Future Proofing Your School: Intelligence Report 1 – Cultural Log Jams to Sustainable Learning Improvement
This forms part one of a series of pieces exploring cultural log-jams and structural defects preventing sustainable improvements in learning and learning outcomes in schools. In my experience, there have … Continue reading
Neuroscience, Behaviour and Motivation
Our friends at Edutopia, and Judy Willis in particular, have put together this short paper on using neuroscientific principles to ensure that students are engaged and motivated across the span … Continue reading
What’s in a Name? Classifying of the ‘others’ over time: Handicapped, Disabled and Neurodiverse
I grew up with an elder brother who had, what at the time were described as a mental handicap. This was caused by oxygen starvation at a critical point in … Continue reading
Learning Processes: Respond, Reflect, Review
A major strand in the development of learning will be seismic changes in the purposes and processes of assessment. This process is already underway. There is increasing disillusion with summative … Continue reading
Corporal Punishment: A Riposte
Having grown up in the education system when corporal punishment was widespread, I know the negative messages and damage it could do. Being something of a ‘goody two shoes’ in … Continue reading
What’s Lost When We Rush Kids Through Childhood
A reductionist approach in many western nations has meant an undue emphasis on developing reading, writing and arithmetic as the foundations of success in learning. This in turn has led … Continue reading
The Pyramid of Learning – Sensory Integration
When people, particularly politicians, speak of learning related to schools, they adopt a very narrow definition of learning. Essentially they talking about curriculum, and that is effectively about the content … Continue reading
Social Exhaustion… Be Mindful
Symptoms and solutions to the phenomena of social exhaustion and how to deal with them. Some useful ideas for the new term.
Thought For The Day: The Emotional Cup
Another thank you to Daniel Sobel for bringing this infographic to my attention. Build a little bit of mindfulness into your day, as a parent of a teacher, whilst you … Continue reading
Mind your Ps, Qs and Apostrophes!
A cartoon for the teachers who do it professionally, and one for the grammar pedants who take a keen amateur interest in the aberrant apostrophe. I’m surrounded by professional grammar … Continue reading
The Single Most Important Lesson You’ll Teach…
Having had a Labrador for the last three years, I’ve got into some deep philosophical conversations about life when walking with fellow dog owners. A number of my dog walking … Continue reading
SHS ConnectEd Conference, March 2020
I am delighted to have been approached to speak at the Surbiton High School ConnectEd Conference in March 2020. This is one of a number of interesting invitations I’ve received … Continue reading
Child Development Stages – Charlotte Davies | Fit-2-Learn
Thank you to Charlotte Davies, a Director of Fit-2-Learn, who shared this useful infographic on child development. It outlines and integrates the various stages children need to go through in their … Continue reading
Future Proof Your School by David Hughes
For those who have asked… Future Proof Your School is available to order at all good bookshops, it is available online at the usual outlets including Amazon and Amazon Marketplace. … Continue reading
Another academic year dawns!
Whether you are in a forward looking, innovative and supportive school, or struggling against the odds, never doubt that you are making a difference in young lives…
Helping to Develop Emotional Intelligence: ‘I Feel’ – Emotional Word Wheel
The ‘I Feel’ – Emotional Word Wheel above gives a graphical representation of the range of moods that may be exhibited by a child and each element of the wheel give … Continue reading
15 tips to develop good mental health | BelievePerform
Thankfully, these work equally well with staff and students! Purchase a hi-res version of this content here: 15 tips to develop good mental health | BelievePerform
Neurodiversity: Exploring Some Realities
I can thoroughly commend the work of Professor Amanda Kirby in developing the term ‘neurodiversity’ to characterise the wide range of conditions previously held under the ‘autism spectrum disorders’. It … Continue reading
Developing a Holistic Approach to Learners
I’ve recently become aware of the work of Professor Amanda Kirby in the field of recognising different abilities in a learning setting. Her work is refreshing and accessible in an … Continue reading
The Anxiety Blob – Destroyer of Confidence and Effectiveness
We’ve all been there… time is against us and we have too much to do and too little time to do it. We need to focus, address and tick off … Continue reading
Depression and Anxiety – Why We Need a More Positive Environment
I consider myself blessed to have grown up in the 1960s when there was an underlying and fundamental belief that the world could be changed for the better. Between purposeful … Continue reading
SLANT Listening
The problem with listening is that too many people listen, simply with the intention of finding the gap with which to interject their own opinions. Deep listening, when you are … Continue reading
The Value of the Comic Book Format in Learning
I recently waxed lyrical about a piece of software I’ve worked with over the last decade called Comic Life. It is the simplest and most powerful piece of software I’ve … Continue reading
England leads the world in one shameful educational statistic… cyber-bullying!
Head teachers in England are more likely to face problems with pupils bullying online and misusing social media than in any other developed country, an international study says. Teachers also … Continue reading
The Emotional Labor of Teaching and the Need for Systemic Change | Edutopia
As term ends on another academic year, it is inevitable that the first weeks of the holiday, the time to decompress, will bring some reflection on the events, the ups … Continue reading
Dyslexia: A Positive Insight
It is so refreshing to see a positive take on issues related to dyslexia. For all the difficulties in handling social situations, and managing number and literacy, there are insights … Continue reading
