Uncategorized

On the 17th and 18th of August, I walked the entire Irwell Sculpture Trail, from Bacup to Salford, in just two days, to raise funds for Dementia UK. When planning this, I knew it was going to be a huge physical challenge but it felt appropriate to do something difficult considering the difficulties families face […]

This year I have learned that settling to a new school after almost a decade is an adventure that comes with a steep learning curve. While young people often have similar hopes and challenges, the distinct character of each school creates a unique ecosystem. From my experience, here is a guide to help you settle […]

DIRT feedback, or DIRT tasks, have been around in UK schools for a little while now, and there are mixed views about their use and value. Is it useful or is it there just to be visible? (Did someone say box-ticking exercise?) What does DIRT stand for in Education? There are differing views on this, […]

I was shocked to read in The Guardian recently that less than 3% of artists named in GCSE Art exams are black or South Asian. I thought things had moved on. “White artists comprised 91.6% of all exam board mentions, according to a report by the Runnymede Trust thinktank and Freelands Foundation, an arts charity.” […]

It’s useful to have a range of films & documentaries for the art classroom that you can turn to, to link to your curriculum or even when you want to pull a rabbit out of a hat for an easy cover/sub lesson or end of term treat. This blog post started with just 4 suggestions […]

Every year, I seem to lose that useful piece of paper or image with the AQA GCSE Art & Design grade boundaries on it. So, I’m sticking them all in a blog post here—useful for you and me. Remember, these are last year’s grade boundaries, and things may change in either direction. Comparing 2023 to […]