@bobbymurray232.bsky.social
Educator, School leader, my views are most definitely my own 🤔
Reposted
ICYMI: Government-approved guidance has been issued for schools and parents in response to staff facing a rising number of complaints
‘Parents are people, too,’ schools told in guidance on complaints
Government-approved guidance has been issued for schools and parents in response to staff facing a rising number of complaints
www.tes.com
January 25, 2026 at 12:35 PM
ICYMI: Government-approved guidance has been issued for schools and parents in response to staff facing a rising number of complaints
Reposted
"Spelling really has quietly eroded," Chandler adds, "even as evidence mounted that spelling is really a driver of reading development and not this optional add-on."
mashable.com/article/goog...
mashable.com/article/goog...
Don't let your child rely on tech tools to spell
When kids depend on spellcheck, autocorrect, and ChatGPT, they're at a serious disadvantage.
mashable.com
January 25, 2026 at 11:22 AM
"Spelling really has quietly eroded," Chandler adds, "even as evidence mounted that spelling is really a driver of reading development and not this optional add-on."
mashable.com/article/goog...
mashable.com/article/goog...
Reposted
Excellent:
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Excellent:
Reposted
New webinar:
KS3: The intellectual powerhouse of the secondary school
Too often, KS3 is seen as a warm-up for the 'real' work of KS4. But what if it’s actually the engine room of thinking, curiosity, and confidence?
/1
KS3: The intellectual powerhouse of the secondary school
Too often, KS3 is seen as a warm-up for the 'real' work of KS4. But what if it’s actually the engine room of thinking, curiosity, and confidence?
/1
January 21, 2026 at 5:30 PM
New webinar:
KS3: The intellectual powerhouse of the secondary school
Too often, KS3 is seen as a warm-up for the 'real' work of KS4. But what if it’s actually the engine room of thinking, curiosity, and confidence?
/1
KS3: The intellectual powerhouse of the secondary school
Too often, KS3 is seen as a warm-up for the 'real' work of KS4. But what if it’s actually the engine room of thinking, curiosity, and confidence?
/1
Reposted
Reading aloud isn’t what we think it is
It's sometimes treated as a warm-up, a way in or something for pupils who might struggle.
One of the barriers is because it’s enjoyable, we think it can’t be work, but it is!
/1
It's sometimes treated as a warm-up, a way in or something for pupils who might struggle.
One of the barriers is because it’s enjoyable, we think it can’t be work, but it is!
/1
January 19, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Reading aloud isn’t what we think it is
It's sometimes treated as a warm-up, a way in or something for pupils who might struggle.
One of the barriers is because it’s enjoyable, we think it can’t be work, but it is!
/1
It's sometimes treated as a warm-up, a way in or something for pupils who might struggle.
One of the barriers is because it’s enjoyable, we think it can’t be work, but it is!
/1
Reposted
When young people feel safe, valued, and supported, they are better able to learn, grow, and thrive. Strong pastoral care nurtures wellbeing, builds positive relationships, and helps students develop resilience, empathy, and confidence—skills for life, not just the classroom.
January 19, 2026 at 11:49 AM
When young people feel safe, valued, and supported, they are better able to learn, grow, and thrive. Strong pastoral care nurtures wellbeing, builds positive relationships, and helps students develop resilience, empathy, and confidence—skills for life, not just the classroom.
Reposted
New post!
On removing students from lessons, and the pain and angst it brings.
Please share if you can :)
open.substack.com/pub/carousel...
On removing students from lessons, and the pain and angst it brings.
Please share if you can :)
open.substack.com/pub/carousel...
Removal Reluctance
I had to remove a student for disrupting my lesson. But, like many teachers, my reluctance to do so meant I removed them too late. Here’s why, and what I should have done differently.
open.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 6:13 PM
New post!
On removing students from lessons, and the pain and angst it brings.
Please share if you can :)
open.substack.com/pub/carousel...
On removing students from lessons, and the pain and angst it brings.
Please share if you can :)
open.substack.com/pub/carousel...
If we’re going to get more quality learning from mainstream classes shouldn’t this be a starting point? With teacher recruitment problems and the need for funding this dictates, this obvious starting point is hindered by the absence of will- which is why it’s hard to find studies which say it works
How one school more than doubled the number of its children reaching a good level of development in Reception
The transformative effect of reducing Reception class sizes
Shackleton Primary more than doubled the number of its children reaching a good level of development after cutting its Reception classes from 30 to 20. Ellen Peirson-Hagger hears how it achieved this…
www.tes.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:43 PM
If we’re going to get more quality learning from mainstream classes shouldn’t this be a starting point? With teacher recruitment problems and the need for funding this dictates, this obvious starting point is hindered by the absence of will- which is why it’s hard to find studies which say it works
Reposted
When teachers offer classroom egs, it can be SO valuable. But often there's just a snippet - a ppt slide or piece of writing & it's hard to know the context, intentions & real impact. This, on the power of Talk for Learning, is different. I love it! #oracy www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/oracy-i...
Oracy is the glue
How talk-for-learning can transform reading and writing about challenging texts at KS3, using Jane Eyre as an example
www.englishandmedia.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 9:15 AM
When teachers offer classroom egs, it can be SO valuable. But often there's just a snippet - a ppt slide or piece of writing & it's hard to know the context, intentions & real impact. This, on the power of Talk for Learning, is different. I love it! #oracy www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/oracy-i...
Reposted
KS3 doesn’t need to be the 'Wasted Years'
It’s got the potential to be the 'Ambitious Years'!
Latest post
open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...
It’s got the potential to be the 'Ambitious Years'!
Latest post
open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...
KS3 can be the ambitious years
Well hello there, and welcome to update #173!
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:24 PM
KS3 doesn’t need to be the 'Wasted Years'
It’s got the potential to be the 'Ambitious Years'!
Latest post
open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...
It’s got the potential to be the 'Ambitious Years'!
Latest post
open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...
Reposted
100% agree
One example of the issue is the way the DfE approaches attendance. Rather than asking what it is about the system that means so many families feel no option but to disengage from it, we just see more targets and punitive measures with Ofsted acting as an enforcer. Similarly this new reading test.
January 17, 2026 at 9:45 AM
100% agree
Has anyone considered that the rise in demand for special school places is because of the well meaning attempt to force children with widely disparate starting points into the same largely academic curriculum. Mainstream schools struggle to fund anything other than superficially adapted curricula.
January 17, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Has anyone considered that the rise in demand for special school places is because of the well meaning attempt to force children with widely disparate starting points into the same largely academic curriculum. Mainstream schools struggle to fund anything other than superficially adapted curricula.
My biggest concern with all of this is despite “extra funds” it is more of the ‘do more with less’ mantra. How does a teacher teaching 45/50 lessons per fortnight with 15 classes and 10 passports for students with SEND in each actually remember, action or plan for such a wide range of need?
🧵⬇️ #inclusion starts with a flexible system.
If needs are at the centre then we must start asking why the system struggles to adapt to those needs. If we truly want inclusive settings we have to find ways to be more flexible and to ask why the system isn't meeting the needs of so many.
schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-at-t...
schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-at-t...
January 17, 2026 at 9:39 AM
My biggest concern with all of this is despite “extra funds” it is more of the ‘do more with less’ mantra. How does a teacher teaching 45/50 lessons per fortnight with 15 classes and 10 passports for students with SEND in each actually remember, action or plan for such a wide range of need?
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Here's the thing about the DfE idea that 'training is the answer' to SEND. It implies that once again the issue lies with teachers and not with the system itself. A way of papering over the cracks rather than admitting that the system needs rethinking if it's ever going to be properly inclusive.
January 17, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Here's the thing about the DfE idea that 'training is the answer' to SEND. It implies that once again the issue lies with teachers and not with the system itself. A way of papering over the cracks rather than admitting that the system needs rethinking if it's ever going to be properly inclusive.
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Over the last few years, we've seen how much difference it makes when senior leaders and subject leaders have meaningful, informed conversations about the curriculum.
/1
/1
January 16, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Over the last few years, we've seen how much difference it makes when senior leaders and subject leaders have meaningful, informed conversations about the curriculum.
/1
/1
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So much of the current discourse around teaching is about what teachers and schools 'should do' rather than how we want children and young people (and indeed their teachers) to *feel* about education. #EduSky
January 13, 2026 at 6:40 AM
So much of the current discourse around teaching is about what teachers and schools 'should do' rather than how we want children and young people (and indeed their teachers) to *feel* about education. #EduSky
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This is a critical reading. Also very good @psalisbury.bsky.social and the kind of blogs we need!
Right I've written a blog. At least I think I have as this may not work:
philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/09/r...
It's pretty dull.
philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/09/r...
It's pretty dull.
Relationships with parents
Establishing good relationships with parents is essential for many reasons, and children benefit more when there is a strong relationship and good communication between the two. Working with parent…
philsalisbury.wordpress.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:48 PM
This is a critical reading. Also very good @psalisbury.bsky.social and the kind of blogs we need!
Getting this one wrong is unfortunately common!
The SPEAKER implies.
The LISTENER infers.
The DUDE abides.
The LISTENER infers.
The DUDE abides.
January 11, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Getting this one wrong is unfortunately common!
Very true, and since all the fantastic work of @marymyatt.bsky.social et al. I seldom come across this view- although it does hide insidiously in some assumptions that are made about curriculum and achievement at KS3.
KS3 isn’t a waiting room. Too often, KS3 is treated as a holding pattern — a bridge to “where it really matters” at GCSE.
But the evidence is clear: what happens in Years 7–9 profoundly shapes outcomes, attitudes and aspirations later on.
www.linkedin.com/posts/mike-i...
But the evidence is clear: what happens in Years 7–9 profoundly shapes outcomes, attitudes and aspirations later on.
www.linkedin.com/posts/mike-i...
KS3 isn’t a waiting room.
Too often, KS3 is treated as a holding pattern — a bridge to “where it really matters” at GCSE.
But the evidence is clear: what happens in Years 7–9 profoundly shapes… | Mi...
KS3 isn’t a waiting room.
Too often, KS3 is treated as a holding pattern — a bridge to “where it really matters” at GCSE.
But the evidence is clear: what happens in Years 7–9 profoundly shapes outco...
www.linkedin.com
January 11, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Very true, and since all the fantastic work of @marymyatt.bsky.social et al. I seldom come across this view- although it does hide insidiously in some assumptions that are made about curriculum and achievement at KS3.
Reposted
Lots to like in this from @clivehill.bsky.social: “Ethical leadership is not what you say in public, but what you choose to do when the outcome is inconvenient, uncomfortable, or invisible,” is one of many sentences that struck me.
open.substack.com/pub/clivehil...
open.substack.com/pub/clivehil...
Borrowed Authority: What the Army and Rugby Taught Me About Ethical Leadership
No Dickheads, No Shortcuts...
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Lots to like in this from @clivehill.bsky.social: “Ethical leadership is not what you say in public, but what you choose to do when the outcome is inconvenient, uncomfortable, or invisible,” is one of many sentences that struck me.
open.substack.com/pub/clivehil...
open.substack.com/pub/clivehil...
Reposted
I could do with the DfE and Ofsted posting on here though for the opportunity to challenge them. 😉
January 10, 2026 at 9:03 PM
I could do with the DfE and Ofsted posting on here though for the opportunity to challenge them. 😉
Reposted
This is what happens. This is so unfair to "the 29". But what is the (acceptable) solution?
New Blog Post 📝
A fair amount of conversation is happening surrounding the causes of poor behaviour, however, what I wanted to highlight is the impact the poor behaviour of one pupil has on the other 29.
Even just a few minutes has, collectively, a large impact.
open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...
A fair amount of conversation is happening surrounding the causes of poor behaviour, however, what I wanted to highlight is the impact the poor behaviour of one pupil has on the other 29.
Even just a few minutes has, collectively, a large impact.
open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...
Poor Behaviour: An Argument for the Other 29
Conversations surrounding behaviour are, sometimes rightly, focus on those students who display poor behaviour. However, the conversation doesn't often include those who show up and do the right thing
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:41 PM
This is what happens. This is so unfair to "the 29". But what is the (acceptable) solution?
Interesting addition to one of the gnarly problems of our schools today.
daviddidau.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
daviddidau.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
The psychology of belonging
Why belonging in schools depends on entry into the conceptual world of academic language, not merely on connection or recognition
daviddidau.substack.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Interesting addition to one of the gnarly problems of our schools today.
daviddidau.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
daviddidau.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
Reposted
This year we have built on using homework as retrieval by taking questions that the specific class struggled with in the homework and adapting them for the next do now. Hopefully this goes some way to addressing the issues raised here by @adamboxereducation.bsky.social
NEW POST
Schools rightly spend a lot of time thinking about classroom teaching and in-the-moment learning and lesson structure. But without a plan for long-term memory, we are probably wasting our time.
Please do share if you can 🙏🙏
carouselteachlearnlead.substack.com/p/the-long-t...
Schools rightly spend a lot of time thinking about classroom teaching and in-the-moment learning and lesson structure. But without a plan for long-term memory, we are probably wasting our time.
Please do share if you can 🙏🙏
carouselteachlearnlead.substack.com/p/the-long-t...
The Long-Term Memory Problem: Why Teaching and Learning Policies Fail
Schools are very good at writing policies about in-the-moment teaching. They are much worse at strategising for long-term memory and learning.
carouselteachlearnlead.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
This year we have built on using homework as retrieval by taking questions that the specific class struggled with in the homework and adapting them for the next do now. Hopefully this goes some way to addressing the issues raised here by @adamboxereducation.bsky.social
What a great summary of the challenges and rewards of the role from @strickomaster.bsky.social
Great read! samstrickland384843542.wordpress.com
Great read! samstrickland384843542.wordpress.com
Sam Strickland's Leadership Blog
samstrickland384843542.wordpress.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM
What a great summary of the challenges and rewards of the role from @strickomaster.bsky.social
Great read! samstrickland384843542.wordpress.com
Great read! samstrickland384843542.wordpress.com