Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Alex Quigley @alexjquigley.bsky.social · 16h

🚨 NEW POST 🚨

‘Scaffolding and PEAL paragraphs’

“What should teachers do? Do paragraph plans, PEAL, and similar scaffolds have a place? Should we get rid and do things differently?”

alexquigley.co.uk/scaffolding-...

Scaffolding and PEAL paragraphs

"Scaffolds are not intended to be permanent. If everyone has a scaffold all of the time, it's not a scaffold, it's just your lesson plan." 'The Scaffolding Effect', by Rachel Ball and Alex Fairlamb ...

alexquigley.co.uk

2 2 3

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 16h

That’s the only one way I can see this having any benefit. Although if you were a SAT or small trust without a HMI trained member of your central team who could be trained to do this role I can’t see a benefit?

1

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 16h

What a thoughtful addition. Yes we want inclusive schools but the mechanisms and strategies we currently deploy seem too ineffective and often come from “educationally adjacent” professionals with little evidence or insight for the work and expectations they create.

Ben Newmark @bennewmark.bsky.social · 1d

New post.
Has additional become the point?
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/h...

Has additional become the point?

Saying the SEND system is in crisis is no great reveal; it is proving ruinously expensive while failing to deliver either improved experiences or outcomes. One consequence of its long-term failure …

bennewmark.wordpress.com

1 1

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 16h

Instead of using the most successful schools to understand school improvement wouldn’t it make sense to look at what could help the most challenged schools? Apply what could help them to all schools? Isn’t that the heart of what we ask staff to do in classrooms?

1 4

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 16h

This creates so many problems. The “most successful” schools are used for insight into what the rest of us should be doing. The “most successful schools” however, invariably contain the most socially mobile parents, or most affluent, and often use their success to exclude via conformity.

1 2

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 7d

I couldn’t help but think of OFSTED when I read this….harsh but having watched one of their webinars, which felt more like a Clockwork Orange piece of brainwashing, I am less convinced than ever 😩

Susie Dent @susiedent.com · 18d

To ‘ultra-crepidate’ (19th century) is to lecture others on subjects you know very little about.

1 2

Reposted

Cass & Anna - The Educakers @theeducakers.bsky.social · 24d

Welcome to our second post on authentic school culture...can't believe it's been almost a year since the first one! Thanks to
@teachertapp.bsky.social
for making the original post the blog of the day.
theeducakers.substack.com/p/authentic-...

Authentic School Culture: A Second Slice

Sweating the Small Stuff: Where Excellence Lives

theeducakers.substack.com

1 2 3

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 7d

I still come across class teachers, middle and senior leaders who can’t appreciate the data informed reflection that article captures beautifully a really useful clarification of assessment as a more collaborative and non linear process.

Jennifer Gonzalez @cultofpedagogy.bsky.social · 9d

"Data stories can help students see themselves not as test scores, but as thinkers and collaborators."

Carl Slater via @edutopia.org
www.edutopia.org/article/data...

Crafting Data-Driven Narratives About Students

Telling stories with and about data helps students better see themselves as learners and helps teachers center them in the classroom.

www.edutopia.org

2

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 7d

A fantastic reflection and some excellent questions to wrap up. If nothing else this will provide a really good starting point for a future leadership meeting thanks @claireharley.bsky.social

Claire Harley @claireharley.bsky.social · 8d

Do we do what we say we do?

Some thoughts on balancing imperfect people (which we all are!) with systemic actions.

www.researchtoclassroom.com/post/do-we-d...

Do we do what we say we do?

Last year I downloaded a habit tracker app. With so many spinning plates, I thought this would be a useful way of making sure I kept up the habits that I felt were the most important. My other aim was...

www.researchtoclassroom.com

1 1 2

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 7d

About time we saw some acknowledgment that this much needed strand to post-16 education requires a long term resolution! Fingers crossed the detail matches the hopes of the sector!

Schools Week @schoolsweek.bsky.social · 7d

Exclusive: Plans for new 'V-level' qualifications to sit alongside A-levels and T-Levels are being drawn up

schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-pla...

Revealed: Plan for V-level qualifications amid BTEC cull

Ministers expected to set out plans for third route alongside A-levels and T-levels in skills white paper

schoolsweek.co.uk

Reposted

Mary Myatt @marymyatt.bsky.social · 18d

Children’s views on ability groups: breaks your heart

In 'Assessment for Learning without Limits' Alison Peacock found this

'When pupils going into Year 6 were asked what they thought about ability tables, their responses related to the level of work they were given:

/1

1 3 5

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 20d

Great article that reinforces some key points about addressing barriers for our most challenged learners

alexquigley.co.uk/great-teachi...

Great teaching and targeted academic support

High quality teaching - each day and each hour - is likely to prove the greatest lever for securing success in education. Not only that, but it is likely to be disproportionately beneficial to pupils ...

alexquigley.co.uk

Reposted

Susie Dent @susiedent.com · 28d

Word of the Day is ‘snerdle’ (19th century): to stay warm and still beneath the covers for as long as humanly possible.

140 760 3.7K

Reposted

Alex Quigley @alexjquigley.bsky.social · 20d

The always excellent Professor Tim Shanahan on disciplinary literacy in elementary school [primary school]. Though specific DL practices emerge, lots of non-fiction reading & building of content knowledge in the curriculum with rich reading is key:

www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/discipl...

1 3 7

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 20d

“You do not need the universe to bend to your comfort. You need to find your place in the world and contribute.”

Huge care and humility needed, from all sides, when trying to navigate communicating this effectively given the often progressive nature of conditions. Interesting read!

Mark McCourt @markmccourt.bsky.social · 20d

NEW BLOG: It is OK to be Nervous

www.emaths.co.uk/blog/general...

1

Reposted

Teacher Tapp @teachertapp.bsky.social · 20d

HOCUS POCUS…Everybody focus! 🪄🔮

14% of you read our blog on classroom attention grabbers, making it the most read of the week!

If you missed it, here’s your chance to read now...
🔗 bit.ly/3I956cx

Teacher Tapp's Most Read Article of the Week

1

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 21d

Nicely summarised some of the key issues with the new toolkit. Also slightly concerned with them abandoning a “best fit” on grade descriptors in favour of a “secure fit”. Will those parents whom OFSTED themselves admit are the only fans of the new framework really appreciate the distinction?

Mark Enser @ensermark.bsky.social · Sep 10

*** NEW POST ***

I take a look at the #Ofsted toolkit and have some concerns...

wp.me/p7mhqT-Pu

Ofsted’s New Inspection Toolkit: Clarity or Confusion?

A closer look at Ofsted’s updated toolkit reveals unanswered questions about fairness, reliability and the real impact on schools and staff.

wp.me

1 1

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 21d

An important point that demonstrates the often unhelpful distinction between pedagogy, curriculum and assessment!

Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo.bsky.social · 21d

The reason why assessment matters is that it forces you to think about what the curriculum really means.

As Dylan Wiliam says, assessment operationalises curriculum.

substack.nomoremarking.com/p/lessons-fr...

1

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 21d

Great article, and after hearing her speak in the Spring leading the charge on creating a more useful understanding of inclusion assessment indicators!

schoolsweek.co.uk/inclusion-is...

How to start down the road to 'exemplary' inclusion data

Achieve, belong and thrive are no longer soft concepts. Inspectors will soon expect to see hard data

schoolsweek.co.uk

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 21d

Too expensive? Perhaps. Less complex & opaque not to mention variable than current funding/ provision variations? Almost certainly! Might also improve staff wellbeing, satisfaction and ultimately retention? Feeling like it was actually possible to do a good job?

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 21d

On the preventative side I always find it strange nobody mentions smaller class sizes. The mechanism of staff having more time and a greater individual understanding of need seems obvious and would improve the experience for all…surely?

1

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · 21d

committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Lots to digest here but it’s clear that underfunding and a paucity in the professional SEND ecosystem like EPs, OTs etc is exacerbating our current problems.

committees.parliament.uk

1

Reposted

Alex Quigley @alexjquigley.bsky.social · Jul 28

"Outsourcing the entire writing process to LLMs may deprive us of the opportunity to reflect on our field and engage in the creative, essential task of shaping research findings into a compelling narrative..."

'Writing is thinking'

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

1 4 14

bobbymurray232.bsky.social @bobbymurray232.bsky.social · Jul 30

Couldn’t say it any better! If it’s supposedly worth doing on this timescale at least TRY to do it right!

Mark Enser @ensermark.bsky.social · Jul 30

6-days of online training is ridiculous for all kinds of reasons. Mainly, it'll just wash over people and have no impact. If training matters, do it right.

Schools Week @schoolsweek.bsky.social · Jul 30

Inspectors have criticised Ofsted’s demand they complete more than six days of training before new report card inspections begin in November, warning it is symptomatic of 'rushed' reforms

schoolsweek.co.uk/inspectors-c...

1 2

Reposted

Stuart Wilks-Heeg @stuartwilksheeg.bsky.social · Jul 4

The Chief Inspector of Schools thinks it's a problem that scrapping headline school gradings will stop local house prices shooting up and down in response to Ofsted reports? For real? www.theguardian.com/education/20...

End to school rating system could play havoc with house prices, says Ofsted chief

Martyn Oliver says he knows of property values shooting up by £15,000 after schools were graded as outstanding

www.theguardian.com

2 8 27