Tom Fitton Publishing Portfolio Part 1

Chapter 5

The Trapeze broke my wrist when was seven. It was easy. The work of a moment.

One second I was running, the next I was lying on the ground nursing a broken wrist. My parents did all the usual things. They took me to hospital and my arm was put in a cast. was warned not to get it wet and all my friends signed it when I went back to school.

After six weeks and a couple of follow-up hospital appointments the cast came off. The doctor told me to be careful with my arm, but to start using it normally again. The trouble was that couldn’t. was used to being careful with it. was afraid of bumping it. I was afraid that I would fall over and that it would break again.

The

Anda is half Dutch and she has lived all over the world. Will she want to stay put when she goes to college?

The College Collection

Georgina Jonas

Georgina Jonas

Georgina Jonas

Georgina Jonas

Georgina Jonas

Georgina Jonas

The

Georgina Jonas

Chapter 3

DAVID AND GOLIATH

As she exited the school gates, Edie failed to notice the tall man seated on a low wall on the opposite side of the road. Hunched up against the chill, his face – with its large, circular scar – was concealed behind a dark hood. The stranger stubbed out a cigarette as he caught sight of the two girls. At the meeting in Regent’s Park, Zero had been unhappy about the instruction to scare a schoolgirl, and was unimpressed when Goswell shared that he’d watched Edie at the cemetery, keen to see what she was up to: the chief executive was increasingly pig-headed and careless, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Distraction, though, was a problem for Edie. If unoccupied elsewhere, her mind went straight back to the second clue – even when just standing on a street corner –meaning important observations could be missed.

What if Charlie got it wrong?

Edie had played with the words of the new clue over and over in her head in the two days since their discovery. Elation at solving the first clue had soon been replaced with the nervous puzzlement of trying to work out the second. Who was Charlie: somebody Edie knew, a fictional character,

Catch up with Edie’s first adventure in:

‘Are they ready?’ she asked.

The shop owner, a portly man in his mid-thirties sporting a green The Zone of Print T-shirt, failed to reply and instead took the ticket and retreated to the shelves at the back of the store. A few moments later he returned with a small cardboard box, which he opened on the countertop.

‘How did it go?’ Edie enquired excitedly.

‘Very well, I think,’ he replied with a slight grin, retrieving the contents from inside the box. ‘See what you think,’ he continued, placing a single business card in front of Edie.

business then, are we?’

‘Maybe,’ Edie answered with a smile. ‘I’m seeing how it goes.’

‘Just one thing,’ the man asked.

‘What’s that?’

‘Have you secured that email address?’ he wondered, pointing to the back of the card.

‘I have,’ replied Edie, before adding more quietly, ‘I’m also thinking of ediemarblesupersleuth@gmail.com, but it seemed a bit long for the card.’

‘That’s good too.’ He replaced the business card, put the carton in a bag and handed it over. ‘Best of luck with it all.’

Back home, the doorbell rang at precisely eleven o’clock. Dad opened the front door and welcomed in PC Brearley, looking smart in her crisp black uniform.

‘How are you, Mr Franklin … I mean Dr Franklin?’ she asked.

‘Not too bad, thanks,’ he replied. ‘Things have quietened down, thankfully, and we’re able to get on with our lives.’

‘It must’ve been quite a time.’

Edie examined the card closely. ‘It’s great,’ she said after a while. ‘Just how I wanted it.’

‘Does the job,’ the assistant agreed. He paused for a moment then continued: ‘By the way, aren’t you the kid from

‘It has indeed. But you know what … I think we’re all the stronger for it, as a family.’

‘That’s good. And how about Edie? Is she okay – I mean health wise?’

ISBN 9781785835551

Walking back from her mother’s grave, 13-year-old schoolgirl Edie Marble finds a note in a pocket of the sheepskin coat that she hasn’t worn since the day, a year earlier, when she received the awful news of her mother’s death ...

Typesetting style based on Nina Tara’s cover designs >

Themes: Homelessness Timing: General

19. Big Issue, Sir? A Hand Up and Not a Handout

Three Star Assembly

During the assembly you could use a small Team of Experts with laptop or tablet computers to find additional information about the homeless, TheBig Issue or charities like Shelter.

■ What do you understand by the term handout?

Here are two stories about homeless people. They take place a hundred years apart.

A Big Issue seller is taking one of the largest steps they may ever take because they are starting to rebuild their lives, so every time someone stops to buy the magazine they provide a hand up but not a handout.

Questions to consider:

■ Take a look at the image one more time. Can you describe the woman and her situation in six really powerful words that come together to make a very short story?

■ Which do you think is a better way of supporting homeless people – a hand up or a handout?

■ Can you think of other ways that local authorities might support homeless and vulnerable people?

■ Are there more things that you or I could do to support homeless or vulnerable people?

If you used the Team of Experts model you could now ask them to provide any relevant information about homeless people or the work of the Big Issue

Four Star Assembly

The Big Issue website is updated on a regular basis but it includes a promotional film about how The Big Issue works which could be shared with the children. It also includes up-to-date stories about people who have taken the first steps in transforming their lives. These could also be used to bring a real-life element to the assembly.

Five Star Assembly

Take the assembly to the next level by concluding it with ‘Streets of London’ by Ralph McTell. The song is worth listening to in its own right. It features a number of characters who are lonely and possibly homeless. You could focus on one of the characters in the song, perhaps the one whose memories are fading with the medal ribbons that he wears. Ask the children to consider how he may have earned the medals.

Full page images to be shown to pupils during assemblies, rotated 90° to maximise printed size.

What makes remarkable students remarkable?

Attributes such as resilience, curiosity and intelligence may come to mind – and we might also add others, such as intuition and tenacity.

But what has helped make them what they are?

Were they born this way, or did their ‘remarkabilities’ emerge during their schooling? Such questions may make teachers feel uneasy, prompting them to reflect on the sometimes limiting scope of what is often labelled as ‘gifted and talented provision’ in their school.

Robert Massey argues, however, that these remarkabilities are there, latent and dormant, in many more students than we might at first acknowledge.

In From Able to Remarkable Robert shares a rich variety of practical, cross-curricular strategies designed to help teachers unearth and nurture these capabilities and signpost a route to the top for every learner.

Suitable for teachers and gifted and talented coordinators in both primary and secondary schools.

Robert has done a superb job of setting out a coherent philosophy and a manifesto for change, marshalling a wide range of supporting evidence and examples, while also offering readers a superb catalogue of practical ideas to bolster their teaching repertoire.

Tom Sherrington, education consultant and author of The Learning Rainforest and Rosenshine’s Principles in Action

A highly accessible and engaging read for teachers – and a road map for creating a climate for opportunity and challenge. Both practical and reflective in equal measure, it takes the very best of what we know and shows how learning is shaped by context, ethos, classroom practice and a relentless focus on the learner.

Sue Riley, CEO, National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE)

A valuable addition to the CPD library of any teacher who wishes their students to achieve their very best in school and beyond.

Torsten Payne, author of Stretch and Challenge for All

Finally, someone is sharing with us the formula to how we can guide, mentor, coach and exemplify expert learning in the classroom.

Nina Jackson, education consultant, Teach Learn Create Ltd, author, mental health adviser and award-winning motivational speaker

With over two decades’ worth of experience as a history teacher, Robert Massey has for the past six years led the Scholars’ Programme at Bristol Grammar School. He has a particular interest in supporting his colleagues in the provision of stretch and challenge opportunities for high-attaining students. He tweets @DoctorMassey and regularly speaks at education conferences.

From Able to Remarkable

10

Even the students able and willing to

Expert teaching requires

Challenge

So that

Students have high expectations of what they can achieve

Explanation

So that

Students acquire new knowledge and skills

Modelling

So that Students know how to apply the knowledge and skills

Students engage in deliberate practice

Questioning

So that Students are made to think hard with breadth, depth and accuracy

Feedback

So that Students think about and further develop their knowledge and skills

Starting Our Learning Journey 62

Scaffolding

Source Allison and Tharby (2015): 7.

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Chapter 10

Towards a Manifesto for Excellence

At the start of this book offered five big ideas regarding provision for more able pupils:

1. All students can and should become expert learners. There is no separate category labelled ‘gifted and talented provision’.

2. Teachers make a difference to the learning of high-attaining pupils: adults teach, students learn, students lead.

3. Teaching to the top (and learning to the top) will make a difference because it will help to unlock the latent potential of every child in our classrooms.

4. The learning journey for all our students is lifelong and is undertaken for its own sake – for the love of learning, not the passing of exams.

5. Our expert learners will become remarkable students.

If these ideas sound optimistic or even idealistic, then have tried to temper this with approaches rooted in experience and some strategies endorsed by research evidence in order to offer directions forward. To do nothing or continue with same old, same old is not an option. As discussed in the Introduction, two critical Ofsted reports in 2013 and 2015 found alarming evidence of sustained pupil underachievement in colleges and schools among pupils who might have been expected to progress from high Key Stage 2 outcomes to high GCSE scores. We stand condemned as a society for not tackling the advantage or excellence gap.

The excellence gap

The formidable Tim Dracup (2016) pointed out some years ago to all those who cared to read his forensic analysis of ‘most able provision’ some of the necessary steps to closing the excellence gap affecting thousands of pupils then and today. These included national evaluation of promising practice in developing new programmes designed to support

243

If the quickest way for a pupil to achieve celebrity in your school is by being the worst behaved, you have a culture problem.

You can buy in the best behaviour tracking software, introduce 24/7 detentions or scream

‘NO EXCUSES’ as often as you want – but ultimately the solution lies with the behaviour of the adults. It is the only behaviour over which we have absolute control.

In When the Adults Change, Everything Changes Paul Dix upends the debate on behaviour management in schools and offers effective strategies that serve to

not miss out on reading this book.

Sue Cowley, teacher and education author

I have learnt much from this book that will shape and amend my future practice and wholeheartedly recommend it to even the most experienced teacher.

Phil Beadle, teacher and Author

Far from being just another book on behaviour, this is a blueprint for how behaviour should be in schools.

Russell J. Ingleby, Head Teacher, Hightown Junior, Infant and Nursery School

Paul Dix gets it. After reading this book, you will too.

Jarlath O’Brien, Head Teacher, Carwarden House Community School Education Teaching Skills

independentthinkingpress.com

WHEN THE EVERYTHING CHANGES CHANGE ADULTS

When_FP_1022.indd 1

Nuggets

■ Always ask the children to remind you of the routine before you ask them to enact it.

■ Ask other adults (teaching assistants, cover supervisors, supply teachers, visiting teachers) to use the routine when they are working with the class.

■ When you ask a recently qualified teacher to observe an experienced teacher, sit alongside them and help to pick apart the teacher routines that are almost hidden to the naked eye.

Even if there has outwardly been an

When The Adults Everything Changes 88

Your

In my first lesson with a new class who were determined to break me I found phrases dropping from my mouth that I hadn’t heard in years: ‘Why am I waiting for you?’ ‘Would you do that at home?’ ‘You are all in detention!’ Rely on your defaults for managing behaviour and you are drawing on all the worst examples of teacher/parent speak that are lodged deep in your vocabulary bank.

In a calm moment it is easy to imagine what you could have said to improve the situation, but angry children rarely allow you thinking time. If we don’t address the

Now in its fourth edition, this classic text is a comprehensive guide to the practice of client-centered hypnotherapy. The Art of Hypnotherapy shows students how all hypnotic techniques revolve around four main therapeutic objectives:

• Suggestion and Imagery

• Discovering the Cause

• Releasing

• Subconscious Relearning.

New features in this edition include sections on anger, impotence, stuttering and tinnitus, and a section on how to help a client establish a safe place and why this is important. Also covered is the use of hypnosis in habit control and motivation and how triggers impact habits; a large section on regression techniques; an introduction to parts therapy; and advanced hypnotherapeutic techniques such as pain management.

Praise for the Third Edition:

“Roy Hunter’s text is a masterful presentation of the fundamentals as well as advanced techniques of clinical hypnotherapy. I highly recommend it for the beginner as well as the experienced hypnotherapist.”

Pamela Winkler, PhD, Past President of St. John’s University, Springfield, LA

“The chapter on regression techniques is so complete that it is a mini training course in the art of safe and competent hypnotic regression. And as if that was not enough, the chapter contains a step-by-step guide to take the reader from the start to the finish of a professional therapy session. Chock-full of the sort of wisdom that can only come from a well-spring of clinical experience, this is an eminently must-read book.”

Terence Watts, Founder, Assocation of Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, UK

The third edition of this book was published with ISBN 978-075754617-4.

Roy Hunter teaches professional hypnosis and advanced techniques for professionals and teaches self hypnosis to groups and clients for personal or professional motivation. He was specially selected to carry on the work of the late Charles Tebbetts. He was awarded a PhD from Alpha University and California University with a major in clinical hypnotherapy.

Other titles by Roy Hunter:

Hypnosis for Inner Conflict Resolution: Introducing Parts Therapy (ISBN 978-190442460-4)

The Art of Hypnosis: Mastering Basic Techniques (ISBN 978-184590439-5)

Samuel Elliott has been the pupil from hell.

He knows what he needed from his teachers in order to turn his life around –and in this book he shares that knowledge with hard-pressed colleagues who just want to do their best for their pupils.

In ASBO Teacher Samuel offers no-nonsense principles hewn from the chalkface of the modern British classroom: ideas and approaches that have worked for the author in the most challenging settings and with the most testing pupils. Covering a range of issues spanning behaviour management, lesson structure, resource preparation and narratives in the classroom, the book is a blueprint for becoming a particular kind of teacher – one who has high expectations, a concern for pupil well-being, and a knack for ushering learners into more effective learning.

Suitable for trainee, newly qualified and recently qualified teachers, as well as more experienced educators.

This is not just an enthralling account of one young teacher navigating his way through the comprehensive system; it is also filled with invaluable advice for others who are attempting to do the same.

Charlie Carroll, author of On the Edge

ASBO Teacher is the educational equivalent of a Bear Grylls survival guide, a cracking read and a must-have book for any classroom teacher.

Sam Strickland, Principal, The Duston School, and author of Education Exposed and Education Exposed 2

For those embarking on a career in the inner-city classroom this book is surely an invaluable resource, an essential guide, and a compendium of ‘everything you need to learn about teaching that the establishment may never teach you’.

Melissa Kite, Contributing Editor, The Spectator Crammed full of brilliant behaviour management strategies that are rooted in research, psychology and Samuel’s own experience. Haili Hughes, teacher, consultant, journalist and author of Mentoring in Schools

ASBO ASBO Teacher

Teacher

An irreverent guide to surviving in challenging classrooms

ASBO Teacher

An irreverent guide to surviving in challenging classrooms

Samuel Elliott

Chapter 2

Wasteman Teacher

Ah, ’tis the story of the wasteman teacher. If you enjoyed burning small insects with a magnifying glass as a youngster, then this is the chapter for you. An inverted how-to manual for how to teach – or how not to teach. Play the audiobook version backwards and hear croaky, guttural messages, such as ‘Discovery learning is the best’ or ‘Give your scholar no verbal lessons’.1 But, there is a lot to learn here, as with the Book of Revelation or Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus where everybody gets baked in a pie and lives happily ever after. The moral? God knows. I hear that mindfulness helps.

Little Alfred

I’m ready for my first term in a school. My application to Chelmsley Wood Academy has been accepted. The job title: graduate learning coach. Their ethos: to provide opportunities to children from a diverse range of challenging backgrounds. Their Ofsted rating was ‘outstanding’ last year, recently demoted to ‘good’.

I’m buggered in terms of transport. didn’t take my driving test when I should have, so now I’ve got to bus and train it to Marston Green, walking the remaining three miles there and back every day. Oh well, should keep me fit.

It’s my first day. I’ve got brogues, tweed trousers from Topman, and my shirt’s so white that its albedo could lower my carbon footprint.

I had my hair done yesterday too. ‘Looking shaaarp, boss,’ the guy at Istanbul said. The Turkish barbers are the best. They don’t have the sham-Edwardian coat hooks or a PlayStation in the waiting bay, but at least they don’t make dead conversations about the top ten boozers in Coventry.

1 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, or Education tr. Barbara Foxley, Kindle edn (London & Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1921), loc. 1111. Available at: https:// oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2256

ASBO Teacher

for

Praise

Filled with truth, ASBO Teacher illuminates the reality of modernday teaching with vivid and visceral clarity. At times shocking and at others downright hilarious, Samuel’s revelations are always insightful and carefully disseminated, taking in both the bigger picture and the finer details of education theory.

This is not just an enthralling account of one young teacher navigating his way through the comprehensive system; it is also filled with invaluable advice for others who are attempting to do the same.

Charlie Carroll, author of On the Edge

ASBO Teacher is the educational equivalent of a Bear Grylls survival guide, with particularly insightful tips on effective classroom management. It offers an informative view that details why pupils often misbehave and provides a fantastic array of practical strategies and approaches that any teacher can pick up and run with. The anecdotes and stories embedded into the book also give the issues at hand true relevance and are easy to relate to.

A cracking read and a must-have book for any classroom teacher. Sam Strickland, Principal, The Duston School, and author of Education Exposed and Education Exposed 2

Samuel Elliott’s ASBO Teacher takes us on a whirlwind tour of the modern British education system that is hair-raising, eye-opening, and hugely entertaining.

For those embarking on a career in the inner-city classroom this book is surely an invaluable resource, an essential guide, and a compendium of ‘everything you need to learn about teaching that the establishment may never teach you’. I hope many new teachers educate and entertain themselves by reading it.

Melissa Kite, Contributing Editor, The Spectator

Samuel Elliott

Samuel Elliott Foreword by David Didau

Amazing Assemblies for Primary Schools consists of twenty-five very special teacher-led assemblies for head teachers, deputies, senior leaders or anyone who is required to lead an assembly with young children at short notice. All the assemblies have been tried and tested, all are ideal for presenting to large groups of children in the school hall and between them they cover a large range of subjects. There are science experiments, art demonstrations with unusual materials, word games, puzzles, quizzes, mathematical trickery, even an extraordinary eggshell and a baffling banana!

Although the assemblies are primarily aimed at Key Stage 2 (age 7–11 years), many are also eminently suited to Key Stage 1 (age 5–7 years).

Here are twenty-five ideas, any one of which will guarantee a great experience.

Sir Tim Brighouse, former London Schools Commissioner and Chief Education Officer for Birmingham and Oxfordshire

■ What you’ll need The assemblies use materials that are readily available in school, or that you are likely to have at home.

■ What is this assembly about? Each assembly has a different theme or focus for learning.

■ Preparing the assembly Detailed instructions make preparation easy, although preparation time needed is minimal.

■ Introducing the assembly There are step-bystep instructions making the assemblies easy to deliver.

■ And finally … Each assembly offers follow up ideas for further learning and exploration.

These assemblies are about intriguing, fascinating and involving children. Terence O’Brien, retired teacher

As a busy head teacher, this book is just what I need to capture the imaginations of children of all ages.

Anita Asumadu, Head Teacher, Oliver Goldsmith Primary School

A must-buy for any imaginative, forward looking primary school. John Lord, retired head teacher

Mike Kent has spent his entire career in primary education and was a head teacher for thirty years. He has written for many educational papers and magazines and was a leading columnist on the Times Educational Supplement for fifteen years, being shortlisted twice as newspaper columnist of the year. Mike has co-authored twenty-seven musical plays for primary schools and written three books on education, including a popular autobiography of his headship years. Amazing Assemblies for Primary Schools is Mike’s first resource book for teachers.

Clever Cuts

Surprising Sevens

Whacky Words

A school assembly for primary children should be exciting and interesting; a time when children can learn and a time when they can share and contribute to a valuable learning experience.

ANDY GRIFFITH AND MARK BURNS

Foreword by Professor John Hattie

Based on the authors’ company branding using a mixture of stock, bespoke vector and some commissioned images.

An artful and articulate guide that links together the golden threads which run through Shakespeare’s work and highlights how teachers can best explore these with students.

The more you explore the plays of Shakespeare, the more you realise how they are an interrelated network of ideas and themes – linked to his context, his audience and his understanding of the world. In this book, Zoe Enser aims to equip busy teachers with the core knowledge that will enable them to make links between the themes, characters, language and allusions in Shakespeare’s oeuvre.

Each chapter includes tips on how to bring his plays to life in the classroom, and features case studies from practising teachers in a range of contexts to illustrate how they can ensure that their students develop an appreciation of his work – moving beyond the requirements of exams and empowering them to engage in the discussion around his influence and enduring appeal. Suitable for teachers of English in all phases.

Bringing Forth the Bard is erudite yet accessible, comprehensive yet pacey, and brimming with clever theory yet eminently practical.

Mark Roberts, teacher of English, Carrickfergus Grammar School, and author of You Can’t Revise for GCSE English! Bloom argues Shakespeare shapes the way we think about the world; this book shapes the way I think about Shakespeare. It is a triumph.

Amy Staniforth, Assistant Principal, Iceni Academy, and co-author of Ready to Teach: Macbeth

Whether you are teaching Shakespeare for the first time or searching for renewed inspiration, Bringing Forth the Bard will prove to be an insightful and invigorating read. Christopher Such, author of The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading

A tour de force: an essential guide to help ensure that our students receive the best teaching when it comes to approaching Shakespeare.

Stuart Pryke, co-author of Ready to Teach: Macbeth

Bringing Forth the Bard convinces us that Shakespeare is still relevant to young people in today’s classrooms, and that study of his works can be part of the all-important inclusivity agenda.

Chris Green, Trustee and Director, British Shakespeare Association, and Chair of the BSA Education committee

Zoe Enser was a classroom teacher for 20 years, during which time she was also a head of English and a senior leader with a responsibility for staff development and school improvement. She is now the lead specialist English adviser for Kent working with The Education People and is an evidence lead in education (ELE). Zoe also writes for TES and is the co-author of Fiorella & Mayer’s Generative Learning in Action and The CPD Curriculum

Bard_FP.indd 1

Chapter 1

Bringing Forth His World Context, Influences and Inspirations

A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! (Lear, V, iii, 272)

Why teach it?

The world Shakespeare presents to us can often feel quite remote from our modern perspective, located at a time when things seem alien to our own everyday lives and experiences. Whilst this means immersing ourselves in his stories can provide something of a welcome relief – an escape from reality, as with all fiction – for many of our students this can be a significant barrier. To them the noughties can feel like more lifetimes ago than they can begin to imagine, and the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods may as well be on the moon. This, further compounded by the seemingly impenetrable language, can lead to a perfect storm of confusion.

There are also many misconceptions about his world that have been embedded by popular media, our merging and shifting understanding in the historical or literary world, or even by partially understood snippets of history that have pervaded our society. A quick google brings up questions such as, ‘Did Shakespeare know Queen Victoria?’, ‘Did all men wear tights in Shakespeare’s time?’ and ‘Did they all speak like this?’ Students have even had the audacity to wonder if I had met him! All students will have heard of him, but his world, his writing and his importance are wrapped up within cultural understanding of what these were as opposed to the historical or literary truth insofar as we can understand it. This makes it all the more important that we devote some time to exploring context with our students. This will also enrich their

Bringing Forth the

A Guide to Teaching Shakespeare in the English Classroom

Foreword by Professor Emma Smith

Bringing Forth the

Bard

A Guide to Teaching Shakespeare in the English Classroom

Zoe Enser

Bringing Forth His Language

Bringing Forth the Bard

the play and Duncan having ‘so much blood’ (Macb. V, i, 43) in him, are all key moments in the play. Duncan, being of royal blood, sees his ‘silver skin lac’d with his golden blood’ (Macb, II, iii, 119). When we first hear of Macbeth on the battlefield, the account is that of a blood-soaked scene, where Macbeth’s sword is ‘smok’d with bloody execution’ (Macb. I, ii, 18) and Macbeth ultimately knows ‘blood will have blood’ (Macb., III, iv, 122). Lady Macbeth calls on the spirits to ‘make thick my blood’ (Macb. I, v, 44) to give her the courage and cruelty to commit her sin against Duncan and even the potion the witches concoct include blood as two main ingredients; that of the sow and the baboon (Macb. IV, i, 4–45).

Each of these moments can be explored alone, but by considering how blood has become a symbol or motif in the play, we can begin to see more elements of conscious crafting. Shakespeare wanted his audience and his reader to be constantly reminded of the violence, the passion, the murder and the loss of a bloodline throughout the play, once again returning us to anxieties around royal lineage, very much at the fore having reached the end of one royal line with Elizabeth’s demise. Each moment is of course closely linked to key contextual points, and we consider the implications for his audience as well as our modern readings of this.

English teacher Matthew Lynch also spends time tracing motifs through language, as outlined in his case study here:

When I introduce the idea of motif in literature, I use a sewing analogy with an illustration, like so:

I explain to students that the author wields the needle and the various threads are themes or big ideas the author weaves into the fabric of their text, whereas a motif is the visible stitching of a thread that keeps surfacing; a recurrent symbol or use of imagery which serves to contribute to a text’s overarching theme.

For me, the appeal of teaching motifs is two-fold: primarily they are, by definition, a distinctive recurring idea, symbol, concept or structural feature, meaning the pattern is one which younger readers of Shakespeare can quite easily identify. Secondly, because they can be

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This book celebrates the superhero of the classroom: the

teacher

would defy any teacher or would-be teacher not to be uplifted by this important book.

Sir Anthony Seldon

Simultaneously an insightful handbook and an inspirational guide for all teachers.

Dr James McGrath, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Creative Writing, Leeds Beckett University

A useful resource for teachers in their early career and for the mentors who support them.

Full of enthusiasm, fun and practical ideas.

Julie McBrearty, Principal, Welland Park Academy

Paul Matthias, National Director, Hays Education

This book leaves you inspired to be a better teacher. Pippa Procter, Primary Course Director, Durham SCITT

Shines a light on real teachers, their tireless and motivational work, and how they make a difference every day to so many.

Tim Sutcliffe, Chief Executive Officer, Symphony Learning Trust

through their business Decisive Element, they have delighted audiences with their presentations based on the six successful books they have co-authored. www.decisive-element.co.uk @PositiveWeather

more readily identified, they are traceable – thus helping students to navigate a complex text, enabling them to better understand the play’s central concerns or big ideas. Two fascinating motifs in Macbeth are the motif of birds and the motif of hands, both of which I have recorded presentations on as part of Litdrive’s free online CPD (continuing professional development) programme.8 So, how might we track a motif across a literature text? I have previously used a simple table with success, like the ones below:

Tracking the bird motif in Shakespeare’s Macbeth Act/Scene

Tracking the hands motif in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

8 Matthew Lynch, ‘Macbeth: The Motif of Birds’, Litdrive (7 November 2020). Available at: https://litdrive.org.uk/remotecpd/m-lynch-macbeth-motif-of-birds.

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Mrs Oakland

As teachers, we never know what impact we have on our pupils. Bethany remembers the difficulties she was having in her first year at the school with playing a particular piece for a short show she was in about the Egyptians. She was really worried that she was going to mess it up, but Sally took her to one side and went through it with her slowly until she had got it. Sally never gave up on her, even when she was wobbling. Going from strength to strength from that moment on, Bethany played the flute in every subsequent school show. On one of the end-of-year trips to Alton Towers, Sally joined a group of students, all of whom had been heavily involved in the music department, on the Congo River Rapids. Inevitably of course they all got soaked. Bethany bought the obligatory photograph and still has it in a keyring which she keeps on her desk all these years later. That’s some impact! Bethany still keeps in touch with Sally and actually returned to the school to play in the band during the summer show. She sat next to Sally, who was playing the violin. Bethany regards it as one of the greatest privileges of her life to play alongside someone who was such an inspiration to her. She would like to say a huge thank you to Sally for helping her to become the person she is today by supporting her academically and pastorally throughout her time at the school. She knows that she wouldn’t be where she is today without Sally Oakland.

Bethany, present day Bethany during early high school days

145

Celebrating Teachers Sally, still performing

The difference?

Chris is a modest sort of fellow and in his time taught somewhere in the region of 30,000 lessons. Now, being the sort of chap that he is, he wouldn’t lay claim to them all being absolute classics, but he would be disappointed if the overall tally of pretty decent lessons wasn’t a healthy one. It is a source of never-ending wonderment to him that whenever he meets up with former students and they reminisce about the old times, when asked what they remember in particular, they wax lyrical about the trips to Paris which he organised, they bristle with pride at the mere mention of the school productions which he led or the nail-biting finishes to cricket matches for which he trained them. Not a mention of one of those fabrications of fantasy formed out of the elixir of excellence which were his lessons! Not one!

For many, many young people it is those extracurricular experiences of trips, clubs, shows or sporting fixtures which stay in the mind long after the poetry of their lessons has evaporated into the mists of memory. We had an interesting experience doing some training for a school in France. One of the differences we found between what happens here and what happens there was that there was much more of a focus there on just the academic diet, to the exclusion – we felt – of all the extracurricular activities which oil the wheels of schools in the UK

Celebrating_280521.indd 146

Photography by Jane Hewitt >

MANY PARENTS FEEL AS IF THEY ARE COMPETING WITH SCREENS FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S ATTENTION.

They

yearn for tech-free time in which to reconnect, but don’t know how to shift the balance.

In The Board Game Family, teacher and educationalist Ellie Dix aims to help fellow parents by inviting them and their families into the unplugged and irresistible world of board games. The benefits of board gaming are far-reaching: playing games develops interpersonal skills, boosts confidence, improves memory formation and cognitive ability, and refines problem-solving and decision-making skills. With these rewards in mind, Ellie shares a wealth of top tips and stealthy strategies that parents can draw upon to unleash the potential of those dusty game boxes at the back of the cupboard and become teachers of outstanding gamesmanship –equipped to navigate the unfolding drama of competition, thwart the common causes of arguments and bind together a happier, more socially cohesive family unit.

Ideal for all parents of 8–18-year-olds who want to breathe new life into their family time.

The Board Game Family will help you make board gaming, whether it be in the form of quick 20-minute fillers or full-on gaming marathons, a natural and easy part of your family life.

Sue Atkins, parenting expert on ITV’s This Morning and author of Parenting Made Easy: How to Raise Happy Children

If all you get from your kids is a grunt before they disappear to their rooms, this book is full of ideas to get you all talking, laughing and playing together again.

YOUR CHILDREN FROM THE SCREEN

Anita Cleare, parenting coach and author of the Thinking Parenting blog ELLIE

A teacher and educationalist, and former co-owner and director of Pivotal Education, Ellie Dix has been obsessed with board games from an early age. Ellie firmly believes that board games have positively influenced her ability to solve problems, manage failure and experiment with multiple paths to success – and she now puts her teaching skills, understanding of behaviour and experience with gamification to use by helping parents to introduce board games to family life.

www.thedarkimp.com

CHAPTER 1

DISRUPT YOUR THINKING

Home truths to get to grips with.

The amount of information and advice that is thrown at us when we become parents is enormous. It can often seem like any decision we make is the wrong one. There is always someone ready to criticise or contradict, usually armed with a barrage of stories to back up their point of view. Doubt and guilt go hand in hand with parenting. As children grow, the challenges change. Dealing with teens and pre-teens can feel like we are navigating our way through a minefield, blind.

But, as a parent, you know your children better than anyone else and you are the person who is the most qualified to bring them up. Gather information, listen to advice, but make your own decisions about what will work with your family in your home. Be confident with your choices, even if those around you are making different ones.

To help you make parenting choices that will enable you to reclaim family time and play more together, here are my home truths. Grasp these and you’ll pull your family closer rather than drifting apart as your children mature.

HOME TRUTH 1: THE WAY YOU USED TO PARENT

WON’T WORK NOW

Parenting needs to grow as our children do. Children have a way of going through rapid bursts of development, particularly when they hit puberty, and these changes can sneak up on parents and catch us unawares. It is really hard to let go of how we used to parent, especially if we’ve been successful in the past. Therefore, it is important to be as reflective and self-aware as possible.

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concerned about what the future might hold, and demonstrate how – with the right support and positive parenting skills – their children can grow up to surprise and delight them.

It is really important that we provide young people with the support they need to succeed, and to understand dyslexia as a different and brilliant way of thinking. Alternative thinking can spur creativity and innovation and has the power to change the world. This book shows how with the right support, young people can maximise their potential.

Sir Richard Branson, business magnate, investor, philanthropist and founder of the Virgin Group Most parents worry about how to bring up their children, especially if they worry that their child is in any way different. This book offers both comfort and insight to those in this position. It will really help parents, teachers and others relate to and better support those children who are different. A definite book to read!

Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor, University of Buckingham

www.crownhouse.co.uk

Parenting

Cover photographs © Jane Hewitt, 2018.  Audiobook now available from Audible and iBooks

My Child_FP_0819.indd 1

www.crownhouse.co.uk

Parenting Hobbies, quizzes and games Board games

DELIBERATE STEALTH

By playing solo puzzles and games in prominent positions around the house, you’ve begun to use deliberate stealth tactics to influence the behaviour of your family. You’re now going to turn this up a notch.

The natural next step is to tackle a two-player game. Select the person in the household who you think is most likely to be receptive. This may be your partner or one of the children. If nobody fits the bill, rope in a friend, a neighbour, or a member of your extended family. Your aim is twofold: firstly, you need to convey the message that games are appealing and really fun, and secondly, you need to normalise the activity within the home. Many games have two-player variants, but some have been specifically designed for two.

If you like trick-taking card games, for example, have a look at Claim The Fox in the Forest for intriguing new twists on the mechanism and beautiful artwork to go along with it. In Claim, the suits are factions of goblins, dwarves, knights, doppelgängers and the undead, all with differing abilities that affect whoever wins the trick. The cards you win in the first round become your hand for the second. In The Fox in the Forest, odd cards trigger special actions and you’re trying to take the most tricks, but if you take too many you end up scoring nothing. The advantage of having some good two-player games in the house is pretty obvious: you only need one other person to play with. In busy households, shared moments between two family members can be rare. Playing a two-player game can enable you to have short bursts of time with individuals, in which your focus is solely on them.

Try Hive for an easy to learn but satisfyingly thought-provoking game for two. The chunky tiles, which represent different insects, look good on the table and feel good in your hand. Your aim is to protect your own queen bee while attempting to capture your opponent’s by surrounding it on all sides to prevent escape. With all the options on the table and nothing hidden from view, the rest of the family can watch, advise and learn how to play, asking questions openly and taking part in tactical discussion. Hive is small enough to sit among the plates and bowls on your kitchen table and robust enough to be played while you eat. Unlike games containing cardboard components, you can’t do any damage to the Hive tiles. If they get coated in bolognese sauce, just rinse them. You could play one side of the table versus the other; each team making joint decisions about how to move. It doesn’t matter if you have uneven teams. During dinner you have a captive audience, so stealthily hook them in while they eat. You could run an experiment.

Time how long everyone stays at the table for dinner on a normal day, then time how long they stay when they are playing a game over dinner.

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Bad winner Good winner

Provides lengthy explanations of the successful strategy and tactics, possibly demonstrated by a full-blown reconstruction, with accompanying PowerPoint presentation.

Immediately adopts the mantle of the expert to perform attacks on other people’s game play from a position of assumed authority, followed by step-by-step instructions of how they should have played.

Aims pointing, jeering and general derision at the losing players. Makes sweeping comments about being a board game god and how the minions should bow and grovel.

APPENDIX

Acknowledges the part that luck played in the victory and in others’ less successful outcomes.

Shows interest in other people’s strategies and begins positive discussions about individual tactics. Steers the conversation away from their own game play.

Shows humility.

Refuses to pack up the game, claiming that their victory provides immunity from this dull task. Offers to pack the game away so that others can leave the table.

Bad loser Good loser Bursts into a highly dramatic and very tearful tantrum, resulting in tear-stained playing cards and a snot-streaked board.

Makes a comment about being really disappointed and having hoped to be more successful.

Players Run time Themes Mechanics

221b Baker Street

2–6 90 minutes Murder mystery Deduction Roll and move In Victorian London the scene is set and there is a mystery to be solved. In this Sherlock Holmes detective game, there are 75

79

153

1 Us, and Our Blue-Eyed

Boy

(The Calm Before the Storm)

The greatest gift a couple can give their baby is a loving relationship, because that relationship nourishes Baby’s development. John M. Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman, And Baby Makes Three

I come from a loving, caring family that does not judge. The values of giving and putting others first were instilled in me from an early age by both my parents. My memories of being a tween are of helping my mother run the shop at the local mental health hospital on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I loved playing shopkeeper, taking money and selling over the counter, although I realise now that the experiences I had there were more profound than I appreciated at the time. At this young age, I was interacting with adults with severe mental health disorders, and it was an important introduction for me to people with differences. Now in her late seventies, my mother still devotes herself to serving others: helping at the local hospice four days a week, which she says feels like a full-time job, and preparing teas at her local cricket club. My father is a born optimist, a sensitive and kindly man who inspires people around him. He has never been afraid to show emotion and is always one of the first to well up when he talks about how proud he is of his grandchildren. He connects well with people and always treats others with respect and kindness, making time to talk to everyone, from the cor-

Botheredness on the door frame to trophies won by a girl who has never lived, the children have participated in a world born from a collected imagination. I suggest to the teacher that one piece of writing the class might do is a social worker’s report about Jimmy and his situation. Another could be Jimmy’s letter to Jenny.23 And maybe the surveyor’s report outlining the impact of coastal erosion on Jimmy’s cliff. We also talk about the need for knowledge and that the children must be taught about coastal erosion to navigate the narrative. I emphasise that the stories are not there to replace the formal teaching of a subject but, rather, be offered as a context to explore the topic or theme. This is where teachers are being invited to participate in a true creative act: the connecting of the seemingly unconnected – old people and coastal erosion; the history of a place with the geography of a place. We also talk about the fact that much of the session in class appeared to be a sort of ‘living comprehension’ where children were invited to infer, to reach up high to complex vocabulary that I modelled when I was using teacher-in-role as Jimmy – words like ‘bathed’ and ‘illuminated’. The observing teachers also recognised the spaces where the children were given time to respond, reflect and ponder.

168

or ‘woke’ and then moan that he wasn’t allowed to go to university. Uncover them, your three words, and use them to arm yourself against the uninformed, the ignorant and the powerful. Fight on the bridge of educational misinformation for these words. They’re yours. They’re what make you bothered.

A number of potential sources have been suggested for this proverb; see O’Toole (2014).

2 This is a real person in real life and everything. If he were in a movie he’d be played by Steven

in all of this? Well, the topic written in the plans is ‘Kenya’ and I think it’s fair to say that we are doing ‘Kenya’. We are doing more though, are we not? So much more. How this stuff can be mapped out and structured will be explored later but let me just return to that little human who had the courage to blurt out an interruption to my monologue. He could not keep it in, bless him. He’d been moved from empathy to compassion, and in that moving he’d upgraded his levels of engagement with me, the classroom, the story, to one of being bothered – one of being invested.

ATTENTION

Appropriate strategies

INTEREST

Bothererness_010223.indd 137

ENGAGEMENT

INVESTMENT

Dependence Independence

BOTHEREDNESS

OBSESSION (adapted from Heathcote, 2011 ) 17 Dorothy Heathcote went through this ‘circle of engagement’ with me in person when I was a young teacher. Instead of botheredness she used the word As she spoke, wrote it down.

I later added the idea of dependence and independence when reflecting on how children react to the contextual learning work.

Extensive use of modified stock vectors alongside original figures, film memorabilia images and the author’s own drawings.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE SECRETS OF BEING A BRILLIANT TEACHER, READ ON ...

Have you ever had a class who are angels for your colleagues but little devils as soon as they cross the threshold of your classroom? Or realised too late that your best-laid lesson plans were doomed from the start? Or had your energy and enthusiasm sapped by a mood-hoovering staffroom Grinch? Or felt the pressure of an impending Ofsted inspection? There are many real world challenges facing teachers but Andy, Gary and Chris have plenty of real world solutions to share, which are as entertaining as they are achievable.

A BRILLIANT BOOK FOR TEACHERS

‘Here’s a book for every school’s staff library and maybe one that should be given to every new member of staff. It helps with positive attitudes, energy and ideas. The authors are brim full of all three and have an amazing capacity to make their enthusiasm infectious. Moreover it’s a book to be dipped into by any teachers who find themselves flagging.’

Sir Tim Brighouse, formerly Commissioner for London Schools ‘Half an hour in the company of Andy Cope in person or in writing is better than a week in Mustique.’

Sir Anthony Seldon, Master, Wellington College

www.crownhouse.co.uk

Education

THE ART OF BEING A

BRILLIANT TEACHER

WE CAN MAKE YOU BRILLIANT!

Our deadly simple, non-academic approach comes in the form of keynotes, half and full-day workshops, fully accredited programmes and one-to-one coaching. All are thought provoking, habit-challenging and great fun!

WHO WE WORK WITH...

We work with businesses, schools and communities and our programmes are grounded in cutting edge research in areas of positive psychology, flourishing, happiness, energy, leadership and emotional intelligence.

WHO WE ARE...

We've got a growing band of brilliant trainers and coaches who will add sparkle to your business or school. They all know their stuff, have bags of positivity and energy, and an ability to bring the training to life.

WWW.ARTOFBRILLIANCE.CO.UK

Andy Cope is the author of the famous Spy Dog books, a trainer and a keynote speaker. He is an expert in positive psychology and happiness, which led him to develop The Art of Being Brilliant This is delivered in various forms as workshops for businesses, conferences, teachers and teenagers. It has also informed the thinking behind his brilliant books. www.artofbrilliance.co.uk Gary Toward is a trainer and keynote speaker who has previously taught in 7 schools countrywide. He was head teacher of 3 schools in Leicestershire, during which time he co-led a Pupil

ALSO AVAILABLE isbn: 978-184590940-6

THE ART OF BEING A THE BRILLIANT MIDDLE LEADER

Andy Cope Chris Henley Gary Toward WWW.ARTOFBRILLIANCE.CO.UK

■

Coping can be as easy as learning the ABCS

In The ABCs of Coping with Anxiety, James Cowart offers a concise collection of tried-and-tested strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and makes them accessible to people who are learning to cope with their anxiety on a dayto-day basis.

These user-friendly techniques focus on developing key coping skills designed to reduce fear and anxiety, and are complemented by a program of practical exercises that can be personalized to meet each individual’s unique needs.

Informed by his extensive clinical experience and therapeutic knowledge, and with real-life case studies to guide the reader, James’s ABCS approach is as transformative as it is simple:

A is for accepting the thoughts and feelings you can and can’t control

B is for breathing slowly and naturally to relieve and relax muscle tension

C is for countering any unrealistic or catastrophic thoughts with truth and logic

S is for staying with it so you can face your fears and anxieties until they are reduced

You will learn how to become more resilient and stop the cycle of anxiety from perpetuating.

Dr. Tom Barber, founder, Contemporary College of Therapeutic Studies, educator, psychotherapist, coach and bestselling author Succinct, comprehensive and straightforward to read.

Peter Mabbutt, Vice Principal, London College of Clinical Hypnosis, Vice President, British Society of Clinical Hypnosis

James has simplified the complex treatment for anxiety and made it accessible to all, providing a good foundation for understanding what anxiety really is and what works in overcoming it. Dr. Hazel Harrison, clinical psychologist

The ABCS of Coping with Anxiety is a concise, clear, specific and practical user-friendly guide for sufferers of anxiety issues.

Galen Alessi, PhD, Professor

James Cowart is a licensed psychologist with a special interest in providing CBT to people suffering with anxiety disorders. He has a PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis and is a member of the American Psychological Association. He specializes in problem-solving formats in family and couples therapy, as well as cognitive behavioral and interpersonal approaches to treating depression and anxiety. www.counselingpcc.com/cowart/

James Cowart, PhD

James Cowart, PhD

■ Boosting your self-worth – what you’ve been taught about yourself shapes what you think about yourself … but a lot of it is fake news!

■ Overcoming anxiety in all its different forms, why we have it and why we just don’t need it most of the time.

■ Dealing with simple phobias even when they seem far from simple, and getting rid of them for good.

■ Enhancing performance – harnessing the resources you thought you had but weren’t sure how to find.

Suitable for anyone wanting to rewire their psychological responses to life’s challenges.

If you want new ideas, get this book!  Roy Hunter, author and hypnosis instructor

BWRT is brilliant. All that awaits is your best life. Kevin Hogan, author of The Psychology of Persuasion and The Science of Influence

With BWRT, Terence Watts has developed a method that can lead to significant brain change and well-being.

Åsa Hammar, Professor and Specialist in Clinical Neuropsychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen Provides a brilliantly simple way to conceptualise the complex array of neural subsystems responsible for many of our problematic reactions, decisions and actions.

Ronald A. Havens, PhD, Professor Emeritus in Psychology, University of Illinois Springfield

Imagine suddenly discovering that there’s a user manual for your life – this is it! Sumedha Bhise, psychotherapist

The book truly contains the possibility to change your life in deep and profound ways.  Dr Tony Fitzgerald, PhD, founder of Predicting Better

Terence Watts is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and the only psychology related therapist to have been awarded the MCGI (Member of the City & Guilds Institute). Founder of the Essex Institute of Clinical Hypnosis, The Terence Watts BWRT Institute and The British BrainWorking Research Society, he is an international lecturer and trainer and runs popular online training seminars.

Using CBT to manage stress and anxiety

of Coping with Anxiety

Using CBT to manage stress and anxiety

C is for Countering

“It is important to learn how to think clearly … Name the situation as it is; don’t filter it through your judgments.”

Countering means responding to and replacing unrealistic and unhealthy thoughts with new thoughts that are based on evidence and logic. The old, automatic thoughts are usually based on jumps to conclusions with little basis in evidence or logic. Although it is not possible to control every single thought that passes through our brains, it is possible to learn to question and then counter unrealistic, unhealthy thoughts and that can be extremely important in the recovery process. Most unhealthy, unrealistic thoughts seem to be first learned in childhood, adolescence or certainly by young adulthood. It is particularly important to realize that not every thought or belief you learned during these formative times is true or helpful.

www.crownhouse.co.uk

Self-Help & Personal Development Popular Psychology

Introduction

What It Is and How It Works

First, a disclaimer: BrainWorking Recursive Therapy (BWRT) was only taught for the first time in 2013 so is still, in therapy terms, very new. But from the beginning it has astounded all who have studied the training and as a result it has been eagerly adopted by thousands of clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors and other therapists worldwide, including professors of psychology. They are using it on an everyday basis, often in preference to any other therapy, to relieve suffering and, in many cases, save lives. It is also in use by some police and military because of its ability to rapidly resolve post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).1

BWRT is a new process; it was initially met with scepticism, with therapists insisting there could be nothing in it that had not been taught before and that it could not possibly be as effective as was being claimed. It was first taught to a small group of professional therapists in October 2013, all of whom instantly recognised that it was something genuinely new and different and not just a rehash of one of the dozens – hundreds, probably – of other available therapies. They were impressed by the fact that BWRT is based strongly in science and evolutionary biology – and not only does it work, but, unlike the majority of other therapies, we also know exactly why it works. After that early beginning, the word spread quickly and now (in 2022) it is in worldwide use.

1 See https://www.bwrt.org/ and https://bwrtsa.co.za/. BWRT_090222.indd 1 09/02/2022 09:09

1

An approach to teaching chess in schools through a series of minigames which will enable all children to better understand and enjoy this magnificent game. Chess is a game of extraordinary excitement and beauty and all children should have the opportunity to experience it. Indeed, many claim that playing abstract strategy games such as chess provides a wide range of cognitive and social benefits –such as improvements in problem-solving ability and communication skills. However, Richard James argues that, because of the complexity of chess, most younger children would gain more benefit from simpler chess-based strategy games and incremental learning. In this practical handbook, Richard provides a wide range of games and puzzles based on these principles which are appropriate for primary schools, and explains how teachers can identify children who would benefit from starting young.

Richard also sets out how this approach can engage the whole community, including working with children with special needs, getting parents involved in learning and playing, and developing partnerships between primary and secondary schools.

An ideal resource for primary and secondary school teachers wanting to introduce their pupils to chess.

I would strongly recommend Chess for Schools to any chess teachers, parents and others with an interest in chess pedagogy.

Peter Wells, Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer and co-author of Chess Improvement: It’s All in the Mindset

Rooted in deep personal understanding and decades of experience, this approachable, practical guide will help you establish a chess culture that seeps through your school.

Ellie Dix, Board Game Designer, owner of The Dark Imp and author of The Board Game Family

This brilliant book is so well structured that you do not need to read it from end to end and you do not need ever to have touched a chess piece to find it worthwhile.

Tim Bartlett, former Head Teacher Chess for Schools provides the terminology and the resources to move from beginner to competitive chess player. Schools now have a road map for their chess journeys. Dr Alexey Root, author of Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators and United States Women’s Chess Champions, 1937–2020

A veritable treasure chest of ideas, advice, opinions and resources.

Professor Barry Hymer, former Chief Science Officer, Chessable, and educational consultant ChessSchools_FP.indd

Barry Hymer and Peter Wells with Tim Kett and insights from Michael Adams, David Howell, Harriet Hunt, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Matthew Sadler and Nigel Short

@DavidDidau

David Didau is a freelance writer, blogger, speaker, trainer and author. He started his award-winning blog, The Learning Spy, in 2011 to express the constraints and irritations of ordinary teachers, detail the successes and failures within his own classroom, and synthesise his years of teaching experience through the lens of educational research and cognitive psychology. Since then he has spoken at various national conferences, has directly influenced Ofsted and has worked with the Department for Education to consider ways in which teachers’ workload could be reduced.

Given the choice, who wouldn’t want to be cleverer?

What teacher wouldn’t want this for their students, and what parent wouldn’t wish it for their children?

When David Didau started researching this book, he thought the answers to these questions were obvious. But it turns out that the very idea of measuring and increasing children’s intelligence makes many people extremely uncomfortable. They think, “If some people were more intelligent, where would that leave those of us who weren’t?”

Writing in his inimitable, thought-provoking style, David reignites the nature vs. nurture debate around intelligence and offers research-informed guidance on the practical things teachers can do to narrow the attainment gap, and to help all children acquire a robust store of powerful knowledge, as well as the skills to make use of it.

Schools and parents alike invest so much energy in teaching children and yet often understand relatively little about what exactly it is they are trying to achieve. In Making

Kids Cleverer David Didau reviews everything we know from cognitive science on how to enhance children’s learning, and delivers a powerful argument that we can – and must –help all children succeed at school.

Rebecca Allen, Professor of Education, University College London Institute of Education

David Didau has done it again! Making Kids Cleverer is an engaging, highly readable analysis of the latest research on how we learn and what we can do to improve the achievement of our pupils. Anyone involved in the care and education of children and young people would gain a huge amount from reading this book.

Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment, University College London

I have not read another education book that brims with as much insight and stimulating thought as this one: every page serves up a new surprise or gentle provocation.

Andy Tharby, teacher, co-author of Making Every Lesson Count and author of How to Explain Absolutely Anything to Absolutely Anyone

Making Kids Cleverer is a truly magnificent manifesto. Everything David Didau says chimes deeply with what I know to be true and what I am trying to accomplish in our schools. It is an absolute joy to read, and an incredibly timely tour de force that can, and should, have a national impact. A must-read for everyone in education, from trainee teachers to inspectors and policy makers.

Lady Caroline Nash, Director, Future Academies

Kids Making Cleverer

A. Kirschner

MakingKids Cleverer

A manifesto for closing the advantage gap

978-178135127-7 978-178583157-7

Can we get cleverer?

The question of whether or not we can get cleverer is a crucial one for this book.

If you believe that intelligence is hereditary and environmental effects are trivial, you may be sceptical. But environment does matter, and it matters most for children from the most socially disadvantaged backgrounds – those who not only have the most to gain, but who are also the ones most likely to gain from our efforts to make all kids cleverer.

And one thing we can be fairly sure will raise children’s intelligence is sending them to school.

In this wide-ranging enquiry into psychology, sociology, philosophy and cognitive science, David argues that with greater access to culturally accumulated information – taught explicitly within a knowledge-rich curriculum – children are more likely to become cleverer, to think more critically and, subsequently, to live happier, healthier and more secure lives. Furthermore, by sharing valuable insights into what children truly need to learn during their formative school years, he sets out the numerous practical ways in which policy makers and school leaders can make better choices about organising schools, and how teachers can communicate the knowledge that will make the most difference to young people as effectively and efficiently as possible.

There are so many competing suggestions as to how we should improve education that knowing how to act can seem an impossible challenge. Once you have absorbed the arguments in this book, however, David hopes you will find the simple question that he asks himself whenever he encounters new ideas and initiatives – “Will this make children cleverer?” – as useful as he does.

What if

David Didau

David Didau

Foreword by Paul

Cognitive load theory (CLT) is rapidly becoming education’s next ‘big thing’. It is natural, therefore, that teachers will want to know more about it and, more importantly, understand how they can embed it in their classroom teaching.

Written by international teacher trainer Steve Garnett, this invaluable handbook brings clarity to the complexity surrounding CLT and provides a user-friendly toolkit of techniques to help teachers optimise their pupils’ learning.

Steve covers a wide range of teaching strategies to help teachers avoid overloading their pupils’ working memories, and empowers them with the tools to get their pupils learning more effectively – particularly when learning new content.

Suitable for teachers, department heads, school leaders and anyone with a responsibility for improving teaching and learning.

Teaching is one of the most important activities associated with the continuity of civilisation. An enormous amount of research relevant to teachers is produced each year, with the vast bulk of it appearing in research journals intended for a researcher rather than practitioner readership. Translating those technical research findings into a form that is accessible to teachers is a rare skill. It is a skill that Steve Garnett has in copious abundance, and in Cognitive Load Theory: A Handbook for Teachers he provides a brilliant exposition of instructional design principles.

John Sweller, Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of New South Wales

I think it’s safe to say that Cognitive Load Theory: A Handbook for Teachers is the book that educators have been waiting for. It is a much-needed, timely resource that puts common sense and cognitive science, rather than hunches and fashions,

Steve Garnett delivers inspirational, practical and highly realistic teaching- and learning-related INSET.

He travels extensively around the UK, as well as globally, having delivered training to over 15,000 teachers in over 30 countries, extending to South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and south-east Asia.

Cognitive Load Theory

Steve Garnett

656 pages, 1100+ figures, thousands of formulae or equations that needed resetting – Conceptual Maths, aka Mathsmageddon or Mathspocalypse!

award-winning speaker, mental health ambassador and education consultant, Teach Learn Create Ltd Fringes_FP.indd 1

Gilbert Filbert and his big MAD box is the story of one boy’s desire to make a difference and help his mother find her smile again. It is a book about a boy, a box and a battle for a penguin but, more than that, it is a tale about families, hope and how to make dreams come true.

Gilbert’s deceptively simple, entertaining story contains profound insights about how to feel self-belief and get things done.

Tricia Lennie, English teacher and writer

An invaluable way for adults to help children think through different scenarios and come to a solution by themselves.

Caroline Roche, Chartered School Librarian, Eltham College

The powerful set of thinking

www.independentthinkingpress.com

Chapter 2

When Gilbert arrived home the following day he found grandma sitting in the kitchen as usual, a half-eaten packet of fig rolls in front of her as usual, a pot of tea and two mugs on the table as usual and, unusually, a strange box in her hands.

‘What’s that in your hands?’ asked Gilbert.

‘A box,’ replied grandma, as if unusually holding an unusual box was the most usual thing in the world. ‘A box with seven sides.’

Gilbert could see that the box was made out of old cereal packets and an empty box of Bakewell tarts that his grandma had cut up earlier that day. He could tell that because on the kitchen top was an old vase full of Coco Pops. Heaven knows where she had put the cakes. He could also see that, like most boxes, it had six sides.

‘That box has got six sides actually, grandma.’

‘Is that what you think?’ replied grandma mysteriously.

On each of the six sides that Gilbert could see, grandma had written a word in her old-fashioned, shaky handwriting, and although Gilbert couldn’t make out what all the words were, he could see the side closest to him had the word ‘Goal’ on it. Or it might have been ‘Goat’.

DO

Girl Bullying

and intimate information exchanged ‘in confidence’ and ‘in friendship’ can then become a weapon more brutal than a fist or a hammer. Marius Frank, Materials Director, Achievement for All Dr Sam touches upon every angle to provide a good read and educate those who are in a position to reduce any sort of bullying. Jas Bassi, Clinical Hypnotherapist Girl Bullying will be reassuring to readers who are seeking to understand and tackle the complex and dark world of bullying. They will be given confidence to tackle this difficult subject.

Girl Bullying Dr Sam education

Former Chair, Anti-Bullying Alliance Bullying is a thorny subject that can make or break a school’s reputation. Reading Girl Bullying has given me a greater insight into the issue and enabled me to look at my school’s policies and their effectiveness with fresh eyes. Beverley Dandy, Head Teacher, Outwoods Primary School Girl Bullying is a book that all of us working in schools should read and act upon. Geoff Barton, Head Teacher, King Edward VI School GirlBullying_FP.indd 1 18/09/2015 09:45 13

Gilbert_071116.indd 13 11/11/2016 13:13 243 Appendix 1 Summary of results of the ‘Do I Look

Bothered?’ (DiLB) survey

MAD box and his big Gilbert Filbert

Ian Gilbert and Andy Gilbert

Ian Gilbert

and Andy Gilbert

MAD box

and his big

Gilbert Filbert