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The Interview

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Findingthe

Hook

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4 Round Peg, Square HolePaul Stockley discusses his own education in his piece about catering school and classes for pupils who don’t fit the mould.

ContributorsPaul Stockley @bradwaystockleyMartin Burrett @ICTmagicRichard Coles @RichardColes10Claire Bracher @cjabracherGareth Evans @earthdog_58Charlie Archbold @CharlieArchboldSam McKavanagh @MrMcKavanaghRELeon Brown @_LeonBrownLiam Murphy @ThisIsLiamMJonathan Coward @resilient_kidsMatthew Buckley @mrmattbuckleySam Oldale @sam_oldaleJohn Coleman @jcoleman85Dara Woods @darawoods

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From the EditorMeteoric rise... rapid promotion... fast tracked into

leadership - These are the usual measures of a successful career in the teaching profession.

It seems that educators wishing to progress need to enter some form of management and/or leadership role. The skill set for teaching and management are not the same and there is an assumption that one leads naturally to the other. There are few opportunities for teachers to remain a classroom teacher and be recognised in status and on the pay-scale for develop in that role.

In this issue of UKEd Magazine we are looking at teacher career development in all its forms, from first entering the profession as a new teacher to moving into senior positions.

We hope that the articles in this magazine will help guide you wherever your career leads.

- Editor

6 A Decade of TwitterMartin Burrett examines how Twitter has changed over the ten years since it was founded and how it continues to change education and CPD.

8 PE Chic to Maths GeekRichard Coles shares his journey across the departmental corridor into a different subject area and argues that it can be a revelation.

16 At the InterviewHeadteacher Stephen Tierney shares his experience job interviews from both sides of the table and gives advice for candidates at all levels.

20 Book Shelf Take Control of the Noisy Class by Rob Plevin

Issue 27: March 2016

10 Finding the HookClaire Bracher discusses how to engage students and make them a part of their own learning process.

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14 The Snakes and Ladders of a Teaching CareerThis month’s UKEdChat feature shares seven tips for ensuring that your careers goes up more ladders than down snakes.

13 ICTmagic EdTech Resources

21 Calculation RacesLiam Murphy works with mental maths and proves the benefits and leaving the paper and ‘working-out’ behind.

18 Rise to the Numeracy ChallengeLeon Brown challenges teachers and pupils to really understand multiplication, rather than simply remembering by rote.

24 Resource: Creative Story Prompt Cards

By Paul Stockley

Round Peg Square

HoleThen compare it with my report one year later:

‘He deserves success through a hard graft this academic year’.

What happened there? From being in the bottom set in every subject, disliking school and failing in all my exams as a 14 year old, I somehow became incredibly hard working in the following year. In my case it was my English teacher who finally helped me to turn the corner. He didn’t judge me, despite my bad reputation for behaviour in class, and I tried like I never had before for him. I quickly experienced success in that subject and soon I realised that I had some ability in subjects like English after all; it was a complete revelation and it came just in time.

I have always been interested in what motivates people and why some children and young people are just ‘switched off’ at school or why they suddenly switch on like I did. I think that part of the underlying root of motivation lies in our perception of ourselves, our perceived chance of success and the feedback we get from our actions. Through much of my school career, misbehaving, annoying my teachers and doodling in my book seemed more rewarding to me than risking having a go and then failing. By not trying I was safe because the often, understandably negative feedback I received from teachers, just reinforced what I already ‘knew’ about myself.

There is a clear and well evidenced link between self-esteem and behaviour but I don’t think that our school system has enough flexibility to cope with those who either take a long time to engage with school or for whom school is anathema. Although I did finally see the point of school, and managed to succeed in the end, I think that there needs to be more options for pupils who don’t fit the mould and who may

Recently I’ve been asking myself this question: are schools doing enough to provide a good education for the full range of children that they serve, particularly those who find school difficult? As part of a group looking at trying to lower the number of pupils being excluded from Sheffield schools, I have been considering how inclusive our schools really are, and how the expectations placed on schools by politicians and society may be making it more difficult for schools to succeed with more challenging pupils.

There is an assumption that all children will go to school until they are at least 16 and the hope is that they will come out at the end of the education system as useful members of society. However, some children find the academic nature of schooling incredibly difficult to handle; not because they have a particular learning disability, but because of their attitude to learning and to school; their often negative self-perception. Some children give up on learning at an early age and either go through the motions of learning to keep out of trouble, or rebel against authority. Often they end up getting temporarily or permanently excluded from the school system.

There are many examples of people who did badly at school and who were like square pegs trying to fit into round holes while they were there, failing to see the point or struggling to remain engaged. I was one of those people and did poorly in most subjects all through primary school and, in secondary school, until I was in Year 10. For example take this 1977 school report for me in History when I was a 14 year old.

‘His written work has been thin and he came bottom in the exams with 32%. His project was a poor affair too. Bodes badly for next year. He is inclined to be lazy; capable but idle and a disruptive influence in class’

04 UKED Magazine

Paul Stockley is a Primary Headteacher at Bradway Primary School in Sheffield where he is also Chair if the Primary Leaders Partnership. Find Paul on Twitter at @bradwaystockley and read his blog at bradwaystockley.wordpress.com

have more success following a different path. Not all children have a natural ability or interest in Maths and English for example, and, for many children and young people, their skills may lie in other areas such as Art or Geography, French or Sport. Society needs adults with a range of skills and abilities and it often seems that these other skills are less valued, even when they are very much valued in the job market. The recent removal of the speaking and listening element from GCSE English for example made little sense to me when business leaders are looking for school leavers who can communicate effectively and are lamenting the poor quality of candidates. Because primary schools are measured so narrowly on the study of English and Maths and have to focus much of their time on teaching them, the risk is that children who experience nothing but failure in these subjects at a young age will be put off learning as a whole and will consider themselves as unintelligent as I did. Of course it is much more difficult to get through life and almost impossible to get a job if you don’t have the necessary basic skills, but I don’t think that you always need GSCE Maths or English to be a successful adult. In 2013 I was disturbed to hear a government minister declare that children who did not pass their GSCE Maths would be forced to study the subject in school for longer, retaking the exam until they passed. For some pupils this would be just what they needed, but for others it would be demoralising and counterproductive. Instead some children could benefit by transferring earlier on to a different, more practical vocational learning path with the relevant vocational knowledge and skills being taught. University Image credits: pixabay.com/en/color-background-distortion-square-318574

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Technical Colleges (UTC’s) for example (and there is one in Sheffield) offer young people from the age of 14 ‘a dynamic, career-focused and supportive learning environment working in partnership with a wide range of local employers’. Successive governments have been determined that all young people should go to university and college when, for many young people, an apprenticeship or work based route to employment, starting at an earlier age, would actually be more suitable. In Germany, apprenticeships are valued and respected at least as much as University degrees and I hope that different routes to the workplace will be developed in the UK so that all young people will be able to achieve success in our education system.

I think that we need square pegs as well as round ones for a successful society; look at ‘failures’ like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates who dropped out of higher education. Indeed, Einstein struggled at school, but then went on to be highly successful and Charles Darwin was chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin himself once wrote that his father and teachers considered him rather below the common standard of intellect. Schools need to be able to bring out the best in all our children, irrespective of whether they are round pegs or square.

Growing up can be a difficult and traumatic experience. It is not uncommon for ten year olds to try to define themselves compared to other, act out and begin to experiment with new things.

It was ten years ago this month that Twitter was founded and it was launched to the public in July 2006. It has changed in both looks and function in many ways during the past decade with many of the biggest changes happening with the past few years. Not everyone has welcomed all of the changes, but like a ten year old child, Twitter is maturing, trying out new things and trying to adapt and find its place in the world.

For the uninitiated, Twitter has Five main features.

• Each post can only be a maximum of 140 characters (for now at least) and Twitter supports many languages, emoji images, images, videos and links within a post.

• You can follow other users so their posts appear in your timeline and other users can follow you.

• You can refer to or mention another Twitter user by adding their username preceded by an @ symbol to your post to talk to them... or about them.

• Users can ‘label’ their posts with hashtags so other users can easily find tweets about the same topic. A hashtag can be any combination of letters and numbers preceded to by a # symbol.

• Users can send private direct messages to other users for private conversations.

Recently, Twitter has introduced a wave of new features and tweaks. Twitter introduced the ability to direct message a group of people a year ago, making planning and private discussions much more easily. Over the last few months Twitter has extended its video capabilities, allowing short videos to be recorded and uploaded across its various platforms and apps. The ability to post polls was introduced which give users the capacity to gather opinions quickly. But probably the most notable and unnoticed change has been the absence of the fail whale in recent times, the equally beloved and berated graphic which was displayed during times when Twitter failed or was over capacity.

06 UKED Magazine

Reflections onA decade of

Twitter

But what is the point of Twitter for educators and how has this evolved over the past decade? The value of any social network has always been the web of connections teachers can make. Naturally, the sheer number of educators who have started to seek their own learning opportunities on Twitter has exploded over the years, from being a niche and (wonderfully) geeky pursuit to thousands of educators conversing to improve their classroom practice everyday. Yet, guesstimates of the number of educators who actually use Twitter for CPD is often suggested to be only a few percentage points of the hundreds of thousands of educators in schools across the UK.

Because of the large number of edu tweeps or tweachers now using Twitter, you have much more choice for building your tailored CPD network. This doesn’t mean that you should follow two thousand people in your first week as you will quickly find that not all tweets are created equal. Be discerning about the people and organisations you follow with your professional account to keep your timeline uncluttered and to get the best information and ideas for your classroom. Just like your school (hopefully) invests some of its budget into your professional development, you will need to invest time into building the prefect bespoke personal learning network for you.

Tribalism exists both in the online and offline world and it seems to have increased over the years in the educational community too. Before social media, teachers had a small select group of colleagues to swap and develop ideas with in their own school - and many still do. Twitter gives the scope to look beyond a local group, yet it is very easy to interact with only a small group of like minded people online too. Teachers of different subjects and phrases have so much to offer each other. Make sure you follow some people who (politely) disagree with your view of teaching and education who will make you think and challenge your world view. To get you started, browse the nominations for the best educators to follow on Twitter as voted for by the UKEdChat community last year at bit.ly/uked16mar01.

ByMartin Burrett

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Twitter (and the #UKEdChat hashtag) acts as a central place where teachers can share the best of what they do and the resources they make and find for other people to use. It is the launch pad to a wealth of blogs, ideas, images, resources, tools and opportunities gathered by your personally chosen seekers from all over the web.

Twitter is also about the continuous conversation to improve what we do in the class to develop the learning of the pupils whom we teach. As the graphic capabilities of Twitter has grown, our timelines have increasingly filled with rhetorical quotes and meaningless memes. Social media should not be about broadcasting, but engagement. The potential for incremental improvement and refinement of an idea as it moves through a chain of minds during a conversation is a joy and wonder to behold.

To ask questions to experts, subject leaders or teachers who have experience to share is an invaluable resource that was unthinkable before social media appear, and no educator should ignore the encyclopaedic knowledge and skills that are only 140 characters away.

The true wonder of Twitter isn’t the character limit, the short videos or the fail whale. The reason that so many educators have flocked to Twitter is because other teachers have gone there and made it their digital home from home. It is the interconnectivity of minds that is the draw for joining and the reason why we stay. Whatever the next ten years bring, as long as Twitter is the place for educators to be it will have a bright future.

In a tongue-in-cheek thought experiment I have devised a few teaching standards which educators may wish to work towards as a part of their performance management reviews. Share your own ideas using the #TweacherStandards hashtag.

Additional Teaching Standards: The Twitter Strand

A teacher must:

• use hashtags to take part in educational discussions.

• share both failures and successes on their Twitter feed.

• use Likes to curate collections of ideas and resources for your teaching.

• quote the source of material if you have not created it yourself.

• never do a “show my class how far this tweet can go” tweet.

• share videos of your classes learning.

• follow interesting people without any expectation that they will follow back.

The Back Story

As an educator it was never set in stone that I would teach just one subject for my whole career. In reality just one freak injury whilst playing rugby would change my life forever, and it has turned out for the better. In 2009 I was a teacher of Physical Education, second in department, and I was playing rugby for Maidstone RFC. A serious neck injury that left me with three fractures in C5 could have cost me my life. Instead this became the start of something bigger.

I had already thought about teaching another subject as the time of a PE teacher can be limited, and I had always enjoyed teaching lessons within different departments and challenging myself to learn something new. With the worries of my injury and uncertainty of full recovery I had to start to think about my future. This led to a professional conversation with David Day, headteacher of Wrotham School. The opportunity to be a maths teacher with a little PE was suggested and off to interview I went! I was asked to deliver a year 9 maths lesson about algebra and simplifying expressions. This was my first ever experience of teaching maths and what a baptism of fire it was. I can’t say that the lesson was the most conventional I have ever delivered, but I was trying to impress; enter ‘Café Coles’! Children were asked to create a menu and each item they sold had an algebraic expression attached, the pupils then took orders from their menu and aimed to simplify the requests linking into group work.

It was clear that I was very raw, as would most people looking to change subjects, and I was totally honest about this during interview. However, I had displayed creativity and a passion to improve myself and others around me.

Time to Change: from PE Chic to Maths Geek

by Richard Coles

I believe this interview honesty is a key part to moving beyond your subject, or moving into leadership – there is no point pretending to have all the experience, only to impress with my enthusiasm, generic teaching skills, and my own ability to learn. So, I was offered the job and opportunity with one requirement: that I would complete a Masters level course in Mathematical Application and Teaching at the Institute of Education, London.

The First Days

I was very nervous as it got closer to September, but after 5 hours teaching that first day I had to just get on with it. As long as you have a passion for educating young people you can apply your skill and enthusiasm to any subject area. After all, it is all about changing lives.

The first year was extremely difficult and learning a new subject while on a full teaching timetable meant I had to treat this as a second NQT year. I strived to become better, and there were lessons that required improvement at the beginning, but it was moving forward from this that made me who I am today. If you are considering changing subjects then you have to be totally committed to self-improvement and dedicated to giving up your own time to learn and develop. There will be times when you think about giving up, but if you have the desire to keep doing better then this will keep you going. It all paid off for me when the children I taught secured their grade C’s and I received outstanding from Ofsted for a multiplication lesson with bottom set year 11.

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Richard Coles @RichardColes10 is currently Head of Mathematics at Aylesford School Sports College. Previously he was voluntary Assistant head of house in an outstanding rural secondary in Kent teaching Mathematics and Physical Education. He started his NQT year becoming Second in Physical Education after 6 months (2008).

Management

Next step: middle leadership. Now in my 5th year teaching, and 3rd year of maths, I was ready to step up to the next challenge. I applied to Aylesford School Sports College as the Second in maths, was offered the job, and set myself to the task of improving progress in KS3 (moving a lower ability cohort from Level 3 to 4). With this achieved, and through leading changes in the curriculum, the management journey took off. By November 2014 I had been promoted to Head of Maths, my biggest challenge yet, with a need for development of the new curriculum and a demotivated group of year 11 pupils sitting on 27% A*-C. Things needed to change rapidly, and by December there was a full plan of carefully selected topics to promote progress in the lead up to summer and the 2015 final result showed significant improvements – and we are only just starting.

In the present I have built a department, improved standards, and developed the new curriculum for a subject which was once alien to me. It has not been plain sailing but my career did change direction for the better. When I look back I know I found it hard but had family and colleagues who believed in me and it goes to show that no matter what you are faced with you can overcome.

If you have the drive and determination to succeed then the subject you teach does not matter: education is about children learning, and if you can inspire and engage then you can teach any subject. You have to be prepared for a bumpy ride, but it is a challenge that can change a whole career and although my choice was unexpected, I am a better person for the changes I have made - and a better teacher.

Top tips for moving outside your comfort zone

• See if you can be assigned to a subject mentor

• Attend subject enhancement courses

• Have a clear vision for what you want to achieve

• Be open/honest about your limitations (and seek help!)

10 UKED Magazine

Finding theHook

byClaire Bracher

We know from the research of Hattie that teacher-student relationships score highly on his effect sizes. It is our responsibility to maximise the potential of each child in our educational care. To do this it is clearly essential to have them ‘on board’. If they don’t buy into their learning, that metaphorical horse we often refer to, gallops up and we can’t get them to drink.

How then, do we get the children to ‘buy in’ to their learning and to own their progress?

I have tried and tested various different strategies in an effort to find the most positive way to ‘hook’ the children into joining me in the quest for finding their potential. With every new opportunity for trial and every new class, I find my belief is reaffirmed: it is not the strategy itself that triggers the children into wanting to own their learning, although they can be a facilitator of the progress. It is the children's 'buying in' that makes the difference and this comes from the culture within the classroom.

I have also been faced sadly with children who lack an enthusiasm for learning. Often, their own lack of confidence fuels a lack of ambition for themselves. I am not talking of the dreams to be an astronaut, but the more basic fundamental belief that they can achieve; that they can find something that they are good at and that they can learn and develop. These children are faced daily with what feels like the chore of learning. For some it is mathematics, others writing or spelling. It doesn't come easy to them and through years of demotivating test results or lack of time given to them to crack their understanding, they become disinterested in their learning. They lose that spark found in an early learner and what is left is a frighteningly apparent sense of apathy. It does not however have to stay this way.

It is short sighted to think that teaching is just about the curriculum. We have the power at our fingertips to make a difference; to develop self-belief and instil a love of learning. Life is an exploration; an adventure that is continually bringing new experiences and through these we grow as individuals. If we opt out of learning at an early age, the opportunities that may come later, pass us by.

With this at the heart of what I do, I strive to ignite the spark for learning. It starts with openly acknowledging the negative mindsets we hold about certain areas of our

learning. We express our fears in the classroom openly. Fear can only have power when it is allowed to fester. Through open discussion and empathy, as a class, we attempt to address what sits behind the fears. Very often it is a lack of confidence, even in children under the age of 10, that drives a fear of failure. Armed with the knowledge of our fears, from the outset of a new school year, we make a promise: not to give in to the fear, not to be beaten when it goes wrong the first time. Our classroom is the place to try. It is good to make mistakes. What we celebrate, is the determination to have another try and to persevere until we can. We use the phrase, 'It's easy... WHEN you know how..' We know this means that we just might not yet know how- but that is why we are together.

As I started out by saying, student teacher relationships are important. Building those good relationships with children in the classroom is closely linked to establishing a values based ethos. It takes humour, and I never hesitate to show the children that mistakes are part of everyday life. When they happen, we use them as a learning tool. We build on what went wrong and work together to put it right. We look back at our learning journey and acknowledge the highs and lows. It's about being positive about the adventure of learning. The children understand that failure is not to be feared but faced; they begin to relish the challenge of learning and with that they start on their first steps towards owning it. Not just because I want them to, but because they want to too. They feel the sense of achievement that comes from succeeding at something that was at first difficult. They begin to ask questions to find out how, and, most importantly they take the steps needed to make improvements.

My feedback and support as the teacher in this process is vital (yet another high effect size from Hattie) You cannot ask anyone to follow your lead if you do not walk the walk, everyday. It takes time, effort and perseverance on both our parts. Very often I have to adapt my teaching strategies to those in the room. I have to accept that it doesn't always work first time around. I encourage the children to let me know if they are not understanding.

ukedchat.com/magazine 11

Claire Bracher @cjabracher is a full time class teacher and an Assistant Headteacher at Huntingtree Primary School, Dudley. She leads whole school English and Upper KS2. Passionate about education, Claire is a big advocate of making education creative and memorable for those she teaches. View her blog at clairebracher.wordpress.com.

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It is a positive action and demonstrates that they are aware of their own thinking. Questions are welcomed. Discussion is key. I am never afraid to stop a lesson and let the learning take it's own course if needed. Without fail the time spent allowing the processing and thinking pays off when I move the learning forward.

I establish systems that the children own. Post-it's on the working wall or in their books with questions on are an everyday occurrence. Guided groups that the children can opt into if they wish to clarify their understanding at certain points in the week. I know through assessment who needs more, but I encourage the children to acknowledge their gaps and choose to spend more quality time with me in smaller groups when necessary. If they feel it helps and it builds their confidence, it's a positive thing.

Whether my feedback is verbal or written, the children have the opportunity on a regular basis to clarify where they are not sure - these learning conversations are vital. We have regular 'marking clinics' where they have the chance to talk to me; to embed their understanding of the next steps needed for them to improve, whether that be plugging gaps or moving it forward. The children love these sessions- they are seen as an opportunity to shine and grow.

Thinking and questioning has become fun! Independence has become achievable and above all what comes is a resilience to failure and a determination to succeed. Mistakes are part of learning and part of life. If we do not own them, we cannot move on from them and improve. Strategies sit firmly on the foundations of an ethos that promotes ambition and a love for learning. We cannot make the metaphorical horse drink, but over time and through the right approach we can always show him that he'll feel much better if he does. There is excitement and enthusiasm to be found in a learning journey - for everyone.

I love hearing a child triumphantly say, 'I did it!' My reply is always very simple: 'I knew you would.'

Image Credit:

flickr.com/photos/derekgavey/6020501642flickr.com/photos/derekgavey/6020502398/by Derek Gavey used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.

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The Snakes and Ladders of a Teaching

Career

The Snakes and Ladders of a Teaching

Career

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Seven Pieces of Careers Advice for Teachers

Slithering up the (sometimes) greasy ladder as a teacher can certainly be an adventure with many obstacles, opinions and thoughts of self-doubt all lining up to obstruct you from taking the next step on the rung. We are often faced with many pieces online, often offered in good faith by colleagues, leaders, columnists and hidden in various corners of the internet, yet some of this well-intentioned advice can be tricky to implement. But there are some hidden gems of career advice that can make a real difference to the direction of your chosen path certainly worthy of consideration:

1: Doing your job well is not enoughYou’re a great teacher. Your pupils love you. You really

get on with your colleagues and school leaders, but that can sometimes not be enough. To make the next step in your teaching career you need to show your ability to deliver future value to your school (or your next school) in ways that are not explicit or clearly set out. There is a difference between being a teacher (that’s your job) and making things happen. Seek opportunities to make a positive impact for your learners or colleagues, and let the results show the impact you made, rather than going around and shouting about it.

2: Who you work for is hugely important... We all wish we lived in a world where who you know

matters less than what you can do, but that’s often not the reality, and educational circles are no different to the world of business. Knowing the best in the business often means you’ve worked with the best, and people rightly admire that. A change of school leadership can have a negative impact to some, whereas others will enjoy the new relationships and challenges to be formed. If there is a real difference in educational outlook of which does not resonate with you, then go an seek those leaders who share your philosophy, even if that means a change of school, which takes us nicely to the next point...

3: ...So is where you work “Your career is a boat and it is at the mercy of tides. No

matter how talented you are it’s a lot harder to break out in a sluggish situation/hierarchy/economy than a go-go environment.” Family, habits or financial constraints can keep us anchored to the same geographical area from the start of our teaching career, right through to retirement. Even if you’re a superstar at a school which is under-performing, your upside trajectory (more often than not) is fractional to what an average/below average teacher achieves at an outstanding school. Explore opportunities to further your geographical boundaries, and you may find that the next rung of the ladder is achievable there.

4: Being Seen as Super Busy Isn’t Always a Good Thing We’ve all worked with them. Those people who seem

to be so busy and work endless hours. Yet this perception can be dangerous, as appearing this busy will bring on stressful behaviours, and if you appear stressed it can be viewed that you cannot take on new projects missing opportunities for new and innovative projects that may come your way.

5: Take a tourWhen advertising, many schools invite potential

applicants to take a tour of the school, and this opportunity must be seized upon if you are serious in wanting to develop your career. Even if you are unsuccessful in that application, seeing the culture and how other schools work can be inspirational and make you more determined (or not) in taking the next step in your career. If this might be a move upward, try to speak to the person/people who fill the role, asking questions such as why they are moving on, what it’s like to work in this setting and how supportive is the school community. Online searches and reports won’t give you the full picture, so take the opportunity with both hands.

6: Don’t hide your failuresWe actively celebrate the failures of our pupils, as we

recognise the importance of learning from failure to produce something remarkable next time. The mindset shift towards failure is currently more respectful, celebrating that you are willing to take a risk, innovative with what you do in the classroom, and show willingness to learn from previous attempts. Whether failures were catastrophic or minor, showing a willingness to acknowledge these shows great strength of character which should be welcomed.

7: Execution Matters More Than Plans or Advice Many people are looking for the magic recipe of how

to make their career take off, and impatience can creep in as you are very keen to take the next rung of the career ladder. Yet despite all this (and other) advice, what matters is the execution of the advice by YOU. As we see with the advice we offer our pupils, the greatest advice ever in the history of the human race is absolutely useless if you act/execute on none of it. Within teaching, there’s no real road-map that you can blindly follow in your career. Yes, there are various routes that many people have taken before, but the trick is to figure out what to apply for and recognise that your career is not a linear, clearly defined trajectory. Those days are long gone.

Image credits: flickr.com/photos/120600995@N07/14125947172 by Jacqui Brown used under Commercial Creative Commons 2.0 License.

Continue your journey by browsing more careers articles and current job

vacancies at www.uked.careers

At theInterview

By Stephen Tierney

ukedchat.com/magazine 17

Over the past thirty years I’ve sat both sides of the interview table; seven times being interviewed, five times successfully, and literally hundreds of times interviewing people. In reality I’ve interviewed so many people over the years that the “hundreds” is a bit of a guess. There isn’t a tick list formula or set of behaviours to be turned on in interview that link all the successful candidates together; the successful ones bring a professional whole career approach to everything they do and interviews are just gateways along that path. For promoted or leadership posts the application process starts a long time before the job you want appears in the press or on a website. Prepare for your next post everyday by being successful and showing impact in your current one. Hone the skills you are currently using; think about and develop the knowledge and skills you will need at the next stage in your career.

Starting with a familiar theme; less is better. The standard word-processed letter, sent to a whole series of different schools with the named changed, and sometimes not, or a cursory sentence thrown in about the school doesn’t impress. The blunderbuss approach to applications isn’t the way to go. The letters that grab my attention display a congruence with the schools values and show that careful thought has been given to the application. Make fewer better applications and ensure you have researched the school well. You will probably be there for years, ask yourself, “Will it make me happy working at this school?” If not move on, life is too short, and look at the other adverts or wait for the right one to come along. If at all possible visit the school and have a walk around but remember this is the start of your interview process whether you want it to be or not.

One of the best letters I have received was from one of the applicants to a leadership post. The applicant visited the school and impressed me as we walked and talked. S/he then spent considerable time looking at all the information on the website; the letter reflected this. Head teachers and governors are looking for people who understand the school’s overall mission/priorities and are a good fit. Make sure you are a round peg trying to fit in a round hole. Too many letters I read are largely descriptive, they read like a curriculum vitae, containing very similar information to the actual application form. Letters need to add value to your application. Think about what you have learnt from your experiences and how you could use them in this new role, in a new school, for the benefit of the pupils and the organisation generally.

Then write about that. Include in your application and discussions information you have picked up about the school that particularly attracted you to apply. If asked “Why have you applied to this school?” Saying “because it is around the corner” may well be true, but it won’t exactly put you top of the list. Don’t make things up, but why did you apply to the school?

When preparing for interview think about the main features of the school - 11-18 or 11-16, faith school or not, selective or comprehensive, urban or coastal/rural, affluent or deprived area etc. If there are obvious gaps in your experience the people appointing you already know this and you are still at interview; don’t panic, they are obviously interested in your application. However, expect them to probe potential gaps, so be ready. Your experiences will provide the answers to a number of the questions, but also think about what questions you may be asked or what task might they give you to do. It’s worth planning out a few points in advance that will give you the backbone of a great answer. At interview, it isn’t simply about what you say, but also how you present yourself. When appointing to leadership posts I want to ask a couple of questions that will challenge the candidate and put them under a bit of pressure. How will they react; they’ll be under pressure at times when leading? The people who impress remain calm, maintain eye contact, smile and consider the challenges being put to them either maintaining their position or rethinking it carefully. In short they act like leaders should.

Of the two interviews where I didn’t secure the job I had applied for one I consider a success; it would have been a disaster to be appointed for both me and the school, we were a mismatch. The other was a real disappointed; I was beaten to the deputy head teacher post by someone who was already a deputy head. Sometimes there is a candidate who is better or more ready. These things happen; learn from them and move on as the right job is out there somewhere for you as I soon learnt. Good luck.

Stephen is on Twitter as @LeadingLearner and his blog can be found at leadinglearner.me. Formerly Head teacher of St. Mary’s Catholic College in Blackpool for fourteen years, he is currently Executive Director of a MAT consisting of two primary and a secondary academy - Christ the King, St. Cuthbert’s & St. Mary’s Catholic Academies. He chairs the Head Teachers’ Roundtable Group.

In B

rief

Engaging with DifferenceIt is often said that polite conversation

should not be about either politics or religion – but such a view is dangerously limiting, and stops us engaging with our students on two fundamentally important aspects of global life. In the hyper-connected global setting in which we live, knowing what others think and believe is of over-whelming importance.

Being able to understand the context of, and to be able to think from the point of view of, another human being, whether religiously or politically, is the single most important inter-personal skill we need in the 21st century.

When our students leave secondary education, most are also leaving home and going out into the world; it is a great disservice to them, to the world as a whole, to send them out unprepared to engage with it in a productive way – as citizens and voters - either within their own country, or globally.

To not do so, to not give young people even a basic understanding of how politics and religion interact in the 21st Century is rather like sending them behind the bike-sheds to learn about sex. They will learn something, but not necessarily what they need to know.@earthdog_58 Teacher - Beijing

Take Up TimeIn a busy class we can forget the importance of giving time

to students to work through new learning and concepts. Our education systems have a treadmill quality, if you’re not moving forward you’re not moving, but this is a fallacy. Without being given time to hop off and explore concepts deeply, new learning is never embedded. It is just painted over the top like a white wash.

As teachers we feel pressure to get through curriculum targets but we forget these targets are often overlaid on prior understandings. Too often I hear statements like, “They’re in Grade 4, and they should know this by now?” But the fact is they don’t. So avoid introducing new concepts which depend on what they should know, rather than what they do.

It’s actually okay for us to take students back and provide opportunities for take up time. Let them explore, make mistakes, ask questions. They are working where you need them to be. This is good practice because you know your student’s needs. In fact we all need time when tackling something which is difficult for us. In my experience by providing these opportunities for consolidation we are preparing students cognitively and emotionally for the next challenge.

To cater for all students you also have to know the curriculum which comes before and after your grade and or subject level. Learning is a continuum not a fixed system. Good teachers know where to pitch work which allows take up time. They are confident enough in their practice to allow students the opportunity to have another go. So give your students as long as they need, because if they can’t walk it’s very hard to run. @ CharlieArchbold Early Years Educator - Australia

Project Based Learning

All the best teaching ideas are transmitted through Twitter these days, perhaps rightly so, there’s a vast wealth of knowledge out there.

Having read Tait Coles’ fantastic Never Mind the Inspectors: Here’s Punk Learning bit.ly/uked16mar14 over the summer I came into this school year fully charged and ready to smash out the best lessons I was capable of. It started well, but then I started to plateau, so I turned to Tait, he was super friendly and helpful and he sent me in the direction of Ron Berger’s equally brilliant book An Ethic of Excellence bit.ly/uked16mar15.

Reading Berger’s book, I knew that Project Based Learning was something I had to do. I just had to figure out where it was going to be most effective. This became a source of great tension for me, then whilst running and my mind firmly on working out how long it was going to take my body to thaw out, it struck me.

Year 7, the innocent, well-behaved ‘subjects’ of a project, but not just any project, the most ambitious project that I could come up with. They were going to design a place of worship. They were going to have to give detailed and accurate architects drawing, done to scale. They were going to submit a planning application letter explaining the need for their place of worship in their chosen location, using census data. They were going to draw up a letter to explain to local residents the impact that this place of worship would have on their lives. They were going to created a detailed budget. To top it off, they needed to submit a model, built to scale.

I wasn’t willing to go in half-hearted with this and I’m dreaming big, because if I don’t, then the pupils won’t either. I want them to not only understand the importance of Holy buildings in an abstract sense, but a very real and relatable way as well.

My three Year 7 classes and I are a week away from the finished projects and based on the work they have done so far, I cannot wait to see the results.

@MrMcKavanaghRE Teacher of RE - Slough & Reading

18 UKED Magazine

In B

rief

New government plans are set to test every child on their times tables before they leave primary school – something sure to be classed as an unwelcome addition to the pressures and responsibilities that teachers and pupils already face in preparing for year 6 SATs. Teachers and parents may complain, but the only way to truly manage the modern obsession with testing is to adapt how education is delivered to become more friendly and efficient for both teachers and pupils.

With the aim of the government plans to test children on their times tables up to 12x12, it doesn’t help that the assumption by many parents and those involved in the media (bit.ly/uked16mar16) and even some involved in teaching is that the only way to learn multiplication is through memorisation. This method good as a shortcut to recall common multiplications quickly, but is not ‘truly’ learning about multiplication and has a limit in real world scenarios.

In addition to this, heavily basing learning on the requirement to memorise a large number of facts puts children affected by memory related learning issues such as dyslexia at a disadvantage – with many people in this category not being diagnosed until later or after their education, if at all. It can be easy for children in this category to be labelled as not trying hard enough to remember what otherwise appears to be simple facts.

As a maths tutor and software developer, it surprises many people that I don’t know much of the times tables and I certainly haven’t memorised any of the formulas used for GCSE maths – yet, how can it be that I can use and teach these concepts without a problem? The answer is very simple – I have a different way of looking at maths that instead of relying on memorising maths facts, an emphasis is placed an understanding of maths concepts, pattern recognition, strategy formation and visualisation

Applying this to the new government plans to test on multiplication, my alternative method to tackle this would be based on the understanding of certain number patterns and how these can be combined to form a strategy that can quickly and accurately get answers with only using a few facts. In this example, I will use what is statistically the most likely multiplication for children to get wrong, which is 6x8. The trick used to solve this is what I’ve called “the drop-zone” method, which works as follows:

• Find the “drop-zone” by multiplying the biggest number by the closest easiest multiplication you know of.

• Move from the “drop-zone” to the target by subtracting or adding the multiplication of the difference.

• The drop-zone method is best illustrated through example:

• We recall the fact that numbers multiplied by 10 only require a 0 to be added to them, hence 10 being an easy to use number for the drop-zone calculation; 6x10=60.

• We identify that the difference between the target (8) and the drop-zone (10) is 8-10=-2 ; this tells us that we are -2 steps from the target.

• We calculate the value of the two steps as 6x-2=-12.• Finally we combine the answers to the “calculated

drop-zone” (60) with the “calculated steps to target” (-12) to get the final answer; 60-12=48.

Teaching the drop-zone method is also supported by an app that presents the concept as a parachuter landing at the drop-zone and then running towards the target – giving children an easier way to understand how the concept works as well as a consistent method to practise.

Critics of the drop-zone method will argue that it requires four steps to do the calculation when compared to simply recalling a fact when committing multiplications up to 12x12 to memory. My counter arguments to this criticism are that:

• The drop-zone method is an ideal fit for anyone who is affected by memory related learning issues where memorising the times table isn’t an effective option.

• Compared to learning all 144 answers of the times table up to 12x12, the drop-zone method only requires the learning of 4 steps.

• Understanding how numbers work for the formation of strategy used in the drop-zone method provides a greater understanding of maths for use in other areas than merely committing answers to memory.

• The drop-zone method is flexible to be adapted for making mental multiplications easier, especially for larger numbers including the 12 times table that children often struggle to calculate; with some minor adaptation, the multiplications such as the 20 times table also become as easy as the 5 times table.

As educators, we need to explore alternative strategies for numeracy to discover new performance opportunities for children who are otherwise struggling to meet the standards set by the ever growing demand for test results. Children who are already making a good effort yet failing to make progress should never be made to try even harder; it is our role as educators to find learning methods that fit their way of understanding and thinking. To say the obvious - if it’s broken, fix it!

Rise to the Numeracy Challenge:Drop-Zone

Multiplication

Leon Brown @_LeonBrown is a Maths tutor, Technology Journalist and Education Content Developer in Liverpool.

by Leon Brown

Book ShelfBook Shelf

Take Control of the Noisy Classby Rob Plevin

The humble classroom door. Often neglected. Often abused. Rarely utilised. But the classroom door hold great power, and as you allow pupils to enter the classroom, if they don’t respect the power of the classroom door (boundary) and what you expect from their behaviour and attitude, then you are faced with an up-hill struggle.

It’s all about establishing and maintaining control, according to Rob Plevin in his new book, “Take control of the noisy class - from CHAOS to calm in 15 seconds”, creating mutual respect and expectations that are respected by the most challenging of classes which you are confronted with.

Don’t take us wrong, this is not a book about the humble classroom door, or what you can achieve in 15 seconds. Instead this is a book all about positive classroom management, with tips and ideas on how to ensure you enjoy your teaching, and your pupils enjoy having you as a teacher. It takes time. It takes work, but Rob certainly provides you with a great collection of classroom management ideas and resources to help you run the lesson smoothly.

Rob is clearly interested in the psychological aspect of behaviours in the classroom, with many of the examples illustrated within the book being supported by studies and theories in how we react to positive reinforcement, consequences and taking control. This book helps teachers

20 UKED Magazine

April 2016Revision & Testing

Deadline: 14th March 2016

May 2016Assessment & Feedback

Deadline: 25th March 2016

June 2016Transition & Moving On

Deadline: 22th April 2016

July 2016Sport & PE (Olympics)

Deadline: 20th May 2016

View on Amazon atwww.bit.ly/controlnoisy

transform their ability to connect and succeed with hard-to-reach, reluctant learners.

As for the door? Oh yes, Rob suggest two steps to quietening the students at the door: 1) Make general, non-confrontational statements as to the behaviour you want to see rather than confrontational rants about things you don’t want to see, and 2) Chat informally with individuals and small groups of students (infiltrating the cliques) to show that you are human, and cool! But setting the tone of what you expect, in a calm and rational manner is critical in ensuring that your lesson enhances their learning from the first moment they enter the classroom. Save your voice, and read this book.

Priced at £16.99 (paperback) and £0.98 (Kindle) at time of publishing

Write for a future edition of the magazine on the theme topic or something else that interests you.Go to

ukedchat.com/magazine/submitto tell us your idea.

August 2016Well Being (For teachers & pupils (PSHE))

Deadline: 17th June 2016

September 2016Classroom ManagementDeadline: 22th July 2016

October 2016STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering & Maths)

Deadline: 19th August 2016

November 2016Reading & Books

Deadline: 26th August 2016

Liam is a Year 5 teacher and team leader at a four form entry junior school. He is a computing subject leader and half of @PrimaryIdeas primaryideas.org and is in his tenth year of teaching. Find him on Twitter at @ThisIsLiamM.

Earning the GradeAll leaders bring their own personalities

and virtues to their role. In recent studies, there has been a strong argument in favour of introverted leaders who listen and do not speak unless they have something worth saying. Einstein, George Orwell, and Van Gogh were all introverts (Bloom, 2012). When analysing the role that leaders’ character strengths play in their success, I looked at the research conducted by Dr Ryan Niemiec of the Via Institute on character: ‘Research shows that knowing and applying our unique character strengths profile increases our life satisfaction and well-being’ (Via Institute Character, 2014). I agree that all successful leaders need to conduct a searching personal audit of their character strengths and weaknesses as an important element of ‘knowing oneself’. It is important that a leader becomes aware of his or her skills and capabilities.@resilient_kids Deputy Principal - London

Should EAL be a Priority for Primary Schools?In recent times it’s hard to find contemporary research into

English as an Additional Language. Is it time for the government to begin an in depth review of EAL provision across England?

Regularly in schools children experience limbo, they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock being grouped with SEN or lower ability children and the hard place of learning the English language as well as all the other parts of our curriculum. To me it seems unfair that we ask children, whatever age, to attempt this daunting task of learning a brand new language the child has little or no academic experience of and also learning things like how day and night occurs for example or phonemes of a word.

If teachers are to truly understand a child’s viewpoint they need to visit a country for a considerable amount of time and attempt to learn something extremely important. It is only then, they understand what they need to do in order to provide effective pedagogues and experiences relevant and meaningful for children who have EAL.

I call on teachers everywhere to put themselves in the child’s shoes just once.@mrmattbuckley Student Primary Teacher - Ormskirk

In B

rief

ukedchat.com/magazine 21

Calculation RacesEarlier this week, my class and I were undertaking a

Number Talk. The question we were using was '19 X 24'. I hoped many children (mixed ability Year Five) would use a mental method or jottings (partitioning, rounding & adjusting and so on).

However, over 90% of the class used a grid method or expanded column multiplication. Nothing wrong with that, except the focus we'd been having on mental methods and not always defaulting to a written method. We listened to how children had arrived at their answers and then discussed which were the most efficient. As a class, we then solved both 19 X 28 and 19 X 35 using rounding (20 X 28) and partitioning (10 X 35 added to 9 X 35) to remind them

of the available less formal / mental / jotting methods available to them.

In order to win over the remaining doubters I still had in the class, I set the children a challenge. They'd solve a question using only mental methods, while I tired to answer it as a written method on the classroom whiteboard. Although I wanted to prove the mental method was quickest, I still tried really (really, really) hard to do my method quicker than the class. However, I 'lost' all three times (19 X 56, 19 X 45 & 29 X 34). I'd only got beyond setting up the method and doing the

first part of the calculation. Class won over!

by Liam Murphy

22 UKED Magazine

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In B

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Well Being - The Calm or Reduce Stress WallI love the new addition to my classroom - the stretch and

challenge wall. It gives pupils choices, motivates them and pushes them out of their comfort zone. It’s only been in my classroom for about 5 weeks now and it clearly has benefits, but it may never be as beneficial as the calm wall or the reduce stress wall as it is sometime called.

I have had a ‘calm wall’ in my classroom for around three years now. I decided to bring it in when I noticed that pupils were getting a bit worked up and frazzled, particularity during practical assessments.

There is nothing immediately striking about this wall and it doesn’t have a heading on it or any fancy graphics. It is simply a number of positive statements such as the following:

I’ll give it a tryI can

I have done my bestI’ll have another try

I’m enjoying learning new things

I’ll have another goI’ll only fail if i stop trying

I can learn anything if I set my mind to it

So if I notice a pupil looking a little stressed or anxious I encourage them to go over and read some of the statements on the wall. It works on the idea of positive statements, overruling negative thoughts with positive one, believing in one’s ability and resilience.

It helps in many ways. I introduce the calm wall to most of my pupils( when I remember). Some of them often rush up in a dramatic style read a statement and announce to the class that they have been to de-stress. While others often sneak a look as they walk past to grab a t-towel. I am quite aware that it is not an immediate problem fixer, but it can be used as a method of distraction and it sometimes needs to be used discreetly, in moderation or with awareness of who you have sent to it before. I recall sending one pupil who was clearly stressed and he replied ‘I have been to the calm wall two times already today and I am still stressed’ and then he proceeded to spontaneously burst into laughter and felt calmer. In some cases, pupil may need a little personal pep talk to help them along his way.

I find its a simple idea but an effective one even if its just to reassure pupils that we all need a little encouragement and some positive self statements often help.

I reckon I use it much more than the pupils, just before I need to count to ten. Give it a try.!@sam_oldale Head of Food & Nutrition - West Yorkshire

Running out of Photocopying?With budgets in schools growing ever tighter, the

need to use resources wisely is growing increasingly important.

Tasks that involve a range of sources can eat a large chunk out of the miserly copying allocations many teachers have.

Instead of copying every source for every child print one copy of each source and attach them to the classroom walls.

Active, pupil lead and eco-friendly.@jcoleman85 English Teacher - Hampshire

Getting Rid of the IWBInteractive whiteboards cost too

much and does nothing for pedagogy. Honestly ask yourself, ‘How often do my students use the interactive white board?’ Not much? Me too. It is only I who interacted with it, so I have got rid of mine. I could get a bigger image from the projector alone. Kids at the back of class could see it better. How did I know? I went taught from there with a wireless keyboard and mouse combo, plus the ZoomIt freeware bundled with Windows. Unbelievable experience and I recommend you try it if you’re game and/or your IWB bulb is running low.@darawoods Assistant teacher - Hampshire

Creative Story Prompt Cards Download at uked.directory/PEN00033Story starter prompt cards to simulate ideas for creative writing. Print out the main cards, black and white photocopy cards, and blank cards for pupils to make their own.

www.uked.directory@UKEdResources