James Fitzgibbon

Recent weeks have been the most difficult of our lives. On 1/6/2024 our daughter Lily Grace Fitzgibbon was born asleep. We’re grateful for the time we got to spend with her but our hearts are broken. We’re keen to keep Lily’s memory alive and support those who face what we have.

Still not finished, not sure it ever will be but we’ve made a lot of progress in developing our KS3 curriculum. Connected second-order concepts, guidance on outcomes and key vocabulary all identified for students, parents and staff to be aware of. #historyteacher

Still chipping away at KS3 assessment. Varied multiple choice formats provide a confidence boost for students whilst rigorously assessing knowledge. This builds to a historical skill/second order concept response. Review of knowledge/writing enhancement to finish. #historyteacher

Revisited our ‘Curriculum in Objects’ initiative. Initial idea of student led inferences remains in place but we’ve switched to connected closed questions to build confidence and frame the concepts and understanding we want to take forward into the topic. #historyteacher

A labour of love but our Y7 KO’s are completed. We move onto trying to box off Y8/Y9. Chronology, Key Figure, Terminology and Core Content all in one place for students to reflect on and refer to during lessons and in preparation for assessments. #historyteacher

Something we’re considering are ‘Progress Points’ half way through a unit. Ensuring students have a grasp of key terms, foundational knowledge and a sense of narrative of how events link/impact. Provides insight on what to revisit/prepares for summative assessment #historyteacher

Looking to adapt how students engage with extracts by varied approaches to guarantee thorough reading. Start with scanning for quotes, read to answer comprehension questions and then combine the extract with own knowledge to provide explanations. #historyteacher

This year we’ve developed a range of ‘Clip Sheets’ which have helped to make each snippet more meaningful. Students have quality short answers to reflect back on, the set questions promote wider debate and logistically they’ve been excellent for cover work. Win! #historyteacher

Only Paper 3 to go and again there is so much knowledge to retain. These KO’s focus on who were the key figures of the topic and importantly a chronology of events, ‘the fallout’. Great as a one page reference for prompts and reminders before the exam. #historyteacher

Old but gold. ‘Has it stuck’ recall is a great recall format. Students begin with ‘core knowledge’ post it’s in the centre and work their way out. Accessible for all yet full of challenge. Great for all Key Stages and easily adapted. #historyteacher docs.google.com/presentation/d…

Some requests for the homework template I shared over the weekend. Please find the link below for the Tudor version that can be edited to suit your topic/subject. #historyteacher docs.google.com/presentation/d…

Next round of ‘All Four One’ KS3 homework sheets. This format has helped with the consistency of our homework setting and offers flexibility with setting either the entire sheet or individual tasks. Short sharp bursts of meaningful knowledge/second order concepts. #historyteacher

A great Easter school session on Teams with our Y11 historians. Full focus on Paper 2 question stems, their structure and working through difficult examples. The session PPT acts as a ‘one point of reference’ for how to tackle each question to help revision. #historyteacher

Returned to school and lots of work needed to get Y11 to the end of Cold War. I’ve reused these one page overviews as a blank framework for direct teacher instruction. Students make notes on each section via explanation. Considered focus on who, why and what. #historyteacher

I’ve been MIA because we welcomed Cora Olivia Fitzgibbon on 17.03.2025. We lost our daughter Lily last June so we believe Cora is her gift. 🌈 We continue to raise money for @SandsUK so if you’ve ever used a resource of mine, a donation would be amazing. justgiving.com/page/inmemoryo…