Category Archives: General Teaching

This year at Durrington we have made some major changes to how our students start their school day. Gone are the ‘tutor times’ of old and in their place every student now engages with ‘Period 1’ – a structured programme … Continue reading →

Up and down the country, it’s a time when teachers are thinking about appraisal.  At Durrington, we use this as an opportunity for teachers to think about an aspect of their teaching that they want to make a focused effort … Continue reading →

By Andy Tharby This post is a quick and simple introduction to John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory for teachers. It will seek to answer the following three questions: 1. What are working memory and long-term memory and what roles do … Continue reading →

Starting at a new school is difficult. There are systems to learn, lots and lots of staff and students to get to know, and relationships to build up. And then there’s the actual teaching. I’ve picked up two KS4 classes … Continue reading →

Vocabulary matters – ensuring that our students are equipped to comprehend the task/questions asked of them and effectively respond to these is vital for student success, and is strongly founded on students own vocabulary bank. It is a simple concept … Continue reading →

Watching my 9-year-old son, O, teach himself how to solve the Rubik’s cube this Summer has been one of the most instructive and thought-provoking experiences I have had as a teacher. It has been like a mini-distillation of going from … Continue reading →

Metacognition describes the processes involved when learners plan, monitor, evaluate and make changes to their own learning behaviours. David Perkins (1992) developed an idea that there are four different types of metacognitive learners. These four types of metacognitive learners (outlined … Continue reading →