Alex Ford
@apf102.bsky.social
PGCE Tutor and former history teacher with an American West obsession. All views my own…I think. #UKTeaching #historyteacher #PGCE
Reposted by Alex Ford
Some quick pointers for the government
🚨Asylum seekers are not, by any measure, "illegal migrants"
🚨The latest immigration stats have pretty much nothing to do with this government
🚨It's a genuinely weird flex to boast about making the country you govern less attractive
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
🚨Asylum seekers are not, by any measure, "illegal migrants"
🚨The latest immigration stats have pretty much nothing to do with this government
🚨It's a genuinely weird flex to boast about making the country you govern less attractive
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK net migration falls sharply with drop in arrivals for work and study
Provisional figures for net migration to the UK show levels dropped to 204,000 in the year to June 2025.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Some quick pointers for the government
🚨Asylum seekers are not, by any measure, "illegal migrants"
🚨The latest immigration stats have pretty much nothing to do with this government
🚨It's a genuinely weird flex to boast about making the country you govern less attractive
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
🚨Asylum seekers are not, by any measure, "illegal migrants"
🚨The latest immigration stats have pretty much nothing to do with this government
🚨It's a genuinely weird flex to boast about making the country you govern less attractive
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Alex Ford
We can all look at Trump and say "that won't happen here" but it can, and it does. We are already seeing the government increase raids, remove people with no regard for their rights or protection, suspend applications for asylum based on nationality etc. We're very close to where US is at. #r4today
November 28, 2025 at 6:54 AM
We can all look at Trump and say "that won't happen here" but it can, and it does. We are already seeing the government increase raids, remove people with no regard for their rights or protection, suspend applications for asylum based on nationality etc. We're very close to where US is at. #r4today
Reposted by Alex Ford
Predictable that Trump would use this to demonise and punish whole groups.
Racists don't need excuses, but it makes it easier for them to discriminate against people if they can find one. Don't think this couldn't happen in UK, we are already dangerously close.
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
Racists don't need excuses, but it makes it easier for them to discriminate against people if they can find one. Don't think this couldn't happen in UK, we are already dangerously close.
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
November 28, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Predictable that Trump would use this to demonise and punish whole groups.
Racists don't need excuses, but it makes it easier for them to discriminate against people if they can find one. Don't think this couldn't happen in UK, we are already dangerously close.
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
Racists don't need excuses, but it makes it easier for them to discriminate against people if they can find one. Don't think this couldn't happen in UK, we are already dangerously close.
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
Staggered that we are happy to let companies and AI sell out artists for nothing and rip off all kinds of work. Yet last year I got fined over £700 for using a photo from the Gov website on a blog which got about a dozen views something like 12 years ago. There is a massive disparity here #r4today
November 27, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Staggered that we are happy to let companies and AI sell out artists for nothing and rip off all kinds of work. Yet last year I got fined over £700 for using a photo from the Gov website on a blog which got about a dozen views something like 12 years ago. There is a massive disparity here #r4today
Some more peaceful photos from Tynemouth
Mamiya 6 IV-b | Kodak Gold 200
#kodakgold200 #mediumformat #ishootfilm
Mamiya 6 IV-b | Kodak Gold 200
#kodakgold200 #mediumformat #ishootfilm
November 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Some more peaceful photos from Tynemouth
Mamiya 6 IV-b | Kodak Gold 200
#kodakgold200 #mediumformat #ishootfilm
Mamiya 6 IV-b | Kodak Gold 200
#kodakgold200 #mediumformat #ishootfilm
Reposted by Alex Ford
I have asked safeguarding teams to discuss this and they won’t
I get told there is no issue and they act really confused because they are getting advice from the EEF and that is pro ai
We need a youth movement to challenge it imo bc the adults are the problem . Doing send reports using Ai etc
I get told there is no issue and they act really confused because they are getting advice from the EEF and that is pro ai
We need a youth movement to challenge it imo bc the adults are the problem . Doing send reports using Ai etc
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 AM
I have asked safeguarding teams to discuss this and they won’t
I get told there is no issue and they act really confused because they are getting advice from the EEF and that is pro ai
We need a youth movement to challenge it imo bc the adults are the problem . Doing send reports using Ai etc
I get told there is no issue and they act really confused because they are getting advice from the EEF and that is pro ai
We need a youth movement to challenge it imo bc the adults are the problem . Doing send reports using Ai etc
Reposted by Alex Ford
I have also begged Governor hub and school governor orgs to address this but because I’m not a white man with a large twitter acct they won’t listen
If al Kingsley spoke out we’d have some movement
If al Kingsley spoke out we’d have some movement
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 AM
I have also begged Governor hub and school governor orgs to address this but because I’m not a white man with a large twitter acct they won’t listen
If al Kingsley spoke out we’d have some movement
If al Kingsley spoke out we’d have some movement
I genuinely think that AI needs to be considered under safeguarding legislation. We would never allow a child to be left alone with a random adult stranger so why would we allow them to be left alone with an AI?! Tech companies need to be held fully to account for this.
OpenAI says they aren't liable for the suicide of a user their chat bot urged to kill himself because suicide is a violation of the TOS
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 26, 2025 at 6:44 AM
I genuinely think that AI needs to be considered under safeguarding legislation. We would never allow a child to be left alone with a random adult stranger so why would we allow them to be left alone with an AI?! Tech companies need to be held fully to account for this.
Reposted by Alex Ford
🚨NEW BLOG🚨
Struggling with lesson PITCH?
Jointly written with @apf102.bsky.social, this blog explores an approach we've used with #ITT beginning #teachers to examine the PITCH of their lessons through thinking about sequencing of knowledge.
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/25/s...
Struggling with lesson PITCH?
Jointly written with @apf102.bsky.social, this blog explores an approach we've used with #ITT beginning #teachers to examine the PITCH of their lessons through thinking about sequencing of knowledge.
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/25/s...
Surfing the ‘Semantic Wave’: Helping beginning teachers to think about tackling the ‘pitch’ of their lesson
This blog is jointly authored by Victoria Crooks and Alex Ford. Check out to read more blogs from Alex. Photo by Vladimir Kudinov on Pexels.com Matthew is a fab beginning teacher. He is highl…
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog
November 25, 2025 at 2:39 PM
🚨NEW BLOG🚨
Struggling with lesson PITCH?
Jointly written with @apf102.bsky.social, this blog explores an approach we've used with #ITT beginning #teachers to examine the PITCH of their lessons through thinking about sequencing of knowledge.
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/25/s...
Struggling with lesson PITCH?
Jointly written with @apf102.bsky.social, this blog explores an approach we've used with #ITT beginning #teachers to examine the PITCH of their lessons through thinking about sequencing of knowledge.
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/25/s...
Reposted by Alex Ford
Super evening last night presenting @1972shp.bsky.social Yorkshire history forum. Great to catch up with fab people in the history community. @cpalmerhistory.bsky.social @historyrichk.bsky.social @robbalding.bsky.social @davidturner2000.bsky.social @joecox23.bsky.social @mr-s-tiffany.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Super evening last night presenting @1972shp.bsky.social Yorkshire history forum. Great to catch up with fab people in the history community. @cpalmerhistory.bsky.social @historyrichk.bsky.social @robbalding.bsky.social @davidturner2000.bsky.social @joecox23.bsky.social @mr-s-tiffany.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Ford
We also have Rachel Bruce and Judy Clarke showing how they weave local stories into primary history teaching, helping students engage with the past and the familiar. @1972shp.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
We also have Rachel Bruce and Judy Clarke showing how they weave local stories into primary history teaching, helping students engage with the past and the familiar. @1972shp.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Ford
Next up at the @1972shp.bsky.social Yorkshire History Forum we have the inimitable @petejackson.bsky.social sharing some strategies for writing.
November 24, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Next up at the @1972shp.bsky.social Yorkshire History Forum we have the inimitable @petejackson.bsky.social sharing some strategies for writing.
Reposted by Alex Ford
It's the @1972shp.bsky.social Yorkshire History Forum tonight and we are kicking off with a session from @cpalmerhistory.bsky.social on teaching transatlantic enslavement using local stories.
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
It's the @1972shp.bsky.social Yorkshire History Forum tonight and we are kicking off with a session from @cpalmerhistory.bsky.social on teaching transatlantic enslavement using local stories.
Reposted by Alex Ford
“I would never ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way”
Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school
@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school
@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 6:10 PM
“I would never ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way”
Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school
@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school
@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Ford
Feeling queasy now I've learned that Google is not only now offering Gemini ambassador certificates to teachers but also awarding students and *children* to be corporate AI mascots. Coercive normalization of commercialized digital education. blog.google/outreach-ini...
November 22, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Feeling queasy now I've learned that Google is not only now offering Gemini ambassador certificates to teachers but also awarding students and *children* to be corporate AI mascots. Coercive normalization of commercialized digital education. blog.google/outreach-ini...
As ever - a brilliant piece from @victoriacrooks.bsky.social. This time on the many ways we can use ISM in the classroom - inc. as a means to explore prior knowledge and existing schemas. Makes a powerful case for the importance of subject sensitive pedagogies over generic approaches #historyteacher
🚨NEW BLOG🚨
Something a bit different from me today. Thinking about core #pedagogical practice of ELICITING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE through the lens of #historyteacher #HistoryEducation. And a reflection on how we keep #subjectspecific in #ITT #ITAP s
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/20/d...
Something a bit different from me today. Thinking about core #pedagogical practice of ELICITING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE through the lens of #historyteacher #HistoryEducation. And a reflection on how we keep #subjectspecific in #ITT #ITAP s
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog/2025/11/20/d...
Diagnostic Hooks: Reconceptualising Initial Stimulus Material (ISM) for Eliciting Prior Knowledge
Photo by Rachel Claire on Pexels.com The power of Initial Stimulus Material (ISM) to ‘hook’ pupils into historical learning via an intriguing image, a provocative quote, a story, or even a soundsca…
uonhistoryteachertraining.school.blog
November 20, 2025 at 7:19 PM
As ever - a brilliant piece from @victoriacrooks.bsky.social. This time on the many ways we can use ISM in the classroom - inc. as a means to explore prior knowledge and existing schemas. Makes a powerful case for the importance of subject sensitive pedagogies over generic approaches #historyteacher
Some of this Curriculum Review stuff feels like gaslighting at times. Apparently the teachers asking for greater autonomy really want more specification and being a ‘curriculum maker’ is the same as ‘authoring instructional events’! Give me strength!!
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
Teacher autonomy: will the Curriculum Review restore our profession?
This is the fourth blog in my series on the Curriculum and Assessment Review. You can find the rest HERE . In this short blog I want to explore an aspect of the review I was really excited about -...
www.andallthat.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Some of this Curriculum Review stuff feels like gaslighting at times. Apparently the teachers asking for greater autonomy really want more specification and being a ‘curriculum maker’ is the same as ‘authoring instructional events’! Give me strength!!
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
My experience also. On so many levels Labour has not just proven to be stagnating, but actively taking things in a more problematic direction
When Labour got into power into power I wasn't overly optimistic that they would be "better" on migrants rights, trans and non-binary rights, human rights etc, but even I didn't expect them to be so much worse than the last government on all of them. 1/
November 20, 2025 at 3:07 PM
My experience also. On so many levels Labour has not just proven to be stagnating, but actively taking things in a more problematic direction
Seriously… what does it even mean to “speak English to an A Level standard?”. Are we asking people to deliver a spoken analysis of regional dialects, gendered talk or language used in the media now? Actually maybe that’s not such a bad plan…
November 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Seriously… what does it even mean to “speak English to an A Level standard?”. Are we asking people to deliver a spoken analysis of regional dialects, gendered talk or language used in the media now? Actually maybe that’s not such a bad plan…
Struggling at the moment to cope with the absolute shit show that is government messaging on immigration and failure to say Britain needs to live up to its international obligations to the most vulnerable.
So instead - here are 4 photos from tranquil places I went this Autumn. #kodakgold200
So instead - here are 4 photos from tranquil places I went this Autumn. #kodakgold200
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Struggling at the moment to cope with the absolute shit show that is government messaging on immigration and failure to say Britain needs to live up to its international obligations to the most vulnerable.
So instead - here are 4 photos from tranquil places I went this Autumn. #kodakgold200
So instead - here are 4 photos from tranquil places I went this Autumn. #kodakgold200
What does the Curriculum and Assessment Review mean for teacher autonomy?
Big issue - short blog. There’s a lot of worrying things hiding inder the reassurance that teacher autonomy matters. What exactly does the review mean by that. Hint: not what you think.
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
Big issue - short blog. There’s a lot of worrying things hiding inder the reassurance that teacher autonomy matters. What exactly does the review mean by that. Hint: not what you think.
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
Teacher autonomy: will the Curriculum Review restore our profession?
This is the fourth blog in my series on the Curriculum and Assessment Review. You can find the rest HERE . In this short blog I want to explore an aspect of the review I was really excited about -...
www.andallthat.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 8:56 AM
What does the Curriculum and Assessment Review mean for teacher autonomy?
Big issue - short blog. There’s a lot of worrying things hiding inder the reassurance that teacher autonomy matters. What exactly does the review mean by that. Hint: not what you think.
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
Big issue - short blog. There’s a lot of worrying things hiding inder the reassurance that teacher autonomy matters. What exactly does the review mean by that. Hint: not what you think.
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/teac...
The quick #historyteacher summary of you are short in time… the Curriculum and Assessment Review promises one thing on the surface but seems set to deliver quite another #EduSky #CAR2025
November 18, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The quick #historyteacher summary of you are short in time… the Curriculum and Assessment Review promises one thing on the surface but seems set to deliver quite another #EduSky #CAR2025
Reposted by Alex Ford
What does the curriculum review mean for #historyteacher s? My two penneth on why this is more than just a missed opportunity for meaningful change. And believe me… I really wanted to find the positives
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/an-e...
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/an-e...
An empowering History curriculum? What does the Curriculum Review mean for school History?
I have written extensively on the role of school History (see the end for links) . Now that we have explored the broader issues in the Curriculum and Assessment Review, I want to look more...
www.andallthat.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
What does the curriculum review mean for #historyteacher s? My two penneth on why this is more than just a missed opportunity for meaningful change. And believe me… I really wanted to find the positives
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/an-e...
www.andallthat.co.uk/subblog/an-e...
Reposted by Alex Ford
DAILY MEMO: More Than 30 People Taken in At Least 30 Raids During Saturday Through Monday Rains
November 18, 2025 at 6:34 AM
DAILY MEMO: More Than 30 People Taken in At Least 30 Raids During Saturday Through Monday Rains