Pearson Schools Blog

Our fairgrounds have brightened up British life for centuries. The newest title for the Bug Club reading series, The Show Must Go On, shines a rare spotlight on the travelling Showman community, with an engaging tale about a family defending their yard from incoming developers.

The book’s authors – Michelle Russell, whose family spans several generations within the Showman community, and Richard O’Neill, a Traditional Travelling person who has created a number of authentic and positively representative books about the community – discuss their hopes and inspirations.

If a student believes they are not good at maths it can have a negative impact on their attitude and confidence, not to mention their achievement in the subject and interest in future maths careers.

Maths has the power to open a world of new doors and possibilities for students, but it’s also a subject where children and adults alike can lack confidence. This lack of confidence can go on to act as a barrier to engagement and progress in the subject, not to mention shape what careers young people choose to enter, or avoid. 

Over the past year we’ve been working behind the scenes with Reach Academy Feltham to bring you a new, whole-school curriculum for Primary History and Geography. 

For many schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning has been the key to sustaining a semblance of normality. 

When you think of the future of AI in education, what images come to your mind? Visions of screens? Robotics and circuitry? I wonder if your first thought includes any people; the close and crucial relationships between leaders and pupils, educators, communities and employers that shape the world around us.

If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that enabling learning for primary children through digital technology is hard without preparation. Schools that had invested in pedagogy, technology and partnerships have ridden the storms of lockdowns better and with less disruption. 

Primary teachers have been amazingly adaptable and creative in their solutions. So much is normally built into the physical spaces and human interactions on top of the formal curriculum, that moving to online resources to deliver the curriculum while maintaining relationships with the children was a big ask.  

As we find a way out of lockdown and the 21/22 academic year comes into view this is a good time to explore how to make digital provision a more natural part of school life by integrating the best aspects of our lockdown experiences.  

In late 2020, a flurry of electrifying poems swept in to be judged for Pearson’s poetry competition on the subject of ‘Belonging’. Inspired by Imtiaz Dharker’s whirlwind exploration of confused identity, In Wales, Wanting To Be Italian (PDF, 211KB), and influenced by pieces from Pearson’s GCSE collection Belonging, British students from Years 9, 10 and 11 submitted a broad selection of brilliant verse.

Research demonstrates that small-group tuition can boost pupils’ progress by several months and that small groups can really benefit from collaborative learning. What’s more, ‘learning together’ encourages pupils to form a supportive bond that can continue long after a tutoring session. The learning that happens in small groups can be hugely rewarding, both for students and their tutors.