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Along with being a primary school teacher and leader, blogging is where this all started for Aidan. If it wasn't for his passion for writing and sharing his learning and experiences, he wouldn't be working as an education consultant with schools across the country today. Shared best practice should be available to all and here on the Aidan Severs Consulting blog you can get ideas for making a difference in your own school. The blog is also a great place to learn exactly the kind of work that Aidan can partner with your school on.
Improving Outcomes By Digging Down Deep into the Data
Improving Outcomes: A Clear Priority Matthew and Leona had one clear priority on their Self Evaluation Form: to improve their combined score at the end of KS2. They ran an excellent school, and had done for years. They prioritised children above all - raising that percentage of children achieving expected standard across writing, maths and reading certainly wasn't just about the accountability measures. They cared about ensuring those children got the best possible outcomes.
Aidan Severs
Mar 125 min read
What Primary Schools Need To Know From The Curriculum And Assessment Review (Updated Based On Government's Response)
The only Curriculum and Assessment Review headline that really matters is this:
It's c200 pages of suggestions FOR THE GOVERNMENT, not for you, your school, your trust or your educational organisation.
However, most of us want to remain abreast and poised, ready to make changes when the time comes. So, what is there to know?
Aidan Severs
Nov 5, 202514 min read
Replacing Onerous Primary Assessment with Better Monitoring and Evaluation (Part 2)
In the first blog post in this series , I posed the following question: "What can subject leaders and school leaders do to replace onerous primary assessment practices with better monitoring and evaluation?" I answered the question too: " To facilitate this, I would recommend an agreed reporting format which would ensure that similar information was being collected and reported across all subjects." And then I went on to say: " I've called this part 1 as I'm beginning to thin
Aidan Severs
Jun 18, 20252 min read
Replacing Onerous Primary Assessment with Better Monitoring and Evaluation (Part 1)
If you read my recent post on assessing foundation subjects in primary and were left wondering about the lack of evidence and data that...
Aidan Severs
May 19, 20254 min read
How To Assess Foundation Subjects In Primary (Without Breaking Teachers)
After working with a couple of deputies from two different schools in a trust over the course of two days, one of them asked me this: What you would do if you were starting from scratch with the curriculum and assessment? We had spent the two days very productively, talking around this issue as a basis of our discussions and decision-making about assessing pupils working at greater depth (see this blog post if you're interested in this). Both schools had different curricula a
Aidan Severs
Mar 3, 20253 min read
Assessment: Why Should I Identify Children Working At Greater Depth In Foundation Subjects?
I recently wrote about how we might assess and identify children who are working at greater depth. Upon sharing the blog post , someone questioned: " Why would I want to identify greater depth children in foundation subjects?" Which is most definitely a fair question. We should query anything we do in schools, afterall time and all other resources are precious. I would never recommend that anyone do anything in a school without really understanding why they were doing it. Th
Aidan Severs
Oct 29, 20244 min read
Assessment: How Can I Identify Greater Depth Children In Foundation Subjects?
Uncover the complexities of identifying greater depth children with an insightful assessment that goes beyond traditional methods.
Aidan Severs
Oct 15, 20245 min read
Formal Assessments: Are You Trying To Make Them Do Too Much?
If you really interrogate what you are trying to get out of your formal assessments, I wonder what you'd find. The true purpose of a...
Aidan Severs
Oct 16, 20232 min read
S1 E7 - Subject Leaders - Monitoring, Assessing Learning and Assessment in Art with Chris Mann
In this, the 7th episode of The Subject Leaders Podcast, Chris Mann, an English and Art primary subject leader, answers the following questions: How can subject leaders ensure that the monitoring activities they carry out are worthwhile? What is the purpose of assessment and how should learning be assessed? Find this podcast episode on your preferred podcast service: https://linktr.ee/subjectleaderspodcast Below you can find the transcript for this episode of The Subject Lead
Aidan Severs
May 30, 202322 min read
S1 E3: Promoting your Subject and Monitoring and Evaluating Maths with Kieran Mackle
The third episode of The Subject Leaders Podcast features podcaster and author Kieran Mackle. He's well-known for his Thinking Deeply About Primary Education (#TDaPE) podcast and his book Thinking Deeply About Primary Mathematics. In this episode Kieran looks back on his time as maths subject leader across three school and shares his knowledge about promoting and encouraging enthusiasm for the subject you lead before sharing his thoughts about assessment in primary maths. Fin
Aidan Severs
May 4, 202322 min read
Thoughtful Questioning: Why Cold Call Is Not Enough
Cold Calling is the name given to the practice of asking a question and then selecting a child to answer. The theory is that it causes...
Aidan Severs
Dec 16, 20217 min read
Forensic Assessment
As teachers we are all too familiar with the concept of assessment and its importance. We know that without assessment there is no...
Aidan Severs
Dec 15, 20216 min read
What Should Adults Be Doing When Children Are Working?
Years ago I was told that I should stop buzzing around the room so much and that I should settle down and spend more time with groups –...
Aidan Severs
Dec 13, 202111 min read
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