Ian White
@ianwhite21
Vice Principal - COLA Shoreditch Park. Tweet about education. Find me on bluesky now. Same handle.
Off to bluesky - too much AI generated slurry, far right scummery, weird sexualised ads and general tedium. Have really enjoyed contributing to debates on here. I'm still ianwhite21 over there.
Once again, @UKLabour and @bphillipsonMP deciding to make behaviour a keystone issue has only upsides. It's FREE, plays to the socially authoritarian base we're losing, and will, actually, improve schools. 'We're making school safe for YOUR child.'
NEW: My latest @theipaper column on why alarmist, exaggerated warnings from private schools about Labour’s VAT policy were given so much attention - and what it says about Britain. Read here👇
1000%. Imo the most common lethal mutation linked to 'doing Rosenshine'.
To me, I/We/You is a powerful way to conceptualise teaching specific things. It is NOT a powerful way to structure lessons. It's a cycle. And you could have multiple cycles in any given 55 minute "lesson".
It shouldn’t take an excessive amount of time to instil the key routines that are universally applicable across all disciplines. If it does, we need to seriously question the effectiveness of our training methods.
And parenting
A key issue with behaviour in schools is children hearing the word ‘no’ and understanding no means no without kicking off.
So much of behaviour comes down to the question: 'Who is in charge?' If you want children to feel safe, confident and happy, the answer is the adults. Modern progressive approaches are an abdication of the basic duty to lead with kindness and clarity.
Happily this view is completely marginalised: Mobile phones in schools can be an aid to learning | Letter theguardian.com/technology/202…
I'm going to take a wild guess that the wound is not caused by terrible behaviour and insufficient focus on outcomes.
The School Wound - something inflicted upon children by schools. A powerful concept. Really interesting session from @GregBottrill at #NEU2025 Early Years fringe. The language we use is powerful - there is a wonder child inside everyone!
ALERT: Old ppl are scrolling social media without headphones in public. They've taken everything from us. And now this.
Exciting opportunities at @HaggerstonSch! Check em out: mynewterm.com/school/Haggers…
I wish my teachers had been straighter with me: "this bit, the lead up to your exams, is going to suck, but the payoff will be incredible, and you are doing yourself a service by being diligent now". Some kids are self-sufficient to know this instinctively; many aren't. I wasn't!
You can't begin to prepare pupils if you don't even acknowledge that this level of revision is necessary. By not being honest with them, we do a disservice to state school pupils. If they want top grades like 8/9 for GCSEs or A*/A for A-levels, this is the level of commitment…
Just treating it like a workday is fine. Also if you don't want to do this you don't have to. And some kids will be better prepared and so do less and still do fine. Unfortunately doing that much work takes a certain degree of toughness most schools don't prepare kids for
If you really care about kids with SEMH needs, think upstream and improve your whole school culture. Fiddling with interventions will have you chasing your tail with diminishing returns.
The position that I actually hold is that if the evidence changes I change. Hard to do a natural sciences degree and not be like that. When I started I held all those positions. I saw how bad those schools were, including the one I now lead. It’s now better doing the opposites.
We are recruiting for a role very, very close to my heart. Come and lead our English team who have started to forge a legacy in the heart of Leeds. A few reasons to check this opportunity out below...
🚨Exciting Regional Lead Practitioner roles in South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire ❓Do you deliver excellent GCSE outcomes? ✅English,Maths,Science,History,Geography,MFL ✅Teach GCSE across 2 academies+curriculum development work ✅Up to £77.5k on LP scale tes.com/jobs/employer/…
Yes - a school not spoken about enough. Waterside is the scene of maybe the greatest school improvement miracle there has been.
Waterside Academy has around 60% Disadvantaged and over the last 2 years got a P8 score of 0.77 and then 1.04!