“We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.”- John Dewey

There is one quality above all others that makes a good teacher - the ability to reflect on what, why and how they do things and to adapt and develop their excellence in teaching.

This is an extract from our new ‘Practical Guide to Enabling Effective Teacher Reflection’. Download the entire guide for FREE here >

As the summer term flies by and we look ahead to the next academic year, now is the time to seriously consider which CPD opportunities are going to be the best options for the future of your school and its staff.

Guest blog from Emma Turner, Deputy Headteacher and Leader of Teaching and Learning at Springwood Primary School - @MrsWelshTurner

In Education, there is always one certainty... marking!

There has always been marking: marking that identifies what pupils have done well; marking that celebrates and marking that moves pupils learning on. It’s the one thing that all teachers expect, lugging home that huge pile of books for an evening or a weekend.

However, ‘distance’ marking has been proven to be far less effective at helping pupils to improve, or motivating them to try harder, than immediate feedback given verbally in the moment. We’ve known this for a while. Yet many schools still insist on their teachers marking in detail every piece of work that every child does.

As a school leader, great teachers are your most important asset. But we all know that teachers are notoriously under-compensated and underappreciated. While the work is incredibly rewarding, it can also require more than a 40-hour workweek and excessive workloads, meaning great teachers are choosing to leave for professions that pay more and demand less.  In fact in 2015 social media was buzzing with the news that more than 50% of teachers in England 'plan to quit in the next two years'.

As a result, schools and school leaders are having to work hard at replacing, attracting, and retaining excellent educators. Here are five ways to make your school the kind of place that great teachers want to stay in:

Guest blog from Ryan Holmes - @educatingholmes 

Have you ever filmed yourself teaching? It can be pretty nerve-wracking before you do it for the first time. It can also be one of the most powerful experiences you can have in the quest to improve your teaching.

Guest blog by Stephanie Anne Dudley, English Key Stage Coordinator at The Excel Academy.