Gifts from our garden. 🌺 🥚 🫐 🍯
Love this time of year. Getting the winter stores ready before the term. Back to school garden preparations have begun.

End of an era. Teacher; lead of computing, history, arts, personal development, English, curriculum& assessment; lead teacher;assistant head;deputy head, Trust Deputy Head. 15 years; 4 classrooms; 1 office; 4+ schools: one constant - St M. Onto the next exciting chapter: Primary Curriculum lead. 🖤💛

Incredible working week full of curriculummy things that make my heart happy. Yellow weather warning is right on time for further exciting curriculum mapping projects accompanied by my zoo including the latest two foster kitties. Genuinely can't wait. ❤️ #curriculumjoy #animalsandeducation

Anyone who knows me knows that today will have brought me great joy: data AND the long-awaited writing framework.

Really thought-provoking day at the whole education conference.

@wholeeducation.bsky.social

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells and pretty maids all in a row.

Love the dichotomy that is my life.
Last weekend I was volunteering at RCS with the alpacas; this weekend - St Austell Children's Literature Festival.

Yesterday I had three authors in my van; today I have Supertato; and tomorrow there will be a goat. 😂

📚 🐐 🦙 🥔 ❤️ 🏫

I have some of the best 'over my laptop' views going. Good excuse to pause and look up.

This is how we celebrate in the Iliffe household. Super proud of Mr Iliffe today and every day both as a person and a professional.

The Iliffe bees are busy today. Look at all that gorgeous pollen. We ❤️ pollinators

I feel like sunrises and sunsets are twice daily reminders to stop (if only for a fleeting moment), breathe and appreciate the beauty within this messed up world. They definitely are for me.

Bloomin' love my job but also bloomin' love that tonight I drove home in evening sunshine ready to enjoy two weeks of Easter in my 'castle' with my crew, getting my hands in the soil and reconnecting my busy brain with the world beyond my education bubble. Time to reflect and prepare.

Absolutely right again @alexjquigley.bsky.social
We've been working hard on developing this. A lack of teacher training around writing is hugely detrimental to pupils progress. Writing at primary is vast and varied at each phase. Consequently the time given in training is small relative to impact.

How do you relax after a productive but tiring week of educating? When my brain needs rest but I'm no good at stopping, it's always with my squad. Balance!

As a moderator, I'm interested to see where this leads. Moderation is hugely preferable to a writing SAT especially when used for rich professional dialogue &CPD. However there are elements of TAF which need review. There is a mismatch between KS2 and KS3 and grammar should always be purposeful.

This 👇 is exactly why 'Strong Foundations' and 'Best Start in Life' were required and why we should all be ensuring a focus on foundational skills, not left to chance in our EYFS and KS1 provision, before racing on to higher order concepts. Hallelujah! Research-informed sense!

It's the little things that mean the most. Appreciating people and being appreciated makes such a difference to us all. We should remember that as leaders and educators.

Built a willow den as I had Willow to grow for the goats and I wanted to. After all, it's International Women's day and I'm fortunate to live in a society where I am not defined or reduced by my sex. Not everyone is so fortunate. Let's use our voices for those who can't #internationalwomensday

What a weekend of gorgeous weather welcoming March and Spring #lovewhereyoulive