The SecEd Podcast: Delivering the Pupil Premium in secondary schools
SecEd Podcast
In this episode we discuss excellent Pupil Premium practice and offer practical tips and ideas for how schools and teachers can support their most disadvantaged pupils. We explore the causes of disadvantage and why the attainment gap between rich and poor has remained stubbornly large. We look at the tangible classroom consequences of disadvantage and what that means for teaching and learning. Specifically, we touch upon how we can improve the attendance of disadvantaged students as well as their language and vocabulary levels. We look at how we can ensure the funding benefits all pupils...
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The SecEd Podcast: Effective line management in schools
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at how to be an effective line manager in the secondary school, offering practical advice, examples and strategies for middle and senior leaders who have line management responsibilities. We chat with two experienced school leaders to discuss the golden rules and key skills required to be an effective line manager. We look at the different type of line manage roles and identify the biggest challenges for line managers. We focus specifically on appraisal – a key duty of line managers. We look at effective appraisal practice, supporting CPD, how to prepare for and have...
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The SecEd Podcast: A school leadership survival guide
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at how school leaders can thrive and survive in their role, including wellbeing advice, tips for leading from the front, and advice for those new to leadership roles. We interview two experienced school leaders to get their insights and practical advice. We look at the hardest challenges of school leadership for those new to the role and tips to help you start off on the right foot. We ask how school leaders can be visible in school and available while protecting their workload and work/life balance. We also ask how leaders can model good work/life balance and working...
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The SecEd Podcast: The first & last 10 minutes of your lessons
SecEd Podcast
In this episode, three experienced teachers discuss how to start and end our lessons in the secondary school classroom – focusing on getting the first and last 10 minutes right. We kick off with some “golden rules” and key ingredients for opening and closing our lessons. We look at achieving calm lesson starts from a behaviour and classroom management point of view, including setting the right tone for behaviour, meeting and greeting, and dealing with students who are late or those who do not settle well. We also consider ideas for getting into learning as quickly and smoothly as...
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The SecEd Podcast: Great teacher questioning
SecEd Podcast
Good questioning is at the heart of great teaching – as such this very practical episode looks at how teachers can plan and ask effective questions that support student participation, learning and progress. Two experienced teachers discuss the different purposes of questioning in the classroom as well as the things teachers must consider when planning their questions and questioning techniques. We detail some of the common challenges and how we can overcome them, such as getting the timing of questions right, encouraging student participation, dealing with “I don’t know” responses,...
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The SecEd Podcast: Teaching neurodiverse students
SecEd Podcast
This episode of the podcast asks how classroom teachers and teaching staff can best support the learning, progress, and wellbeing of their neurodiverse students. Our expert panel offer a range of advice, ideas, and tips based on their extensive experience within SEND education. We define neurodiversity and discuss what makes a learner neurodiverse and the kinds of conditions the term covers while also busting some myths. We discuss how we can support the wellbeing of these learners in our classroom, including examples of best practice and practical tips. Likewise, we discuss general teaching...
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The SecEd Podcast: Safeguarding in schools: Advice and tips for teachers
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at the role of the classroom teacher and teaching staff when it comes to effective safeguarding practice, offering insights, tips and practical dos and don’ts. Classroom teachers and teaching staff are on the frontline when it comes to spotting students who are at risk or struggling due to safeguarding issues. In the episode, three experts consider how we can spot the signs of safeguarding issues, what to do if we’re worried, and how to support and handle disclosures from students – including what to say and what not to say. We discuss the key safeguarding duties...
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The SecEd Podcast: Subject reviews & deep dives
SecEd Podcast
This episode focuses on subject reviews or “deep dives” in the secondary school, asking what they are, how we can conduct them effectively without burdening staff, and what information we can and cannot expect to gather accurately. Our expert panel asks what a subject review or deep dive is and looks like and why we need to carry them out – ultimately, what is their purpose? We discuss how we can best conduct reviews/deep dives in order to ensure that we gather reliable and valid information that helps to inform our improvement planning. And how can we do this while minimising the amount...
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The SecEd Podcast: Curiosity and motivation in the classroom
SecEd Podcast
In this episode, three experienced teachers discuss ideas, tips and advice for fostering student curiosity and motivation in the secondary school classroom. We ask what curiosity and motivation look like in a classroom and discuss the key elements of the classroom environment and our teaching and pedagogy that can help to create curious and motivated students. Not least, we ask how we can create a “culture of curiosity” that students buy into in our classrooms, including inclusive practice, building strong relationships with our students as well as the importance of effective classroom...
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The SecEd Podcast: Flexible working in the secondary school
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at how secondary schools can plan and implement flexible working practices to help boost teacher recruitment and retention. Our panel of experts include headteachers who have placed flexible working at the heart of their recruitment and retention strategies as well as teachers who work flexibly themselves. We discuss why schools should consider flexible working, the impact it can have, and the benefits for staff and students. How can we be strategic about our approach to flexible working? What do we need to consider when designing flexible working roles? How can we ensure it...
info_outlineIn this episode, Alex Quigley offers tips and ideas for the explicit teaching of writing skills in the secondary classroom.
Drawing on his book, Closing the Writing Gap, Alex explains how secondary teachers of all subjects can improve their students’ writing skills – and why this is important.
We discuss general principles, the Simple View of Writing, explicitly teaching and modelling the stages of writing, using talk and rhetoric, disciplinary literacy, teaching grammar, sentence composition, handwriting, and spelling.
Alex offers us some easy exercises/techniques including tips for improving sentence construction, editing-revising-rewriting, checking work back, vocabulary, and more.