Asst. Head T&L & CPD, ECT & ITT lead, MCCT (Research Champion), SLE, historian, MA Modern History, ASCL union rep for Derbyshire, Man Utd, music obsessive.
Manchester, England
Joined December 2010
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Simon Gort retweeted
2 weeks after our 1st inspection under the new framework. We had good people and they tried to do an excellent job. The framework is an inch deep and a mile wide. You learn nothing new. The school is left damaged and, often, harder to run
Simon Gort retweeted
📘 My new Teaching for Attention Playbook is a 70+ page, evidence-informed guide that breaks down the science of attention and provides 6 practical strategies to support teachers.
It covers how to:
🎯 Secure Attention: Create the conditions for students to focus
🎯 Direct Attention: Guide students towards important information
🎯 Orchestrate Attention: Manage where attention goes as learning unfolds
👉 Want a free copy? REPOST and comment ATTENTION below, and I’ll DM you the link.
⏰ Available free until Wednesday 30 September at 11:59pm AWST
Simon Gort retweeted
Powerful habit changes for more inclusive teaching. teacherhead.com/2026/09/24/p… . 🔥
Simon Gort retweeted
First 10 mins aside, that was woeful from Manchester United. Just awful. Brighton deserved yet another cup win Old Trafford. Worrying for MUFC.
Simon Gort retweeted
Someone that can actually do something needs to give a damn @LucyMPowell @educationgovuk. It’s now on you. Show the difference
All inspections should be paused to protect school leaders’ wellbeing in light of Ofsted’s decision to press on with an inspection when a head was absent undergoing cancer treatment, says ASCL leader
tes.com/magazine/analysis/ge…
Simon Gort retweeted
Today’s episode of @TheRestHistory - the second part of our mighty series on the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Simon Gort retweeted
A major and surely uncontroversial series begins today on @TheRestHistory, as we explore the origins and early years of the TROUBLES IN NORTHERN IRELAND.
We look at all the major combatants, taking the story up to 1972, the bloodiest year of the conflict ...
Synopsis below 🧵
Simon Gort retweeted
I wish you’d said something like:
Focusing on academic outcomes has been important for all children and schools have done amazing work . Now we want to broaden the KS4 offer with a wider range of technical programs and quals because many learners will value earlier preparation for vocational progression routes.
Don’t immediately link tech quals to those ‘left behind’ - deficit thinking majorly unhelpful. Just feeds the idiotic ‘dumbing down’ brigade.
Don’t call it a revolution unless you’re investing in more tech facilities .. otherwise likelihood is we get more schools offering H&SC and L&T because they are classroom based / not engineering or construction. Unless you’re expanding 14-16 places at colleges which will also need funding . Probably it’s a sensible and relatively small shift in KS4 provision.
We must recognise that an over‑focus on academic outcomes has left too many young people behind.
The revolution happening in post‑16 technical and vocational education will soon be matched for 14 to 16‑year‑olds.
I look forward to making it happen.
gov.uk/government/news/pm-fr…
Simon Gort retweeted
Exercise books are so temptingly inspectable. You can flick through then and feel you’ve seen learning. But full pages, neat titles, coloured pens and polished paragraphs are, at best, just proxies. The more beautiful a book is often the less evidence of learning it provides. More often, it’s evidence we’re looking in the wrong place. open.substack.com/pub/davidd…
Simon Gort retweeted
Agreed principles; common routines: These are the ladders to better teaching. teacherhead.com/2026/06/20/a… via @teacherhead
Simon Gort retweeted
There was once a time where I thought my career progression would take me into leadership hopefully becoming a headteacher. But to see what the job entails now, I don’t know how anyone does it. But to see the data around how few teachers want to become a headteacher, it is
Simon Gort retweeted
What primary & secondary school leaders need to know about effective writing transition
Writing transition isn’t a baton pass where primary hands over and secondary drops it. It’s a compatibility problem. Primary writing rewards expression, description and voice. Secondary writing demands clarity, explanation and disciplinary argument.
Same word. Different conceptions.
open.substack.com/pub/davidd…
Simon Gort retweeted
Giveaway🚨 It's been 2 weeks since RTT: An Inspector Calls was released. We've been blown away by your support. To celebrate, we're giving away a copy of the book & a copy of Priestley's 'The Edwardians.' Just like & RT. Winner drawn 1/5/26 @MiriamHussain_ @SPryke2 @teachals 🥳
Simon Gort retweeted
Systematic inclusion: Is literally everyone thinking, talking, practising, learning? How much does it matter to you? teacherhead.com/2025/06/25/s… via @teacherhead
Simon Gort retweeted
You're a school senior leader. Your teaching load has doubled. You're on before-school duty, break duty, lunch duty, after-school duty. Meetings most evenings. Working until late at night, one full weekend day catching up.
Going all day without eating. Sleep suffering.
Sound familiar?
Deborah Allen, ASCL Deputy Director of Member Support and Head of Hotline’s Leader Magazine article shares the case of a senior leader in exactly this situation, and how her and her team can help.
Here's what she learned:
Working time protections apply to senior leaders too. You generally can't be required to work weekends. You're entitled to PPA time and time for leadership responsibilities. You're entitled to a reasonable break during the day.
Most importantly: employers have a duty of care.
This isn't "just how it is."
Worth a read if this resonates:
leadermagazine.co.uk/article…
Simon Gort retweeted
This is where the teacher cost of living pay rise needs to be reconsidered & fully funded. I know of teachers who go to food banks & some with 2nd jobs - that’s how well paid some teachers are!
Schools won’t be exempt from inflationary rises for the services they use either.
We all know that workload and behaviour are big factors affecting recruitment and retention, but still find it astonishing that some in the teaching profession continue to state they are ‘well paid’ and are dismissive of the evidence staring them in the face.
The impact this has on productivity is staggering.
Many people in my replies to this post were not the most positive when it came to teacher wages.
They also think we hate minimum wage workers.
We live in wild times.
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