Teacher. Headteacher. Mountains. Author: Making every MFL Lesson Count.
Northern Ireland
Joined September 2026
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J. A. Maxwell retweeted
Find below, the Department of Education's latest guidance on phonics instruction for primary schools.
education-ni.gov.uk/sites/de…
100% agree. We must correct children's grammar consistently. Only when we look after the pennies will the pounds look after themselves. If a child says 'we was', it needs corrected. That is not snobbery. It is setting high expectations for their use of language. And rightly so.
J. A. Maxwell retweeted
Somehow we've reached a point in education where:
- teaching kids explicitly is controversial
- academic rigour is treated as a threat to student wellbeing
- memorizing math facts is discouraged or considered unnecessary
- practice is dismissed as "drill and kill"
Low expectations are not kindness, and nothing hurts someone's confidence more than falling further behind every year.
J. A. Maxwell retweeted
Education Minister Paul Givan has published a Written Ministerial Statement setting out the Department’s position on recent criticisms of Curriculum 2028 and outlining the evidence underpinning the proposed reforms.
🔗Read the full statement here: education-ni.gov.uk/publicat…
ALT Illustrated graphic with added text "Ministerial Statement Published"
J. A. Maxwell retweeted
A quiet classroom shouldn’t be something your parents have to earn enough money to buy you.
It’s crazy to me how often the people lecturing us about helping disadvantaged children object to enforcing the rules that would give them a chance at an education.
J. A. Maxwell 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…
J. A. Maxwell retweeted
Kris Boulton's pitch is simple: we can accept classrooms where some students succeed and others struggle, or we can be much more systematic about designing instruction so that all students have the opportunity to succeed at a high level.
🎧 The episode is a must listen! Link below
@Kris_Boulton
Sold a Story 2 Episode 3. Astonishing. DI was the clear and outright 'winner' of Project FollowThrough, yet the federal government in America failed to promote it as it claimed it needed more than one 'winner'. Instead it threw funding at the less successful methods.
Daisy is spot on, including what she says about the innate problems with generic skills development. That is why Northern Ireland must have the courage and conviction to push ahead with TransformED reform.
What impact will the government's new education policies have on standards?
substack.nomoremarking.com/p…
J. A. Maxwell retweeted
Just listened to @ehanford’s second season of Sold a Story, ep. 3, and it just becomes more and more apparent that many educators simply care more about staying true to an ideology that places a child’s personal likes and dislikes above academic ability.
But we’re sacrificing them on an altar of their own preferences. Love is wanting what is best for someone, and education should be an act of love.
J. A. Maxwell retweeted
You have the Conservative Party, I promise you that. I will do everything in my power to defend our school system from so called progressives who want to destroy progress.
Thank you for making my point. Indeed, these factors did exist when 'prog' polices were in place. NI has had 20 years of a 'prog' curriculum unlike England, and these factors have increased. Which is why the inference that they are caused by trad policies is utterly incorrect
