Teach Secondary 14.4

CHICKEN JOCKEY Given themayfly-like lifecycle of your typical internet meme in 2025, ‘chicken jockey’may be well and truly dead by the time you read this. Still, for any teachers and online palaeontologists who overheard their studentsmention it several weeks ago, some background. Waaaay back in 2011, a video game was released that essentially combined computerised Lego with resourcemanagement and survival mechanics. It was called Minecraft , and you’ve probably heard of it.Abug in earlyversions of the game would see players occasionally encounter an enemy zombie that had accidentally spawned (i.e. been placed by the game) atop a wandering chicken.Occasional sightings of this ‘chicken jockey’ swiftly became part of the folklore surrounding the game. Then, inApril this year, a PG-rated cinematic adaptation of the game – called, imaginatively enough, AMinecraft Movie – was released in cinemas across the world.A scene in the film shows a ‘chicken jockey’manifesting in a boxing ring – which, for reasons unknown, has become a cue for the film’s young audiences to engage in flashmob-stylemisbehaviour during cinema screenings – from loud shouting and the throwing of food at one end of the scale, to the alleged unveiling of a previously concealed actual chicken at the other. And yes, it’s all very silly, but at least kids are still experiencing themagic of cinema, right? Well, there’s a small army of ushers with thousand-yard stares out there whomight take issue with that assessment... Thinkofanumber... ONE FOR THE WALL “It’s the wanting to know that makes us matter” Arcadia by TomStoppard Teach Secondary’s digest of the latest goings-on in the profession... The newsletter What arewe talking about? Hyundai’s ‘Great British School Trip’ programme BEAT THE BUDGET The UNINFORMED teacher’s guide to… £8.2m has been invested by the DfE into advancedmaths teaching in schools, aimed at boosting the subject’s participation rates among girls Source: DfE WHAT THEY SAID… “He’s a poundshop Donald Trump” – NEU general secretary, Daniel Kebede, referring to Nigel Farage DO SAY “As a child, I yearned for the mines” Who is it for? KS2/KS3 students What’s on offer? Bursaries to assist with organising school trips, alongside a series of free trip resources – including a virtual space lesson led byDame DrMaggie Aderin (pictured), and a card game for school and home use called ‘Future Jobs Trumps’ designed to help students understand their potential career options. Where is it available? greatbritishschooltrip.com 51% of secondary school senior leaders report making cuts to teaching staff numbers within the past year Source: Survey of 1,208 teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research “EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!” DON’T SAY 388 The average number of children that Elective Home Education Officers based at LAs are responsible for Source: NSPCC 06 teachwire.net/secondary