CPD Picks of The Week

How can we pop the differentiation bubble?

Differentiation has been a popular topic on the blog this week, and tips for form tutors. Catch up on that as well as the latest news, plan some CPD speed-dating and get some tips for dealing with parents.

Top 5 blogs

1. *NEW* We Need To Pop The Differentiation Bubble – Can teachers actually meet the needs of all their students?
2. The 5 Minute Lesson Plan – An old favourite and planning must-have
3. *NEW* Work Less Than Your Students – Do you need a marking and feedback time-saving toolkit?
4. 10 Great Form Tutor Tips – What makes a great form tutor?
5. *NEW* Are You Trauma Informed? – Does your school have a trauma informed behaviour policy?

Resource of the week

Do you want to try something a bit different with your CPD sessions? What better way to get staff together by using a speed-dating format where teachers can rapidly exchange dialogue, moving from one space to another; to share teaching and learning ideas!

Read the instructions then download the resource and give it a go in the next CPD session you to run.

CPD Spotlight: Dealing with parents

Not only do you have to manage class loads of children as a teacher, but you also have to manage their parents who have more access to their children’s teachers than ever before. So, here are our tips for how to manage those difficult relationships:

1. Building Good Relationships With Parents
2. Letters From Parents
3. 4 Tips To Build Positive Relationships With Parents
4. Dealing With Angry Parents
5. Communicating With Parents

From elsewhere

• “More than half of the gaps in achievement at age 11 are due to inequality that was already present at age five.” Read the Sutton Trust Early Years fact sheet.
• Where do teachers go when they leave the profession and how do their circumstances change after leaving? Read the latest from the National Foundation for Educational Research (nfer)  Teacher retention and turnover research – Research update 3: Is the Grass Greener Beyond Teaching?
• PSHE education supports academic success and attendance, says major evidence review completed for the PSHE Association. Read the Pro Bono Economics report here.
• 1 in 8 of the nation’s most disadvantaged children say they don’t have a book of their own at home according to research by the National Literacy Trust in their report Book ownership and reading outcomes.
• Does reading aloud help improve memory? Read what Noah Forrin and Colin MacLeod from the University of Waterloo in Canada have to say in their research This time it’s personal: the memory benefit of hearing oneself.
• Professor of Education at The Open University, Teresa Cremin reports that nearly 25% of teachers can’t recall any children’s poets or illustrators.

The Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers (TaRs) research project found that teachers need a wide and up to date knowledge of children’s literature and other texts.