The outcome is not the same thing as the process. Just because learning results in changes in memory doesn't mean that retrieving information is all you focus on. Motivation matters! If you want children and young people to love learning you have to help them understand that it's joyful. ☺️ #EduSky
cornflowers, sweet peas and Russian sage on a Kraft paper sketch book with my drawings of them alongside and the pen I used nearby
My pen and ink drawings of 5 much loved Uk garden birds: wren, long tailed tit, coal tit, redwing & blackcap
My drawing of 3 long tailed tits in a winter hawthorn
5 plant varieties that flower or bear berries in the winter on white sketchbook paper with my illustrations of them alongside and the pen I used nearby
There are still a few spaces left on my botanical (10) & bird illustration (24) & mental health w'shops in January
I'll teach you how to draw🌿🌱 or🐦⬛👇
AND how creative activity alters brain biochemistry to improve mental health
I'm an molecular cell biologist & illustrator:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk
It's nursery rhyme week! buff.ly/tlnfVTQ Here's an article about the many benefits of singing to babies and children.
#NurseryRhymeWeek #NurseryRhymes #Singing
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Great thread! ☕️
11 poetry workshops here, free to use. Each one about 5 minutes each. They've had nearly 250 thousand views. I hope people are finding them useful.
www.youtube.com/c/MichaelRos...
Always worth listening to Sue!
Have you visited the rebuilding of William the conqueror’s ship at Honfleur?
I was the same, you have to know the individual children you are teaching and respond to their immediate needs as the lesson progresses. No good ploughing on with a prepared lesson if it snows either!
Sad to hear of the loss of #AllanAhlbergRIP
His poetry books “Please Mrs Butler” “Heard it in the Playground” were actual life-savers when I started teaching. Having children I realised how wonderful his picturebooks and stories were. A great children’s writer and a big loss.
Debunking edu-myths: “In Reception and Year One, composition is less relevant”
writing4pleasure.com/2025/07/21/d...
Are our systems truly meeting the needs of our youngest children, or are they shaped by policy, convenience & funding?
Where is the child in all this?
They need love.
They need play.
They need people who understand children, not data.
#WhereIsTheChild #EarlyYears #PlayMatters
Yesterday I started a thorough critique of “The writing framework". It’s 150 pages long and there are only 2 very superficial mentions of gross motor skills that I can find. Not a single mention of embodied cognition. A shockingly poor and potentially dangerous omission at a time when we know more
600 signatures
We’re calling for a balanced, evidence-informed early years policy that puts children’s rights, play and expertise at the ❤️of practice.
📣 Please sign and share widely across your networks, the more voices, the stronger the message.
forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/Respon...
🧵 Based on 15 years teaching, training teachers & having sons who've had 10+ teachers, the most important factors of an effective primary school teacher are:
* Warmth
* Enjoying the company of children
* Playfulness
* Clear, fair boundaries
Let me tell you why...
tbpottery.co.uk is at the Island Centre in St Ives until 4pm, along with several other makers, all local to SW Cornwall. Beautiful and functional pottery.🏺
RTs always appreciated by these little local artists
10/ 🧵 Read the full article:
For a deeper dive into this approach and its benefits, check out the full article here:
🔗 writing4pleasure.com/2024/07/19/d...
Poster supporting the BookTrust/Children's Laureate Reading Rights campaign, with illustration by Chris Riddell of a reader with books
Reading with children changes their lives forever, and EVERY SINGLE CHILD is entitled to this right! That's why I support the #ReadingRights campaign. The full report is out today from @booktrust.org.uk & @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social: please read & share!
www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/rea...
I was unable to work between December & April due to a breakdown. Every single RT here helps put my creative & mental health workshops in front of more eyes & helps me get back on my feet financially. It would help *so* much if you could RT my workshop below if you have a few seconds. Thankyou 🌿
My spring greetings card collection-6 designs I created using spring garden flowers & other nature finds- available in my Etsy shop
An autumnal collection of nature finds including seedheads, sycamore keys, pebbles, shells, feathers & pincecones on a watercolour paper background
A collection of garden and common hedgerow finds from September in Norfolk, 2021
Garden floral finds from May 2019 on a black chipped enamel background
I open my Etsy shop for my limited edition signed art prints just 2-3 times a year.
I design my botanical photos using recent research so they dial down the fight or flight response in your brain when you look at them.
I'll be closing my shop again on Sunday evening:
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/silv...
Great thread.
What does being ‘Reception Ready’ really mean?
The Department for Education has recently shared its version of school readiness, including brushing teeth, catching a ball, and being toilet trained.
While life skills matter, Early Years Reviews wanted to reframe the narrative.
#Schoolready
Copy of my latest book on a wooden table. The front cover is black with multi coloured fingerprints.
It's publication day for me today! The Ultimate Guide to Adaptive Teaching is available in all good book shops. #EduSky
A collection of handmade Victorian ink bottles
A tiny posy of fresh flowers in a cobalt blue Victorian ink bottle
A tiny posy of blue & purple spring flowers in a cobalt blue Victorian ink bottle
The front cover design of a booklet I've written on how making a tiny posy in a beautiful little antique bottle will improve your mental health, along with a brief guide to/history of Victorian ink bottles.
Tmrw evening at 8 I'll be opening my Etsy for a limited no. of Victorian ink bottle posy kits designed to👇 anxiety while you make something lovely.
Contents:
Victorian ink bottle
booklet:neuroscience of improving mental health with creative activity
tiny dried flower posy.
A RT would help so much🌿
👇🏼Our work here at the Early Childhood Mathemarics Group - fab series on a very important aspect of #earlymaths
Please share ! 👏🏼👏🏼
"Most of us see schools as a place for learning (because they are). But Covid has taught us that their function in socialisation is perhaps as important in creating young humans capable of navigating our complex social world." A brilliant read.
🎈
The full document ‘Play Matters,’ with a foreword by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social will be available free online from tomorrow.
If Labour genuinely want schools to be more inclusive then they need to find ways to encourage flexibility and a focus on meeting needs over 'driving standards'. A system that encourages competitive attitudes between settings is not one that also encourages inclusion.
