Blogs

Calling all members - don't miss STEM Learning’s brand new podcast STEM Insights where we'll help you turn the latest research into practice! Our education team have many years of teaching experience, and will be discussing all of the latest news, research and hot topics for you to implement in your classroom - why not catch up while you're commuting to school, then join the discussion on STEM Community? It's available to listen to on the Community homepage and on Spotify, Amazon Music & Apple Podcasts.

The first episode features @Paul Thornton's thoughts on the attainment gap widening at Key Stages 2 & Key Stage 4, former primary teachers @Tanya Shields & @Sarah Dagnell on using the ShREC approach and @Chris Carr's review of T Levels so far.

Please tell us what you think! We'd also love to hear ideas on topics that you’d like us to explore in future episodes - or topics you’d like to join us to discuss. 

Latest news

We couldn't quite squeeze everything into STEM Insights - so here's a selection of news stories and resources we've spotted recently which we think you'll find interesting...

Changing views on Ofsted, ‘good lessons’, deputies, and more: How are teachers' views changing on Ofsted, lessons, deputy heads and pay? A unique insight into the minds of teachers across the UK, courtesy of Teacher Tapp.

Early years & primary

Opening up the wonderful world of childrens' imagination with Life’s Big Questions: The Dreamachine Schools free education programme, for students aged 7 – 11, encourages them to delve deep inside their minds and stimulate their wildest imaginations. Story from Schools Week.

Help us to build the change with the LEGO Group and The Day: A free weekly sustainability resource that challenges students to use their creativity to build solutions to environmental concerns. This resource is completely FREE and gives students and educators a new topic to discuss every single week. Story from Schools Week.

Secondary

Secondary schools are facing a 6,000 trainee teacher shortfall: Analysis shows the government is thousands off its teacher target this year. Recruitment is getting worse in some subjects, exacerbating teacher retention issues. The article provides links to datasets to explore the trends for yourself and may be useful for programme planning. Story from Schools Week.

Post-16

T-level results 2022: A third achieve top grades but digital proves toughest subject. The results for the first wave of T-levels in educational and childcare, construction and digital have been published. Results are encouraging but there are some issues such as retention and access to universities requiring further investigation. Story from Schools Week.

Research, evaluation & blogs

Digging further into the Key Stage 2 attainment gap: Provisional KS2 statistics are showing a worrying increase in the disadvantage gap index, with Maths a particular concern. Blog from FFT Education Datalab.

Using worked examples to support problem solving: The EEF’s Bob Pritchard explains how worked examples can support pupils problem solving skills. Blog provided by EEF.

Back to school - supporting progress through the academic year: A round up of the key EEF resources that can support high quality teaching this academic year. Blog provided by EEF.

General updates

Early career teachers are at particular risk of leaving the profession in their first two years. Those in year 2 of ECT will benefit from more subject specific support and tailored sessions to meet their needs. Please share any success stories of engagement with the Specialist SLP for Early Careers Teachers with @Mark Langley or @Sarah Longshaw - m.langley@stem.org.uk; s.longshaw@stem.org.uk

The next suite of maths for A level biology, chemistry and physics courses is coming up in November. We're looking for feedback as to how versions of these courses may be evolved throughout the network. Please contact @Stephen Lyon with any suggestions - s.lyon@stem.org.uk

The DfE have produced a curriculum hub visual map, a ‘one-stop’ shop for school leaders to navigate the hub support available and how to access it. It contains links to the new gov.uk pages which give further detail into each curriculum programme offer:

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