What strategies can be used to improve students’ Problem-Solving skills?

Rationale:   In the new Maths GCSE higher tier paper, 30% of marks include a problem-solving element.  In my experience, this is something students noticeably struggle with as they are unsure how to tackle this style of question.  However, problem-solving as a concept is far reaching.  The Education Endowment Foundation’s report, ‘Improving Maths at KS2 …

How can we challenge the “engagement myth” and increase motivation

Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve? With a continued whole-school focus on praise and a personal interest that I had in this matter, engagement was an area that seemed necessary to focus on in relation to student well-being and outcomes. GCSE results showed that girls out perform boys by around 12% (5 GCSE’s of …

Harnessing praise to increase motivation

Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve? After a whole-school learning and teaching review, praise was identified as an area for development for the whole school and it seemed important to identify answers to the following questions: What does praise look, sound and feel like? How do students …

Productive Struggle

Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve? “As educators, we want our students to feel successful. Sometimes, this means that we take control of the lesson and do what we can to make content easy for our students.” (Guido. J (2016)1. However, the question that this leads to …

Developing cultural capital

An example of utilizing padlet to encourage wider reading, debate and discussion. Pupils select topics that interest them and add deeper knowledge or context than the exam specification. Broadening Yr 12’s Cultural Capital – THN

The impact of homework on attainment

Identify a few key words or key phrases that could be used to tag your work – e.g. assessment, literacy, raising achievement Homework, homework and attainment, flipped learning, consolidation homework Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve/what issue were you looking to address? The main aims of this …

Technology: Its impact on feedback and progress

Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve/what issue were you looking to address? We are in an era where technology is becoming an inextricable part of our everyday lives. The students we teach will soon go into jobs that don’t yet exist and use technologies that haven’t yet …

Maximising the effectiveness of feedback

Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve? The importance of feedback in the classroom has long been recognised; it is an inherent part of what we do day in and day out to ensure our students make progress. One study which really demonstrates the power of feedback is …

Promoting Resilience in the Classroom

Why did you decide to undertake this project? What was it designed to achieve? Resilience is an ever increasingly important quality in a pupil as it leads to higher confidence, achievements and prepares individuals for life beyond education. Waxman et al believe that this area of research has important implications for improving the education of students, especially …

KS3 Assessment and Monitoring: 2016 and beyond

Up until now we have held off on moving away from levels, but with the vast majority of new GCSE specifications starting in September 2016, and the KS2 levels being replaced with the Year 6 test score we decided that it was time to think again. In the beginning… When the DfE announced that the …