Lover of retail, Labour member, Ukrainophile. Views my own. Occasionally I tweet in Russian (badly).
London, England
Joined June 2016
- Tweets10.7K
- Following437
- Followers169
- Likes18.4K
Jessica retweeted
Skills statements are making a comeback in England.
This approach to assessment is one of the major differences between a knowledge-based and a skills-based curriculum.
It’s a clear sign that the current government are unpicking the successful education reforms of the last 15 years.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p…
Jessica retweeted
What impact will the government's new education policies have on standards?
substack.nomoremarking.com/p…
Jessica retweeted
So much damage is done by the idea that there is a majority of people for whom life is straightforward. The world was designed for them, they effortlessly comply with societal demands and get over their life stresses easily. They never wonder whether there is something different about them, or criticise themselves for minor failings. They sail through school and work. They have meaningful relationships with only transient conflict. Their emotions are manageable and in proportion. They are round pegs in round holes.
The neurotypical
Some people look like this from the outside. Hardly anyone reports being like this from the inside. Yet more and more books and training programmes promote the idea that if you’re not like this, you must be neurodivergent. Wired differently.
We have pathologised the human condition.
Jessica retweeted
Unfortunately two big differences:
1) the cars got bigger and the drivers got stupider
2) the laws got way less tolerant of independent kids
Drivers and officials. Your top enemies as a parent.
apologies if this is super naive but just asking bc im curious. is there anything different about raising a kid now in 2026 versus in the 80s that warrants them needing more supervision? like when my dad was like 8 he'd wander around the city alone most of the time. i'm asking bc when i have kids, i dont want to have to supervise them 24/7. i feel like that's very demanding on parents. why cant independent play be more of then norm? is it a cultural thing? or is the world more dangerous now than it used to be?
Jessica retweeted
Reducing inequality in education outcomes by…no longer measuring it
This policy would be utterly laughable were it not so harmful
📚 | NEW REPORT: Disadvantaged children are nearly three times less likely to achieve the highest marks in Year 6 SATs.
We call for a rethink of primary school assessments to reduce inequality, ease pressure on teachers and create a fairer system for all pupils.
Read here 👇
ippr.org/articles/what-comes…
Jessica retweeted
Years ago I was chatting with a friend who taught year 4. It was the time that the times tables check was coming in. She said she was worried about it. I said why, surely you've been doing the times tables for years and its not a big deal
She looked at me and was like "yeah kind of but not really"
I was reminded of Ofsted's research into KS2 science SATS. Once they went, science in primary declined.
Similar pattern in secondaries with removal of KS3 assessments. Its a normal and uncontroversial area of educational policy theory:
Standardised external assessments drive behaviour. Same in primary, same in secondary. Removing them lowers the stakes, lowers focus and reduces standards.
Jessica retweeted
England is forgetting that education policy should be based on evidence and informed by experience - my first Substack piece
amvspielman.substack.com/p/g…
Jessica retweeted
This would be obviously gameable and gamed, and hence lack validity or usefulness.
Key Stage 2 exams have been necessary and desirable to help drive up standards. I can think of no good reason to remove them.
What would life be like without KS2 Sats? @IPPR is recommending the DfE replace them with random sampling from Year 3 onwards
tes.com/magazine/news/genera…
Jessica retweeted
Oracy floats on a sea of knowledge
The UK government wants oracy assessed “from primary to GCSE and beyond”. My take on why you can only speak well about what you know:
daviddidau.substack.com/p/or…
Jessica retweeted
This is really great.
And it is great to see some of the big debates about education reaching a wider audience.
If only our government were listening...
The Ruffian has LANDED. Why is the left so bad at education? ian-leslie.com/p/why-is-the-…
Jessica retweeted
Unfortunately, Scotland has been minimising school exclusions already and this has contributed to rising violence in schools. Clear boundaries and consequences are the very things that keep children and staff safe.
Jessica retweeted
really don’t like this. fifteen year olds should not be pursuing a vocation they should be learning for the sake of learning! they can do economics, maths, design tech, art, and drama and those will give them a foundation to pursue these things at BTEC/A level
Jessica retweeted
"we’re concerned that disadvantaged young people are nudged towards the technical track, increasing divides and ultimately reducing social mobility"
There's no way to do these reforms without this happening.
Jessica retweeted
Great summary of the latest PISA scores from @Samfr
Picks out some details that haven't been reported much.
EG 81% of children in England are in schools that ban phones, much higher than other western countries.
England one of the few countries NOT to see a rise in pupils saying they think learning new things is boring.
New post out:
England's schools are now the second highest performing in the world outside the far east, according to the PISA study.
Is this because of policy? Attitude to technology? Cultural factors like immigration? And where can we still improve?
samf.substack.com/p/why-engl…
Jessica retweeted
The extent of the PISA gap between England + other western European countries is extraordinary.
In reading, the 25% most disadvantaged pupils in England outperformed the average for *all* students in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway etc...
A decade ago there was no gap
New post out:
England's schools are now the second highest performing in the world outside the far east, according to the PISA study.
Is this because of policy? Attitude to technology? Cultural factors like immigration? And where can we still improve?
samf.substack.com/p/why-engl…
Jessica retweeted
My takeaway from the NHJ discourse is that America continues to be unreasonably polarized between people who think the only thing that matters is the other students and the only thing that matters is funding.
Managing the school is important!
slowboring.com/p/why-i-send-…
Jessica retweeted
I particularly enjoyed the bit where she talks about her daughter and the rest of the class were having their learning disrupted because teachers had to focus on misbheaving kids the progressive-minded school Unison wouldn't remove from class, and still says in the same paragraph "this is good educational practice."
Jessica retweeted
There is just a ton of institutional resistance in ed schools and teacher training programs to telling teachers they should give kids explicit instruction.
We’re rolling the bad ideas back on phonics but they’ve moved on to math and it’s grim.
