DamsonEd
@damsoned.bsky.social
Dr Megan Dixon: teacher, leader and researcher. PhD, Psychology. All things education and research - literacy, English, research into practice, curriculum, SEND. TES writer. Based in the UK.
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DamsonEd
@damsoned.bsky.social
· May 8
What schools are doing to tackle the speech and language ‘crisis’
The number of children with speech and language challenges is soaring. And not all of these pupils have SEND. Experts tell Ellen Peirson-Hagger how in-school intervention is possible - and highly effe...
www.tes.com
On the back of this article- a thread of useful places for schools/teachers who are interested in finding out more… as I say, this has been a serious issue for a long time… it would be powerful to get a serious handle on it (with obvious impact on ed outcomes).
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
Reposted by DamsonEd
November 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by DamsonEd
Something lovely is happening today – The Children's Bookshow's Art and llustration Auction: Winter 2025!
Featuring original artwork by some incredible illustrators, every penny will go towards supporting free creative workshops in schools in 2026. 🎨
Learn more here: buff.ly/9wYpWuC ❄️
Featuring original artwork by some incredible illustrators, every penny will go towards supporting free creative workshops in schools in 2026. 🎨
Learn more here: buff.ly/9wYpWuC ❄️
November 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Something lovely is happening today – The Children's Bookshow's Art and llustration Auction: Winter 2025!
Featuring original artwork by some incredible illustrators, every penny will go towards supporting free creative workshops in schools in 2026. 🎨
Learn more here: buff.ly/9wYpWuC ❄️
Featuring original artwork by some incredible illustrators, every penny will go towards supporting free creative workshops in schools in 2026. 🎨
Learn more here: buff.ly/9wYpWuC ❄️
Reposted by DamsonEd
Stand up for SEND and #SLCN.
This is a fantastic report, but it needs your help to reach its audience, do please click the link and send it to Rachel Reeves.
This is a fantastic report, but it needs your help to reach its audience, do please click the link and send it to Rachel Reeves.
We can get better outcomes for children and spend less on SEND.
Share @dcpcampaign.bsky.social and the Speech, Language and Communication Alliance’s new report with Rachel Reeves and tell government what needs to change: https://bit.ly/3Ma04xQ
#FightForOrdinary
Share @dcpcampaign.bsky.social and the Speech, Language and Communication Alliance’s new report with Rachel Reeves and tell government what needs to change: https://bit.ly/3Ma04xQ
#FightForOrdinary
November 28, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Stand up for SEND and #SLCN.
This is a fantastic report, but it needs your help to reach its audience, do please click the link and send it to Rachel Reeves.
This is a fantastic report, but it needs your help to reach its audience, do please click the link and send it to Rachel Reeves.
Reposted by DamsonEd
ENGLISH DEGREES ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
Very heartening report from NFER into future employability. If a student has good A Level results then studying English should safeguard them against the coming AI storm.
www.nfer.ac.uk/key-topics-e...
Very heartening report from NFER into future employability. If a student has good A Level results then studying English should safeguard them against the coming AI storm.
www.nfer.ac.uk/key-topics-e...
November 28, 2025 at 10:35 AM
ENGLISH DEGREES ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
Very heartening report from NFER into future employability. If a student has good A Level results then studying English should safeguard them against the coming AI storm.
www.nfer.ac.uk/key-topics-e...
Very heartening report from NFER into future employability. If a student has good A Level results then studying English should safeguard them against the coming AI storm.
www.nfer.ac.uk/key-topics-e...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Interesting that they've been to Chicago. Issues of later start times are very different in the US, I remember. But I'm sure it will be fine.
November 28, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Interesting that they've been to Chicago. Issues of later start times are very different in the US, I remember. But I'm sure it will be fine.
Reposted by DamsonEd
Revelation of a £20 billon SEND blackhole has sparked a row between the Department for Education and the spending watchdog and upped the stakes on ministers to fix the system before the government absorbs its soaring costs
schoolsweek.co.uk/budget-2025-...
schoolsweek.co.uk/budget-2025-...
£20bn SEND black hole prompts DfE row with spending watchdog
Former adviser says Treasury is 'trying to force the pace' of reforms
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Revelation of a £20 billon SEND blackhole has sparked a row between the Department for Education and the spending watchdog and upped the stakes on ministers to fix the system before the government absorbs its soaring costs
schoolsweek.co.uk/budget-2025-...
schoolsweek.co.uk/budget-2025-...
There was a college that tried this a few years ago.
Ofsted came along and put them into a category.
But I’m sure Lift and Reach will be OK.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Ofsted came along and put them into a category.
But I’m sure Lift and Reach will be OK.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
MAT to pilot later starts as part of KS3 'revolution'
Lift Schools and Reach Foundation launch a programme to tackle disengagement in Years 7 to 9, including testing out a later start to the school day
www.tes.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:23 AM
There was a college that tried this a few years ago.
Ofsted came along and put them into a category.
But I’m sure Lift and Reach will be OK.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Ofsted came along and put them into a category.
But I’m sure Lift and Reach will be OK.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Yay!! I couldn’t be there but Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring just won gold at the APA podcast awards!!
Whole thing was crowdfunded by @the-citizens.bsky.social to highlight 5-year legal case to get an investigation into Russian interference in UK politics. Power to the people!
Whole thing was crowdfunded by @the-citizens.bsky.social to highlight 5-year legal case to get an investigation into Russian interference in UK politics. Power to the people!
November 27, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Yay!! I couldn’t be there but Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring just won gold at the APA podcast awards!!
Whole thing was crowdfunded by @the-citizens.bsky.social to highlight 5-year legal case to get an investigation into Russian interference in UK politics. Power to the people!
Whole thing was crowdfunded by @the-citizens.bsky.social to highlight 5-year legal case to get an investigation into Russian interference in UK politics. Power to the people!
I love Northern Exposure!
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
‘It explored the spectrum of humanity’: the enduring pleasures of Northern Exposure
The quirky early 90s drama ran for 110 episodes, had fans in Joni Mitchell and Bon Iver, and showed one of TV’s first gay weddings. Now, having been forgotten for years, its warm-hearted charms are be...
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
I love Northern Exposure!
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Oxmas is here - our seasonal celebration for students before term ends next week....
November 27, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Oxmas is here - our seasonal celebration for students before term ends next week....
Reposted by DamsonEd
This miyamairi kimono displays a masterful integration of sumi-e ink painting techniques with ceremonial garment construction. The dramatic black upper portion creating a bold contrast that allows the meticulously rendered landscape below to emerge with striking clarity. 1868-1900, Japan
November 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
This miyamairi kimono displays a masterful integration of sumi-e ink painting techniques with ceremonial garment construction. The dramatic black upper portion creating a bold contrast that allows the meticulously rendered landscape below to emerge with striking clarity. 1868-1900, Japan
It’s not the tests that teach the children to read!
This is a ridiculous claim to make.
Data on a spreadsheet never taught anyone anything! 😂😂😂😂
The Yr 8 test will make no difference unless schools know what to do with the findings.
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
This is a ridiculous claim to make.
Data on a spreadsheet never taught anyone anything! 😂😂😂😂
The Yr 8 test will make no difference unless schools know what to do with the findings.
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
Year 8 tests will boost outcomes - our journey proves it
The managing director of Ark Schools argues that more reading assessments could help boost outcomes, as her school group’s journey demonstrates
www.tes.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM
It’s not the tests that teach the children to read!
This is a ridiculous claim to make.
Data on a spreadsheet never taught anyone anything! 😂😂😂😂
The Yr 8 test will make no difference unless schools know what to do with the findings.
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
This is a ridiculous claim to make.
Data on a spreadsheet never taught anyone anything! 😂😂😂😂
The Yr 8 test will make no difference unless schools know what to do with the findings.
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
This is based on old Ofsted curriculum thinking. The C&A Review made it clear that the curriculum conceptualisation has changed. Out with Hirsch, in with Young.
It’s VERY different and schools should not underestimated the challenge.
It’s also for secondary schools. 😂
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
It’s VERY different and schools should not underestimated the challenge.
It’s also for secondary schools. 😂
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
How to design a CPD curriculum
Without a clear curriculum, knowledge is forgotten, habits don't shift and progress stalls – and this is just as true for teachers' learning as it is for pupils', writes Mark Enser
www.tes.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:20 AM
This is based on old Ofsted curriculum thinking. The C&A Review made it clear that the curriculum conceptualisation has changed. Out with Hirsch, in with Young.
It’s VERY different and schools should not underestimated the challenge.
It’s also for secondary schools. 😂
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
It’s VERY different and schools should not underestimated the challenge.
It’s also for secondary schools. 😂
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Reposted by DamsonEd
The 250 new neighbourhood health centres announced in the #Budget2025 could improve health inequalities.
But #PsychologyMatters. With a psychological approach embedded from the start, centres could help people access support early, before they reach crisis point.
👉 www.bps.org.uk/news/bps-res...
But #PsychologyMatters. With a psychological approach embedded from the start, centres could help people access support early, before they reach crisis point.
👉 www.bps.org.uk/news/bps-res...
November 27, 2025 at 9:55 AM
The 250 new neighbourhood health centres announced in the #Budget2025 could improve health inequalities.
But #PsychologyMatters. With a psychological approach embedded from the start, centres could help people access support early, before they reach crisis point.
👉 www.bps.org.uk/news/bps-res...
But #PsychologyMatters. With a psychological approach embedded from the start, centres could help people access support early, before they reach crisis point.
👉 www.bps.org.uk/news/bps-res...
Brexit. I am SO FURIOUS.
Today, I found out that I cannot have a drug that would make a huge difference to me. It is available to Europeans. But not in the UK.
This is a real life consequence of the BREXIT disaster.
Today, I found out that I cannot have a drug that would make a huge difference to me. It is available to Europeans. But not in the UK.
This is a real life consequence of the BREXIT disaster.
November 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Brexit. I am SO FURIOUS.
Today, I found out that I cannot have a drug that would make a huge difference to me. It is available to Europeans. But not in the UK.
This is a real life consequence of the BREXIT disaster.
Today, I found out that I cannot have a drug that would make a huge difference to me. It is available to Europeans. But not in the UK.
This is a real life consequence of the BREXIT disaster.
This will be brilliant!
For schools who are looking for a fresh (researched and evidenced) approach to developing talk, this is worth asking about.
bsky.app/profile/naom...
For schools who are looking for a fresh (researched and evidenced) approach to developing talk, this is worth asking about.
bsky.app/profile/naom...
Today our Talk Rich Teaching Toolkit is rolled out for all schools in Hampshire! Great collaborative PAR work with wonderful @Hampshire EMTAS @suzannegraham.bsky.social @naldic.bsky.social @uklitassociation.bsky.social @uor-research.bsky.social
www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Re...
www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Re...
Embedding oracy in teaching helps multilingual pupils thrive - University of Reading
www.reading.ac.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
This will be brilliant!
For schools who are looking for a fresh (researched and evidenced) approach to developing talk, this is worth asking about.
bsky.app/profile/naom...
For schools who are looking for a fresh (researched and evidenced) approach to developing talk, this is worth asking about.
bsky.app/profile/naom...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Today our Talk Rich Teaching Toolkit is rolled out for all schools in Hampshire! Great collaborative PAR work with wonderful @Hampshire EMTAS @suzannegraham.bsky.social @naldic.bsky.social @uklitassociation.bsky.social @uor-research.bsky.social
www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Re...
www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Re...
Embedding oracy in teaching helps multilingual pupils thrive - University of Reading
www.reading.ac.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Today our Talk Rich Teaching Toolkit is rolled out for all schools in Hampshire! Great collaborative PAR work with wonderful @Hampshire EMTAS @suzannegraham.bsky.social @naldic.bsky.social @uklitassociation.bsky.social @uor-research.bsky.social
www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Re...
www.reading.ac.uk/news/2025/Re...
Reposted by DamsonEd
Mene mene tekel upharsin
November 27, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Mene mene tekel upharsin
Reposted by DamsonEd
p.s. I can kind of understand why people might want to make their classes 'read with a ruler' because it probably feels 'efficient' but can we also think about the message it sends which is basically that reading is only for content? Personally I don't think I could cope with reading like that. 🤷♀️
November 27, 2025 at 8:05 AM
p.s. I can kind of understand why people might want to make their classes 'read with a ruler' because it probably feels 'efficient' but can we also think about the message it sends which is basically that reading is only for content? Personally I don't think I could cope with reading like that. 🤷♀️
Reposted by DamsonEd
Could it also have something to do with the way that reading has become a bit mechanised in approach? I'm thinking about some of the things children say about phonics and also certain techniques to 'ensure' young people read along. Are we sending the msg that reading is technical not emotional? 2/2
November 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Could it also have something to do with the way that reading has become a bit mechanised in approach? I'm thinking about some of the things children say about phonics and also certain techniques to 'ensure' young people read along. Are we sending the msg that reading is technical not emotional? 2/2
Reposted by DamsonEd
It's interesting to consider the question about why the number of young people reading for pleasure has collapsed and the responses from education to it. I understand the urge to blame screens and other things outside our control but is there also something about our pedagogy and messaging? 1/2
November 27, 2025 at 7:44 AM
It's interesting to consider the question about why the number of young people reading for pleasure has collapsed and the responses from education to it. I understand the urge to blame screens and other things outside our control but is there also something about our pedagogy and messaging? 1/2
Reposted by DamsonEd
The high exec pay leads to circular self and peer back patting and leaderism. 'I/we am important and better than others, so I/we should be paid a lot more than those working with the children and YPs and as I am paid a lot so I/we must be very important and better than others and irreplaceable'
November 27, 2025 at 6:42 AM
The high exec pay leads to circular self and peer back patting and leaderism. 'I/we am important and better than others, so I/we should be paid a lot more than those working with the children and YPs and as I am paid a lot so I/we must be very important and better than others and irreplaceable'
Reposted by DamsonEd
“It’s fair to say that the narrowing of what counts as “ordinarily available” support has fundamentally reordered the SEND system”. @mmulholland.bsky.social is bang on the money here
EHCPs have been blamed for driving an unsustainable rise in SEND. But would limiting these actually fix the problem, asks @mmulholland.bsky.social
Are EHCPs really driving the SEND crisis?
Education, health and care plans have been blamed for an unsustainable rise in special educational needs in schools, but would scrapping or limiting these plans fix the problem?
www.tes.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:23 AM
“It’s fair to say that the narrowing of what counts as “ordinarily available” support has fundamentally reordered the SEND system”. @mmulholland.bsky.social is bang on the money here
Reposted by DamsonEd
Nyet, comrade. 🤝
'Farage regularly appeared on state-controlled Russia Today, which apparently paid him for his services and boosted every speech he made as an MEP in the European Parliament. It also offered him his own TV show following the EU Referendum.'
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/nigel-fara...
'Farage regularly appeared on state-controlled Russia Today, which apparently paid him for his services and boosted every speech he made as an MEP in the European Parliament. It also offered him his own TV show following the EU Referendum.'
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/nigel-fara...
Nigel Farage - From Russia with Love
As the Reform Party leader's support for Vladimir Putin draws the attention of the world, Peter Jukes' questions about his past become ever more pertinent
www.bylinesupplement.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Nyet, comrade. 🤝
'Farage regularly appeared on state-controlled Russia Today, which apparently paid him for his services and boosted every speech he made as an MEP in the European Parliament. It also offered him his own TV show following the EU Referendum.'
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/nigel-fara...
'Farage regularly appeared on state-controlled Russia Today, which apparently paid him for his services and boosted every speech he made as an MEP in the European Parliament. It also offered him his own TV show following the EU Referendum.'
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/nigel-fara...