Sam Strickland

Education policies & ideas go round & round in circles. Ideas come & go. Some are great, some are dross. But if we truly want schools to do well then we need more teachers, more funding, competitive pay, behaviour taken seriously & workload to be at least manageable.

Oracy, literacy, di, reading, writing none of this is new/unlocking the secrets of the universe. What’s key is being armed with a toolkit of approaches, grounded in rich subject knowledge & subject specific strategies, that allow us to engage the children we teach in learning

The art of teaching comes from experience & expertise in knowing how to engage the children in front of you, what strategies to use, when and why. Our subject knowledge is an engager, as are the routines & systems underpinning that. It’s all about balance.

A lot is being said about oracy (no pun intended). It’s not as simple as just get kids to speak more. It requires careful planning & for that it needs strong subject knowledge. There are some best bet approaches but we need to be careful of being generic. Subject fidelity is key.

The new DfE report on belonging is excellent - gov.uk/government/publicatio… If you want to delve further into how to create a culture of behaving and belonging then my new book my be just the ticket… amzn.eu/d/0dRysgHb

If you want a read this half term that may help support your thinking about behaving and belonging then my new book my be just the ticket… amzn.eu/d/0difn09L

Creating a culture of behaving & belonging doesn’t mean indulging poor behaviour. Quite the reverse as poor behaviour can really undermine belonging for so many. Want to know more? Check this out…. amzn.eu/d/0iOLywGB

1: If teaching was so easy, well paid & full of free time then there wouldn’t be such a shortage of teachers 2: Critics - come join us 3: This proposal really needs properly thinking through, requires more teachers & will require seriously increasing school budgets

My new book Behaving and Belonging has a clear focus on the importance of routines, consistency and certainty to support children to behave and belong. Get your copy here amzn.eu/d/028VEmeh

My new book Behaving and Belonging has a section that focuses on the classroom environment and really supporting teachers with this. Get you copy here amzn.eu/d/0aKORz3P

Behaviour is the key to almost every element of school improvement. The number of people who don’t get this staggers me.

If we don’t get behaviour right in schools then everything else we seek to do it essentially building on sand. I get under the skin of this in my new book Behaving and Belonging. Get your copy here amzn.eu/d/0aRmk98P Don’t build on sand!