Continuing our focus this month on all aspects of sustainability, from menu evaluations to energy-saving initiatives, Clare Cox, Sustainability Lead at Pearson, shares with Education Today some of the steps schools are taking to become more sustainable, and collates key tips and advice from leading voices across the sector.
Featuring this month in Education Today is Becki Huth, the Sustainability and Forest School Lead at Cutteslowe Primary School, which is part of the Riverside Learning Trust in Oxford. She tells us about the wide-ranging sustainability initiatives that have been implemented at her school and the surprising impact they have had on both the pupils and the school community.
Q: What are some of the underlying causes or factors that contribute to maths anxiety in students in your opinion?
For teachers, a key part of our roles is sharing our love for our subject and inspiring the new generation, yet we’re faced with many students struggling with maths anxiety. Although causes vary from student to student, there do seem to be some common trends.
Key considerations include attitudes towards maths at home, in the classroom and on social media. For example, how do their teachers and families respond to making mistakes in maths? It’s also important to consider the mathematical experiences of students at home and in the classroom; is the focus on numbers and recall or exploration and discovery?
Maths is really everywhere, I think, and there are lots of ways to access it. Many problems in our society now require maths to be solved.
Maths can also help students understand the world more, for example when they’re thinking about finances; budgets and taxes. Even for life at home, it helps develop problem-solving skills and increase creativity.
As of March 2022, women made up 16.5% of all engineers in the UK, compared to the 10.5% reported in 20101. While we may be tempted to say the jump from 1 in 10 engineers being women to 1 in 7 shows progress, these figures still reflect the fact that the number of female engineering students persistently sits below 20% in higher education (HE). Much has been written about the myriad ways in which people have tried to address this issue and yet stubbornly these statistics – and their impact upon minority groups – prevails.
Suha Yassin, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead at Pearson, outlines some of the challenges facing schools today when it comes to SEND provision, and offers her thoughts on how these can be overcome.
LONDON, UK – Report reveals primary teachers believe eBooks have a positive impact on children’s reading for pleasure, reading choice, motivation, comprehension and independent reading, yet access to these resources remains out of reach for the majority.
Throughout history, musical instruments have traditionally been designed for performers with a clear assumption in mind: every individual has two hands, ten fingers and equal functionality across those digits. This bias towards non-disabled performers has typically made certain instruments and musical styles inaccessible to musicians who do not satisfy these prescriptive criteria.
Since the start of the national curriculum, food has been part of Design and Technology (D&T). But with a potential review of the subject likely to be incoming – and the majority of teachers saying they want food to be separated from D&T – is it time to explore alternatives for the way schools impart important skills and knowledge in food and nutrition?