Five-year-olds could face national tests

Nick Clegg unveils plan as he announces major increase in pupil premium for disadvantaged primary school children

by Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent

 

The deputy prime minister is to announce a consultation on whether to introduce a 'baseline' test for five-year-old pupils. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Children as young as five could face formal classroom tests under proposals unveiled on Wednesday by Nick Clegg.

The Words We Use

by Bill Powers

I just finished reading Daniel Pink’s book Drive and walked away with many key thinking points to ponder and use as I continue to focus and refocus on my purpose and drive to be a better person and principal. 

In Chapter 6, titled Purpose, Mr. Pink wrote about WORDS.

He pointed out the “pronoun test” used when listening to people in an organization answer questions about the company. Do workers refer to the company as “they” or “we?” One simple word can tell you much about the employees thoughts about the company.

Newspaper beads

YOU WILL NEED

Old newspapers
White glue
Varnish
Craft paint
Drill
Ribbon or string
Sandpaper

How I tackle the stresses of teaching

Our recent Q&A explored how workloads and work-life can become more balanced. Here our expert panel talk about ways for beating stress both in and out of the classroom.
Jeremy Dean, primary teacher and author:

Striving to save an unreachable student: giving up on Angel

One of my new colleagues recently expressed surprise that the rest of us were having so much trouble with Angel. "Oh, he always behaves so well for me" he said, smugly. "I didn't even realise he was supposed to be difficult."