MagiKats Blog
Tips and advice for parents
SATS Results - a quick guide to the 2016 scores
SATS results are out - but were your child's results good or bad? How do you know? Here's a short guide to help you understand what you are reading on the results report.
Looking forward to Summer? Spare a Thought for Summer Learning Loss
Summer learning loss or the ‘summer slide’ is something researchers have been looking into for more than a century. First documented in 1906, what starts as a mild hiccup in a four-year-old’s school career can be a crisis by the time that child reaches secondary school.
Why We Prefer Handwriting at MagiKats
Good handwriting might not seem to be a necessary skill in today’s world where typing documents on a computer at breakneck speed, or sending rapid-fire email messages is the way most companies work. Why teach handwriting at all?
Are minimum qualifications for teachers enough to ensure quality?
I suspect many parents have been pulled up short when they have seen, from the recent press coverage, that many of those charged with their children’s earliest care and education may not have even a grade C GCSE in English and maths.
Helping Your Teenager Revise for their GCSE Examinations
I once heard a teacher of GCSE English remark that one of the best ways to teach his students how to pass was to take the examination himself.
GCSE Revision Time – What Can a Parent Do?
When the great illusionist David Blaine was asked how he manages to achieve difficult stunts he admitted he says to himself, somewhat pragmatically; “so today I’m going to have breakfast, read the paper and stand in an ice block”.
What Made All the Difference When You Were Ten?
Ask yourself this question: What special things about school and education would you remember if you could go back to when you were a ten year-old?
Five Fun Verbal Maths Games to Play this Easter
One way of practising mathematics skills is to do so verbally. Verbal maths games are fun for everyone to play, and a great way for kids to learn their key maths skills.
Are Exclamation Marks Overused? The Government Thinks So!
Do you find the over-use of exclamation marks annoying? Do you think online texting and social media sites have led to a pandemic of exclamationism? If so, read on!!!
Are we becoming a world of individuals? The personalised learning approach.
Visit a restaurant or coffee shop in your local town and watch the groups of people who are sitting together. How frequently do they check their phones? Are they engrossed in conversation, or glued to their screens? Are the adults chatting whilst the kids play on devices?