Teach-Primary-Issue-19.4

WE L COME Hello! POWERED BY. . . MARC BOWEN Shares his joyous lesson planmixing datalogging with physical activity... and disco “When I started dad-dancing around the classroom, there was no going back” p72 PROF SARAHEARLE On how you can assess science enquiry skills without spending hours on writeups “The solution is to ask yourself ‘so what?’. What do you want to focus on?” p46 ANNEMCCONWAY Asks why we’re still fighting for clean air, years after the peak of the pandemic “We know that Long Covid disproportionately affects education staff” p13 Don’t miss our next issue, available from 23rd June www.teachwire.net | 3 A nd welcome back. Hopefully you all had a restful Easter break and are now ready and raring to go for the summer term! If you’re feeling energised and all set for the next few weeks of school, we have plenty of ideas in this issue to help you make the most of the rest of 2024/25, like a wonderfully enjoyable and hands-on ICT lesson that turns your classroom into a disco (page 72) and a beautiful art project exploring our seas and the importance of keeping them clean (page 31). If, however, you’re feeling a little less ebullient, we’ve got plenty of help for that too. We all know that the sun (along with a full moon, for some reason) can often bring out the... shall we say... exuberance in children, and however wonderful that can be, it can also make it tricky to keep behaviour on track if you don’t have the buy-in from families and carers. Luckily for us, experienced educator and leadership consultant Dr Jill Berry has shared her top tips from over 30 years of talking with parents, about how to get them on board with your decisions (page 38). We also have a focus this month on that most enduring element of spring and summer to-do lists... assessment. Whether you’re gearing up for SATs, or are just getting all your ducks in a row ready to hand your class over to their new teacher at the start of next year, we’ve got everything you need to evaluate your testing methods. Hear from Dr Julian Grenier about how the EYFSP can provide Year 1 teachers with a solid foundation to make sure pupils start ‘big school’ off on the right foot (page 49); and why a progress mindset might not actually be as good as it sounds, fromRichard Selfridge (page 44). As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest of spring. Until next time, Charley Rogers, editor @TeachPrimaryEd1 @charleytp.bsky.social