1. Political Upheaval
After a BUSY week in politics, you shared your views on all the shenanigans.
FIRST, for the past 5 years we’ve tracked how sad you are to see each education secretary go…
Nadhim racked up a whole 4% of you sad to see him leave. If this seems low, remember: it’s 4 times more popular than Gavin Williamson (1%).
And just 1% of you were sad to see Michelle Donelan go. After 36 hours.
By Thursday, there was a new Ed Sec: James Cleverly.
And who better to tell him what he needs to know in his new role, than YOU Tappsters?!
We asked you to share your (up to) 280 characters words of wisdom for James… Some of you only needed 4 letters! 👀
Anyway, here’s a censored word cloud which we’ve passed over to the government. Let’s see if they listen 👂
2. Shoving & Pushing
A small observation in a question this week prompted a big thought: When we talk about ‘behaviour’ in school, how much are we thinking about shoving or pushing? Because it seems like we should.
Over a week, 67% of primary teachers and 73% of secondary teachers said they had seen students shoving and pushing.
On the one hand, this won’t be surprising to anyone who spends time around children. On the other hand, think of it from the child’s point of view. Is it pleasant to walk around corridors knowing that this happens? Is it an inevitable part of school life? And what might reduce it?
We have more findings on behaviour in last week’s blog if you’re interested.
3. Sports Day 🏃♂️
Love it or hate it, sports day has returned for most of you.
But where does it take place?😲
75% of primary teachers said that sports day takes place on their school field whereas 68% of secondary teachers said the same 🧐
How come? Because 19% of secondary teachers travel to another setting for sports day, compared to primary counterparts (16%).
Schools in London are most likely to travel to another setting (49%) and have their sports day on the school playground versus the field (9%).
Students are often baffled when they see their teachers engage in any type of human behaviour outside the classroom.
So when it comes to sports day, do you have a teacher’s race and if so, would you join in?
It’s worth noting that 59% of you said that you don’t have a teacher’s race and 4% said that you don’t have sports days at all!
But for those of you who do have a teacher’s race, who’s most likely to join in?
🥁🥁🥁
63% of EYFS and KS1 teachers were up for the challenge (and fun)!! 💪 KS2 teachers weren’t far behind with 61% of you saying you’d join in.
In secondary, science teachers (48%) tied with other subject teachers including PE teachers – who would’ve seen that coming? English teachers (35%) prefer to watch their colleagues from the sidelines.
What have we learnt here?
Primary teachers are more fun than secondary teachers 👀 (Just kidding!).
4. KS4 Work Experience
At the request of a Tapper, secondary teachers were asked if KS4 students have a two-week work experience!
Only 7% of you said yes and 46% said they get one-week work experience.
We analysed the results by region and found that a two-week work experience for KS4 students is more likely to happen in the East of England (10%) and least likely to happen in the South West (4%).
But, hold your horses 🐎
The South West is also the most likely to offer a one-week work experience (68%) which is 19 percentage points more than the second-highest region, the South East (49%).
57% of respondents in Yorkshire and the North East don’t offer work experience for KS4 at all.
There are clearly some significant disparities across the country in relation to KS4 work experience, the question of whether they hinder students who miss out on the experience remains to be seen.
5. Missing SATs Marks 📚
In yet another turn of events in the world of education, 20% of you said that you were missing some SATs marks.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any data from prior years to know how widespread it is ordinarily. But it certainly seems to be causing more consternation on social media this year compared to previous. (We can check next year to see how normal, or how endemic, it is!)
One view was that it might be region related: but most have been evenly hit.
Finally… we know you love the daily read, so here are the ones from last week
The most read tip from the past week was: 12 Facts about latest education secretary James Cleverly
