EduTait

08/27/2026

When teaching gets busy, our instinct is often to give more of ourselves to the job. But what if the things we sacrifice are actually part of what makes us effective teachers? Our hobbies, interests and lives outside school don't compete with teaching. They help make us the interesting, curious people our children need.

Read my article below 👇🏻

When teaching gets busy, our instinct is often to give more of ourselves to the job. But what if the things we sacrifice are actually part of what makes us effective teachers? Our hobbies, interests and lives outside school don't compete with teaching. They help make us the interesting, curious peop

08/25/2026

Is improving the quality of students’ sleep an important jigsaw piece in your raising achievement strategies this year? 🧩 😴

Sleep is the brain’s save button for learning. During the night, it replays, reorganises and stores what was learned, transforming fragile memories into durable knowledge. Without adequate rest, attention falters and retention weakens. You cannot out-teach sleep deprivation - biology ultimately sets the ceiling for how much students remember and apply.

Read my article below 👇🏻

Sleep is the brain’s save button for learning. During the night, it replays, reorganises and stores what was learned, transforming fragile memories into durable knowledge. Without adequate rest, attention falters and retention weakens. You cannot out-teach sleep deprivation; biology ultimately set...

08/18/2026

GCSE Results Day can be one of those days that students remember for the rest of their lives. So that’s why I’ve created this infographic with my 7 tips for students and families on Results Day.

📅 Plan your day
📞 Remember your parents
🔒 Remember that results are personal
😭 Take tissues!
🤝 Celebrate and support each other
📸 Make memories
🙏 Say thank you

Please feel free to share it with families or use it in your school’s Results Day communications.

07/18/2026

After a visit to Parliament this week to contribute to the discussion around this, here’s my thoughts and reflections on how we might be going after the wrong target by simply banning phones in schools - it’s the social media companies that are deliberately designing platforms to intentionally steal our young people’s childhoods that deserve more of our scrutiny.

We often blame children for their struggles with smartphones and social media, but are we blaming the wrong people? Digital platforms are not broken; they are working exactly as they were designed. This article explores how technology companies compete for attention, why current solutions fall short

04/23/2026

🆕 Blog post: ‘Swipe, Watch, Repeat’ 📲
In my latest article, I explore how the habits shaped by short-form content (constant scrolling, quick hits of information and rapid switching) are influencing attention, memory and learning in the classroom.

If our children are conditioned to consume content in seconds, what does that mean for how we design lessons? 🤔 If you’re thinking about memory, attention, and lesson design, this might resonate 💭

What happens to childhood attention when every few seconds brings a new video, a new image, a new stimulus? From a shopping centre observation of a toddler immersed in short-form social media to comparisons with traditional cartoons, this piece explores how different media shape focus, imagination,

04/01/2026

New article 📃 AI tutoring could transform access to learning, with the potential to support hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged pupils. But its success depends on one key factor: thinking 🤔 If these tools simply provide answers, they risk creating passive learners. If they provoke deep thinking, they could genuinely enhance learning and help level the playing field 📈

AI tutoring could transform access to learning, with the potential to support hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged pupils. But its success depends on one key factor: thinking. If these tools simply provide answers, they risk creating passive learners. If they provoke deep thinking, they could genu

03/28/2026

What can a swimming coach teach us about feedback? 🏊‍♂️ Quite a lot, it turns out.

Recently I watched a coach working with young swimmers. His feedback was constant but simple: clear instructions, quick adjustments, then straight back into practice. The swimmers improved in real time because they could act on the feedback immediately. One small detail also stood out. When giving individual feedback he bent down to the swimmers’ level rather than towering above them from the poolside.

A reminder that effective feedback is not just about what we say, but how we say it. It made me reflect on how feedback often works in classrooms and what we might learn from coaching environments.

I’ve written a short piece about it here 👇

Watching a group of children at a swimming lesson reminded me of one simple truth about teaching: feedback only works if learners can act on it immediately. This article explores how we can borrow techniques from sports coaching to make feedback more timely, practical, and genuinely effective in the

03/22/2026

We plan lessons - but do we plan for memory? 🧠
If learning is about retention, then what happens after the lesson matters just as much as what happens in it…and sleep might be the most overlooked part of the process 😴

I’ve shared a short piece on why sleep might be the missing lesson in school:

Sleep is the brain’s save button for learning. During the night, it replays, reorganises and stores what was learned, transforming fragile memories into durable knowledge. Without adequate rest, attention falters and retention weakens. You cannot out-teach sleep deprivation; biology ultimately set...

03/16/2026

The ‘cheap seats’….where are they in your classroom? And does this change based on the time of day or the position of the sun? ☀️

Discover how classroom seating arrangements can impact student engagement and learning. From identifying “cheap seats” to enhancing visibility, this post offers practical insights to create equitable learning environments. Take the guesswork out and start to view your classroom and your presenta...

03/15/2026

Do you know where the cheap seats are in your classroom?

Discover how classroom seating arrangements can impact student engagement and learning. From identifying “cheap seats” to enhancing visibility, this post offers practical insights to create equitable learning environments. Take the guesswork out and start to view your classroom and your presenta...