Wednesday, 21 April 2021
The True Purpose of Year 6
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
True Transition Begins in September
This article is now available at https://www.aidansevers.com/post/true-transition-begins-in-september
If you would like Aidan to work with you on transition at your school, academy, trust or local authority please visit his website at https://www.aidansevers.com/services and get in touch via the contact details that can be found there.
Thursday, 25 March 2021
Three Characteristics of a Supportive KS3 Curriculum
Thursday, 4 March 2021
Making Secondary Schools Primary-Ready
This blog post can now be read at: https://www.aidansevers.com/post/making-secondary-schools-primary-ready
If you would like Aidan to work with you on developing your transition offer either at your primary school or your secondary school, please visit his website at https://www.aidansevers.com/services and get in touch via the contact details that can be found there.
Further reading:
Thursday, 1 October 2020
Tonight Matthew, I'm Going To Be... A Director
A parent of a year 6 child myself, this is a huge concern for me - how do we pick the right school for her, especially given that this is the first time we are sending a child off to big school? With my responsibilities across both KS2 and KS3 I wanted to help to make sure that what our school offers to prospective children and parents would help them to understand better what our school is like.
So, on top of the content that was already being produced for online viewing (virtual tour, promo video, message from the principal etc), I decided to give both year 6 and new year 7s a voice - after all, they're the ones its all about. It's all very well having members of staff present information, but children want to hear from their peers too - they're the ones who will tell them what it's really like.
And that's why this morning I was directing, alongside our tech-savvy media guy, an extra bit of video content where year 6 children got the chance to ask year 7 children some of their own questions. With bubbles we couldn't get them in the room together so we had to film the year 6s asking their questions first and then the year 7s answering the questions (with me asking the questions this time). Hopefully once it's all edited together we will have a seamless FAQ video for children and their parents to watch in order to get a more rounded picture of what's on offer.
The year 7 children presented confidently, embodying our values and showing that in just a few short weeks they have really settled in well and got to know the ropes. They were able to articulate positively much about their experience so far - a testament to the hard work of the team of staff leading and teaching in year 7. And all this in spite of all the difficulties surrounding transition and the return to school that COVID has presented us with.
Teachers and leaders play many roles under normal circumstances - the positive view of COVID is that it is most certainly providing us with further strings to our bows!
Wednesday, 15 May 2019
From The @TES Blog: Five Songs To Get Your After-SATs Party Started
Another bit of fun from me over on the TES site: https://www.tes.com/news/five-songs-get-your-after-sats-party-started
Monday, 13 May 2019
From The @TES Blog: Eyes Down, It's Time For SATs Reading Test Bingo
In what must be the article with the shortest shelf life that I've ever written I've made some tongue-in-cheek predictions for the content of the 2019 Reading SATs:
Read it here: https://www.tes.com/news/eyes-down-its-time-sats-reading-test-bingo
Friday, 16 March 2018
Comprehension Strategies And The KS2 Reading Test - What and How Should We Teach?
Is there a way to teach comprehension strategies that prepares children well for the KS2 reading test?

Without having any evidence back this up with, I believe that there are children who, having been taught strategies which have become skills, are able to complete the reading test, confidently giving written answers to the questions it asks. I suspect that these children are also able writers and they have probably had a healthy relationship with literacy in general from an early age. There is a potential argument here for a sole focus on teaching comprehension strategies and never asking children to spend time practising giving written answers to comprehension questions.

I turned to Steve Graham and Michael Hebert's 'Writing to Read' report which states:
"Writing-about-text activities had a positive impact on struggling students’ understanding of a text. An important key to success in using these activities with lower-achieving students was to provide them with ongoing practice and explicit instruction."
The report recommends that students do write in response to things they have read and outlines a series of recommendations of activities. One of the recommendations is that teachers should have students answer questions about a text in writing, or create and answer written questions about a text:
"Answering questions about a text can be done verbally, but there is greater benefit from performing such activities in writing. Writing answers to text questions makes them more memorable, as writing an answer provides a second form of rehearsal. This practice should further enhance the quality of students’ responses, as written answers are available for review, reevaluation, and reconstruction (Emig, 1977).
For generating or responding to questions in writing, students either answered questions about a text in writing; received practice doing so; wrote their own questions about text read; or learned how to locate main ideas in a text, generated written questions for them, and then answered them in writing. These practices had a small but consistently positive impact on improving the reading comprehension of students in grade 6–12 when compared to reading or reading instruction."
Lemov et al's 'Reading Reconsidered' also provides plenty of classroom evidence that writing supports reading comprehension. They summarise:
"...the strategic use of writing made reading and discussions of reading- the other core activities of English class—more rigorous, focused, productive and engaging- ‘better’ in short. Writing is a deeply valuable endeavor in its own right, but it is also an endeavor that works in synergy with reading in specific ways."
From 'Writing To Read' |
What does come through both the 'Writing To Read' report and Lemov et al's 'Reading Reconsidered' chapter entitled 'Writing For Reading' is an emphasis on explicit teaching: if we want children to be able to write well about the things they read in order to develop a better understanding of what they read, we must explicitly teach these skills - they must be modelled well by the teacher.
What I have found is that evidence from both research and successful classroom practice shows that an approach to teaching reading strategies which includes giving children the opportunities to practise giving written answers to comprehension questions (in order to prepare them well for a test) is not something we should avoid, but is something that, if done right, could be beneficial to the children we teach.
From the IES guide |
If children are only given written comprehension activities the comprehension strategies are not likely to be employed or developed. But if the written comprehension activities are backed up with explicit teaching of the supporting strategies (as well as vocabulary, any other necessary background knowledge and how to write answers), then comprehension strategies should be developed. Such explicit teaching (including modelling and discussion) should focus on ensuring that children know what the strategy is, how it is used and why and when to use it. Children can be shown how to use the strategies when completing written comprehension activities.
The York Reading for Meaning Project assessed three reading comprehension interventions delivered by teaching assistants in 20 primary schools. The three interventions were carried out with children who had been identified as having the poor comprehender profile - the three interventions were intended to help children who struggled with reading comprehension to overcome their problems. The three interventions differed:
- Oral Language Programme: vocabulary, reciprocal teaching with spoken language, figurative language and spoken narrative
- Text Level Programme: metacognitive strategies, reciprocal teaching with written language, inferencing from text and written narrative
- Combined Programme: all of the above (vocabulary, reciprocal teaching with spoken language, figurative language, spoken narrative, metacognitive strategies, reciprocal teaching with written language, inferencing from text and written narrative)
Here then is evidence that children who are struggling with reading comprehension, and are falling behind, will benefit from an oral language programme as intervention. In the context of this blog post - which focuses on teaching all children (including those are aren't struggling with comprehension but are still learning new skills and strategies) - it is worth questioning whether these research findings bear relevance - should we scrap writing as part of first teaching of reading and focus solely on an oral approach?
Examples of combined programmes from The York Reading for Meaning Project: An Overview |
However, the outcomes of the project also show that 'all three interventions (Text Level, Oral Language and Combined) improved children’s reading comprehension skills'. In this blog post I have been suggesting what is essentially a combined programme for everyday classroom-based reading instruction (see the examples above). The question the research doesn't answer is, where first teaching of reading comprehension is concerned (i.e. not interventions for poor comprehenders), whether or not the benefits of writing discussed above are still outweighed by only focusing on an oral-only approach.
What is potentially telling is that 'the children who received the Combined programme experienced all components but at half the quantity of the other two intervention programmes'. What if children were given a whole quantity of both oral and written approaches? Isn't this something that a reading lesson, with an adequate amount of time given over to it, could offer children that an intervention (in this study set at 30 minutes long) could not?
It would be interesting to know which approach (oral, text or combined) shows the best results for all learners rather than interventions for poor comprehenders . For teachers working on helping children to be prepared for KS2 testing it would be good to see research which focuses on first teaching for all learners where the results are taken from SATs performance. Whether you are in support of year 6 testing or not, they are currently a feature of the UK's education system. In order for children to feel prepared (and hopefully not stressed by uncertainty about the tests) and in order for schools to demonstrate accurately the reading ability of their children, most schools will want to allow children to practise giving written answers to comprehension questions. Would it be too much of a gamble in this case for schools to take an oral-only approach?
Expanding on some of the ideas in this blog post, in previous blog posts I have written about...
- how written responses to questions might be used in primary reading lessons: How To Use Questioning When Teaching Inference-Making
- how lessons might focus on one particular reading strategy or skill: Should We Teach Reading Strategies In Isolation Or In Combination?; Reading Comprehension: A Structured Way Of Teaching Inference-Making
- how to write comprehension questions for use in reading lessons: How To Write Good Comprehension Questions
- how reading skills and strategies might work together to build understanding: Scaffolding Structures for Reading Comprehension Skills
Monday, 3 July 2017
To My Brilliant Year Six Teachers
This was re-blogged on the TES site: https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/sats-year-6-teachers-results-day-there-arent-enough-words-say-thank
Monday, 26 June 2017
From the @TES Blog: Primary and Secondary Teachers Need Each Other — And We Need To Start Viewing Each Other In A More Positive Light
Transition time is fast approaching, and along with it the inevitable discussions about how we can make the move from primary to secondary school smoother for pupils.
Unfortunately, no amount of tutor visits or collaborative projects between key stage 2 and 3 teachers will really bridge the chasm that exists between these two stages.
Attempts to help children cross the threshold are important, and should be continued, but without a more joined-up approach in curriculum and assessment our efforts will never be able to ensure that the learning journey of each child is seamless. For that we need systemic change — something that may not be in our power to effect.
What we do have the power to change, though, is our view of each other.
Click here to read on
Thursday, 4 May 2017
Collection of PowerPoints to Introduce the 2019 KS2 SATs Tests (with Emojis!)
They use questions from the 2016 KS2 test to remind children of test techniques and tips that will help them to do their best on the day.
Reasoning: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/powerpoint-to-introduce-the-2017-ks2-sats-mathematics-reasoning-test-papers-2-and-3-with-emojis-11595567
Arithmetic: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/powerpoint-to-introduce-the-2017-ks2-sats-arithmetic-test-paper-1-with-emojis-11594343
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/powerpoint-to-introduce-the-2017-ks2-sats-spelling-punctuation-and-grammar-test-with-emojis-11593369
Reading: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/powerpoint-to-introduce-the-2017-ks2-sats-reading-test-with-emojis-11589341
Some reviews:
"All the things I say over and over again but with the added bonus of emojis. Maybe this will embed the message just that little more! Fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing."
"Excellent overview of the new SATS - thank you!"
"Thank you its just what I need for the final push."
"Good fun: will make my class smile and remember some of those important things they might forget when exam nerves set in. Thank you for sharing!"
"A wonderfully lighthearted PowerPoint to alleviate the concerns of any Y6 pupils anticipating the reading paper. Straight-to-the-point and precise, with smiley faces to boot. Cheers for pulling it together - may the force be with them."
"Have downloaded all these! Made me chuckle but gets the point across. It's also reassuring to know that all the little niggles I had with these tests, children are doing all over the country! TICK ONE BOX!!!!!!! AARGGH!"
Year 6 Teachers, You've Got This! Your 5-Step Game Plan for SATs Week 2017
The latest in my series of blog posts for Third Space Learning focuses on SATs week itself. The focus is on teacher and pupil wellbeing and provides 5 steps to take to ensure year 6 teachers and pupils aren't too frazzled by the end of it.
So, the time has come. SATs week 2017 is upon us. On Monday morning, after months (hopefully years) of preparation, the nation's Year 6 children will sit down to the first of 2017's Key Stage 2 National Assessments.
Year 6 teachers across the land will be pacing halls and classrooms, catching glimpses of questions and hoping beyond hope that the primary school children in their classes will do their very best.
And I assume you're probably one of those teachers, or a supportive Head or SLT member.
You'll be feeling a heady mix of excitement and nervousness while anticipating the children’s chance to show off all they've learned. You might also be wondering what on earth the test-writers have come up with this time.
Click here to read on over at the Third Space Learning blog: http://thirdspacelearning.com/blog/2017/year-6-teachers-you-ve-got-this-your-5-step-game-plan-for-2017-ks2-sats
Monday, 17 April 2017
Preparing For SATs: Advice For Year 6 Teachers (Part 2)
Monday, 27 March 2017
Preparing For SATs: Advice For Year 6 Teachers
Year 6 teacher, click here for my top 5 tips on how to preserve your sanity over the next few weeks!
Whole blog post hosted at the Third Space Learning blog.
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
SATs Results - My Experience and an Optimistic Response
Saturday, 28 May 2016
I Thought I'd Lose My Job.
Sunday, 24 April 2016
A Year 6 Teacher's Vows
Friday, 19 February 2016
Yo-Yo Pricing: The New Revised Deadline

Year 2 and 6 teachers - today we all became victims of 'Yo-Yo Pricing'.
The biggest education news in the last 24 hours is of course Nick Gibb's confirmation that "the department would listen to the concerns raised by the sector regarding the deadlines for this year’s assessments at key stage 1 and 2...". The department's response? They have introduced "a new revised deadline of 30 June for both."
'Yo-Yo Pricing' is a standard trick in the aisles of this country's supermarkets. Here's a definition of it: A product is sold at an inflated price for a limited period at low volume in just a few stores, then rolled out across all stores at the lower price. So, a pack of hot cross buns (let's keep this seasonal) is emblazoned with a '50p off' sticker, suggesting great value for money, and we all buy two packets because they're such a bargain. What we don't know is that's actually just the normal intended price and that for a week, at the back of a handful of stores, they were selling hot cross buns (out of season) for 50p more than the 'new price'. It's a great swizz.
And so is the "new revised deadline". Let's cast our minds back, ooh, say, a year? When was the old un-revised deadline? 26th June. And all of a sudden, with a bit of yo-yo pricing, low and behold, the new revised deadline is 30th June. Yes, it came via 27th May, but that's the equivalent of the product which is sold at an inflated price for a limited period at low volumes in just a few stores, isn't it? They've not conceded anything. It's just gone back to how it was before. It smacks of being a pre-meditated political bargaining chip. Maybe the conversation went like this:
DfE bod 1: We know they'll complain, and unions will probably make ultimatums, so let's make sure we've got something we are happy to change to show that we're listening to them.