General

Grabbing students’ attention is tough at the best of times, but amid the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, it is even harder. To help, Marc Smith delves into the research on attention and pinpoints key things teachers can do

What place does love have in school settings and what can educators do to ensure the most vulnerable children and young people get enough of it to realise their full potential, asks Lena Carter

When PSHE lessons become compulsory from September, schools will be presented with two choices: teach discrete lessons, or embed the content across the curriculum. But which approach does the subject justice? Alice Hoyle explores the options

Left-handed children can be at a disadvantage in lessons – but there are simple ways to solve problems, says Toria Bono

Teachers are supposed to focus on grades, but should their priority instead be to make students feel good? Economist Richard Layard tells Simon Creasey why he believes the two aims aren’t mutually exclusive and why giving children regular contentment classes could have a lasting impact beyond the school gates

All too often, inflexible timetables and inadequate facilities for expressing mean that returning to school as a breastfeeding mother is a nightmare. But leaders can welcome staff back with open arms by making simple, practical changes and being responsive to their needs, writes Emma Sheppard

The debate about the benefits or otherwise of getting pupils to wear identical clothing has been raging for decades, but what does the research say? Eliza Frost gets the low-down from an expert

Traditionally, the seating plan has been a valuable weapon in the war against classroom disruption. But have you ever thought that your approach to placing pupils might be doing more harm than good? Grainne Hallahan uncovers research suggesting that some common seating-plan strategies could hinder learning, crush students’ confidence or even reinforce gender stereotypes

The demands on teachers’ cognitive capacity are constantly increasing, leading to a risk of chronic stress, warns Mithu Storoni. But fear not – she tells Simon Creasey how staff can avoid burnout and what school leaders can do to support them

A lack of sleep affects learning – but are some US schools going too far in installing sleep pods? Grainne Hallahan reports

Research shows that teaching children how to talk effectively can have a profound effect on learning outcomes, yet many schools aren’t giving oracy skills the attention they deserve, finds Dan Worth

Students often struggle to adapt what they have learned and apply it to different subjects or to activities outside of the classroom. Jared Cooney Horvath looks at impediments to the successful transference of competency from one domain to another and what teachers can do to help