- Follow Freeing the Angel on WordPress.com
-
Recent Posts
- EYFS Reforms Consultation Response
- Learning: Not At School
- Simply Put
- Wagging the Dog
- Growing Weather
- Coping with Critique
- Humble
- A Child Called It
- The Medium and the Message
- Joining the Dots
- In Partnership
- Navigate the World
- The Power
- Advice for NQTs
- The Wrong Sort of Child
- Expected Standard
- The Trouble with Knowledge
- The Firmest Foundations
- If You Build It
- A Bad Idea
Category Archives: Children
Eyes of a Child
“A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.” Groucho Marx You are drifting along the canals of Amsterdam, gazing out of the windows at the houseboats that line the banks. Outside the windows … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Parenting, Schools
Leave a comment
Education For All?
“Schools for all – institutions which include everybody, celebrate differences, support learning, and respond to individual needs” The Salamanca Statement In 1994, not all that long after I started teaching, the UK was one of 92 governments and 25 international … Continue reading
Posted in Behaviour, Children, Inclusion
6 Comments
Word Up
“If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men, and become merely machines for eating and for earning money.” John Updike Earlier this week I was lucky enough to go to the House of … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Communication, Early Years, Listening, Speaking, Talk
3 Comments
Saving the Children
Today, the charity Save the Children published a report entitled “Untapped Potential” about children’s outcomes in early years settings, and the qualification levels of early years staff, focusing particularly on private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings. While I wouldn’t disagree … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Early Years, EYFS, Preschools
11 Comments
Absorbed
Sometimes by ‘engagement’ we mean ‘busy’, although just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you’re moving forwards. You might be busy doing the thing badly. Some skills need you to stay busy to learn them, and for a teacher to watch … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Learning
Leave a comment
So Over That
The picture above is (I am reliably informed) of a Pokémon character called Oshawott. My daughter drew it for an art competition when she was eight years old. She didn’t win a prize with her picture, but she was so … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Learning
Leave a comment
Holiday Knowledge
(Festival Internacional de Jardins 2016, Ponte de Lima) “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.” Isaac Newton We know how to jump over a sprinkler, and we are at least Olympic standard at … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Holidays, Knowledge, Learning
Leave a comment
Rank
Today I walked back up the lane with my daughter and her friend after meeting them at the school bus. Her friend had the Year 6 SATs results in hand. Her friend is bright, so there will be celebration and … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Parenting, SATs, Testing
2 Comments
Fragments
Forty years is a long time. The memories come back to me as fragments. I’m standing at the school gates with my mum. I don’t want to go in. I cling to her arm, desperate not to be separated. The … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Mental Health
3 Comments
Educating the Babies
It’s a funny thing, the Early Years Foundation Stage, because it runs from birth to five years old. It is the longest key stage of all. These are the halcyon days before the State insists that you must educate your … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Early Years, EYFS, Parents, Play
3 Comments