The six principles are getting on for a decade old. If they were a child they would have SATs tests on the horizon and we would be starting to think about the right secondary school. For the uninitiated they are: Challenge Explanation Modelling Practice Questioning Feedback The principles were the brain child of my wonderful colleagues Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby and were (and still are) a synthesis of what research evidence suggests effective teaching looks like. They were shared with the world outside of Durrington High School in 2015 through the book Making Every Lesson Count. You can r ..read more

Blog of the Week Harry Fletcher-Wood – The magic of models in teacher professional development I’ve come to accept I’m hugely biased in my #BOTW choice; they tend to be based on what I’m thinking about. No different this week with Harry’s blog explaining the Ambition Institute paper. Class Teaching Shaun Allison – The Importance of Routines The boss is back! Good to have Shaun back in the blog writing fold as he explains some of the core routines we are currently working on at Durrington. Research School Blog Fahim Rahman – Equations in Context Research School Associate Fah ..read more

Blog of the Week Thahmina Begum – The Golem Effect: combatting low expectations Many of the #BOTW choices are made around those that resonate most with work we are doing at Durrington. This latest excellent contribution from Thahmina does just that. Class Teaching Shaun Allison – The Importance of Routines The boss is back! Good to have Shaun back in the blog writing fold as he explains some of the core routines we are currently working on at Durrington. Research School Blog Fahim Rahman – Equations in Context Research School Associate Fahim Rahman explains how he has altered hi ..read more

Blog of the Week Alex Quigley – 10 Tips For Using Revision Guides Some really useful tips for us all to be sharing with staff, students and parents alike as we build to another exam season. Class Teaching Shaun Allison – The Importance of Routines The boss is back! Good to have Shaun back in the blog writing fold as he explains some of the core routines we are currently working on at Durrington. Research School Blog Tara McVey – On Explanation Durrington ELE Tara McVey has a look at all things explanation giving some great and usable tips in this blog. Other Useful Links I ..read more

This is my first blog since becoming a co-headteacher in September.  What a six months it’s been!  It’s an absolute privilege to lead the brilliant staff and students at Durrington.  Being able to do so with co-headteacher Chris Woodcock is fantastic.  Co-headship is a great model for school leadership and I think it’s a model that will become more common in the future.  That’s a topic for a future blog though.  For now I want to rewind about thirty years, to when I was an NQT. My mentor at the time was a great science teacher called Dave Holmes.  Dave was m ..read more

Blog of the Week Sarah Cottingham – Reconstructing memory A really smart blog on how we reconstruct our memories based on context, and how this might shape our decisions in the classroom. Class Teaching Kate Blight – Teachers of SEND – Bright Spots Durrington SENCO Kate Blight shares some bright spots from Durrington teachers exemplifying how we are all teachers of SEND. Research School Blog Tara McVey – On Explanation Durrington ELE Tara McVey has a look at all things explanation giving some great and usable tips in this blog. Other Useful Links Thahmina Begum‘s late ..read more

Blog of the Week Helen Thornycroft – The teacher as learner: how narrating our challenges can push forward students’ metacognition If you’re going to combine history teaching and metacognition in one post, you’ve got a decent chance of it ending up as #BOTW. Class Teaching Kate Blight – Teachers of SEND – Bright Spots Durrington SENCO Kate Blight shares some bright spots from Durrington teachers exemplifying how we are all teachers of SEND. Research School Blog Tara McVey – On Explanation Durrington ELE Tara McVey has a look at all things explanation giving some great and usable tips in t ..read more

Blog of the Week Tom Needham – Explicit Instruction Stage 1: Retrieval Practice. 10 Minute writes The first in a series of what should be really useful blogs for those of us who us an explicit instruction method to teach. Class Teaching Chris Runeckles – Providing Prompts and Cues In attempting to bring about behaviour change in questioning habits, what role do prompts and cues for teachers play? Research School Blog Ben Crockett – Making a Difference with Effective Tutoring: A summary Assistant Director of Durrington Research takes a look at the recently pub ..read more

Blog of the Week David Didau – When retrieval practice goes wrong (and how to get it right) Fair to say retrieval practice is a crowded area in terms of thinking and writing. This is great though, and explains how our best efforts could be wasted unless we look carefully at our implementation. Class Teaching Chris Runeckles – Providing Prompts and Cues In attempting to bring about behaviour change in questioning habits, what role do prompts and cues for teachers play? Research School Blog Ben Crockett – Making a Difference with Effective Tutoring: A summary Assist ..read more

Just a quick one this one. Time is as usual slipping away, but I think I can just squeeze in a blog about something that is on my mind today. I’ve been delivering a lot of training recently both through my role as Director of Durrington Research School and with our curriculum leaders here at Durrington High School around the EEF’s Effective Professional Development guidance report. This has meant lots of time thinking about and discussing the 14 mechanisms for professional development it contains. The one that is occupying my grey matter this afternoon is number 11: providing prompts and cues ..read more