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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.
In Praise Of The Unit Overview (Or Why You Should Develop Yours)
When I started teaching we had three kinds of plans (of course it was three - 3-part lessons, 3-way differentiation - we loved a good three): LTPs, MTPs and STPs (or lesson plans). I'm not sure how much that language has survived, but I'm hoping things are moving on, especially in the case of the overlooked but very important MTP. Medium Term Plans came as a result of Medium Term Planning - an extra, long, afterschool session of planning once a half term, usually towards the
Aidan Severs
Dec 14 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
Misguided Reading (6 Questions To Ask When Planning A Reading 'Lesson')
How should we teach reading? What do we even mean by 'reading'? Decoding? Comprehension? Both? Is it more than that? Scarborough's Reading Rope, as shared by the EEF on X (https://x.com/EducEndowFoundn/status/1235657088430493697?s=20) Scarborough's Reading Rope breaks things down a little more and, if nothing else, serves to show that there is quite a lot going on when one picks up a book to read. If the above 8 headings (background knowledge; vocabulary; language structures
Aidan Severs
Mar 19, 20246 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
Your Greatest Gift to the Next Teacher? By Russell Pearson (Dynamic Deputies)
Russell Pearson of the Dynamic Deputies suggests that there are things children should know and be able to do before they move year group
Aidan Severs
Jun 20, 20225 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
The Anne Robinson Curriculum: No Weak Links Allowed
Lekha Sharma recently wrote a short but very provocative blog post about the connectedness of the primary curriculum. It prompted an...
Aidan Severs
Dec 3, 20218 min read
Ditch The Lesson Plans; Try Learning Sequences
This article was first published in edited form in Issue 8 of HWRK Magazine . It's worth a look at that version too as it is presented...
Aidan Severs
Nov 30, 20216 min read
Flexible Lesson Design: A Model for Responsiveness and the Release of Responsibility
Flexible lesson design can often be difficult to grasp - let's face it, 30 children all with their own needs with only one or two members...
Aidan Severs
Nov 30, 20214 min read
PPA: It's Complicated
We are all quite glad when it rolls around again: that morning or afternoon where we really get the chance to take a break from the...
Aidan Severs
Nov 24, 20214 min read
Primary History: Key Questions To Ask About People, Events or Time Periods
Recently I posted a whole set of questions to ask when learning about a place in geography. Here are the primary history versions. They...
Aidan Severs
Nov 8, 20214 min read
Primary Geography: Key Questions To Ask When Learning About A Place
When reviewing and revising our curriculum to ensure better humanities coverage I began to think about how there were potentially missed...
Aidan Severs
Oct 23, 20218 min read
How To Write Good Comprehension Questions
Teachers often write comprehension questions for children, but it can be quite a difficult thing to do. Find out how to do it here...
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Oct 12, 20216 min read
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