Teachers are often told they need to be a guide on the side rather than a sage on the stage.
 Michael Zwaagstra disagrees wholeheartedly. In this collection of articles, one of Canada’s best-known education writers debunks the fads that are shortchanging children all over the world, from no-zero policies and discovery math to the 21st-century skills movement. And he makes a positive case for the things that really work: direct instruction, knowledge-rich classrooms, and lots of practice. If you care about improving teaching and learning, and empowering educators with the tools they need to be effective, this book is for you. Learn More

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2020. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Built on the foundation of all learning, the human memory system, Cognitive Load Theory details the exact actions that teachers can take to maximise student outcomes. Written under the guidance, and thoroughly reviewed by the originator of CLT, John Sweller, this practical guide summarises over 30 years of research in this field into clear and easily understandable terms.This book is the next in a series that began with Tom Sherrington’s Rosenshine’s Principles in Action (2019).

Tom Sherrington is the editor of the In Action series.

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Critical and compelling, How to Educate a Citizen galvanizes our schools to equip children with the power of shared knowledge. Learn More

This is a book for classroom teachers. Chris and Mark offer a range of practical examples for nurturing deep learning in mathematics that can be adapted and embedded in one's own classroom practice. This is also a book for those who are interested in the theory behind tasks. The authors and their interviewees examine the key role tasks play in shaping learning, teaching, curriculum and assessment.

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Curriculum to Classroom is the ideal book for senior leaders and curriculum leads who are in the process of establishing, refining and reviewing their school curriculum. It provides an overview of the curriculum design and delivery process in the Primary phase in its entirety.

This book will enable you to consider the many facets of curriculum design and support strategic decision making so your curriculum is meeting and exceeding the expectations of the National Curriculum as well as being unique and bespoke to your school community.

An easy-to-read handbook to prompt thinking and reflections on your school's curriculum and provide practical tools and strategies to take it forward.

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What is the best approach for helping students to understand higher level concepts? How can specific subject knowledge be implemented in lessons?

Ready to Teach: Macbeth brings together the deep subject knowledge, resources and classroom strategies needed to teach Shakespeare’s tragic play, as well as the pedagogical theory behind why these ideas work, helping teachers to deliver a knowledge-rich curriculum with impact. 

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The book discusses two opposed models of school improvement: the deficit model (which assumes problems are someone’s fault) and the surplus model (which assumes problems are unintended systemic flaws). By aligning ourselves to a surplus model we can create a system of Intelligent Accountability. Learn More

We’re often told that there are no quick fixes in teaching. This isn’t entirely true… And post-lockdown, we need speedy fixes more than ever to get our students of English back on track. This book will show you how set texts can be reduced in a way that makes them richer. It will reveal how seemingly obscure literary theory can help learners of all abilities achieve rapidly. And it will help us prepare and revise for dreaded unseen texts, using the precious days we have with students in the most efficient way. Learn More

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Teacher Resilience explores how we can build a more resilient mindset, and what practical actions we can take to be the best version of ourselves in the classroom.

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Grammatix is a creative and inspiring guide to the theory and use of grammar, for teachers, parents and students. It is designed to show you that grammar is a magical tool that can aid your thinking and help you to communicate. Endorsed by the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB). Learn More

Firmly rooted in research evidence of what works within the classroom for our most disadvantaged students, Disciplinary Literacy and Explicit Vocabulary Teaching offers teachers and school leaders practical ways in which those students who are behind in their literacy capabilities can make excellent progress.

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In this book, brain and behavioural research is combined with respected philosophy in order to place ten widely accepted yet rarely examined aspects of education under the microscope.

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Whether considering the art of debate; understanding dialogic teaching methods; the necessity of questioning; or the ability to assess and develop these skills, this book has been written by a classroom teacher, for classroom teachers, in the hope that oracy is recognised for its significance to improving students’ life skills and aspirations.

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This no-nonsense handbook is for the busy classroom teacher, with clear techniques for planning, instruction, and assessment, as well as sections on teaching students with diverse needs and exceptionalities.

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DISCOUNT ON A BUNDLE OF 10 COPIES OF RUNNING THE ROOM: IDEAL FOR ALL-STAFF CPD

Good behaviour is the beginning of great learning. All children deserve classrooms that are calm, safe spaces where everyone is treated with dignity.

Creating that space is one of the most important things a teacher needs to be able to do. But all too often teachers begin their careers with the bare minimum of training - or worse, none.

How students behave, socially and academically, dictates whether or not they will succeed or struggle in school. Every child comes to the classroom with different skills, habits, values and expectations of what to do. There's no point just telling a child to behave; behaviour must be taught.

Behaviour is a curriculum. This simple truth is the beginning of creating a classroom culture where everyone flourishes: pupils and staff.

Running the Room is the teacher's guide to behaviour. Practical, evidence-informed, and based on the expertise of great teachers from around the world, it addresses the things teachers really need to know to build the classrooms children need.

Bursting with strategies, tips and solid advice, it brings together the best of what we know and saves teachers, new or old, from reinventing the wheels of the classroom. It's the book teachers have been waiting for.

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PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2020. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

The Ofsted Inspection Framework states that cultural capital is 'The essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens' and that schools 'should be introducing [students] to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement'. They are now considering, 'the extent to which schools are equipping pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.' But what does this term mean? And how are schools to respond to this?

In this densely argued and wide ranging text, Phil Beadle answers those questions and many more by using the work of Pierre Bourdieu to prompt a discussion of how we improve the provision of cultural capital in our schools. Where does the best that has been thought and said come from? Why is the government importing the unexamined language of the private school into the state sector? What is the real purpose behind character education? Does sport, as is reputed, teach resilience, and why would anyone think it was appropriate to teach children a quality they already have? Is cultural capital just ruling class culture? Chiefly, does using a term originated by a French intellectual and radical sociologist to instate the culture of the rich as being superior prove anything other more a complete absence of thought, or have they accidentally given us a radical tool to change education for the better? This is a serious, rich and deeply intelligent piece of work that will radically alter the way we view culture in schools and will be a key text for anyone designing a curriculum.

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A free-to-download resource to help your school enhance wellbeing in pupils. 

Click here for the free PDF download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3j0an9eh1w1x1u/MBS%202%20for%20download.pdf?dl=0

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This Workbook seeks to further the recent engagement with Rosenshine's Principles in Action by providing a thought-provoking and reflective guide designed to encourage teachers in all settings to become self-aware practitioners.

BUNDLE OF FIVE COPIES FOR £15. SINGLE COPIES CAN BE ORDERED VIA AMAZON.CO.UK

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For the last 15 years, Dr James Mannion and Kate McAllister have been working to design, implement and evaluate the Learning Skills curriculum - a systematic approach to helping students become more confident, practice, self-regulated learners.

An eight-year evaluation with the University of Cambridge revealed that Learning Skills led to significant gains in subject learning, with rapid gains among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In this practical guide for teachers and school leaders, James and Kate reveal a recipe for success rooted in three key concepts: metacognition (reflecting on learning); self-regulation (taking ownership over the learning process); and oracy (developing high-quality speaking and listening skills).

This is a book about what happened when a small team of teachers seized an opportunity to provide their students with the knowledge, the skills and the confidence to take control of their own learning. This journey began with a question: how and what would we teach, if there was no one watching? On the other side of fear is the teacher you want to be, and the children you'd like to teach…

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In this researchED Guide to Assessment, Sarah Donarski brings together chapters by Dylan Wiliam, Tom Sherrington, Alison Peacock and many others to consider the debates, critique the strategies and find solutions that not only better the progress of pupils but also assist the wellbeing and manageability of workload for staff. Learn More

Teaching is tough, yet its rewards are huge. Every teacher wants to carry on getting better and better at what they do, but when you have so much on your plate already and only so many hours in the day, how can you find time for professional development?

That’s where 60-Second CPD comes in. This book is a compendium of 239 easily accessible ideas and theories for professional development, each digestible in roughly 60 seconds. It’s a book that every teacher and leader, in every primary and secondary school, can return to again and again as the year moves on and their career progresses.

Hanna Beech and Ross Morrison McGill have distilled the million and one ideas out there into one practical, concise and inspiration-packed book designed to build knowledge, provide opportunities for deep thought and reflection, and facilitate the sharing of ideas among colleagues and teams.

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For bulk purchases, email as@johncatt.com or CLICK HERE for a bundle of 10 copies for £100.

Good behaviour is the beginning of great learning. All children deserve classrooms that are calm, safe spaces where everyone is treated with dignity.

Creating that space is one of the most important things a teacher needs to be able to do. But all too often teachers begin their careers with the bare minimum of training - or worse, none.

How students behave, socially and academically, dictates whether or not they will succeed or struggle in school. Every child comes to the classroom with different skills, habits, values and expectations of what to do. There's no point just telling a child to behave; behaviour must be taught.

Behaviour is a curriculum. This simple truth is the beginning of creating a classroom culture where everyone flourishes: pupils and staff.

Running the Room is the teacher's guide to behaviour. Practical, evidence-informed, and based on the expertise of great teachers from around the world, it addresses the things teachers really need to know to build the classrooms children need.

Bursting with strategies, tips and solid advice, it brings together the best of what we know and saves teachers, new or old, from reinventing the wheels of the classroom. It's the book teachers have been waiting for.

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Thousands of amazing, experienced teachers are choosing to leave the profession, depriving generations of students of their passion and expertise. But it doesn't need to be this way. Preserving Positivity explores the reasons why people are choosing to leave the classroom and draws on the voices of other experienced teachers who tell us how they turned their careers around and give practical, adaptable strategies that will help you reignite your passion for teaching and bring the positivity back into your classroom. Learn More

The Knowledge Quiz series is a deviously simple and effective way for students to revise. Put together by subject experts, these easy-to-use books feature tear-out quizzes to help students memorise the large body of knowledge that forms the basis of success in exams. Learn More

So, you want to be an academy trust leader? This book shows you how.

Sir David Carter started his career as a music teacher in several comprehensive schools before spending thirty years in school leadership before becoming one of the first Regional Schools Commissioners and then National School Commissioner.

He knows what it feels like to be responsible for multiple schools and how the best leaders make large-scale collaboration work for their teachers, pupils, parents and the whole community.

This personal and accessible book shares the recipe for understanding the purpose of academy trust leadership and give insider knowledge of how to do it well and with all stakeholders at the forefront of your mission.

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The past decade in education focused on what works. The decade ahead must focus on what matters. In his second book, Stephen Tierney argues that it is time for the purpose of education to move to the centre of the debate.

Why we educate is a question from which all else evolves. A question for all times, it will resonate deeply with those who have experienced the Great Pause caused by the global pandemic in 2020. And it is a question that we need to answer, because that purpose will determine what schools and the education system as a whole will do next.

Proposing that the telos of education must be a life well-lived, Tierney argues for a re-purposing of education. He provides the theory of four philosophies of education - personal empowerment, cultural transmission, preparation for work and preparation for citizenship - alongside a powerful critique that challenges the current orthodoxy.

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Thinking Deeply about Primary Mathematics is a comprehensive exploration of the ideas, theories and practices of most value to beginning teachers, as well as any teacher with the desire to improve their practice.

Immediately applicable in the classroom and supported by robust analysis of research into mathematics teaching, this book is designed to provide inspiration for specialised teaching assignments with the power to enhance both the rate and quality of your professional development journey.

Through the use of expertly crafted explanations, examples and tasks, each chapter will guide you step by step through the otherwise intimidating world of primary mathematics teaching.

This book is perfect for teachers driven to become highly effective practitioners. It also serves as a blueprint for school leaders looking to develop the abilities of their teachers and ensure the highest quality mathematics education for all children.

Teacher proficiency is a vast uneven continuum but in taking time to think deeply about primary mathematics we allow ourselves with the opportunity to build a solid base from which a successful, fulfilling career can be constructed.

The insight and expertise provided by Thinking Deeply About Primary Mathematics is essential for anyone involved in the teaching of mathematics.

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There are a lot of redundant processes in schools. We need to take a hard look at these and consider whether they are adding value to the core purpose of schools.

We need to apply Greg McKeown's 'disciplined pursuit of less' in order to create the time and space to do deep, satisfying work on the curriculum.

This means that there will be some hard choices and recognise that if we cannot do everything, we need to move to a space which acknowledges there will be trade offs.

This is more than a workload issue, it is about focusing our efforts on the most important agenda item in schools today - the development of an ambitious curriculum for every child, in every school.

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AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER

Education Exposed 2 follows on from Sam Strickland's first book, Education Exposed. The book is a pacy, punchy and forthright critique of how to drive the curriculum, behaviour and teaching within a school and the pivotal role that leadership plays in pursuing the halcyon dream. The book is neatly laid out, with each chapter identifying common curricular misconceptions, posing lots of key questions to consider and offering multiple practical ideas that you can take away. Every chapter ends with five key takeaway points for you to carefully consider.

The books neatly interplays theory, research, Sam's expertise and experience coupled with a practical and real-world approach. The first section of the book champions the importance of the curriculum and knowledge. The second section examines behaviour and how this can be driven by senior leaders coupled routine driven approach to learning. This section also takes you through a series of curriculum tools and teaching approaches that will assist you in thinking about how to implement and drive the curriculum. The third section of the book examines leadership; how leaders can champion the teacher as the expert and how a school culture can be supported and monitored carefully.

Education Exposed 2 is relevant for anyone working in a school, irrespective of their position or role. It is designed to be an accessible, versatile and quick read. Equally, it can be used as a dip-in and dip-out guide. Multiple practical approaches and strategies are offered as key take-away points.

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The best-selling author of Teach Like a Champion and Reading Reconsidered brings his considerable knowledge about the science of classroom teaching to the sports coaching world, with the aim of creating championship caliber coaches on the court and field.

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Designed to open up the flexible working conversation in education, this book outlines what can work, what has worked and what could work. This new way of viewing the flexi narrative from an experienced flex-pert encourages all to revisit our views on flexible working.

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Every school can be outstanding. This book will show you what is really holding your school back and the three culture strategies you need to put in place to create a genuinely outstanding school.

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Stephen Tierney seeks to help leaders explore their own capabilities and potential. Leadership can be learnt. The three Ways – Being, Knowing and Doing – represent a mirror to help leaders reflect upon and improve their practice. In turn, current leaders are called upon to accept the responsibility to grow the leaders of the future.

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This book is full of simple, practical, formative assessment techniques and strategies, based on real classroom practices, repeated across the range of ages and abilities at secondary levels, in a variety of schools, that have been repeatedly shown to significantly improve examination results, and student involvement in lessons.

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Tanya Ovenden-Hope (Editor) brings together insights from those most closely connected to the ECF; the training providers, school leaders and academics involved in understanding the efficacy of professional development and learning in schools.

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This book is packed with practical examples of how research can be implemented in Economics lessons looking at explanations, misconceptions, assessment, curriculum and much more. While the book summarises what the research tells us about pupil learning, this is fundamentally a ‘doing’ book.

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‘Generation Lockdown Writes’ is a collection of the winning entries from a creative writing competition launched at the beginning of the first coronavirus lockdown in April 2020. The competition was open for young people aged 7-17 and the only rule was that submissions had to provide an insight into what life was like for them in lockdown.

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Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, draws on her years of expertise and access to decision-makers to expose the gap between ministerial rhetoric and the daily reality encountered by teachers, and outlines a set of proposals to move beyond the seemingly perennial crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.

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Emma Turner outlines the unique considerations needed for designing and implementing a rich, high-quality primary curriculum which serves our youngest learners – a blend of academic thinking, educational research, the wisdom of decades of primary experience and a true love of the unique nature of primary.

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Over the past five years, Ollie Lovell has spoken to 60 of the world’s most prominent teachers, leaders, and education researchers. This book summarises the most useful techniques, tactics and mental models from these conversations, and presents them in a clear, practical, and actionable form for you to start improving your teaching and learning.

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Everything you need to know about independent schools and colleges in London and the South-East. Now in its 33rd edition. Learn More

Ready to Teach: A Christmas Carol brings together the deep subject knowledge, resources and classroom strategies needed to teach Dickens’s most famous Christmas story, as well as the pedagogical theory behind why these ideas work, helping teachers to deliver a knowledge-rich curriculum with impact. Learn More

After extensive reading, engaging with research and working with schools, Kate Jones has written a guide that explores how retrieval practice can work in a primary school context. The book begins with research then focuses on classroom application, covering curriculum design, task and question design with retrieval practice

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This book provides a stimulating insight into the current state of the art of professional learning networks and the transformative difference they are poised to make to our educational future. Drawing on a wealth of expertise, each chapter is written by leading thinkers and doers in the field, and covers a range of topics and emerging areas.

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From Camouflage to Classroom is about everything George Vlachonikolis learned with the Army in Afghanistan and has brought to his classroom teaching today. George aims to explore the role of the classroom teacher from an original perspective: one based on military principles and practice.

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Teach to the Top is a research-informed guide to aspirational teaching, focusing on how embedding higher-level knowledge in the classroom empowers students to succeed and to enjoy learning.

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Written under the guidance and with the support of Dylan Wiliam, Kate Jones writes about five formative assessment strategies in action in the classroom. Building on the highly successful work of Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy, ideas are shared and misconceptions with formative assessment are addressed with lots of practical advice.

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In The Feedback Pendulum, Michael Chiles aims to explore how the use of feedback has evolved over time, drawing on a combination of research and sharing experiences, and examples of best practices across the different phases of education to establish a culture of efficient and effective feedback that supports the teaching and learning cycle.

This book will unpick the research, the experience of expert practitioners, and practical strategies in the different phases of education, including: the evolution of feedback over time; pre-school feedback; primary and secondary school feedback; specialist education feedback; parental feedback; and CPD feedback.

Includes a foreword by Chris Moyse and closing thoughts from John Hattie.

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In Running the Room: The Teacher's Guide to Behaviour, Tom Bennett rewrote the book on behaviour management, and outlined the psychology and dynamics underpinning student habits. In this companion, he goes into more detail about how to apply those principles to the classroom. Learn More