Teach Secondary Issue 14.3

CONTENTS Regulars 11 DICTIONARY DEEP DIVE David Voisin examines the hidden origins and surprising behaviours concealed within our everyday vocabulary 12 THINK PIECE Toby Marshall weighs up whether the evolution of the National Curriculum can give us a sense of where it’s going next 15 NATASHA DEVON Teachers are ideally placed to impart the media literacy needed to identify spurious scientific claims on social media 16 MELISSA BENN Why are the same old voices still so prominent in education debates? 36 OFF THE SHELVES Brilliant titles for you and your students to explore 69 MAKING SENSE OF… CONVERTING COMPOUND UNITS Help your students get their heads around the process of converting ‘miles per hour’ to ‘metres per second’ 82 FOND FAREWELLS John Lawson shares his approach when teaching the final lesson to that year’s school leavers Features 21 QUESTIONABLE WISDOM Mentors are supposed to provide ECTs with guidance and support as they acclimate to the demands of teaching – but as John Bolton recounts, that’s not always the case... 22 SLIPPERY SLOPE Colin Foster explains how those gaps between your benchmarks for excellence and students’ actual scores can steadily accumulate over time 24 IN IT TOGETHER No numerical targets, morning strategy meetings, SLT on bus duty – headteacher Julia Polley tells us how things are at The Wensleydale School, North Yorkshire 35 RETURN SERVICE Aaron Swan details the tennis epiphany that prompted him to rethink his assumptions around the zone of proximal development 38 MACHINE MARKING We’ve heard how AI has the potential to revolutionise how teachers perform assessments – but what might that look like in practice? 41 LEND ME YOUR EARS Ofsted insists that it’s in ‘listening mode’ – but Adrian Lyons isn’t so sure... 43 BUYER BEWARE Struggling with your school procurement processes? Hilary Goldsmith tells us how to spend wisely and avoid costly mistakes 46 A PLACE FOR EVERYONE We look at what mainstream schools can do to turn their classrooms into genuinely inclusive spaces for students with SEND 49 ALTOGETHER NOW. . . Bring those Spanish lessons to life with Sam Pope’s engaging learning activities 50 REACHING OUT You know them – the parents you’re sure exist, but are rarely ever seen or heard from. So how can you persuade them to actively engage with your school community? 62 MODEL CITIZENS Hans Svennevig explains why the uncertainty and flux of the modern world makes it more important than ever that we develop informed and engaged citizens 66 POINTS MEAN PRIZES When it comes to retrieval practice, injecting a little fun into proceedings can go a long way, advises Deborah Hayden… 70 A SUBJECT LIKE ANY OTHER Peter Mattock tells us why there’s no such thing as a ‘brain that can’t do maths’ 73 ALL IN THE BALANCE Daniel Harvey outlines his approach to teaching students how to balance chemistry equations TS Special – GCSEs 28 A CASE FOR CHANGE Our students are overworked, overburdened and long overdue a change in how GCSE exams are arranged, says Amy Sayer 31 THE FINAL FURLONG Help students put aside those familiar, yet counterproductive late revision strategies with Alex Quigley’s practical suggestions 32 NO NEED TO PANIC Ensure those pre-exam nerves and anxieties don’t get the better of your classes with Ryan Lockett’s preparation strategies TS Focus – Physical education 54 ACTIVE ANYWHERE With the right planning and organisation, your students’ most valuable PE lessons could well be learnt away from the pitch and the sports hall... 57 GET INTO THE GROOVE Find out why organised dance may be the non-competitive, high intensity, confidence- boosting discipline your PE department has been looking for 58 KEEP IT CLEAN From crowd control to equipment injuries, Phil Mathe presents a primer on the behavioural challenges unique to PE lessons Learning Lab 75 BE INSPIRED The things teachers can do that AI never will; how ‘counting down’ can help you manage transitions between activities; and why we should worry less about students’ CVs and more about their ‘job application skills’... APR/MAY ‘25 Publishers: Joe Carter, Sam Reubin, Richard Stebbing Editor: Callum Fauser, callum.fauser@artichokehq.com , 01206 505115 Group Advertising Manager: Samantha Law, samantha.law@artichokehq.com , 01206 505499 Advertising Manager: Hayley Rackham, hayley.rackham@artichokehq.com, 01206 505928 Deputy Advertising Manager: Hannah Jones, hannah.jones@artichokehq.com , 01206 505924 Art editors: Richard Allen, Sarah Barajas Customer services: secondary@artichokehq.com Accounts: artichokemedialtd@integral2.com Published by: Artichoke Media, Suites 2 & 4, Global House, Global Park, Eastgates, CO1 2TJ The views in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. We try to ensure the veracity and integrity of the companies, persons, products and services mentioned in this publication, and the details given are believed to be accurate at the time of going to press. 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