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Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Nov 16, 2020

Why the catch up fund seems doomed to fail

And what we should spend it on instead. — Did lockdown significantly impact upon children’s learning? That is the question on every educationalist’s lips. The belief that it did presupposes that without school closures, children would have retained the knowledge they were due to be taught. The other presupposition is that an immediate release of £1 billion — with…

Education

8 min read

Why the catch up fund seems doomed to fail
Why the catch up fund seems doomed to fail

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Mar 12, 2020

What primary schools should do in a Coronavirus shut-down

A list of do’s and don’ts — Skype is not the solution If primary schools are to close down (which looks increasingly likely), the question of what to do will be weighing heavily on a lot of leaders’ minds. I am very concerned about the amount of guff I have read online about deploying Skype and other such tools to carry on…

Coronavirus

3 min read

What primary schools should do if they shut down
What primary schools should do if they shut down

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Feb 3, 2020

How should we teach writing in primary schools?

Part 1: The Problem — The Fundamental Question Why are almost a quarter of children unable to write effectively when they leave primary school? It’s worth noting that this ‘quarter’ could well be much more than that, given that writing is teacher-assessed and overwhelmingly not moderated (and in the 25% of cases where it is moderated, the evidence…

Ks 2

8 min read

How should we teach writing in primary schools?
How should we teach writing in primary schools?

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Dec 8, 2019

Where is the evidence for reading comprehension strategies?

Introducing the £1m Kingsnorth Prize 2020 — Ok, let me be completely transparent from the outset: There is no denying it: I am, in my current thinking, heavily prejudiced against reading comprehension strategies (RCS) when it comes to improving children’s long-term reading comprehension. I’ve written extensively about this prejudice both here and here. While I am placing…

Education

5 min read

Where is the evidence for reading comprehension strategies?
Where is the evidence for reading comprehension strategies?

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Sep 29, 2019

Forget Finland. Could Estonia help to reverse our dire results?

Here’s a 2 minute summary of this post, for those in a hurry: — Here’s a 2 minute summary of this post, for those in a hurry: Don’t be fooled by the backslapping: the country’s GCSE results are pretty terrible (and no: warm-strict, knowledge-rich schools don’t seem to be doing much better). After 12 years of school, 75% of pupils got 60–100% of their…

Mathematics

28 min read

Forget Finland. Could Estonia help to reverse our dire SATs and GCSE results?
Forget Finland. Could Estonia help to reverse our dire SATs and GCSE results?

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Jan 27, 2019

Burn your data trackers 🔥

Walk away from the madness —  you’ll never look back. — Some of you might have seen me tweet recently about a friend who called me in tears, on the verge of quitting teaching forever. In this short blogpost, I want to address one of the more pernicious aspects of her workload and appeal to the headteachers and assessment leads who…

Education

6 min read

Burn your data trackers 🔥
Burn your data trackers 🔥

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Dec 9, 2018

Reading comprehension: a new approach

We are radically transforming the way we teach reading comprehension. — Blog outline: How we used to teach comprehension Three problems with the old approach The assumptions that underpin our new approach Summary of the new approach An explanation of why we are moving to the new approach A checklist for teachers using the new approach An example of the new approach (contrasted…

Education

14 min read

Reading comprehension: a new approach
Reading comprehension: a new approach

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Sep 1, 2018

Small is Beautiful: Part Two

This is part two of my ‘Small is Beautiful’ series on the need to radically reduce the primary curriculum to ensure fluency in the core… — This is part two of my ‘Small is Beautiful’ series on the need to radically reduce the primary curriculum to ensure fluency in the core areas of reading, writing and maths. In part one, I re-wrote the maths curriculum. It can be found here (along with a 60-second summary of…

Education

9 min read

Small is Beautiful: Part Two
Small is Beautiful: Part Two

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Aug 24, 2018

Small is Beautiful: Part One

“Whenever something is wrong, something is too big.” Leopold Kohr, The Breakdown of Nations — “Whenever something is wrong, something is too big.” Leopold Kohr, The Breakdown of Nations “Any intelligent fool can invent further complications, but it takes a genius to retain, or recapture, simplicity.” ― Ernst F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful Here’s a 60-second summary of this post, for those in a hurry:

Mathematics

9 min read

Small is Beautiful: Part One
Small is Beautiful: Part One

Published in Solomon Kingsnorth

·Jan 13, 2018

Forest School for Trads

The best that has been thought, said and…grown? — I’ve learned a lot from traditionalist teachers: the effectiveness of direct instruction, the relevance of cognitive science and the importance of knowledge. These are the mainstays of my teaching practice, and I’ve always liked one of the more common traditionalist refrains — that we should focus on teaching the ‘best…

Education

4 min read

Forest School for Trads
Forest School for Trads
Solomon Kingsnorth

Solomon Kingsnorth

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