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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.
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Rethinking Differentiation: The Mixing Desk Model for Responsive, Inclusive Teaching
The Challenge of Meeting Every Child’s Needs You know that the children in your class(es) have needs which are many and varied. You want to meet those needs. But meeting all the different needs is difficult, time-consuming and draining. But it's got to be done. Why ‘What Works for Pupils with SEND Works for All’ Isn’t the Whole Story You've heard that "what works for pupils with SEND works for all pupils" but can't shake that nagging feeling that it's not that simple. Becaus
Aidan Severs
Nov 45 min read
The Challenge of Challenge: Defining What It Means in Your School
I recently started off a teacher training session with the following questions: What do we mean by challenge? Who should we be challenging? How often should we challenge them? I'd asked roughly the same questions of senior leaders earlier in the day and it led to some interesting discussions. We realised that there was a chance that when talking about challenge we could be talking at cross-purposes. When I asked the leaders the questions, I was trying to clarify the purpose o
Aidan Severs
Oct 203 min read
KS2 Continuous Provision: Gradual Release of Responsibility
No two weeks are quite the same when you're implementing continuous provision in key stage 2... Crucially there is a gradual release of responsbility which provides the necessary support for pupils to move towards independence.
Aidan Severs
Jul 163 min read
KS2 Continuous Provision: Ensuring Curriculum Coverage
One of the key challenges when designing and delivering continuous provision to any age group, but particularly in KS2, is ensuring that there is curriculum coverage. By delivering masterclasses, setting apprentice tasks, creating routines, providing scaffolds and carrying out check-ins and conferencing, continuous provision and curriculum coverage can be balanced well in KS2.
Aidan Severs
Jul 25 min read
Continuous Provision in KS2: FAQs
This blog explores how KS2 continuous provision - based on EYFS principles - can foster independence, creativity, and deep learning. It addresses common questions on adapting the approach to meet curriculum demands, setting up purposeful provision areas, ensuring progression and challenge, integrating effective assessment, and managing behaviour. Grounded in careful planning and adult guidance, it offers practical steps for implementation.
Aidan Severs
Jun 246 min read
Curriculum: The Sticky Problem of Sticky Knowledge
Icky name aside, the idea of identifiying sticky knowledge on behalf of pupils is a tricky one. The Origins of Sticky Knowledge I think...
Aidan Severs
May 266 min read
Task Setting: Adopt, Adapt or Create?
When it comes to planning and resourcing lessons you have three broad options: Adopt Adapt Create I'd have loved to have shoehorned...
Aidan Severs
Jan 283 min read
From SEND To Greater Depth: Taking Everyone On The Journey (And Getting Them All To The Destination)
Imagine your next unit of work as a journey into a city centre. In this post I'll use a journey into the centre of London because it was when working with a school there that I started to use this analogy. You want all your pupils to experience a visit to Buckingham Palace, so you plan a route on the tube. You plan the best route - its economical, its efficient, and, after checking the tube map for stops with wheelchair access, its accessible to all pupils. But you know there
Aidan Severs
Dec 10, 20245 min read
Reading Comprehension: Teaching a Metacognitive Approach to Inference-Making
Whilst searching for something else on my old blog I came across an old blog post by Clare Sealy , who is now the Head of Education...
Aidan Severs
Nov 26, 202410 min read
Teaching Reading: Boosting Background Knowledge To Aid Inference-Making
A few years ago, the author Tom Palmer sent me a copy of his latest book Wings: Typhoon. It's a great read aimed at 8 to 10 year olds and...
Aidan Severs
Nov 22, 20247 min read
Want Children To Read For Pleasure? Become a Reading Teacher (or Parent)
Uncover the secrets to sparking a love for reading in children. Become a reading teacher or parent.
Aidan Severs
Nov 19, 20248 min read
Case Study: Revolutionising Curriculum Delivery in KS2
Explore how a UK primary school transformed its KS2 curriculum delivery, emphasizing open-ended challenges, same-day interventions, and more
Aidan Severs
Nov 12, 20246 min read
Case Study: Continuous Provision and EYFS-Inspired Practice in KS2
Bringing an early years approach into KS1 isn’t unheard of – there are plenty of Year 1 classrooms where continuous provision has been...
Aidan Severs
Oct 8, 20246 min read
Featured Article: 8 Classroom Routines for Teachers to Nail Before Half-Term
I wrote this quite a while ago (back when I tweeted as @thatboycanteach and when I was beginning my deputy headship at an 'RI' school)...
Aidan Severs
Sep 2, 20241 min read
Why Should Teachers Complete Tasks Before Pupils Do?
One of the things I advocate for when training teachers on planning is that teachers should have a go at the work they are going to be...
Aidan Severs
Jul 16, 20243 min read
Can Codifying Teaching Really Improve Teachers?
Can we really codify teaching, simplifying it into a set of easy-to-follow steps? Is it possible to see a video, a diagram or read about...
Aidan Severs
Jun 4, 20244 min read
Backwards Planning: What I Got Wrong
Here's the resource that this blog post refers to - you can download it for free below: In the old iteration of the above planning framework, I had the following prompts in the very last step (step 5): Who are the children who will need extra learning steps prior to the ones outlined above? Who are the children who will need extra learning steps following the ones outlined above (NSFD)? In all my recent work around providing for pupils with SEND I have realised how mistaken
Aidan Severs
Feb 20, 20242 min read
Featured Article: Interleaving: What Is It And How Can It Improve Memory And Learning In The Maths Classroom?
Here's an article I wrote for Third Space Learning about interleaving. It was fascinating to read the research on this strategy and to...
Aidan Severs
Feb 19, 20241 min read
A SEND-First Approach... To Everything
Imagine a world where children with SEND really were the priority. What would that look like and what would the impact be on all...
Aidan Severs
Feb 6, 20243 min read
SEND Provision Across The Curriculum: Start and End Points
“All pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum . The National Curriculum Inclusion Statement states that teachers should set high expectations for every pupil , whatever their prior attainment. .. In many cases, such planning will mean that pupils with SEN and disabilities will be able to study the full national curriculum. ” - 6.12, The SEND Code of Practice "Schools should know precisely where children and young people with SEN are in their learning a
Aidan Severs
Jan 30, 20246 min read
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