Newsround

What has been happening in the world of education?

• Not exactly ‘new’ but it has been reported that if teachers are stressed then they can pass this stress onto their pupils.
• Professor John Hattie thinks that the bulge in the number of teaching assistants is ‘toxic and represents a “creeping amateurism coming into our business.”
• Formative diagnostic assessments that show teachers where pupils need additional support are being sidelined. According to Will Millard at think tank LKMco, “Overuse of summative assessments can additionally sap teachers’ time, contribute to already substantial piles of marking and cause a narrowing of the curriculum.”
• The Global Parents’ Survey by the Varkey Foundation says parents in the UK are much less likely to spend more than an hour per day helping with their children’s homework compared with parents in other countries. But does this matter? Homework at primary has been found to have zero effect.

• According to think-tank Policy Exchange, “High-quality textbooks and teaching methods are needed to ensure children from all backgrounds receive the rigorous education they deserve.”

The report Completing the Revolution says,

* Only 10% of teachers use textbooks in more than half their lessons, and even fewer expect to be doing so by 2020;

* Teachers have been trained to believe that they need to make as many of their own resources as possible, adding significantly to their workload;

* Many teachers rely too much on unregulated and free online resources, many of which are poor quality.

• Damian Hinds sets out plans to help tackle teacher workload at the Association of School and College Leaders’ (ASCL) annual conference and the DfE ‘Teacher workload challenge: school research project reports‘ are published.

• “Triple marking, 10 page lesson plans, and, worst of all, Mocksteds are a distraction from the core purpose of education” says @amanda_spielman #ascl2018
• 12 parts of the country have been banned by the Department for Education from propping up high-needs funding with money taken from elsewhere in the schools budget.
• Dyslexic people have changed the world – the British Dyslexia Association have produced a brilliant animated video to preempt misconceptions among young audiences by shedding light on the real challenges dyslexic children face whilst also acknowledging their strengths and potential. But is there any such thing as dyslexia? Find out more in this post.