Engaging with Non-English Speaking Parents Reaching out and engaging with non-English speaking parents can be really difficult for teachers. If you have pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL), their parents may have a limited understanding of English. If you have an interpreter, it can be much easier to communicate efficiently, but if

How Do You Use Data in Schools? Data skills don’t come naturally to everyone. Knowing how to use data effectively can be difficult to master, and on top of that, turning raw figures into concise, readable reports is a skill in itself. In the education system, working with data can be unavoidable, as it often

Can’t tell your summative assessment from your formative assessment? Never fear, our answers are here! What is summative assessment? Summative assessment is an assessment done at the end of a specified period of time. It is to assess a learner’s understanding or attainment. Summative assessment may take the form of a formal test or exam,

We all know that the word assessment can send a shiver down the spine of any teacher. The sense of dread and impending data drops. High stakes accountability and league tables have left a mark on education. You may or may not agree with the need for exams and tests and end of key stages.

As the newest member of the Learning Ladders team (with a teaching background), I have jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the team working on the new EYFS On Entry Assessment- even more so after learning of Jan Dubiel’s involvement.   During my time in Early Years I’ve seen the reincarnation of Learning

On Entry Assessment EYFS I have been championing EYFS at Learning Ladders for almost 5 years now and I am thrilled to be doing something that I feel will make a real difference.  The icing on the cake is to be working with Jan.  I very much look forward to hearing from you and developing

New EYFS Assessment Tool You asked us, so we’re going to build it – a specific module for Early Years is coming in 2020/21! We’ve also worked with Jan Dubiel to create a new ‘light-touch’ On-Entry Diagnostic Assessment tool for practitioners in YN, YR and Y1, addressing the specific post-C19 needs of 2020/21.  We’re making

Effective communication with parents can be a challenge in schools. Not least because everyone is very time poor in schools. The parents are often time poor too. They may have other distractions with their own work or other children or caring roles. How teachers communicate with parents has a lot of impact on how well

What is a VLE? A VLE is a platform used in education to give access to educational content online. This can be via computers or mobile devices (tablets or phones or even games consoles). Most VLEs are set up by a specific educational institution. For example, a school, college, or university. The institution will then

It would be hard to find a school leader who does not value the importance of improving pupil progress. The same goes for every teacher, teaching assistant, parent or any other stakeholder around each child. Sometimes we see a divided debate about what the best way is to do this. For some the focus is

“Parental involvement in the form of ‘at-home good parenting’ has a significant positive effect on children’s achievement and adjustment even after all other factors shaping attainment have been taken out of the equation. In the primary age range the impact caused by different levels of parental involvement is much bigger than differences associated with variations

Pupil progress is a tricky topic. All too often used synonymously with overly-detailed, workload-heavy paperwork. Transformative pupil progress tracking uses fundamental principles aimed at improving pupil outcomes. Tracking pupil progress in the classroom is one of the best ways a school can ensure they have involved every stakeholder in a child’s future. There is a

What is a School Self-Evaluation Form (SEF)? The SEF is a School Self-Evaluation Form. This is usually completed by school leaders. The SEF lays out the reflections on the school’s impact in a number of areas. Schools may choose to involve other members of staff and gather views from parents and pupils. All of this

How to write a school report We would all like to think that parents thoroughly read through our carefully crafted pupil school reports. How they must appreciate the hours we put into writing them! However, the reality is that reports are often not as cherished as we would hope. It’s very easy to get them

The following is taken from the government guidance for writing reports: “Headteachers have a statutory duty to prepare annual reports for parents before the end of the summer term. The report must start from the day after the last report was given or the date of the pupil’s admission to the school (whichever is more