Time to dip a toe back in…? I am Senior Deputy Headteacher in a large, diverse 11-18 school in Derby.
Derby, UK
Joined February 2009
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.@RollsRoyce educational outreach really is superb. The young employees and apprentices at @MuseumofMaking today were an absolute credit to the company. My 5yr old was delighted and inspired, thank you.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
A few people have asked for a pdf of our Adaptive Practice learning mat for @trust_leaf TA’s so here it is. But note - it’s our current effort, not the definitive word! headteachering.uk/wp-content…
Ofsted inspection: done!
There’s tired. Then there’s Ofsted inspection as the nominee with 7 inspectors at the end of an 8 week term tired.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
Reminder: the @EducEndowFoundn (EEF) is an independent charity established in 2011 to improve the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils aged 2 to 19 in English schools. They have a range of research on the low cost/high impact of #oracy education: educationendowmentfoundation…
Tonight at our Sixth Form open evening a Y12 and a Y13 spoke with such passion and eloquence I get again shook back and thought ‘The world is safe in these hands’.
Nowt like teaching to give you hope for the future.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
Some of our Ks4 bring a Colin caterpillar cake whenever it’s someone’s birthday and they sit in the dining area carving it up between them and serving it on napkins. It’s adorable.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
Have you been inspected, or are you waiting for the call?
So far, 309 school leaders have told us what it's really like. 83% said waiting for an inspection was very or extremely stressful. The most common thing they want changed is inspector consistency.
Your experience adds to that picture, whether it was positive, mixed or difficult. It takes a few minutes, it's anonymous, and the results will be shared with the community.
Complete the survey here: headteacher-chat.link/oct26-…
Please share it with a colleague who has been through it, or is about to.
A highlight of my day is going out to the perfectly formed queue of students waiting for them - unpoliced by any adult. It makes me feel so proud of our school culture 🌟
We have a group of girls who being their own picnic blanket. Watching them fold it 4mins before the bell is a delight.
Does anyone else have a fantasy Ed doctorate topic? I have several.
Most recently, I want to study the role and function of break times in secondary ed. Every lunchtime I give out footballs and frisbees to our nearly 900 KS3 students.
It’s FASCINATING.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
‘Closing the gap’ is only a meaningful target if it means lower-achievement is reduced, not if it means high achievement is suppressed.
This calls into question the whole “closing the gap” idea and the entire premise that a “gap” in scores tells you anything meaningful about learning.
For example, it two students with the same score can have completely different profiles of what they know and don’t know, then how do you know exactly what needs closing?
Even if you break it down and say ‘this student scored low on this unit, so they repeat that unit’, you haven’t really diagnosed anything. Two students can fail the same unit for opposite reasons
Also these data suggest that how we measure effective teaching is misleading. Being a “good teacher” isn’t really one thing: a teacher who is great at getting kids to master fractions may be average at word problems, and vice versa.
nber.org/reporter/2026number…
Caroline Spalding retweeted
Schools with the highest SEND levels are five times more likely to fall below Ofsted's expected standard for inclusion. Tes reported on 11 September that 3% of secondaries with the lowest SEND levels fell short, against 15% of those with the highest. Schools rated exceptional for inclusion average 12.2% on SEN support. Those told to improve urgently average 17.1%.
If you serve a high SEND community and you are in the window, that is a number worth having in the room.
Has inclusion been judged fairly against your intake?
Tell us what the inspector actually asked you. We are collecting the questions.
I love making this graph. There’s something powerful about using the data from your own school, I reckon.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
BREAKING: The teacher pay award for 2026-27 will be funded ‘at a national level’ from savings to employer contributions for support staff pensions, government claims
tes.com/magazine/news/genera…
Caroline Spalding retweeted
This is really good news - looks like coursework is not coming back outside of practical subjects. Hooray!
Also good to see govt engaging on here. I would say if you don't want journalists misrepresenting you, maybe put forward your own arguments in your own words and not in interviews behind paywalls. It is easier than ever to do this.
People mocked Lammy & Starmer for setting up a Substack but I thought it was a really good idea. Why not engage with people directly in your own words?
She didn’t quote me. She used her own words. It wasn’t a quote. It was one journalist word in one article which has led to a whole industry of op eds from people using straw men.
We discussed more practical assessment of practical subjects like computing, drama and PE. Which is a very different thing.
Caroline Spalding retweeted
I propose 5 versions of Progress 8:
1. P8 (standard) - weighted for pupil mobility and w/o stud’s in spec. bases
2. P8 (contextual) - either old style contextual or P8 against 49 most similar sch’s
3. P8 (spread) - the range 90% of students fall within
4. P8 (3Y MA)
5. P8 (LPA)
I really rate this service. It’s been an excellent support at our school and is well-engaged with. Worth checking out if you’re after a tangible way to support staff wellbeing outside of the factors school can control.
You don't need to say sorry for doing things to protect your wellbeing 💙
And if you need some support, you can always turn to us. We provide emotional support for everyone working in education.
📞 08000 562 561
📸: @stacie_swift
#TeacherWellbeing #WellbeingInEducation #MentalHealthMatters
Caroline Spalding retweeted
From today’s Times: ‘Researchers at the University of Cambridge said that regardless of “what or how we read”, sitting down with a book is linked to improved health and problem solving. Benefits include lowering stress and reducing the risk of dementia, and span all types of reading, from comic books to classic novels or hefty non-fiction tomes.’