a small breeze began to grow in force before it suddenly became a wild wind whipping at his clothes and face. Instead of settling on the ground, the snow began to dance in the air. A storm was coming! Understand Underline the similes in this passage. A howl erupted as the wind whistled through Challenge the trees. Bhavesh was showered with pieces of broken branch and he turned before rapidly racing into the house. Explain Understand Underline the metaphors in this passage. There once lived a boy called Jack who lived with his old Sally nervously pushed at the gate and it creaked open a fraction on rusted hinges. As quietly as the grave, Sally squeezed through the gap. Her heart was a pounding drum as she looked around the old garden. The night sky was dark overhead, but a slice of moonlight, falling Language through clouds as grey as lead, was a Features Think of 3 features of this character. silver path, leading up to the house’s Use similes to highlight them. front door. mother. The pair of them lived like paupers in an old house at the edge of a small farm. Although Jack often went hungry, he was as lazy as the day was long and would never help out around the farm. One morning, his mother decided that she had had enough. As the sun rose, she woke Jack and informed him that he would need to go to the market to sell their only cow. Where any work was involved, Metaphors Language Features 1) Similes Jack’s mind was like lightning and he gave every possible excuse he could think 2) of to avoid the walk to market. “Go!” screeched his mother with a voice as loud as thunder, “and do not come back until you have sold that cow!” Jack’s mood was like a heavy cloud as he walked out of the door, dragging the unlucky cow behind him. 64 | www.teachwire.net Explain, using your own words what a metaphor is and how it is different from a simile. “Should I really be doing this?” Sally asked herself, but kept going. Her curiosity was a rope pulling her forward. She was walking through a pool of darkness but she could not stop now. After a few moments, Sally reached the front of the house. The rotten, wooden doorway hung awkwardly open and Sally squeezed through the opening, careful not to make a noise. 3) Inside the house, a layer of dust told her that nobody had been here in years. The loneliness inside was a giant hand which held her in its grip. This is a visual metaphor. The swimmer is not really swimming down the road. What do you think it is saying about the swimmer? Can you change this visual metaphor into a written one? Even after my childhood verse proved pleasingly popular, I never dreamt I would one day be sharing it with children in primary schools as a published author LISA THOMPSON W hen I give assembly presentations in schools, my favourite section is where I talk about my first brush with writing fame as a child. I show them a photograph of me aged ten (complete with 1980s bowl-cut fringe) and then I reveal a piece of my earliest work – a piece that has stayed with me for decades. Here is small taster [clears throat]: There was a young girl called Fay Doodle, Who had a gigantic poodle. It ate sixteen tins of meat a day, And nearly ate poor little Fay… Yes, my writing career began with a limerick/poem-fusion. It was a unique piece of work (And then poor Fay’s big poodle died, and its grave was ten-foot wide) but in the eyes of my teacher, it was an absolute masterpiece. She mounted the poem onto some thick paper and put it onto the wall for all to see. This was unheard of in my class. Our teacher never put our work on the wall. Maybe Blu Tack hadn’t been invented then, or perhaps the staple gun was just at the pre-production stage. Whatever the reason for not displaying our work, seeing my poem on the classroom wall that day was a very, very big deal indeed. In fact, it was so unheard of, my mum kept the poem for 36 years. Every now and then the ‘Fay Doodle’ poem would come out and make everyone laugh, and it has only been very recently that I have realised just how important this poem has become to me. And sharing it with children today has been a joy. When I eventually became a published author, I never dared to dream that my books would be used in schools and that I would see work inspired by my stories on classroom walls. It has been absolutely thrilling to see. I have visited students around the country and been dazzled with displays and amazed by some brilliant character analysis. I have also been blown away with the incredible, creative ideas that teachers have come up with to use across KS2 and lower KS3. Now that my fourth book, The Boy Who Fooled The World, is being published, I am very excited to see how it might be used within the classroom. It’s about a 12-year-old boy called Cole who inadvertently becomes an overnight modern-art sensation. Cole’s painting ‘Catch’ sells for £100,000 at an auction in a top London gallery and he is thrust into the spotlight. His family have been struggling financially but now they have more money than they could ever imagine. However, Cole’s painting isn’t exactly all that it seems. He has fooled the world and when his secret is exposed, everything comes crashing down around him. I hope that Cole’s story might inspire teachers to use the book in conjunction with a variety of subjects. Here are some starting points to whet your appetite… TEACH READING & WRITING Art and critical thinking Read chapter four and then ask students to create their own piece of art, just like the modern artist Marika Loft instructs Cole’s class. After they have finished, have a class discussion – would any of their pieces sell for a lot of money, do you think? How about if someone from a top art gallery says it was highly valuable? This could provoke an interesting debate about whether a piece of art is worth a lot of money just because someone in a position of power says it is. Is this the same for other material things like trainers? Phones? Hoodies? Does something only have great value when consumers want to own it en masse? What other examples have there been where things have sold way over their actual value? Using the descriptions in the book, can your students create their own interpretations of ‘An Enigma In Oil’ – the mysterious painting from the local museum that contains a treasure hunt. Take a look at the 16th century painting The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger. Can you find the mysterious skull that Isla mentions in the book? Can you imagine how amazing this trick of the eye must have been back when it was painted? History/critical thinking There have been many famous hoaxes throughout history that have baffled a lot of experts. Some examples to relay to your students could include: the 1917 Cottingley Fairies, PT Barnum’s Fiji mermaid and Panorama’s spaghetti trees. Which one of these hoaxes does the class think was the most successful? Do they think that there are hoaxes in modern times due to the internet and social media? How can we avoid fake news? This could lead into a lesson on how we need to be aware of the news stories that we read – to ask questions and investigate further if something doesn’t sound right. Can the class create their own hoax that might fool the rest of the school? Local history Cole’s mum works at the local town museum, which is closing down due to poor attendance. Research your local museum and find out what treasures are kept there. What makes a good museum? Are museums still relevant in this digital age? Ask your students to create their very own museum by making a map and visitor guide. What artefacts would they have to entice visitors? Creative writing In The Boy Who Fooled The World, a national newspaper journalist writes an article about Cole and his new-found wealth, but the piece is false, causing embarrassment to Cole and his family. Read a classic fairy tale and ask the class to write their own newspaper article about the story, but tell them to twist the truth. For example – The Big Bad Wolf is an innocent victim! Three Little Pigs ignore eviction notice! Cinderella is a lazy and ungrateful stepchild! I hope these ideas might inspire you to use The Boy Who Fooled The World in your lessons, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how teachers and students will interpret the book. And if one day you find yourself stapling a piece of artwork inspired by Cole’s story onto the classroom wall, remember this… it all began with Fay Doodle and her gigantic poodle. TP Lisa Thompson is author of The Boy Who Fooled the World (£6.99, Scholastic). www.teachwire.net | 65 GIVEAWAY Wort h £597 WIN T he English Skills Box provides opportunities for pupils to read an exciting range of graded texts to support, match or challenge their needs and to creatively use their skills and knowledge of English comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, grammar and punctuation. The 15 colour sets of five cards within the box provide a range of illustrated fiction, non-fiction, rhyme and poetry texts for children to read and enjoy. The texts are aligned to book bands: Box 1 Green to White; Box 2 White to Grey; and Box 3 Grey to Dark Red and beyond. The use of a qualitative and quantitative readability measure ensures greater reliability in text measurement and progression. Follow-up, skills-focused activities All three levels of The English Skills Box for your school link to the statutory English national curriculum requirements and the content domains for reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar, as featured in national tests (SATs). The number of activities gradually increases over the three boxes. The careful grading and steady skills progression mean the cards may be used in whole-class teaching, small guided-reading groups or independently by the pupils. They may be used in sequence or selected by the teacher to match identified needs. The cards have been written to increase in difficulty as children progress through the box. Cards within a colour set may be tackled in any order. After every three card sets, pupils may take a progress test to review knowledge and skills picked up along the way. Tests are written in the style of national tests and will be provided as a FREE download. What’s included with each box? l 75 cards in 15 colour sets of ive cards l 75 child-friendly answer cards l Teacher Guide with card-by-card notes and answers l Downloadable progress tracking resources Take a closer look at The English Skills Box at prim-ed.co.uk/the-english-skills-box Enter now at teachwire.net/giveaways *Competition closes at 5pm on 3rd April. Winner will be notified within 21 days. Full terms and conditions available at teachwire.net 66 | www.teachwire.net www.teachwire.net | 67 Go with THE FLOW Reading luency can be taught as a standalone skill, but it makes sense to combine the skills within a broader reading lesson RACHEL CLARKE R eading luency has become something of a hot topic in recent times. This is almost certainly a consequence of the KS1 teacher assessment framework setting out 90 words per minute (WPM) as the expected rate of reading for children at the end of Y2 and more recently the Ofsted education inspection framework saying that learners should read with “luency and comprehension”. But what is meant by reading luency, why is it important and how can we teach it in primary school? What is reading fluency and why is it important? First of, reading luency is more than reading quickly. Certainly, reading with pace is an important aspect of luency but it doesn’t tell the whole story. In addition to speed, Pikulski and Chard (2003) identiied accuracy, expression and understanding as other key 68 | www.teachwire.net aspects of reading luency. Children who stop to segment and blend words ind it diicult to remember what they have read and therefore ind it harder to understand texts, but when children decode accurately and quickly, and when they use the appropriate expression, they are more likely to understand what they read and this is reading luently. Ninety WPM is used as a benchmark for this point. Clearly there will be children reading at a slower rate who have good comprehension and children reading much faster who have less understanding of what they have read. And we all know a child in a class past or present who read expressionlessly but with indisputable accuracy and understanding. Generally though, all exceptions aside, 90 WPM is the point where children are no longer simply decoding text and recognising words but reading at a rate that enables them to gain understanding of what they read. Fluency, then, is a vehicle for reading comprehension. Fluency is not just about reading aloud. Being able to decode accurately at pace and with expression are skills that readers apply during (and enable) their silent reading comprehension. Encouraging children to read expressively in their heads cannot be underestimated as an approach to reading comprehension. It is also worth noting that luency is not a higher-order reading skill. Children should be taught how to read luently alongside decoding so that they understand the books they read, engage with them fully and develop the skills they need to read independently as they develop as a reader. Quick and easy ways to develop reading fluency Reading luency can be taught as a standalone skill, but as it is a vehicle for comprehension, it makes sense to combine luency skills within broader reading lessons. All of the following activities can be used as standalone reading luency tasks or used as part of your whole class or guided reading practice. Marks out of ten Most children are familiar with TV judging panels so will feel at home with the format of this activity. Read a passage to the children (you may choose to read it well or make some errors). Encourage the children to listen attentively and act as the judges, giving you marks out of ten on their whiteboards for your reading. As they award their mark, they must provide feedback just like the judges on TV, commenting on what you did well and how you could improve. It’s a good idea to create the success criteria TEACH READING & WRITING with the class before you read the passage. Features to include could be your use of phrasing; how you attend to the punctuation; whether your pace is too fast or too slow; how you use intonation and expression to give meaning to the text. You could even include elements of reading aloud to an audience such as volume, facial expressions and eye contact with the audience. Once your class is familiar with giving feedback on your reading, they should repeat the Copy reading Read a short passage or poem to the class, demonstrating luent reading, expression and attention to punctuation, and so on. Discuss your reading by talking about any tricky words or phrases and providing their meanings. Also look carefully at the punctuation, pointing out how it afects your delivery. Ask the children to take turns rereading the text to a partner. If any of the children get stuck on a word, GLOSSARY Expression: A combination of intonation, phrasing and pace that shows the reader understands what they are reading. Intonation: The tone or pitch of reading which shows understanding of the words, phrases and context of the writing. Pace: The speed of reading. Readers sometimes need to vary the pace within a passage to convey, for example, falling and rising action. Phrasing: Reading groups or phrases of words as units of meaning rather than reading word by word. Phrasing also involves paying attention to punctuation to maintain the sense of a text. “Encouraging children to read expressively in their heads cannot be underestimated as an approach” reading and marks out of activity with a reading partner or in a small group in order to evaluate each other’s reading luency. Once the children are familiar with this approach, it makes a valuable independent activity for inclusion in the guided reading carousel. Choral reading Choral reading is a strategy where groups or the whole class read together. Poems and texts with rhythm or rhyme work particularly well for this approach. It often helps to read the passage to the children irst so they have a model but you don’t have to do this. You can vary the approaches to suit your class and to maintain interest so that, for example, each group takes turns to read a verse of a poem, section or paragraph of a text. This approach works well in whole-class reading lessons as a way to ensure all children participate in a non-threatening way. their partner should help them to read it. Then, for additional practice with the tricky word, they should read the whole sentence or line again before continuing with the reading. This repeated reading approach to dealing with tricky words is an efective way of improving sight vocabulary, accuracy and pace. Echo reading You are the best model of luent reading in the class. Read a sentence or a line of a poem and ask the class to read it back to you in exactly the same way. Echo reading is a shorter, but similar approach to copy reading – the diference being that it focuses on one line rather than a passage. Just like copy reading, you can combine this approach with other strategies such as choral learn how to read text aloud themselves. It also has ten. Echo reading is a useful strategy for teaching phrasing, the beneit of enabling the children to hear texts that pace and expression. may be beyond their own reading ability and that Recorded reading contain vocabulary and Allow the children to make concepts that they may an audio or visual recording otherwise not experience. of their reading so they can And don’t forget, you are play it back and hear what the best model of reading their reading sounds like. This is a great opportunity for luency in your class. TP self-evaluation and could also be saved for assessment. You could encourage children to use the success criteria from marks out of ten to make their self-evaluation comments. Recorded reading is another efective strategy to include in your guided reading carousel. And of course… make time to read to your class for pleasure. When you read aloud to your class, you bring text alive through your phrasing, characterisation and pace. By listening to you read aloud, your class Rachel Clarke is the director of Primary English Education. She trains teachers all over the UK and beyond and is the author of Reading Detectives and Writing Mechanics, both available from Collins. @PrimaryEnglish primaryenglished.co.uk www.teachwire.net | 69 Explore learning wi th GREEN EGGS AND HAM Play with words and the power of persuasion with this Dr Seuss-inspired teaching plan for KS1 G TM & © 2020 Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. All Rights Reserved reen Eggs and Ham from Dr Seuss has been a irm favourite with children and adults for nearly 60 years – and with good reason; it’s ideal for a shared reading experience and building on it. Young learners can talk about the book, express opinions and take part in activities, exploring the idea of persuasion through drama, drawing and creative writing. With that in mind, we’ve put together the following plan to make the most of the learning opportunities ofered by the famous words and pictures. Getting started: persuasion Share Green Eggs and Ham, giving children plenty of time to enjoy the experience, relect and respond. Ask questions: How does the Grouch (wearing the black hat) feel about Sam-I-Am at the beginning of the book? How can you tell? How does he feel by the end of the book? Find pictures and words to back up your answers. How do you feel when someone is trying to make you do something? What if you really don’t want to do it? In a large, clear space, use your body to show how you feel. What expression do you have? How do you stand and move? Talk about the word “persuade”. What does it mean? Has anyone persuaded you to do something recently? What did they say or do to change your mind? What happened as a result? How does Sam-I-Am persuade the Grouch to eat green eggs and ham? What works and what doesn’t? Look for evidence in the book and talk about it. In pairs, pretend to be Sam-I-Am persuading the Grouch to try green eggs and ham. You could look at the pictures and use them to help you roleplay a scene from the book, or you could use your imaginations to invent new scenes. Swap roles, if you want to, so that everyone gets a turn at persuading the Grouch! When you’re ready, show your favourite scene to the whole class. What worked well? How did it feel to be the Grouch? Sam-I-Am? Which was easiest? Which did you enjoy most? The Grouch eventually says ‘yes’ to Sam-I-Am. Why does he give in, do you think? Are there times when you shouldn’t do something, even though someone wants you to do it? When should ‘no’ mean ‘no’? Persuasive posters Use Downloadable Activity Sheet 1 (see Free online downloads) to create a poster or advert persuading people to do something. It could be something sensible – picking up litter, crossing the road carefully – or it could be something funny, like eating strange food! www.teachwire.net | 71 TEACH READING & WRITING Trying something completely new that challenges you? Perhaps a particular activity, going to a new place... Look at the sequence of spreads Imagine having a crowd of showing the Grouch agreeing to Dr Seuss characters cheering try green eggs and ham. There you on. What would they say are four, starting with Sam and to encourage you? What could the Grouch in the water (“Sam! you say to other people who are If you will let me be, I will try trying something new? them. You will see.”) and ending Decide to try one new food with them walking up the hill or activity, or meet another kind (“So I will eat them in a box. of challenge. Write about what And I will eat them with a fox.”) you’re going to do, and why. Working as a class, choose someone to be the Grouch Making a promise and someone to be Sam-I-Am. Inspired by Dr Seuss, illustrate The other children will be the additional characters in the water. your work with characters saying encouraging things. Copy the body postures, gestures and facial expressions Using your best handwriting, write a one-sentence resolution in Dr Seuss’s illustrations to on Downloadable Activity create four freeze-frames. Help children by drawing their Sheet 2 to remind you of your promise. There’s also a attention to details, asking downloadable certiicate you questions and supporting can present to children when their decision-making. Once they accomplish their challenge! everyone is happy with each freeze-frame, take a photo to Writing like record it – then look at your photos and compare them with Dr Seuss the pictures in the book. Dr Seuss’s stories are great fun Can we tell how the Grouch to read. What makes them so is feeling in each spread? Come enjoyable? Talk about what you up with words to describe his like, and why! emotions: for example, ‘tired’, Become writing and story ‘reluctant’, ‘worried’, ‘doubtful’, detectives – revisit the story ‘surprised’, ‘delighted’, etc. looking for rhyme, repetition, Look at the picture showing jokes, great words and other the Grouch discovering that ways Dr Seuss makes the story he likes green eggs and ham. come alive. Read the words aloud together, Dr Seuss thought traditional making it obvious how happy reading books were boring, so the Grouch is. he set out to write a really great Turn the page and observe story using no more than 250 the characters coming out of simple words. He wrote The the water. They look happy Cat in the Hat! Then somebody and supportive! What are they challenged him to write a book saying, do you think? As a class, using only 50 words, so he wrote come up with suggestions, Green Eggs and Ham. Write a choose your favourites and add simple story using a very limited speech bubbles to the picture range of words. You could use using sticky notes. 50, like Dr Seuss, or set a lower Talk about your experiences limit. Remember that you can with food. What’s your favourite use individual words more than food? Have you ever tried once, as Dr Seuss did in Green something you didn’t want to Eggs and Ham. eat? What happened last time Alternatively, you could you ate something new? What’s write a story with a very low the oddest thing you’ve ever total word count – for example, eaten? What helps you try new no more than 50 words all things, and what stops you? together. Stories like this are Could you be like the sometimes called Flash Fiction. Grouch and give something new Can you make your story a try? You could eat something interesting, even though it isn’t you’ve never tried before. Or very long? It can be a good idea maybe there’s something else to explore your ideas irst by 72 | www.teachwire.net telling them to someone else, drawing them or acting them out. List the words you use to keep track of them! practise speaking clearly together as a group. Can your children learn any of the responses by heart? Share and display When you’re happy with your Could you perform the book inished story, write it on for another class? Downloadable Activity Sheet 3 so Cook eggs and ham in two you have a version you can share separate pans, adding a little green with others, or put on display! food colouring to one of them. Can you tell the diference between green eggs and ham and ordinary Extending eggs and ham in a blind taste test? the lesson Does it make any diference when It’s great fun joining in with you can see the colours? the Grouch’s responses to Write about what you’ve Sam-I-Am! Re-read the book done, what happened and together, inviting children to what you thought about join in every time the Grouch responds. Be expressive and your experience. TP Free online resources Download resources to help you deliver this lesson from tinyurl.com/tpgreeneggs ! Congratulations ..................... This is to celebrate that on ............. ........... you tried....................................................... time! irst very the for Sam-I-Am would be proud. Sam-I-Am has persuaded me to try... Signed MY VERY, VERY SHORT Date: Signed: STORY By: only fifty words. Eggs and Ham using Dr Seuss wrote Green VERY short story, too? Can you write a very, Part 1 - powers of KS1 Lesson Pack of persuasion Play with words and the powerteaching plan. with this Dr. Seuss inspired What they’ll learn taking part about the book and Eggs and Ham, talking By reading Green children will… in these activities, on it experience and build • Enjoy a shared reading and listen/ the way it’s written, about the text and • Express their opinions of others respond to the opinions and discover the Grouch’s feelings to gain insight into • Use text and pictures how they change creative writing drama, drawing and of persuasion through • Explore the idea word count with a very limited • Write their own story recognised have their achievement and – new something • Be inspired to try Getting started enjoy the plenty of time to and Ham, giving children Share Green Eggs questions: and respond. Ask experience, reflect one right of questions that have be lots of about this book? • What did you like answer, or could there answers? • Did you laugh? you of do you think? • Did this book remind • What made it funny, read? anything else you’ve you like best? Why? Green • Which picture do • Who would you recommend and why? questions about Eggs and Ham to, • Do you have any in your class this book? Can anyone they the kind answer them? Are would they say to cheering you on. What of Dr Seuss characters something new? Imagine having a crowd people who are trying could you say to other encourage you? What Write about what another kind of challenge. food or activity, or meet Decide to try one new why. How many words you’re going to do, and persuasion feel about (wearing the black hat) How does the Grouch you of the book? How can Sam-I-Am at the beginning Find by the end of the book? tell? How does he feel to back up your answers. pictures and words make you do someone is trying to How do you feel when do it? really don’t want to something? What if you you how use your body to show In a large, clear space, you stand and do you have? How do feel. What expression Activity 2 - making Sam-I-Am has persuaded me to try... move? it mean? Has “persuade”. What does do to change Talk about the word What did they say or to do something recently? anyone persuaded you as a result? your mind? What happened ham? What works and to eat green eggs and persuade the Grouch How does Sam-I-Am and talk about it. for evidence in the book what doesn’t? Look eggs and ham. the Grouch to try green Sam-I-Am persuading from the In pairs, pretend to be you roleplay a scene help to them use pictures and roles, if you want You could look at the invent new scenes. Swap your imaginations to book, or you could use the Grouch! gets a turn at persuading to, so that everyone class. What favourite scene to the whole Which When you’re ready, show your to be the Grouch? Sam-I-Am? worked well? How did it feel enjoy most? was easiest? Which did you do you think? Are Why does he give in, says “yes” to Sam-I-Am. wants you to do The Grouch eventually even though someone shouldn’t do something, there times when you mean “no”? it? When should “no” e posters Activity 1 - persuasiv create a poster or advert Activity Sheet 1 to Use Downloadable could be something to do something. It persuading people carefully – or it could litter, crossing the road sensible – picking up like eating strange food! be something funny, Signed: Date: Congratulations! This is to celebrate that on ............................. ou tried.................................................................. for the very irst time! Sam-I-Am would be proud. Signed did YOU use? a promise with characters illustrate your work a Inspired by Dr Seuss, handwriting, write things. Using your best saying encouraging Sheet 2 on Downloadable Activity one-sentence resolution promise. to remind you of your to certificate you can present There’s also a downloadable accomplish their challenge! children when they Part 3 - Writing like Dr Seuss makes great fun to read. What Dr Seuss’s stories are like, Talk about what you them so enjoyable? and why! the story story detectives – revisit Become writing and jokes, great words and looking for rhyme, repetition, alive. makes the story come other ways Dr Seuss books were boring, reading traditional Dr Seuss thought no more a really great story using so he set out to write the Hat! He wrote The Cat in than 250 simple words. using him to write a book Then somebody challenged Ham. wrote Green Eggs and only 50 words, so he You could very limited range of words. Write a simple story using a lower limit. Remember that you can a use 50, like Dr Seuss, or set once, as Dr Seuss did in Green Eggs use individual words more than and Ham. – for example, no low total word count write a story with a very called Flash Fiction. Alternatively, you could like this are sometimes all together. Stories be a good more than 50 words it isn’t very long? It can interesting, even though drawing them or acting Can you make your story them to someone else, ideas first by telling idea to explore your of them! you use to keep track them out. List the words Finding the WORDS Language is the bedrock of learning and we need to ensure that our practice prioritises language so young children can access the curriculum and succeed CHARLOTTE RABY I t is well known that the quality and quantity of talk that children receive before school is varied. In its 0-5 study in the UK, LuCiD found that this ranged from 43,926 words to 7,239 words per day in diferent families. This relects the indings of similar research in suggesting that the amount of language a child has heard before the age of ive directly afects the size of their vocabulary and the rate at which they can process new language. This study and others have linked poor early language skills to lifelong academic, social and income disparities. The consensus is that low levels of vocabulary are not only a barrier to children becoming luent readers as it hinders comprehension, enjoyment and luency, but academic success and social mobility are also afected. This picture tells us that understanding early language is crucial. We need to be able to help children who come to school with lower language levels develop a wider vocabulary quickly. We know that the vocabulary divide widens over time if it is not addressed, so primary educators need to make sure they develop approaches that teach vocabulary systematically as well as opportunistically. In doing so we can lessen the word divide. To do this successfully 74 | www.teachwire.net we need to understand how to develop language with children in Nursery, Reception and KS1 as a core part of the English curriculum. Language is the bedrock of learning. How should we teach language? We use language to describe our world and experiences. Teaching words alone doesn’t close the word gap, nor does teaching vocabulary out of context. What’s more, if our children do not have a robust spoken vocabulary and understanding of how language works at a fundamental level then new words, especially ‘enriched’ or ‘academic’ words, will not have a place to stick to. Vocabulary interventions may initially show impact but this will wash out if the new vocabulary isn’t useful or used. This is why I believe we need to teach language and not just words and we need to move away from prioritising ‘wow’ words or lists of words and move towards something more rooted in context, experiences and talk. The strategies I suggest are not quick ixes and they require a connected approach across your school, but I believe if you choose the language you teach well, then it will have an impact for the rest of a child’s life. Which language do we choose? Not all words are created equal. Three tiers help us understand the purpose of the diferent language that we all need. Tier one language is the everyday spoken language that we use. Children learn these words through their conversations and interactions with adults and each other. Tier two words are found in books and have a high utility but are not often found in everyday speech. These words could well challenge children when they read them, and they may ind it diicult to slot all these words into their pre-existing vocabulary. These are the ones that we need to teach children because they have the greatest impact on their understanding of what they read and write. Tier three words are low-frequency technical words linked to speciic subjects. You would teach these words as they are needed and when they are likely to be used several times. Teaching these words out of context has a low utility as they TEACH READING & WRITING will not be used frequently enough to be truly learnt. As we can see from the research I have already outlined, many children in EYFS and even KS1 will need additional support with tier one language. This is the foundation for any other language learning. Take a simple word like ‘tree’, which is deinitely a tier one word. Think about all the other tier one words that we associate with tree: leaf, trunk, branch, nuts, blossom, insects, fruit, roots. If we know about ‘leaves’ on a tree then we can learn about how some leaves are evergreen (tier two) and some are deciduous (tier three). If we know about leaves, we can think about how the tree makes its food and how photosynthesis (tier three) happens. Without a strong understanding of tree and the other words that surround it, we cannot access the new language in tier two and three. But what can primary teachers do to develop a strong foundation? Make word webs Taking time to surround each word with the language associated with it will grow further context for children, helping to develop a robust vocabulary. Word webs are an efective way to develop depth as well as a breadth of understanding. In other words, it is not only important to know lots of words, but in order to connect to each other, the understanding of the words needs to be strong. These semantic word webs can expand with the class as they learn more, growing with their knowledge. Meet the same word in many contexts In order to make new language stick, young learners need to meet the same word many times and, most importantly, to meet it in many diferent contexts. By doing this, children see how the word alters in meaning based on the sentence, phrase and context. Teachers should take time to get to know new language, and always introduce it in context. Quality picture books and non-iction are great places to look. It is also important to choose words from all of the word classes, not just adjectives. Nouns and verbs are the most important word classes to convey meaning, and don’t forget the impact of pronouns and prepositions too. Three words a week explored properly will be more meaningful than ten words barely taught, so remember to limit the amount of words you choose! Finally, remember that just because a word is familiar to you doesn’t mean it is to the children. A simple word in a new context can cause diiculty for pupils. HOW TO TEACH LANGUAGE l Read the passage or sentence containing the new word to the children. l Always say the new word to the children so they can pronounce it correctly. l Give children a simple deinition of the word that they can easily relate to. l Use actions and your voice to help bear out the meaning of the new word. l Find other examples of the new word in diferent contexts. Talk about how the word is being used. l Keep a list of the words you have taught the children and connect to them again and again over the year. Another way to go deeper with words is to make links to their collocations, words that are often paired with a word, or often come up in phrases and sentences with a word. For example, collocations for dark could be: dark and light, dark and stormy, dark night, dark woods, dark thoughts, dark mood, tall, dark and handsome. Understanding which words are used alongside a word can help to give us a deeper understanding of how that word works in context. This impacts children’s reading comprehension and writing. Children who are not native English speakers particularly beneit from learning about collocations. Make time to create collocations with the new words you explore by adding new words to word webs and discussing where these words it in with what they already know. For example, should dark go into the word web for space, colour or time – or all three? Lingering with language and taking the time to know words deeply will help our children master meaning. With a good grasp of how to manipulate language, we can develop the skills needed to choose the right word to say what we think, to write what we mean and to describe our experiences. So move away from wow words and think about creating a connected web of language. With over 20 years’ experience in teaching, training and educational consultancy, Charlotte Raby is a consultant for the DfE, associate member of the Primary English Hubs Council and lead lecturer at Essex and Thames Primary SCITT. She also leads the HEI partnership with the Open University Research Rich Pedagogies. etpscitt.co.uk @charlotteraby www.teachwire.net | 75 We’ve teamed up with Puin to bring author Robin Stevens directly into your classroom – via a free podcast and downloadable resources F ancy a virtual visit from a bestselling children’s writer? Luckily for you, mystery writer Robin Stevens is ready and waiting to share her thoughts, ideas and inspirations with your budding wordsmiths, via our new literacy podcast. The experience doesn’t end there either; we’ve created some amazing free teaching resources to download at plazoom.com, so you can continue your reading adventure in the classroom. An important aspect of great story writing is planning a plot. This is something children at primary school can find tricky – a story becomes a list of things that happen to the main character, rather than a real story with a beginning, middle and end. In this episode, Robin focuses on the planning, editing and redrafting process for her murdery mystery series, Murder Most Unladylike. Robin St even s H O W TO U S E T H E P O D CAS T P P P 76 | www.teachwire.net Search for ‘Author in your Classroom’ podcast wherever you listen to podcasts Play it in your classroom in one go, or in seven to ten minutes chunks Pause the recording to talk about the points being raised TEACH READING & WRITING FOUR THINGS KIDS WILL LEARN FROM THE PODCAST How to download the resources 1 A U T H O RS A RE S C A RE D O F T H E B L A N K PAG E TO O “Looking at a blank page is one of my least favourite things to do. The phrase that always comes into my head when I see one is, ‘You can't edit a blank page’, which someone very wise told me. I've really held onto that.” 2 T H E F I RS T D R A F T C A N B E T R I C K Y “I ind the actual writing of the irst draft quite diicult. It always feels so thin and like I'm not conveying the depth of emotions, the depth of description, that I want to. It takes until the second or third draft to really feel like the book on the page is the way it is in my head.” virtual Share a it with vis author ssroom! your cla Wr itin g Wri ting Tea che r Not es d by Inspire evens: Robin St a Plot This Planning t story writing is planning a-plot. a story grea find tricky aspe ct of scho ol can the main An impo rtant at prim ary happ en to le child ren middting thing s that Wri is something up being a list of a begin ning, y? How do tive with tive agenc y end can easil a real narra e of the detec is in charg rathe r than a great ’s comp arison e to plan• Which of the girls chara cter, does Daisy the chanc n? What ns, ? will have and end. es and Watso r Robin Steveyou know children 3 YO U R F I RS T AT T E M P T D O ES N ’ T H AV E TO B E P E R F E C T “It’s about training yourself to focus in on an idea and knowing that it doesn't matter which idea you choose – just choose one and go with it. The irst draft doesn't have to be the inspired one. I did not know that when I was at school. I thought you had to write the perfect thing, then hand it in and that was that. It's only much later that I've learnt the value of editing.” DE ONE: E, EPISO pl SERIES ON Holm nce, write Sherl ock myste ry ing seque ? en to . ing from • Who are and Hazel In this teach the childr ylike series t her story, learn about her class. 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Play the ning an a plot S N STEVEN) like with ROBI Most Unlady (Murder &1 From & copyright From 2020 4 & From 4 P L A N N I N G I S RE A L L Y I M P O R TA N T “I used to be one of those kids who would start of with a great idea and write three chapters, but then I'd get bored – not because it wasn't a good story, but because I hadn't planned it. I didn't know what was going to happen. Nowadays I need a backbone plan and a very careful plan of the crime.” L I S T E N TO R O B I N ’ S A N S W E RS I N F U L L B Y D O W N L O A D I N G T H E P O D C AS T YOUR NEW CLASS NOVEL Our downloadable teaching sequence makes use of extracts from Robin’s book Murder Most Unladylike. For enjoyment and understanding, you can’t beat reading the whole book. Here’s what our reviewer had to say… “The fir st draft “I plan ve ry log “I love puttingdoesn’t have to be ically the .” ‘inspired words together ’ one.” that sound right.” Date: Planning Sheet 3 Suspects Use the Suspect’s to table below name n Resoluio What happe ns at the s and Clue list your suspects and plan how do they and Who are vicim? know the end of the story ? Who the clues they commited Name: that incrim Clue that inate them. makes them , how did the crime a suspect they do it, and how commit Did they ? the crime did the detec ive know ? “It’s alw “Edit ays or who is le theqpe u rson s ask “If it’s not enha g ast likel estions to unlencin m ss it’s the boy; the plot, it’s just ok be person tter.” ake a w ho dead words – evenisifmost lik ely...” they’re beautiful.” & From To accompany the podcast, teaching experts at Plazoom have created free resources that you can use to develop your pupils’ writing. The teaching pack includes lesson plans, a Powerpoint, teacher notes and activity sheets. In this teaching sequence, children will have the chance to plan a great plot for their own murder mystery, including picking a setting, devising a detective, planting suspects and clues and resolving the crime at the end. Illustrations and type © ninataradesign.com DOWNLOAD THEM AT It’s far too easy to describe this story of murder and sleuthing in a 1930s girls’ boarding school as ‘Agatha Christie meets Enid Blyton’; yes, author Robin Stevens is clearly inspired by those writers, amongst others – but there’s a glorious alchemy at work here in the way she blends her influences, creating something that is simultaneously recognisable and totally original. NEXT TIME: PLAZOOM.COM/ ROBINPODCAST Puin Schools is curated by the children's publisher Puin. You'll ind video resources, book lists and ideas to bring stories to life at puinschools.co.uk W E C H AT TO S A M CO P E L A N D , A U T H O R O F T H E H I L A R I O U S C H A R L ES M C G U F F I N S E R I ES , A B O U T C RE AT I N G M E M O R A B L E C H A R AC T E RS www.teachwire.net | 77 78 | www.teachwire.net Book topic BOOK TOPIC TEACH READING & WRITING KS2 Published by Walker Studio, 2018 THE DAM Explore learning opportunities among the sparse, lyrical prose, stunning landscapes and naturalistic vignettes courtesy of David Almond and Levi Pinfold CAREY FLUKER HUNT H e woke her early. ‘Bring your fiddle,’ he said. The day was dawning. Into the valley they walked… The Dam tells the story of a pilgrimage: a journey to the heart of an abandoned community in a remote Northumbrian valley where a dam is being constructed. “This will be gone, and this will be washed away… and these can never live here again...” a father says to his daughter, as they make their way to a deserted village. “Play for all that are gone and for all that are still to come…” Pulling boards off doors and windows, they play in every house. Their music dances around the rooms and across the roofs, away into a landscape poised for change. Time passes and the waters rise, and many things are drowned and lost. But other things are born and made – a beautiful lake and more besides. The Dam is a book about one particular place and time, but loss and change are everywhere. What has gone lives on inside our memories, and if we let it, hope will always lead the way. The story at the heart of this book is true. A dam was built to create the Kielder Water reservoir. A village was flooded to make way for it, and early one morning a father and daughter really did play and sing in every house. That girl was Kathryn Tickell. She grew up to become one of the UK’s most respected folk musicians, and nearly 40 years after it happened, she and her father shared their story with writer David Almond. “I had this shiver up my spine,” said David, talking about their conversation, “and I just knew it had to be a book. For them, it was something that happened long ago, but to an outsider like me, it had this wonderful, almost mythic proportion to it.” So he wrote a story of his own – words that he describes as “musical notes in the landscape of the illustration” – and award-winning illustrator Levi Pinfold painted pictures that gave those words a place to dance. “People ask whether you know what the illustrations are going to be like,” said David, “but you have no idea. You have a vague concept in your mind, but when you work with someone like Levi, he gives you something so much more. And you say – oh yes! That’s what it needs to look like...” The Dam won the 2019 Teach Primary KS1 Book Award and has been nominated for others, including the 2020 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. The Italian translation of the book (La Diga) won the Premio Letteratura Ragazzi for the best children’s poetry book of 2019, and also the Andersen Prize for best illustrated book. www.teachwire.net | 79 Book topic Sharing and talking about The Dam Before reading, talk about change. What has changed in your lives? What is changing now? How does this make you feel? Does change involve loss? How can we help ourselves embrace the possibilities of change? Share the book, making sure everyone can see the pictures. Some are tiny so you might want to project the spreads onto a screen or use multiple copies. Make time to talk about your reactions and responses. What did you like about this book? How did it make you feel? Did it raise questions? Bring back memories? Make you imagine something? How would you describe this book? What makes it interesting for older readers? It’s rare for a picture book to be inspired by an engineering project. Can you think of other picture books inspired by unusual subject matter or real-life stories? Activities FOR AND AGAINST What does this book tell us about the dam and its impact? Read the text and examine the pictures to gather evidence. Which outcomes were positive and which negative? List them. Is it possible to say whether building the dam was a good thing or a bad thing? Can some things be both? Pretend you’re living in the village before the dam was built. What is your life like? What do you think about the dam? What will you miss when you have to leave? What would you like to tell the dam builders? Could you stop them? How? Imagine you’re one of the people building the dam. What will you tell the villagers who are losing their homes? How will you persuade them to back your plan? Roleplay conversations between a villager and a dam builder – where are you? How and why did you meet? – or nominate a TV reporter to interview both sides. Extend by devising short dramas. Ask half your class to write an impartial newspaper report about the controversy while the other half writes a biased opinion piece. Share and discuss. When do we need facts and when do we need opinions? Can we please everyone? What helps us make good decisions about challenging issues? What gets in the way? Is there an issue in school or locally that divides opinion? Could the ideas you’ve explored during this activity help you make progress? Take it further EXPLORING THE WILDERNESS What does the word ‘wilderness’ mean to you? Talk about the wild open spaces in this book. How are they similar to places you know, and how do they difer? Where are the UK’s wildest places? Find them on a map. How far is it from your school to Kielder Water? Find out about the Forestry Commission, the National Parks Service and other organisations caring for wild places. 80 | www.teachwire.net Can you go somewhere wild? It doesn’t have to be a Northumbrian valley – there are pockets of wildness almost everywhere! Sit quietly in your wild place, watching and listening. Write notes or draw pictures about what you can hear, smell, feel and see. Look carefully, look closely – some of the wild things could be very small… Take photos of your wild place and print, leaving wide borders. Inspired Feel the music “Archie Dagg the piper played here. And Gracie Gray, she of the gorgeous voice… Will Taylor and his lovely violin. The piccolo of Billy Ballantine.” What does this book tell us about music? How is it depicted? Listen to samples of traditional music from different places, times and cultures and talk about your responses. Does anyone play, sing or listen to traditional music? Pool your knowledge and experiences. Invite traditional musicians to share their music and show you their instruments. What could David Almond mean when he says “the music is inside us... it flows through all the dams in us”? Listen to music by your ield notes, memories and imaginations, ill the borders in the wildest or most interesting ways you can devise. EXTEND BY: writing descriptively about your wild • space and what you noticed in it; drawing a map of an imaginary wild • place and writing an adventure story set there; writing about what happened • when you visited the abandoned village in this book. TEACH READING & WRITING If you liked this book try… fold v The Greenling by Levi Pin fold v The Django by Levi Pin David Almond, by n Ma d Bir a d’s v My Da ar illustrated by Polly Dunb nne Schwarz, Joa by v Town is by the Sea ith Sm ney illustrated by Syd and write about how it makes you feel. Learn a traditional circle dance, then write instructions on how to perform it and give them to another class. Can they follow your instructions successfully? Changes This book tells the story of some really big changes. What changes in this book, and why? What happens because of those changes? Write a story about something that changes. Read your stories aloud and discuss. Has everyone picked the same theme? How many different kinds of change have you explored? Looking at the natural world Examine Levi Pinfold’s vignettes. What do you notice about their subjects and the way DAMS AND BRIDGES, ROADS AND DRAINS… Civil engineers “design, create and connect up the world around us. They help make our villages, towns and cities work for the people that live there” (ice.org.uk). Where is your nearest dam or reservoir? What kind of civil engineering projects are happening in your area? How has your town or landscape been afected by such projects in the past? Find out what has been constructed and why. If possible, visit a site to learn more. the length and structure of his sentences, his use of repetition and anything else you notice about this text. Develop an outline for a very short story about an outing you remember. Concentrate on the main events, emotions and observations – draw diagrams to help you decide what to include and what to omit. Write and rewrite your text, aiming for language that sings when read aloud. When you’re they’re drawn? How are they arranged on the happy, divide your text into sections, one for each spread of a picture book. pages? What effect does this give? Swap texts with someone and illustrate Create observational drawings of plants their story. If you like, you could borrow a or other natural objects using black, grey visual idea from Levi Pinfold to develop in and white pencils, charcoal and pastels. your artwork: limited colour palette, close Print thumbnail-sized photocopies of your observational drawing, dramatic landscapes artwork and use to explore a variety of and viewpoints and multiple vignettes. TP multiple-image layouts. Once you’re happy with your design, stick the vignettes in place to create a double-page spread. Hone your text In fewer than 350 words this picture book explores complex ideas using direct and appealing language, evokes memories and makes an impact. What has David Almond included, and what has he omitted? Does he tell us everything, or does he leave gaps? What do the pictures say that the words don’t? Read the text aloud. Can you feel the rhythms? Talk about David’s choice of words, WE NEED LOTS OF WATER There’s a lot of water in the Kielder reservoir – about 200 billion litres, in fact! Is it possible to understand numbers like this? Try to express them in ways that make sense – books like How Many Jelly Beans? by Andrea Menotti and Yancey Labat might help. Explore the capacity of diferently shaped and sized containers. Research the capacity of real-world objects – a bathtub holds about 300 litres; an Olympic-sized pool about 2,500,000 litres. How many More information For a Kathryn Tickell playlist, visit soundcloud.com/ kathryntickell/sets/ website-playlist Find out about Kielder Water at visitkielder.com Read a conversation with David Almond about The Dam at castofthousands. co.uk/blog litres of water would be needed to ill your bedroom? Multiply the length, breadth and height of the room in centimetres, then divide by 1,000 to get the capacity in litres. Why do we need water? How much do we need, and what happens if we drink water that isn’t safe? Find out about the water cycle and why we should conserve water. Design a poster telling people how to reduce water consumption. Kielder reservoir is managed by Northumbrian Water. Where does your water come from? How does your water company make it safe to drink? www.teachwire.net | 81 Book CLUB We review five brand new titles that your class will love KS2 KS1 KS 1/2 Julian is a Mermaid Supercats vs Maximus Fang The Bat Book by Jessica Love by Gwyneth Rees by Charlotte Milner (£6.99, Walker) (£5.99, Bloomsbury Children’s Books) (£12.99, DK) While riding the subway home with his Nana one day, Julian notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train carriage. When Julian gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies and making his own fabulous mermaid costume. But what will Nana think about the mess he makes – and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julian sees himself? Mesmerising and full of heart, this is a story about self-confidence and love, and a radiant celebration of individuality. This delightful book was the winner in the Reception category of the 2019 Teach Primary Book Awards. Judge Connie Glynn commented: “The story and the illustrations are full of colour and kindness, a perfect antidote to all the worries and fears in the world.”. HM Imagine cats with superpowers – that’s what Tagg and Sugarfoot have developed and now they’ve been recruited for a special mission by TopazTop Cat. They’ve just heard that an evil supervillain is back in town and that can only mean one thing – he is going to break his partner in crime out of prison and finish one last devious job. The super cats have to stop the baddies. In order to get more information, Tagg and Sugarfoot need to infiltrate the infamous band of Hit Cats. They are going to need all their wits – and superpowers – about them. This new series from Gwyneth Rees will appeal to fans of Holly Webb and Alex T. Smith, and of course those who enjoy animal stories with plenty of action. The illustrations by Becka Moor help really bring the characters to life and complement the narrative effectively. Cats in capes – what more could you want? JS Take an amazing journey through the upside-down world of bats. Written and illustrated by Charlotte Milner, bright, bold and beautiful pictures accompany fascinating facts about these furry flying mammals and their importance to the world we live in. From the way they fly, to how they communicate with each other, how they hunt, and why they sleep upside-down, each of the world’s 1,300 types of bat is unique and utterly fascinating. Bats are also important to the environment – as well as gobbling up pests and spreading seeds through the forests, they pollinate over 500 different species of plants throughout the world, including some of our favourite fruits, such as mangoes and bananas. This is a fact-filled and fun follow-up to Milner’s The Bee Book and The Sea Book, teaching young animal lovers about why bats matter, why they are declining and what we can do to help. JS 82 | www.teachwire.net Meet the RECOMMENDED VICTO RIA N VA L U E This Classic Text Reading Comprehension resource from Plazoom will help to ensure children are prepared when they encounter more stretching vocabulary. It’s a great value pack that bundles together eight units covering 24 diferent classic texts, all of which are matched to questions that develop key reading skills such as inference and retrieval. Plazoom.com RESOURCES Clas sic ding Text Rea Th e Ju Com preh ng le Bo yar by Rud Class ic ensi on by H.G . Wel ls ng in the warm eveni his of a very up from o’cloc k r Wolf woke and sprea d out It was seven when Fathe y yawn ed, hills himse lf, of the sleep Seeon ee scratc hed other to get rid the day’s rest, Classic Text Reading one after her his paws tips. ed across in their nose dropp feelin g shone into big grey moon with her said and the Wolf lay ‘Augrh !’ ling cubs, Mothe r all lived. ing, squea was going where they four tumbl and he tail of the cave again’ ; a bushy to hunt the mouth w with you, ‘it is time go with little shado Father Wolf, when a ‘Good luck white teeth downh ill whine d: strong to spring old and luck and the thresh forget the s; and good crosse d may never of the Wolve that they O Chief children, noble the wolve s ’ go with and the in this world. icker – g hungr y the Dish-l about makin Tabaq ui, runs – he jackal pieces of becau se It was the rags and Tabaq ui despis e and eating of India telling tales, and misch ief, le Ma n The strange r came early in Februa through a ry, one wintry biting wind and a driving day, snowfa ll of the year, snow, the last over the down, Brambl ehurst walking from railway station black portma , and carryin nteau in his g a little thickly gloved He was wrappe hand. d up from head to foot, soft felt hat and the brim hid every inch of his of his his nose; face but the the snow shiny tip had piled of and chest, itself against and added his shoulde a white crest rs carried. He to the burden staggere d he into the “Coach dead than and Horses” alive, and flung his more he cried, “in portman teau the name down. “A of human fire,” He stamped charity! A and shook room and the a fire!” snow from bar, and followed off himself Mrs. Hall in the into her guest his bargain . And with parlour to that much strike introdu ction, that and a Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll hension Classic Text Reading | Page 1 copyright 2019 Classic Text Reading Compreh ension Mat Compre Pack | Page 1 copyright 2019 There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. ‘Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,’ thought Alice; ‘only, as it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind.’ The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: ‘No room! No room!’ they cried out when they saw Alice coming. ‘There’s PLENTY of room!’ said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table. ‘Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. ‘I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked. Classic Text Reading Comprehension Mat Pack | Page 1 copyright 2019 KS2 Queen of Darkness LEILA RASHEED ON STEPPING BACK IN TIME WITH CAMILLA’S ROMAN STORY Text Read ing Th e Inv isib ok d Kip ling author KS2 Empire’s End – A Roman Story by Tony Bradman by Leila Rasheed (£5.99, Bloomsbury Children’s Books) (£6.99, Scholastic) Young Rhianna is relieved when Queen Boudica takes her and her sister in when their parents die. However, there seems to be a darkness in the powerful queen that’s waiting to be unleashed, and the Romans are set to suffer for their crimes against her and her sister. There’s a bloody battle coming – and a terrible aftermath. This gripping story set in the most exciting period of the Roman era in Britain will help bring KS2 history to life, and is sure to appeal to fans of historical adventure. Flashbacks provide dramatic stories set in key moments from history, and offer opportunities for introducing children to various historical topics. Those familiar with the work of Tony Bradman won’t be disappointed by this latest offering, written in the same compelling style as his other books in historic settings, such as Revolt Against the Romans, Attack of the Vikings and Winter of the Wolves. Highly recommended. JS When Camilla, a young North African girl travels, with her mother and father from Leptis Magna to Rome in 207AD, she believes she is going to the centre of the world. But just a few months later, the little family is dispatched to the very edge of it: Britannica. Tragedy strikes and, left alone with the empress while her father travels north, Camilla has to navigate the tricky world of secrets and danger in this cold place she must now call home. This is the latest in Scholastic’s Voices series, reflecting authentic, unsung stories of our past. Empire’s End is a heart-stopping adventure based on real historical events. Author Leila Rasheed takes the reader back to a dangerous and intriguing time in Britain, and the book is a must-read for young historians. A fine addition to the series that also includes Now or Never, Diver’s Daughter and Son of the Circus. JS What inspired you to tell the story of Camilla? Growing up in North Africa, I was lucky to be able to visit magniicent Roman ruins that made the past seem alive and real to me. As a British-Asian abroad, however, I was what some people call a ‘third culture kid’: a foreigner everywhere. That was part of the inspiration for Camilla. She is an ordinary girl, but she is swept up in extraordinary events that carry her across the Empire. Camilla thinks her world will last forever, but as we all know, big things can change fast… How did you research the book? I visited Pompeii, Herculaneum and Chedworth Roman Villa and read books about Roman Britain and Leptis Magna. I also read a biography of Galen, a famous Roman doctor, who inspired the character of Camilla’s father. The Romans didn’t really take a scientiic approach to medicine, so there were some very bizarre ‘cures’ out there! Another fascinating detail I discovered was that Roman philosophers classiied Christians as atheists because they did not worship the Roman gods. I wanted to give a realistic idea of the way Romans thought. What lessons from Camilla’s story are relevant to primary pupils today? I suppose the lessons are that Britain has been a multicultural place since long before England existed, that home is where you make it, and that roots have to start somewhere: why not with you? How do you hope teachers will use the book? At the end of the book there’s a kind of ‘time twist’ where I hope readers, if they have engaged with Camilla’s story, get a point of view that makes them see museums in a new light. So I think it would be great if teachers used it together with a museum visit, or with the ‘museum in a box’ service that some museums ofer. www.teachwire.net | 83 PARTNER CONTENT 5 30 SECOND BRIEFING REASONS TO TRY… ABRSM’s Classical 100 Find just the right music for all kinds of class sizes, lessons and activities ABRSM’s Classical 100 is a free website that helps you ind just the right music for all kinds of class sizes, lessons and activities. There are pieces for listening to and learning about music, storytelling, dancing, exploring sounds and more. 1 IT’S BUILT FOR AND DESIGNED BY TEACHERS ABRSM built this resource to make it easy for teachers to choose core classical music repertoire, without having to search for it online; it’s all in one place. “It’s a really user-friendly resource for teachers. I love the selection of pieces, they’re really well thought out!” Jane Harris, Y6 primary school teacher. 2 YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A SPECIALIST MUSIC TEACHER TO USE IT Each activity includes a helpful guide and all the resources you need to use within your class. Even if you’re not too conident with music, you can still bring music into your classroom. You can listen to a recording of each piece, while sharing and exploring the story behind the music. The list of pieces is dynamic, allowing you to sort the repertoire by mood, instrument, tempo or period. 3 THERE ARE OVER 100 TEACHING RESOURCES FOR 100 PIECES OF MUSIC Classical 100 is made by ABRSM, so you can trust this to be a great start to engaging your pupils with music. Musical pieces range from the energetic Bernstein’s Mambo – which is great for PE, movement, dance, etc – to the tranquil Barber’s Adagio for Strings for calm classrooms after lunch breaks. 4 IT DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE CURRICULUM Classical 100 can be used to meet the National Curriculum’s KS1 Attainment Target: “to listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music”. It can be used to meet some of the First-level outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence, as an appropriate resource, particularly for EXA 1-19a. In addition, it can also be used to meet a range of the Expressive Arts experiences and outcomes from Early to Second level, particularly for EXA 0-18a, EXA 1-18a, EXA 2-18a. Contact: ABRSM Classical100@abrsm.ac.uk Classical100.org abrsm.org/classical100 ABRSM is the UK’s largest music education body. As a registered charity, we make signiicant donations towards music education initiatives around the world. 5 IT HELPS TO ENCOURAGE PUPILS TO EXPLORE, DISCOVER AND LISTEN TO MUSIC Ultimately pupils develop their own personal interests, tastes and talents. To learn more sign up now, for free, at classical100.org KEY POINTS It’s a free resource! As long as you have a reliable internet connection, every teacher in your school can access Classical 100. Every teacher, member of the SLT and TA in your school can register as a Classical 100 user, not just your music specialist. High-quality recordings were provided by Decca and Classic FM. ABRSM ofers INSET sessions on Classical 100, so you can learn how to use the resource in your school: abrsm.org/inset www.teachwire.net | 85 Music SPECIAL p8 8 INSIDE THIS SECTION p9 1 How can ‘non-musician’ teachers deliver music successfully in a primary school? p9 4 Four key factors in planning your music curriculum to satisfy an Ofsted deep dive Time to get IN TUNE Here’s why primary schools need to make space for music in an (admittedly overcrowded) curriculum Ukelele activities from ictional hero Tom Gates’s latest foray into music M GHISLAINE KENYON usic works so well at primary level because it’s made up of elements in which children are already competent when they start school. Before each us was born we were already in a world coloured by rhythm – our mother’s heartbeat, the rhythm of her walking or running, the pulses of her speech. Don’t miss our maths special next issue, on sale 17th April 86 | www.teachwire.net Rhythm Babies as young as six months respond to musical pulse by moving to it, more or less, in rhythm. If you are a parent or have experience of very young children, you’ll have seen the delighted way a baby shakes her head or waves her hands to music with a good beat. So there is also a connection between external rhythm and physical movement, which you’ll know because you’ve been in a club or stadium or other music venue and felt irresistibly driven to join in to the music on stage with your own body. Your method of silencing a noisy class may well be to clap a rhythm that children have to clap back to you, so you’re already on the MUSIC SPECIAL tone of voice. Infants prefer this over other styles of singing”. So children already have a warm connection with the singing human voice, and, like spoken language, when they’re small they don’t have to learn to do it formally; they just imitate. Singing road. But you could be doing short, mind-sharpening and pleasurable rhythm activities with more positive associations: start the morning with a five-minute rhythm game such as Andrea Pyne’s ‘Don’t clap this one back’ (a version of Simon Says). The teacher claps a range of rhythms, no more than four beats long, using hands, body, voice, even floor, and the children copy the rhythms. However, if they hear in any form the rhythm ‘don’t clap this one back’, they don’t clap it back. Every time someone claps the rhythm when they aren’t supposed to, the teacher gets a point. If no one claps when they hear ‘don’t clap this one back’ the children get a point. Rhythm also fits so naturally with the rest of the curriculum: it exists in PE (gymnastics) and of course in both dance and music, where you could work with drums or other untuned percussion; in maths or visual arts it might translate as repeating patterns; in english it could be metre in poetry or the rhythms of speech; in science the seasons as rhythms of nature; in nature also the rhythm of bird wings in flight, or insects at work; in physics the pattern of sound waves. As a creative teacher you will find other ways of extending its possibilities. And a whole-school focus could end up with a grand foot-tapping sharing assembly or, more ambitiously, the theme for an end-of-term school show. Pitch Babies also respond positively to pitch, which is what tunes are made from: scientist Dr Laurel Trainor’s research has found that caregivers around the world “sing to infants in a way that differs from most other kinds of singing – usually in a conversational style, with a lot of repetition, high in pitch, slow in tempo, and in a loving Singing is the easiest way to develop this innate sense of and response to pitch, so even if as adults we may feel we have lost the skill, we did all have it and it’s definitely recoverable. My advice to teachers who want to sing in the classroom but are just a bit afraid would be this: as busy as you are, do something for yourself – go and join a choir. Community choirs are everywhere now and the feedback I get from teachers who do take that step is, firstly and perhaps most importantly, two hours a week singing in a group has huge personal benefits. After a singing session, you’ve aerated your blood and that oxygenated blood is in your brain; you feel alert, relaxed and ready to face whatever comes next. And if you do, a seven-year-old will too. So why not regularly start some morning or afternoon sessions with a song, which, if you’ve joined that choir, could be something you’ve already learned and feel confident with. Or you can find this kind of material online in places such as musicmark.org.uk (for example, the Songs of Home resources), or singup.org. Rhythm and pitch, the basic elements, are available to all. Perhaps you’re more ambitious and would like to offer your class experiences and skills that require more specialist input. You may be lucky enough to have a music teacher on site but if not, I would always say first do an audit of your families and the school community to see if there’s anyone else who might have these competencies and who would be willing to share them: someone who could start a guitar club or accompany singing on the keyboard or piano, someone who plays in a brass or jazz band who might do some introductory sessions on the trumpet. And then, having lit the spark, there are the myriad music organisations you can turn to: the local music education hub or performing companies, be it orchestras, choirs, drumming groups or even opera companies. You might be surprised to find out what they can offer you, both in terms of CPD, instrumental tuition and music education programmes, sometimes at no or little cost to the hard-pressed school budget. You may have to be proactive here: pick up on marketing materials arriving in school such as the BBC’s Ten Pieces scheme, or contact local music organisations to see what they can offer you. The local primary school in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, decided to look to the Britten-Pears Foundation (BPF) for help with delivering aspects of the music curriculum. The BPF is located on the site of the home of the 20th century composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, the singer Peter Pears, and the composer’s atmospheric house and garden, as well as his archive, can be visited. The school and the BPF together developed an innovative and flourishing programme that linked music into other curriculum areas such as history, art and science, and is delivered by the BPF’s Learning curator – a great example of creative collaboration. Musical journey So, start simple, with a daily dose of rhythm and pitch, which will make everyone ready for learning, and then, with the support that’s already out there, take off on the musical journey that’s right for your school. You won’t regret it. TP Ghislaine Kenyon is the author of The Arts in Primary Education: Breathing life, colour and culture into the curriculum (£15.99, Bloomsbury Education). www.teachwire.net | 87 The truth about primary music SPECIALISTS I am often asked, ‘How can untrained, unconident, ‘non-specialist’, ‘non-musician’ teachers deliver music successfully in a primary school?’ JIMMY ROTHERAM M y answer to the question above is simple. They probably can’t, and probably shouldn’t. Sorry. But never say never. The good news is that there is no reason at all that these teachers can’t be equipped with the fundamentals they need to succeed – by which point they are no longer ‘non-specialist and non-musical’. The schools minister claims to value training and believes “the most efective teaching methods should be pursued” and that we should ensure music lessons are of “high quality”. So why isn’t this happening? It amazes me that a government advocating a ‘knowledge-rich’ education, with a schools minister who supposedly wants every child to leave primary school able to read music, can continue to tolerate a system 88 | www.teachwire.net that often wilfully fails to provide teachers, even music specialists, with what they need to deliver this in our primaries. Many schools are aware of their musical shortcomings, and rely on the music services to provide specialist tuition through whole-class ensemble tuition. However, while peripatetic teachers are undoubtedly highly knowledgeable in music, and often skilled in one-to-one tuition, teaching a class full of restless seven-year-olds without the classroom teacher’s skills in classroom and behaviour management, or the right pedagogy, might also be a struggle for them (I speak from past experience). The same applies to those trained as secondary music teachers – many feel unconident teaching in Early Years settings, for example, and often ask children to run before they can walk (again, I speak from personal experience). It is also very diicult when you have precious little contact time with the children and you are spread incredibly thinly across several schools. Many good teachers tire of the peripatetic life and move on to other jobs. Despite this, some WCET provision is superb, but even then, it should be an augmentation to regular curriculum music, rather than a replacement for it, and there should be opportunities to continue lessons, not just ‘half a term of trumpets in Y4’. Developing musicianship in the long term requires a ‘little and often’ and ‘practice makes perfect’ approach. If we only taught timetables for ten minutes on a Friday and never followed it up, we wouldn’t expect luency. This can be the problem with even the most knowledgeable and brilliant primary music specialist – if they only see the class for 30 minutes per week in a part-time role, they are going to need the support of class teachers to follow up the work. With subject-speciic deep dives from Ofsted, in music, schools must MUSIC SPECIAL show that: “Teachers have good knowledge of the subject(s) and courses they teach. Leaders provide efective support for those teaching outside their main areas of expertise.” So, whatever curriculum model and pedagogy we are using, a whole-school, carefully sequenced approach is essential for any subject to succeed. Without specialist input, this will be diicult. What makes a specialist? We may deine the ideal ‘primary music specialist’ as someone well-trained, experienced and qualiied in musical pedagogy and development aimed speciically at two- to 11-year-olds. You do not have to be a virtuoso musician to be this person, just knowledgeable in how to teach the basics to large groups of children. Sadly, such people are a dying breed. Outside of the PGCE system, certiied CPD is available in approaches such as Kodály, Dalcroze and Orf, and other Early Years approaches. Various providers are very welcoming to beginners, and a growing number of people are obtaining professional skills and knowledge in this way. If you are a music coordinator of any level of experience, such courses are invaluable. However, schools do not always allow music coordinators to develop in this way and often, frustratingly, chop and change their music coordinators every year, stiling any long-term development. CPD can also be expensive for the school or the individual. People can’t always get away to summer and spring courses for a week, or even a weekend. If the school doesn’t take responsibility, even the best approach can be inefective. If we accept that good music teaching requires strong subject knowledge, age-appropriate pedagogy and a classroom teacher’s skills in managing a class, we can see how few people (even some ‘music specialists’) are appropriately trained to give children the best music education possible. At Feversham, we are working on a model whereby class teachers can deliver the day-to-day curriculum with support from a subject leader/specialist (me) who can cater training as much as possible to their speciic needs, before stepping back and letting them do a brilliant job, empowered with the subject knowledge, conidence, pedagogy, planning, tools and workarounds where necessary. Some of the best lessons I have seen have been delivered by generalist class teachers. In EYFS and KS1 we have been very successful in bringing about a self-suicient model where the need for specialist support is minimal and the curriculum is delivered conidently by class teachers. So I was incredibly excited when I irst heard about Lindsay Ibbotson’s work on similar premises a few years ago, which is just now bearing fruition – First Thing Music. In partnership with Tees Valley Music Service and the British Kodály Academy, they have trained 60 music coordinators in primary schools in the foundations of the Kodály approach. By supporting these teachers in their own schools, the approach is now starting to embed across the North East. With the right kind of support and development, classroom teachers in KS1 can deliver music brilliantly. With the support of primary music specialists, spreading their knowledge in partnership with hubs, MATS and Arts Council bridging organisations, schools can become self-suicient in delivering high quality music lessons. EBOR academies have a similar partnership with the Voices Foundation. This can happen all over the country. This is what our funding should be focused on. Plate spinning If schools manage to make outstanding musical progress in EYFS/KS1, what happens at UKS2, when spinning many musical plates, alongside preparations for SATS, makes life tricky for the class teacher? With the musical material and knowledge getting complex for children after as much as ive years of musical development, where a higher level of musicianship is needed, how can non-specialists thrive? I don’t think anyone quite has the deinitive answer to this, and many would make strong arguments for the need of someone who is both a specialist musician and primary music educator, especially in UKS2 (secondary schools may be able to provide this in partnerships, or music coordinators may be developed over the long term). However, let’s look at the good news – in KS1, with the right specialist support and frameworks, schools can permanently embed highly efective, high-quality, wonderfully sequenced musical education at low cost. The First Thing project was successful after around 25 hours of training classroom teachers. Similar work could provide the foundations in ITT. The school’s minister must know that a model music curriculum on its own will not be successful unless those delivering it are trained – after all, it was Mr Gibb who said that “the deep subject knowledge of teachers is vital to the successful delivery of the curriculum”. It is therefore my hope that the DfE will put its policies where its mouth is and support both ITT and programmes of in-school CPD training with signiicant funding to enable the long-term musical development of curriculum, leaders, staf and pupils in primary schools. This will provide children with solid musical foundations and empower teachers who had previously thought themselves unmusical, as they become true music specialists of their own realm. TP Jimmy Rotheram is a music teacher at Feversham Primary, Bradford, who made the top 50 shortlist for the $1 million Global Teacher Prize. @musicedu4all www.teachwire.net | 89 FEATURES MUSIC SPECIAL How to show MUSICAL INTENT Plan your music curriculum to satisfy an Ofsted deep dive by taking these four key factors into account DR ELIZABETH STAFFORD W e’re now two terms into the ‘new’ Ofsted inspection framework, and schools are gradually getting to grips with the idea of a ‘deep dive’ – a thorough investigation of all aspects of a particular subject area, including its design (intent), delivery (implementation) and assessment (impact). Whether you’re using a bought-in music scheme or creating your own from scratch, you are going to need a comprehensive curriculum plan to discuss in a deep dive inspection. To draw that up successfully you need to take into account four key factors. opportunities to sing ‘topic songs’ and nothing else. As you can see from the list above, the national Coverage curriculum for music The national curriculum for music at KS1 & KS2 covers: has much more l singing; content than just l playing tuned and singing, so in order to fulfil its untuned instruments; l listening to recorded and requirements – live music; and satisfy a l composing and improvising deep dive – (using the interrelated schools need to dimensions of music); make sure they are l understanding music history; covering all these elements l understanding notation. within their curriculum. Occasionally, I encounter In my experience, where some something even more schools struggle is to move the worrying – a music curriculum music curriculum beyond constructed solely around singing – particularly if they listening. In extreme cases adhere to a topic-based this listening is confined to curriculum, where assemblies and registration music lessons times. Not only can this not become a be counted as part of the series of curriculum, but it also means that pupils do not develop their critical appraisal skills by having the opportunity to analyse or respond to the music. Again, looking at the list above, this is clearly inadequate in terms of a curriculum, and would raise serious questions in a deep-dive situation. 1 This clearly links to Ofsted’s idea of ‘cultural capital’: “the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement”. In order to ensure that our curriculum satisfies both of the above, we need to ensure that we are exploring a broad range of musical styles, including some that could be said to be ‘high art’ or ‘the best that has been thought and said’. The latter does not necessarily mean classical music! The film music Content of John Williams, the songs of The national curriculum The Beatles, the jazz music of for music at KS1 and KS2 Miles Davis and the musicals of requires pupils to: “perform, Sondheim could all be classed as listen to, review and evaluate being the very best of their music across a range of respective genres and therefore historical periods, genres, styles worthy of study in their own and traditions, including the right, as well as adding works of the great composers considerably to our pupils’ and musicians”. cultural capital. 2 www.teachwire.net | 91 curriculum. Instead, the content of the curriculum is based on what ‘fits’ with the topic, and the order in which the topics appear does not take into account the logical little and progression of musical skills. Clearly, at the topic planning often. Schools that stage there needs to be careful consideration of the content use block of the music curriculum, timetabling for and the sequence in which music, rather than Structure pupils acquire and develop timetabling a regular The national musical skills. weekly slot throughout the year, curriculum for music at KS1 & Another common mistake will find that musical progress KS2 does not provide any with sequencing often occurs and understanding are slowed as structural advice for curriculum when schools buy in wholea result. They may also fail to design beyond the end of key class instrumental programmes adequately evidence the stage expectations. This is not from their local music ‘balanced’ aspect of a ‘broad and exactly helpful for those subject education hub, or a private balanced curriculum’ if the leaders who are not confident equivalent blocked time does not provider. These programmes about music themselves! balance well with the amount of (for historical reasons to do Music education experts with the original pilot schemes) time spent on other subjects. often warn against the idea of are often targeted at Y4. separating out the different However, if the school has no Sequencing skills of performing, creating music ‘specialist’ teacher in Y5 The national curriculum and listening, as several studies or Y6, how are their staff for music at KS1 and KS2 does have shown that musical expected to continue the not provide any sequencing progress is better and musical sequence of learning so that understanding greater when all advice for curriculum design children are progressing from beyond the end of key stage of these elements are taught in expectations. To make matters what they learnt from a an integrated way. This means specialist in Y4? that schools whose curriculum is worse, music educators Clearly, either the Y5 and themselves often cannot split into ‘units’ of performing, Y6 teachers need additional agree on the ‘correct’ composing and listening may training, or more specialist sequencing of learning, want to have a rethink to bring provision is needed in these particularly when it comes to their curriculum in line with years, or the the issue of reading notation! best practice. whole-class For many schools adopting a Another issue that any specialist will point out is music topic-based approach to learning, there is no real is a skills-based subject and sequence to their music therefore needs to be practised 3 4 programme needs to move over to Y6! When we talk about sequencing, it is important to remember that the development of musical skill is not linear. Music education experts generally all subscribe to the idea of a spiral curriculum, where basic skills are revisited in greater depth and at greater levels of complexity as a child develops. If your curriculum is divided into units such as ‘pulse’, ‘pitch’, ‘rhythm’ and so on, it’s important to recognise that you cannot just do these things once and then assume that the pupil has ‘learnt’ that and doesn’t need any future input. In fact, they will need to return to these concepts many times as they develop as musicians. While schools may view the deep-dive process as yet another rod to beat them with, on the plus side it does allow them to reimagine their music curriculum to ensure they are following best practice, which can only be a good thing! And here’s a word to the wise if you’re tempted to leave the whole thing alone, banking on the fact that Ofsted inspectors are just as scared of music as you are: the deep-dive training that Ofsted gave its inspectors when the new framework came in used music as its exemplar, so it’s possible that this subject might be higher on the hit list than you think! TP Dr Elizabeth Stafford is director of Music Education Solutions and senior lecturer in music business and professional studies at Leeds College of Music. @DrLizStaford 92 | www.teachwire.net From page to CLASSROOM The author of the popular Tom Gates series of books shares some activities from the titular hero’s latest foray into the world of music LIZ PINCHON T he Tom Gates series has gained enormous popularity with children ages six to 12. The enthusiasm from young readers will no doubt have made the Tom Gates world familiar to parents and primary school teachers alike. The series follows the adventures of Tom, with his music passion for music as a backbone throughout. The original songs and lyrics that accompany the books have been a popular addition for specific subject or emotion. Once completed, pupils can then be encouraged to get up and perform in front of the class, using the app for a backing track. Teaching the material from the Tom Gates Music Book does not need to be done solely by music teachers, although they may have preferred approaches and methods. The following music lesson plan, with three suggested activities for ukulele, can be taught by classroom teachers “Learning music is the experience, not the result” children, and now, six of the best songs have been transcribed for learning and teaching. The Tom Gates Music Book is interactive and provides transcriptions for ukulele, recorder, guitar, vocals and drums. Backed up with illustrations and tips and tricks, the material is easy for children to learn. The book comes with an accompanying app, in which you play back songs and remove the lead vocals or individual instruments as desired. This is a great classroom resource that can be used in lesson time without needing instruments – for example, assigning an activity for classmates to write their own lyrics based around a 94 | www.teachwire.net without prior experience of learning an instrument or playing music. Why ukulele? Ukulele has replaced traditional classroom recorder learning in recent years. It’s ease of use, sound and aesthetics have made it a popular instrument with children. Encouraging pupils to participate with music from an early age is a great way to build on confidence and further an understanding of communication and expression. Ukulele has proved to be a great tool for learners of all ages to get into music. This suggested lesson plan can be used broadly as a template for incorporating other instruments and singing alike. Intro and prep Taking a little time for preparation is key to teaching music ensemble. There may be up to 30 pupils in a class, so it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the chord positions and songs you would like to teach. Prior to the lesson, take a little time to learn the chords for the song that you have decided upon. All the songs that accompany the Tom Gates music book are very easy and contain no more than three or four different chord positions. Spending 15 minutes learning chord shapes and listening to the song will make for a much more fun and efficient lesson. It’s a good idea to ensure the Ukuleles are in tune prior to handing out to pupils. Ukuleles are tuned G-C-E-A, and using a tuner is the most simple and efficient way. If you don’t have access to a tuner then there are plenty of resources online to help. Youtube tutorials are a great way to learn how to tune a ukulele if you have no previous experience. Using a piano as reference for tuning is also an efficient method. Setting some basic ground rules before noisy ensemble activities can help the lesson run a lot more smoothly. Children will feel compelled to strum their instruments from the beginning, so asking pupils to only play when instructed can save a lot of stress. Clearing some space and seating pupils in a semi-circle is a good way to maintain a communicative and visual learning environment throughout the lesson. As you set up, you might like to play the recording of the song for pupils. This will help them get an idea of what they are about to learn. MUSIC SPECIAL Making sure pupils can see the charts for the chords they are (Ten minutes) learning is essential. It’s a good Start by introducing chord idea to highlight the chord positions for your chosen song. positions on the page that are There will only be three or four needed and backing up any chord shapes to learn, so this extra instruction on keeps things simple. the whiteboard. Demonstrate how to play the chord positions with your left hand, and then execute with a single strum on your right hand. During the activity, feel free to walk around and help pupils with their chord positions. Allow a little time for learners to get to grips with each position. Then it’s time to move forward. First activity Second activity (20 minutes) Once pupils are familiar with their chords, it’s time to start teaching how to switch between positions. Start by writing the chord changes up on the board, and then relating it to the music on the page. Learners should have an understanding about which chord to play in the right order. It’s a good idea to ask learners to take things slow to begin with, then gradually speed up their playing once they feel a little more confident. You might like to pair up pupils, which will encourage them to stay involved with the activity, and play off one another. Halfway through the activity, try and have all the pupils in the class ACCOMPANIMENTS Suggested resources to accompany a ukulele lesson: l Ukuleles (to be used individually or shared by pupils). l Copies of chord charts and music from the book you would like to teach. l Music stands, ensuring that pupils can comfortably read the material, hands free. l Access to the Tom Gates music app, to play along to the songs. l A whiteboard, used to articulate further understanding and extra references of the class. play in unison. For many, this will be their first try at playing music with an ensemble, so it may be a little wobbly to begin with. After a couple of run-throughs, however, you will start to hear a difference! Third activity (20 minutes) By now, pupils should feel confident with switching slowly between chord positions. It’s time to run though the song! Singing the lyrics along for reference can be the guiding light for pupils who don’t consider themselves that musical. Start by counting off the song (one, two, three, four) and then playing the chord sequence, with singing, to add a sense of structure. You’ll notice that pupils will be a little unsure to start off, but the sound will build gradually throughout. You might like to work on one section at a time, or perhaps try playing the whole thing throughout. Playing along with the recording is by no means necessary, although this can act as a great reward for pupils’ hard work. Learning music is the experience, not the result. Some pupils will get it straight away, while some will need a lot more time. The important thing is that the teaching environment is relaxed, communicative and non-judgmental. The Tom Gates music app provides all the songs accompanying the book. Dive in and have some fun! TP Liz Pichon is the author of The Tom Gates Music Book (£12.99, Scholastic). www.teachwire.net | 95 PARTNER CONTENT Sound choices The latest developments in music to hit the right note in the classroom 2 1 Sound of success Musical adventures start with an Ocarina. Infants perform familiar tunes recognisably; and Juniors explore the world by playing music from diferent times and places. Your whole school can become musical with these beautifully simple and ingenious lutes. Just follow the child-friendly notation and play, play, play. Ocarina Rainbow Starter Boxes are ideal for whole-class music, so pick up your class pack and free teaching resources today. An Ocarina can take you on a musical journey – wear one and play it to discover the sweet sound of success. Teaching was never so much fun! ocarina.co.uk/sb Quality and inspiration ABRSM is the UK’s largest music education body, one of its largest music publishers and the world’s leading provider of music exams, holding over 650,000 assessments in more than 90 countries every year. As a registered charity, ABRSM also makes signiicant donations towards music education initiatives around the world. Our mission is to nurture a love for music, and to inspire achievement in it. At ABRSM, we believe that everyone, wherever they’re from, should have access to high-quality music-learning. abrsm.org Just add children 3 Singing school research ‘A Singing School is a Successful School’ (a primary school singing intervention from Out of the Ark Music) has resulted in a 10% increase in children’s conidence and academic progress. In collaboration with professor Susan Hallam MBE and the Milton Keynes and Sheield Music Hubs, Out of the Ark Music has conducted a major research project into the most efective ways of integrating music (and singing in particular) into the school curriculum, measuring the impact on a range of outcomes, including wellbeing and conidence, as well as academic attainment across the general and music curricula. outoftheark.com/ singing-school-project The award-winning School Musicals Company, recent recipient of the Music Teacher Awards For Excellence ‘Outstanding Musical Theatre/Drama Resources’ award, has set about changing the landscape of traditional school musicals. Ofering editable scripts, complementary abridged versions, extensive staging guidelines and a wealth of production information to make life as easy as possible for busy teachers, the musicals are all carefully crafted to engage, enthuse and inspire young performers. With funny but dramatic scripts, catchy, contemporary songs and lines spread right through the cast, the shows have been designed for multitasking non-specialists and specialists alike. theschoolmusicalscompany.com 4 5 Learn to the beat The world leader in inclusive whole-class and group ensemble playing, Drums for Schools provides a complete solution that combines top-quality instruments, world-leading teaching resources and a teaching and learning approach that can be delivered by class teachers as well as music specialists. There are teaching packs for African Drumming, Brazilian Samba, Caribbean Steel Pans, Indonesian Gamelan and World Percussion and prices for whole-class packs start at under £300. The collaborative approach develops pupils vital life skills as well as genuine musicianship, and will invigorate teachers and delight deep-diving Ofsted inspectors. Contact Hilary Harris, 0115 931 4513, 07770 275182. www.teachwire.net | 97 PARTNER CONTENT THE WOW FACTOR Bringing reading to life with the Reading Planet Online Library The Reading Planet Online Library is an exciting eBook library that brings reading to life in the classroom. Featuring hundreds of colourful fiction and non-fiction eBooks, audio synchronisation and interactive quizzes, the Online Library boosts the teaching of reading across the whole school. Teachers, pupils and parents can access it anywhere, on any device making, it ideal for independent, group and whole-class reading. At just £275+VAT for a one-year subscription, the Reading Planet Online Library is a great-value resource that transforms the reading experience. Contact: Find out more and sign up for a free 30-day trial at risingstars-uk.com/onlinelibrary FIND A BOOK FOR EVERY READER BRING STORIES TO LIFE GET CHILDREN INVOLVED EXPLORE A BOOK IN DEPTH The Online Library provides access to a wide range of iction and non-iction, across diferent genres. Whether you need a modern adventure story or a historical biography, a classic retelling or a fact-illed information guide, there’s an eBook for all interests and reading abilities. Each eBook includes audio synchronisation (KS1 only), helping to bring stories to life for young readers. Literacy coordinator Hayley Footitt says: “The children feel more conident when they hear and see the audio-synced text being highlighted and read out loud.” Interactive quizzes are available for each eBook, providing a fun way of assessing comprehension and vocabulary skills, especially for wholeclass guided reading. Acting headteacher Stephen Booth says: “Rather than it being a passive experience the children come up to the whiteboard and answer quizzes… It enhances the shared reading experience.” The Teacher Toolkit provides easy-to-use tools such as pens and text boxes to support study of each eBook. English lead Dani Rackley says: “The children enjoy it as it makes the Guided Reading session more interactive – being able to circle, draw on and annotate on the text is useful.” www.teachwire.net | 99 KS2 LESSON PLAN History, Maths WHAT THEY’LL LEARN To read and write years in Roman numerals l l To understand Roman numerals in historical context l To know about various monarchs in British history l To answer questions and derive information from given data Learning how the Romans did numbers Teaching children how to read and write years in historic numerals is a rich opportunity for cross-curricular links, says Julianne Britton @juliannebritton missbritton.co.uk This lesson combines historical facts and research with a mathematical understanding of how to read and write Roman numerals. I first taught this cross-curricular maths lesson as part of a topic on the British monarchy, which also happened to be during an Ofsted inspection! Pupils enjoyed the lesson and Ofsted inspectors commented that “making these relevant cross-curricular links supports good progress in reading, writing and mathematics”. This lesson is aimed at upper KS2, as children require some prior knowledge of Roman numerals before teaching this lesson. START HERE To start the lesson, each child should be given a card with a different number (between 1 and 50) written in Roman numerals. Children will then identify what number they have been given and should work together to line themselves up in ascending order. Once the children are happy that they are all stood in the correct place, ask them to hold up their card and shout out their number. This is a great activity to get the children moving while assessing their prior knowledge of Roman numerals. It is also easily differentiated as you can distribute ‘easier’ numbers to the lower-ability pupils. 102 | www.teachwire.net MAIN LESSON 1| WHAT ARE ROMAN NUMERALS? Recap what Roman numerals are, explaining the historical context. Which numbers do the children already know? Do they have any easy methods for remembering certain numbers, eg C for cent (100)? Where might we still see Roman numerals today? Give out various books and images and ask children to work together to find places where Roman numerals are still used, eg clocks, after monarchs’ names, buildings, gravestones, film/tv credits, etc. They should write these down on a group mind map then share with the rest of the class. Explain how to read and write Roman numerals correctly and have a go at reading and writing different years as a class. 2| MONARCHY DATES Explain that while they practise reading and writing years in Roman numerals, they will be focusing on the British monarchy. They will be finding out more about different kings and queens. Children will be completing various tables of years related to a range of British monarchs – for example, birth year, death year and coronation year. Some children will simply read the Roman numerals and write the corresponding years in figures, or vice versa, while other more able children will need to do their own research “Which numbers do children already know? Ask them if EXTENDING there are any rules we should THE LESSON remember when reading or Children can write their birth dates in Roman writing Roman numerals” own numerals, which could l to find additional significant dates and write them in Roman numerals. For this, you can give them access to books or the internet. 3|MONARCH FACTS Children can use the birth and death dates to find out the age of each monarch when they died. They will also be able to work out the age of each monarch when they took the throne. This is an opportunity to practise written or mental subtraction. Ask children to choose one of the monarchs from their worksheet and create a short fact file. Provide them with an example to show the type of information they could include. then be used to create a nice birthdays display for the classroom. l In English, children could carry out further research about an individual monarch, making notes and ultimately writing a short biographical text. l Continuing with the theme of the British monarchy, children could draw or paint portraits of a chosen king or queen in art. You could look at a range of historical royal portraits for inspiration. l Using some of the facts the children have identiied in this lesson, they could then go onto produce a timeline of key dates in the history of the British monarchy. Julianne Britton is a qualified teacher and owner of missbritton.co.uk where she offers downloadable teaching resources and private tuition services. USEFUL QUESTIONS Where might we see Roman numerals today? l How would we write the year 2020 in Roman numerals? l Which monarch has had the longest reign? l Which monarch became ruler at the youngest age? l www.teachwire.net | 103 KS2 LESSON PLAN MFL WHAT THEY’LL LEARN l The vocabulary for various family members in French l How to use the correct word for ‘my’ How to introduce people using the third person form l l How to apply their knowledge of English to decode unfamiliar words in French Vocabulary: Ma famille en français Teaching pupils how to talk about their families in French helps them with third-person form, says Amanda Barton @amandabook2 A lot of MFL teaching in the early stages focuses on using the first person only. Teaching your children how to talk about their families – either their own or a fictitious family – is a good way of getting them to practise using the third-person form. They learn how to say what various family members are called – il s’appelle, elle s’appelle – and to practise using the possessive adjective ‘my’, which is determined by the gender of the noun, eg Mon père s’appelle Charlie. The examples below are given in French but the activities can be used with any language. START HERE Tell the children they’re going to practise being language detectives. You might want them to mime, pretending to look through a magnifying glass. Display the two words that are the focus of this lesson – ma famille – and ask what they mean. Can they suggest, in English, which words they think they will be learning in French today? eg mum, brother, stepsister, grandma. Show the class a list of family vocabulary in French either on the whiteboard, or have individual words stuck to the classroom walls so that pupils have to walk around. The children work in pairs to decode the words and translate them into English. 104 | www.teachwire.net females together, with Voici ma mère; Voici ma grand-mère; Voici mon demi-frère; Voici mon grand-père, etc. If you are introducing a family that is not your own, remember to introduce yourself first with, for example, Je m’appelle Lisa 1|SHOW Simpson. There are various ready-made powerpoint If you feel comfortable doing presentations, including some so, show pupils photos of with pictures of the Simpsons, members of your family, at at lightbulblanguages.co.uk introducing them with Voici ma mère, Voici mon grand-père, under Family. On the next showing, ask the etc. Children are normally children for a translation of intrigued by seeing photos of their teacher’s real (or maybe the words into English. Ask pupils how you say ‘my’ partly real?) family, but if you in French. Can they work out are uncomfortable doing this there are a number of fictional why you sometimes use ‘mon’ or celebrity families to choose and sometimes ‘ma’? Explain that there are two genders in from, such as the Simpsons or the royal family. Instead of French, and that all nouns are photos, you could use a puppet either masculine or feminine. Play a game of ‘beat the or soft toy family, if you can teacher’. You introduce the find enough of various sizes family members one by one. If and genders. Introduce the images or soft you say each correctly, pupils repeat after you. If you say it toys, grouping the males and MAIN LESSON “Tell the children that they’re going to practise being language detectives. You might want them to mime, pretending to look through a magnifying glass” incorrectly, pupils must stay silent. You can make this into a competition, awarding a point to the class when they are correct and a point to yourself when the children get it wrong. On the next showing, include the first names of the individual family members: Voici ma mère. Elle s’appelle… Then ask ‘Comment s’appelle father, brother or sister. Ask them to decide on names for their family. They can also vary the family members to include oncle, tante, grand-mère, etc. Sing a song to the tune of Big Ben’s chimes. Pupils make up their own names for their family; they could choose from a list of French names. They can also vary the family members. ‘Voici ma mère, voici mon père, voici ma soeur, voici mon frère; Elle s’appelle… Il s’appelle… Elle t’elle?’ and ask pupils to recall s’appelle… Il s’appelle…’ Children perform their the names, prompting the songs in front of the whole answer ‘Elle s’appelle...’ You can then repeat the beat class or at an assembly. the teacher game, making it 3|FAMILY TREE harder this time by including Pupils create their own the names, too. family tree on a poster, which can be included in a 2|PLAY classroom display. Form pupils into ‘family’ The poster has the title ‘La groups of four and ask each Famille Barton/Simpson/ to pretend to be the mother, Windsor’ and has a trunk in the middle, with the family members written in French on the branches and illustrated with pictures or photos. Sticking some real leaves to the poster looks particularly good. Dr Amanda Barton is a freelance writer who has taught MFL in primary and secondary schools. She is co-author of Teaching Primary French and Teaching Primary Spanish (Bloomsbury). EXTENDING THE LESSON Play a game of 'happy families' in French, with pupils making their own simple sets of cards (four family members in each set) and then playing in a group. This is good for practising the verb ‘to have’ as pupils ask each other As-tu la mere Simpson? and answer Oui, j’ai…, handing their card over, or simply Non. Start by modelling this with a small group and encourage the children to use as much French as possible by ofering stickers/stamps/merits to those you can hear using lots of target language. You could even appoint a target language referee who patrols the class and shows a red card to anyone who isn’t using French. The Lightbulb Languages website has a set of cards, along with instructions under ‘Family’ and headed ‘Le jeu de sept familles’. l USEFUL QUESTIONS Can pupils ind out how to say 'I’m an only child/ I have no brothers or sisters?' l Are there other words for family members that they haven’t learned yet, eg cousin or godmother? Can they ind these words online or in a dictionary? l www.teachwire.net | 105 KS2 LESSON PLAN English, Maths, Science, PSHE WHAT THEY’LL LEARN Language structures based around the language of self-assessment l l A sliding scale of vocabulary to communicate how much of the lesson or part of the lesson they have understood Use language structure for self-assessment This lesson gives EAL learners structures for communicating what they have and haven’t understood during all lessons – and all parts of the lesson – say Caroline Scott and Isabelle Bridger Eames @EAL_teaching learningvillage.net Self-assessment is a vital part of learning, allowing children to take control over their learning. This lesson will give EAL learners some language structures that can be used in all lessons and all parts of lessons to communicate what they have and haven’t understood. Learners will use the vocabulary linked to understanding and will be given a sliding scale so they can communicate shades of understanding of whole lessons or parts of lessons. Learners will use the connection, activation, demonstration and consolidation learning cycle to gain confidence and embed this new vocabulary. START HERE Tell children that they will be learning phrases and structures that will be useful in all of their lessons to let their teachers and TAs know what they can understand and how much they understand. They will be given set phrases and images to help them communicate. They will play games to demonstrate and consolidate their learning. To further consolidate, the children will apply the newly gained language structures and vocabulary to additional images. The learners will be required to speak and listen as part of this activity. Images are used and are available to download (see Free online resources). 106 | www.teachwire.net 2|ACTIVATION Next, introduce children to the sliding scale image with the ticks on it. Can the learners match up the photos with the sliding scale, showing where on the scale they think the images should sit? Learners 1|CONNECTION can do this in pairs, so that Show pupils the four key images they can discuss their ideas. Share the learners’ ideas and (see Free online resources). agree on where the images These can be displayed on the should sit on the sliding scale whiteboard as well as from and why (images and ticks printed-off versions in front of jpg). Draw out of the learners them. The learners mimic the the meanings of the ticks. faces/postures that they see Next, introduce to the on the board. Brainstorm any words/phrases that the children learners the key phrases: I didn’t understand; I partly associate with the pictures. understand; I understand; What do they think these I understand really well. images represent? Can they Key phrases need to be make a connection with any introduced one at a time. Read previous experiences or their the phrases to the learners. Ask home language? (These are a them to repeat the sentences vital part of language learning too. Show each one to the methodology, as it ensures children. They read it/repeat that learners understand it. Then take it away. Can they what you are about to teach – still remember it? Repeat this connection.) Share ideas. MAIN LESSON “Children are given set phrases and images to help EXTENDING them communicate. They play THE LESSON games to demonstrate and Children can play of the card game consolidate their learning” variations as part of the consolidation l until you are happy that the learners are comfortable reading the phrases. Challenge them by showing and hiding the phrases, building the pace as you go along. Ask the learners what they notice about the phrases/ sentences. Which words are repeated? Which words do they know already? Again, can they make a connection with any words or phrases in their home language? Mix up the images. Can the children match the images to the sliding scale again? phase of learning: One learner turns over a card... l If it shows an image, the other learner says the phrase that is associated with the image... l If a text card is turned over, the other learner makes the pose of the image associated with the text. l 3|DEMONSTRATION Free online resources Download resources to help you deliver this lesson from tinyurl.com/tpealsa For the next activity, the children still need to be in their pairs. Each pair requires the images (images.jpg) and the key phrases (keyphrases.jpg). Let the learners know that they will now play a matching game with the images and the key phrases. The children take it in turns to turn over each item and attempt to match up the images with the key phrase, as agreed earlier in the lesson. Ensure the learners read each phrase out as they turn each card over. When they find a match, they can keep that key phrase and image. This is the ‘demonstration’ part of the lesson, where pupils actively engage in speaking and listening. See 'Extending the lesson' for further variations on card games. Show the last three images (consolidation 1, 2 and 3) on the interactive white board. Ask the learners to hold up and say which phrase they think relates to the pictures. Can they explain why? Repeat for all three images. Caroline Scott is a published author, experienced teacher, school leader, advisor and creator of the Learning Village. Isabelle Bridger Eames is an author, experienced teacher and adult trainer. USEFUL QUESTIONS When could children use the sliding scale? l What is self-assessment? l How can I use this tool to best suit my learning? l www.teachwire.net | 107 Come and See Us At The Dyslexia Show 2020 NEC ‐ Birmingham 20‐21 March STAND 5 For Expert Handwriting advice Quality resources STOP PRESS We will be launching our new product at the show! ??? Suitable for EYFS to adult ‐ Based on ability rather than age Dyslexia and Dyspraxia friendly resources MorrellsHandwriting MorrellsHand thehandwritingexpert info@morrellshandwriting.co.uk 07929 737444 www.morrellshandwriting.co.uk 108 | www.teachwire.net PARTNER CONTENT Top of the class Resources and activities to bring fresh inspiration to your classroom... 2 The power of drums 1 SATS preparation Learning by Questions is the perfect SATs preparation resource. The multi award-winning lesson planning, teaching and assessment tool can boost pupil conidence and progress by more than 30% over an academic year. LbQ contains over 65,000 high-quality curriculum questions, each delivering personalised feedback to pupils as they answer. LbQ sessions are automatically marked, so teachers can save on average one hour per lesson. Teachers view a live results matrix highlighting how their class and pupils are performing, enabling them to intervene swiftly to help those who need it and to correct misconceptions. Both teachers and learners love LbQ! lbq.org/sats Now delivering products nationally – one-of events, upskill and training programmes. You can now experience the power of Drumba in your school with fun-packed, cross-curricular music and itness sessions while playing the drums. Classes are suitable for up to 30-plus children at a time from KS1 upwards (always a little extra space for teachers and support staf!). This is a fantastic opportunity for sports/ health weeks to encourage and engage children in an alternative activity to traditional sports. Raise heart rate in every session and leave your entire school with a positive, lasting charge of feel-good energy. drumba.co.uk Autism support 3 MyWorld provides free information and resources every month for teachers and education professionals looking for guidance in supporting students on the autism spectrum. To an autistic student in your class, a little bit of the right kind of extra support could make all the diference. MyWorld focuses on diferent themes each month, giving you comprehensive access to a vast array of real-world knowledge based on irst-hand experience. Sign up now to help make every student’s school experience as positive and rewarding as possible. autism.org.uk/myworld Sports Premium inspiration Timotay Playscapes creates inspirational outdoor spaces for schools and early years settings. To support the Sports Premium initiative, we have developed a proven range of engaging products that will motivate children and increase participation in sports and help to reduce obesity. Contact Timotay for your free guide and free consultation. enquiries@timotayplayscapes.co.uk 4 Chocolate assortment 5 Cadbury World ofers unique educational experiences. With an assortment of interactive chocolatey zones to explore and a variety of fun and informative curriculum-linked talks and workshops, Cadbury World is the perfect day out for school groups. There will be a relaxed SEN session speciically for schools on Wednesday 6th May at 10am, beneicial for pupils with autism or SEN needs who prefer a quieter and calmer experience. School groups can also enjoy a 30-minute workshop after the session. cadburyworld.co.uk/schools-andgroups/schools cadburyworld.co.uk/schools-andgroups/schools/planyourvisit/ SENday www.teachwire.net | 109 REVIEWS SCIENCE Playground Science A collection of science-based exploratory activities from the Primary Science Teaching Trust AT A GLANCE l Semi-structured, informal activities designed with simple, clear instructions l Teacher-support materials and clear set-up guide included l Activities can be completed individually or as groups l Appropriately written for each target audience to be able to engage with REVIEWED BY: ADAM RICHES Playground Science is a collection of activities designed to allow semi-structured exploration of ideas around science, all based in contexts that pupils are exposed to in their playtimes. The magic is, you only need a handful of physical resources to complement the activities; the rest is mapped out for the pupils and they are free to explore the topic through guided activities. The activities are informal, consisting of simple instructions and a small amount of equipment (not provided) to encourage the children to explore the world around them and to develop scientiic skills. By using a semi-structured format, children can follow the suggestions if they want, but they also have the option to make their own decisions about what to do, fostering independence and heightening responsibility. Pupils can engage individually or as groups on the tasks. There are two sets of Playground Science bags available: one for children of around four to seven, and another for those aged around aged seven to 11. Each set of Playground Science includes ive coloured drawstring bags with space on the front to add a bespoke label to the bag (for example, with the topic, class name, year group). You can place one of the ive printed cards inside to guide the children through the activity. Each card has a set of initial ideas and questions on one side, with a follow-up activity on the back. The follow-up activities are designed to encourage the children to work more scientiically. The language used on the cards is accessible to readers of the targeted age group. Pupils I tried the resource with were able to work through each of the tasks with little hindrance due to the clarity of instruction. The instructions are also designed consistently, using colours and dual coding to build familiarity with the steps required, further fostering good study skills. Encouragingly, this shows that the people who created these resources really know the way students learn best. Helpfully, also included is a comprehensive teacher guide that highlights the required equipment for each activity and also notes the potential safety factors that need to be considered for students to safely complete the activities. With regard to workload, there are no additional teacher requirements – that’s one of the factors that stood out for me when looking at this product. The quality of the resource allows for exceptional learning and discovery and it costs staf no time (besides counting out a handful of physical resources). VERDICT 3 Comprehensive instructions that allow for independent exploration 3 Consistent format to build conidence and familiarity 3 Encourage independent exploration and self-eicacy 3 Require only minor input and preparation from teachers 3 Perfect for group work and one-to-one reading UPGRADE IF... you are looking for a way to keep students learning during their playtimes through discovery or you are encouraging students to build conidence and independence. £24.99, pstt.org.uk/resources/curriculum-materials/playground-science 110 | www.teachwire.net REVIEWS MUSIC African Drum Kits A comprehensive resource for creating world music from Drums for Schools AT A GLANCE Authentic and appealing instruments A range of sets available to suit different school sizes and budgets l A comprehensive and coherent package of resources l No prior music skills or training required l Novice to performance-level competence in one term l l REVIEWED BY: MIKE DAVIES Drums for Schools is an award-winning, specialist provider of instruments and related teacher support. These African Drum kits are part of a range of school-friendly sets bringing music to the classroom from around the world. Even for experienced teachers, music can be part of the curriculum that triggers dread rather than inspiring joy. Too often, music cupboards become a graveyard of good intentions and squandered budgets, stufed with random percussion instruments and cheap xylophones that are painfully out of tune. From the moment you open the box, however, these African drums are a delight. For a start, they look and feel beautiful. Authentically and responsibly sourced, they are the real deal and I would challenge anyone not to try one out the moment they got it in their hands. Perhaps more importantly, Drums for Schools has taken the time to create a coherent, comprehensive package that makes it easy for the teacher to get the most out of the kits. There are clear, concise instruction books, complete with lesson plans that guide you from the very irst encounter through to performance level within a term. This includes showing you how to integrate Percussion Buddies – lower cost instruments designed to accompany the main drums. You don’t even need any formal training or the ability to read music; I could see at a glance how to read the grids on which each tune is notated. There is strong online support, too. Along with downloadable lesson plans, there are audio and video clips so you can see and hear not just what to do, but also what you are aiming for. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a fair portion of this content is free, so you don’t feel like you’re being enticed into a money-making monster. For me, one of the beauties of this package is that it can take a complete novice to a sense of achievement remarkably quickly. (I sometimes wonder how anyone has the patience to stick with the violin, for example, long enough to get through the scratchy-squeaky pain barrier.) Music needs positive outcomes and you can easily see how you would get there with the whole class using these resources. I can also see how these kits could help to create inclusive, enjoyable lessons that bring the whole class together while causing minimal stress to the teacher. Now that must be music to anyone’s ears. VERDICT 3 The instruments and resources inspire conidence in the teacher 3 Ofers a sense of achievement for children of all abilities 3 The instruments are appealing and afordable 3 Puts the joy back into music lessons UPGRADE IF... your music lessons have gone a bit lat and you’re looking for inspiration to get children really engaged. Primary sets from £217. 0115 931 4513. www.drumsforschools.com www.teachwire.net | 111 REVIEWS SAFEGUARDING MyConcern Safeguarding Software A system that promises to make safeguarding more rigorous and less labour-intensive AT A GLANCE l A fully integrated safeguarding recording system for use in schools l Designed and developed by safeguarding specialists with backgrounds in education, social care and policing l Intuitive interface for secure and efficient recording and monitoring of safeguarding concerns l Compatible with school management systems and extensively customisable REVIEWED BY: ADAM RICHES MyConcern is a comprehensive, user-friendly safeguarding system that lets everyone working in schools efectively record, track and report on safeguarding incidents. First and foremost, it’s incredibly simple to use. Users can generate an incident report with accompanying details in a matter of minutes and submit instantly, with subsequent collation of data possible within seconds. MyConcern’s browser-based interface means that staf can access the platform anywhere on-site or remotely, whenever safeguarding concerns arise. MyConcern can be conigured with tiered access, giving Safeguarding Leads a full overview, while allowing assigned ‘Trusted Users’ to submit reports and access key information. ‘Basic Users’ are restricted to reporting incidents only – a useful feature for non-teaching staf. Incident reports can include comments regarding locations, times, speciic details and any actions taken in response. What makes MyConcern clever is that each incident is recorded as an event, rather than a report concerning an individual, meaning that multiple students can be attached to a single incident without the need for duplicate paperwork. It also means that those involved but not necessarily the main focus of an incident are still tracked, helping to paint a much richer and more detailed picture of what’s actually happening in school. MyConcern’s ability to sync with school management systems enables individual student proiles to be generated and added to the system automatically. The proiles include a log of when, where and how students might have been involved in previous incidents, with the option to export these as PDFs and even redact them if they mention other students – a well thought-through feature. Proiles can also be lagged to indicate conditions such as anxiety and ADHD. The system ofers users peace of mind, notifying them when their concern has been actioned (while omitting the speciic actions taken). There’s something to be said for knowing that your reporting has prompted a response. Safeguarding Leads will ind the system’s functionality to be phenomenal, thanks to an interface that allows referrals to be tracked, annual overview reports to be produced in seconds and the designation of diferent cases to diferent members of a safeguarding team. As a teacher, it’s hugely helpful to have this level of information at my ingertips and be able to securely share it without having to go through paper iles. From a workload perspective, this software has the potential to revolutionise safeguarding practice in most schools. VERDICT ✔ Eicient recording of incidents and concerns at the touch of a button ✔ Useful for improving awareness and eicacy of safeguarding among all staf ✔ Easy to follow data displays ✔ Straightforward collation of data that can cover years within seconds ✔ Detailed individual student proiles that can be easily and securely shared with colleagues and outside agencies and tracked through a student’s education UPGRADE IF... you are looking for a system to track and report on safeguarding incidents within your school, which can also reduce levels of teacher workload and improve all-round levels of safeguarding eiciency. For more information, contact 0330 660 0757 or visit myconcern.co.uk/ed 112 | www.teachwire.net REVIEWS SCIENCE HeadStart Primary – Science Assessments Science scaled score progress tests and topic tests AT A GLANCE Available in A4 spiral bound format Digital versions of each test in black and white and colour l Complete with answer versions and raw score/scaled score conversion charts l Standardisation tables for each topic test l Great value for whole-school coverage l Inspection copies available on free approval l l REVIEWED BY: JOHN DABELL The new Science Assessments from HeadStart Primary have been skilfully written to track pupil progress so teachers can get underneath children’s understanding and act on it. They also provide a useful subject health check-up so you can report on the wellbeing and standards of science across the school. What you see is what you get with HeadStart, and you get everything. The content coverage is superb as there are questions from every section, nook and cranny of the science curriculum so every base is conidently attended to. There are three scaled score progress tests and the topic tests feature the same or similar questions as the progress tests, but they are organised to provide one test per topic. The tests are photocopiable or can be used in colour digitally on a whiteboard. National Curriculum link grids are provided to cross reference each question against the objectives within the national curriculum statutory requirements. The tests themselves are especially child-friendly, visually very appealing and have a familiar feel to them so aren’t intimidating. The layout of the questions and the use of colour illustrations get top marks and the content creation is tip-top too, and expertly invites children to share what they know. Three underpinning concepts of assessment are validity, reliability and manageability and there is often tension between them when trying to balance them within any one assessment. However, HeadStart Science Assessments manage these well because they measure what they set out to, they ofer consistency and they can be administered without disruption. The tests have been standardised to produce scaled scores following extensive school-based trials. The true value of summative assessments is how they can be used formatively to promote learning and help children upgrade their knowledge and understanding to become better learners. HeadStart’s Science Assessments can be used to empower children as learners and serve as powerful guidance to both teachers and pupils about what needs to be learned next. These tests are, therefore, excellent diagnostic probes and can be used for helping children build up their skills, attitudes, concepts and knowledge. HeadStart Primary has made a cracking job of these assessments and for just £300 you can efortlessly set up progress tests and topic tests for the whole school and get on with the job of assessing learning conidently through the year. They align assessment with long-term learning. VERDICT ✔ Fit-for-purpose tests for helping teachers and children identify weaknesses and misconceptions ✔ Help teachers and children adjust, edit and tweak their teaching to areas of greatest need ✔ Provide valuable information for feedback and feedforward ✔ Clear instructions and easy to administer ✔ Encourage children to develop skills of self-assessment UPGRADE IF... you are looking for tests that have real managerial, communicative and pedagogical power for understanding the shape, texture and wellness of science in your school. headstartprimary.com www.teachwire.net | 113 FEATURES BACK PAGE 1 2 T H I NG S only experienced teachers know IAN GOLDSWORTHY 3 @ian_goldsworthy 1 You’ll never not panic that you’ve forgotten how to teach at the end of the summer holidays The colour of pen you mark with has never made any diference to the progress a child makes 2 7 The exact number of raindrops on the window that equal wet break An NQT will search their soul for weeks if only half of the class’s DT projects work; an experienced teacher will consider that a pretty decent hit rate 4 A lesson plan is a lot more like a wish list than a script 6 5 It’s impossible to make it through a leaver’s assembly without crying While it’s important to be well liked at school, it’s especially important to be well liked by the person who holds the key to the stationery cupboard When teaching electricity, ixing all the lat batteries, frayed wires and broken crocodile clips requires a teacher to be more like an octopus than an educator 8 9 Like spotting a snowlake in an avalanche, an experienced teacher can pinpoint the ringleader of all the trouble on the playground Nothing slams the passage of time in your face quite as hard as bumping into your ex-students who are now, inexplicably, adults 10 114 | www.teachwire.net 11 If you keep those loom bands, yo-yos, and cat’s cradles in a box somewhere, they’ll all come around again No matter how many times you receive a “best teacher in the world card”, they can still ind a new way to misspell teacher 12
