David Watkins

Or, how year 10 finally grow up and realise there is a big bad world out there which they are about to join… Work experience1 is one of the things schools are cutting back on, whilst still offering it in some capacity to year 10 students (and year 12). By cutting back, I mean work experience used to be two weeks, but is now only one in many schools I know of. Found on the splended Know Your…

*or don’t worry folks, the heat wave will be over soon1. Ah Sports Day, that annual event despised by many teachers and students, but equally adored by others. At my previous school, we2 tried to make Sports Day a more exclusive event by including sports such as Ultimate Frisbee3 and Rounders. Of course the usual track and field events ran alongside it, culminating in an afternoon of students…

Social Media is in the news in the U.K. again. The Government has introduced legislature to ban social media for all under 16s, starting from Spring 2027. Australia paved the way for this, but now many other countries are joining in and looking at either banning or severely curtailing social media use for teenagers1. Note I’m not talking about countries2 where there are outright bans on social…

A very good friend of mine is currently doing some work as an invigilator1 and last week, when we were in the pub, he started to tell some stories about what he’d seen. Our conversation lead to a bigger issue for our young people today, and what we, as teachers can do about it: resilience, or the complete lack of it. We give so much to the students, so many ‘second chances’2 or ‘by tomorrow and…

It’s the final half term1! Think back to September and how long ago that was, and yet simultaneously just like yesterday. Bloody time, messing with our heads and our sense of things – who needs Doctor Who? Anyway, now, in secondary schools2, the exams are in full swing and when you look at your timetable, something weird happens. Your year 11 lessons are still there, as are your year 13 ones3,…

To resign or not to resign, that is the question. Except, it isn’t, because if you’re reading this on Friday at 3:30 when it’s released, it’s already too late: the resignation deadline has passed. Found this on: https://www.artofit.org/ Teachers have to give at least a half term’s notice to end their contract1, and now, with only one half term left, it’s too late. Essentially, it’s two months…

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I wrote a blog about mock exams1. Many schools now have multiple mock phases, some even starting in year 10, but now, finally, with the actual GCSE exams in full swing, the end is here. Sounds ominous doesn’t it? The end is here. The end is nigh. The end is nowhere near, to be honest, it’s just a bunch of exams. Sure, the exams may well decide what you do…

Ah, parents! Who’d be one? It’s about the only thing in adult life you don’t need a license or test to do. Just about anyone can be a parent1, but does that mean everyone should be? That’s not for me to decide2, but if you are going to be a parent, you should at least try to, you know, parent your child. Before anyone thinks about my abilities as a parent, let me share my son’s dyslexia report.…

This time of year is a difficult time for teachers and students. The sun has started shining1, but students are about to do their exams and you are out of time2. It happens like this every year. You start counting down to the exams, comfortably in double figures of lessons then you come back after Easter and bang! single fingers, then none at all. Stressful isn’t it? Time to reflect on your year.…

And we’re back! Did you miss it? The thirty seconds you got to catch up with your work buddies? The rush of thirty (or more) faces looking at you, waiting for you to fill them with your knowledge and expertise? The feeling of panic when you see the queue at the photocopier? Relax, it’s the summer term. The sun is shining1, exam classes are building towards The End, and everything is good with…

Oh thank God for that! Right now you are probably too exhausted to celebrate the achievement of making it through another term, but you should. Switch your laptop off. If you’re a particularly keen1 member of staff, remove all work email from your phone: no notifications, no sneaky reading them. Have some time off. You have earned it. Have some chocolate – why not? Easter is a religious…

What a shit title. The Manosphere. What the hell does that even mean? The world of men? Hasn’t it always been a man’s world? When I sat down to write this today, I’m fresh off watching the acclaimed documentary ‘Into The Manosphere’ by Louis Theroux. It’s advertised as an expose of the world of male influencers1, or at least those that push toxic masculinity to the point of making a shed load of…

There’s two weeks to go until the Easter holidays, and it seems everyone I meet in schools is on their knees. I talked about burnout a couple of weeks ago1, and given it’s now later in the term, the burnout is in danger of turning into long term sickness due to stress. Nice bit of rhyming slang for you… So this seems like a perfect time to discuss something that adds to workload2: parental…

Frequent readers of this blog will know that a major part of my new role is to coach teachers and work with them to improve practice. I am not arrogant enough to think I know everything about teaching1, but I do believe watching others teach is a sure fire way to improve what you do. The easiest place to be in any classroom is the rear of the room, watching what’s going on. Only then do we…

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about possibly moving schools and looking for a new job or challenge. Teachers usually have to give half a term’s notice before resigning and the job market starts to ramp up from now, ready for next September. It has been over twenty years since I was last interviewed, until this morning1. I have, however, sat on many, many interview panels, so…

You’ve been back a week since half term! A whole week at work after a whole week off – you must be flying high, right? Energy levels at the highest they’ve been since September, lessons going brilliantly, students finally accepting you and their behaviour is impeccable, right? Wrong. So, so wrong. Why the hell do we all feel so knackered? Why is the kids behaviour the worst its been all…

Doesn’t it? The average human lives for around 2,240,543,592 seconds, which a mind-bogginly large number. The average UK student spend 117,000 seconds per week in school, or 56,160,000 seconds over an education from 5 to 16 years old. Huge numbers that lack meaning, much like the phrase being bandied about in school ‘Every Second Counts.’ It’s a lovely sounding statement though isn’t it? “Trust…