What do I mean by “cycle time”? It’s simply the amount of time a person tends to spend with an organisation, or in a job, and to many employers it matters. Someone with a short cycle time, who seems to flit from job to job is unlikely to be seen as a good bet by an organisation that want’s to invest time and money in training, yet someone who has stayed in the same place for ten years may be seen to be inflexible and intolerant to change. Read More...

The sorts of circumstances we chatted about are social issues, not just educational ones, but it did remind me very much of the column inches dedicated to the issues in reception classes each September, aghast at the number of children not yet able to use a knife or fork, or not yet reliably toileting. Suddenly, the term “in loco parentis” takes on a very different meaning. Read More...

The sun is shining in Gillingham high street. I can see a ream of beaming faces beneath a sea of green, white and gold. Beside me, an older gentleman beats out a reel on his walking sticks while two girls swoop in unison to dance to the beat of the Pentacle drummers. The Medway Irish are out on parade, and they have packed the street. But how did they get there? Read More...

We often hear about antioxidants being good for us in ‘superfoods’ such as blueberries and broccoli, but what do they actually do and why are they good for us? Read More...

Gemma Haughey is a 3rd year student at the University of Limerick undertaking her teaching practice. In January 2014 she joined a secondary school in Kent for a week's work experience. She is hoping to teach Science in Kent as a newly qualified teacher in September 2015. Read More...

Last night, in conversation with a senior lecturer renowned for his creative approach to teaching and learning at one of our best teaching colleges, he told me that after spending a day with his Teach First students on creativity in the classroom and when asked how they might channel all this creativity effectively their response was to use it in an ‘oral or mental starter’ or as part of a ‘plenary’. They had missed the point entirely. He was disappointed. They have clearly spent too much time in schools already. Read More...

I write this as I begin to consider this week’s Everest of marking, planning and organising that needs to be done before term begins again next week, and I feel oddly calm. It is most disconcerting. Read More...

Living in Northern Ireland, I was acutely aware of the few job opportunities there was for NQT’s. However my drive and passion to teach forced me to ignore the critics and complete my initial teacher training. My time in university was indeed four of the most memorable years of my life during which I grew both as a teacher and as a person. Read More...

Why is it that however organised we all seem, for some reason there never feels enough time in the day to do everything we want to? For those that know me this might come as a bit of a shock as on the exterior I am a cool, calm, collected sort of person, but on the inside I have moments of panic. Read More...

Having started my first headship in January after a rather jam-packed nine years of teaching, the realisation of the responsibilities of the job are truly sinking in. No longer do colleagues stop to talk, albeit briefly, as teachers are far too busy to chat about the weekend, husband, children etc. Read More...