We do it all the time. As teachers, we make split-second judgements in every lesson… about our pitch, our pace, the level of engagement and, most crucially, whether or not our pupils are ‘getting’ it! We know how to read a room: when to increase challenge, change tack, ditch resources or shout “Stations!” – the cue, in my class, for a lightning game that is best described as a live-action hybrid of ‘Battleship’ and ‘Granny’s Footsteps’.

We have learnt how to be accurate, instinctive assessors – it is one of our many skills – so why does the mere mention of the word ‘assessment’ fill us with about as much enthusiasm as taking the bins out… or unclogging a drain?

I asked my friend, a fellow teacher, to describe how she might feel on scanning over a staff meeting agenda and seeing ‘assessment’ amid the bullet points. “Well, that will need plenty of imagination,” she answers sarcastically. “It’s a regular occurrence and one that fills me with an instant sense of overwhelm… Yet more unnecessary form-filling, on top of everything else!” I wasn’t surprised by her sentiment, rather her strength of feeling.

Most teachers know what it is to be overloaded – burdened with so many tasks that there is barely time to finish them, let alone question their purpose – but this was an uncommon reaction from someone I had often, affectionately, described as a goodie-two-shoes. You know the type: trip forms completed on time, no mistakes in the dinner register, multiple after-school clubs, paperwork always up-to-date…

It struck me that her response seemed to sum up the disillusionment that has silently and virulently radiated through our industry in recent years. Her expression, “unnecessary form-filling” captures the helplessness so many educators experience as they try, simultaneously, to summon the energy to inspire the young minds entrusted to their care, while ignoring the gradual decline of respect for the profession they once aspired to join.

No aspect of this vocation better highlights the disconnect between where teachers would wish to be focussing energy and where they are required to expend it than assessment. As soon as tracking information is requested in a written form – however frequent or formative – it morphs from the multi-dimensional, fluid rubric of knowledge about every pupil’s learning style, aptitude, preferences, prior knowledge, resilience and creativity into its plain, dry summative interpretation: class lists with outcomes listed alongside, comparative data, collated evidence, and so on.

Nobody would dispute that sharing pupil attainment data is essential to running a successful school – we need to know the gaps, spot the trends, deploy support staff and plan effective interventions. But perhaps there is a way to do this that addresses the imbalance of disproportionate admin for teachers in order to generate “a single snapshot, only relevant for a day or two,” as my friend describes it.

Here, I’d like to take a moment to eulogise about my own lost hours, sacrificed needlessly in the line of duty… some falling valiantly at the photocopier, as I collated multiple examples of ‘independent’ work; some succumbing to boredom while wading through the fog of user guides for various online quizzes / test papers / reading schemes, trying to decipher what the scores meant, before transposing them into levels. Those hours deserved better; they deserved dinners out and fine wine, not stale staff-room biscuits and toner cartridges.

In the last couple of years, I have been privileged to work in a new capacity, supporting schools of all shapes and sizes to overcome the challenges they face around assessment, as well as championing the need for teachers to reclaim trust in their own skills and knowledge. This role enables me to engage with teachers that have lost plenty of their own hours to futile form-filling.

On each initial visit – usually during a staff meeting – I am a stranger. I don’t know the individuals in the room yet, but I know that they probably share characteristics synonymous with wonderful teachers: hard working, creative, adaptive, inspiring, vivacious, meticulous. Sadly, we can probably add to that list: over-stretched, under-funded, selfless, compromising, stressed, overwhelmed and perhaps disillusioned. At this point, I might test the water, casually dropping the ‘A-bomb’. All too often the palpable anxiety in the room increases, as if I’ve announced a spot test.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to redress the tension. Within minutes of demonstrating how truly formative assessments made little-and-often can be observed, recorded and shared live, a cloud is lifted. Stripping back the size of the task for the teaching staff, also strips away the fear. In one session, I recall that the puzzled silence was finally broken by an astounded teacher asking, “That’s it? That’s all we have to do?” Well, yes!

The hang over of years of producing onerous mid-term data drops will linger on; for some schools, it is still a reality. But there is an alternative: adopting a truly formative approach that values teachers’ judgements as much as their time.

Digital technology, shaped by a clear understanding of the needs of teachers, already exists, and is the first step beyond all that unnecessary form-filling. Now that we can click, tap and upload as quickly as we might mark a book and, at the touch of a button, interrogate this information to generate predictions, visuals and whole-school insights, the need for the paper-chase has become obsolete. Perhaps we’re on the cusp of correcting the work-life balance? Perhaps, finally, the experience of recording judgements will be as easy as those we make in our heads: instant, secure and relevant.

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It is the time of year when conkers enjoy their moment in the sun: those shiny, brightly polished little fruits of the noble horse chestnut tree that one day themselves will grow into mighty trees, which in their turn will produce those wonderful Ascension Day candles in May. May, the season when the fruits of our academic labours are weighed and measured in the annual ritual of SATs, GCSEs and A Levels.

Just as the conkers at this time of year are gleaming and new, so our latest cohort of kids have joined our schools with pristine uniforms proudly worn, new shiny shoes and pencil cases full of freshly sharpened pencils. Like the conkers they too, over time, will develop into mighty, mature adults taking their place in life.

Ringing in my ears is the endorsement that an inspirational Head gave us every year on Training Days to the effect that if we didn’t feel excited on the 1st September, we were in the wrong job. It was said every year bur was no less heartfelt for that. Teaching is a wonderful job, when it is going well. That feeling of having a class eating out of your hand as you peel away the layers of lesson after lesson of exciting new learning is like no other. Being able to open the windows of the mind for young learners is an inestimable privilege.

These are the positives to hold onto as the school year unfolds like the petals on a flower. Not every lesson is like this, not every day turns out as planned. Alongside the golden moments are times of discouragement, disappointment and despair. Teaching is a hugely demanding and exacting job too.
With that in mind, let us set ourselves one simple target this academic year: to look after all teachers and all those who work with kids in the classroom. Let every Head make it a priority to ensure that every colleague knows how much they are valued, acknowledged and appreciated. Let us all establish a culture in our schools which makes sure that every colleague is supported to be the best possible version of themselves that they can be. After all, the kids deserve nothing but the best, and that means every person who works in their school feeling as though they want to go above and beyond.

Sometimes it takes nothing more than for all leaders to listen, to listen properly to those who are in the front line. Empathy costs nothing but its value is huge. Let us make every colleague know how much they are rated by looking deep into their soul and reminding them how good they are, regularly and systematically. The most precious resource in a school is the staff, all of them.

The buck does not stop in the Head’s office: we can all play our part and here are six ideas to make it happen:
1. Every colleague is expected to find an opportunity to make at least one colleague feel good about themselves every week
2. Every colleague should have a “buddy”: not a Line Manager or a Mentor but a buddy, with whom they can share success and frustrations in a totally non-judgemental way
3. Have a Kerrrching Day when every single person who works in the school puts a positive message of congratulation onto the IT system, and next day, when everyone switches on their computer, they see a collage of positive messages about how brilliant their school is.
4. Have a Buck’s Fizz week; like Secret Santa, you are paired secretly with someone else on the staff and in one week it is up to you to find three ways of making them feel good without them realising you are paired with them.
5. Find as many ways as possible of contacting parents with positive messages, especially where kids are more reluctant learners.
6. Dealing with coughs and colds: supporting colleagues when they under the weather. No act of kindness every goes unanswered.

Teaching is the best job in the world: we make people, and we make a difference to young lives. Once you are that adult who has made a difference, maybe with just a look or a word or a smile, you will never unmake that difference. There is nothing more important than looking after those who teach our children.

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Drugs have long been considered the most effective intervention for attention disorders like ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorders. But Jessica is pretty young, and doctors are reluctant to prescribe drugs like Ritalin at such a young age.

Jessica’s mum doesn’t want her to be left behind – this is such an important time in a child’s life and how she copes and develops now could impact the rest of her life. Attention isn’t just about paying attention in class, it’s actually one of the earliest developing cognitive skills that dictates our ability to perceive and process information derived from our environment, crucial to determining our capacity to learn and communicate with one another.

Jessica is just one of about 400,000 children in Australia and 136 Million worldwide diagnosed with disorders of inattention – these children start at a distinct disadvantage in being ready to start school.

For a child, the stress that’s associated with increased difficulty to attend canl affect their emotional wellbeing, as it becomes harder to communicate with teachers, family and friends, as well as keeping up with the rest of their classmates.

Our team at Tali is dedicated to helping all kids improve their core cognitive attention skills. Building on 25 years of academic research, the Tali platform fills the gap for teachers and families to easily and accurately identify kids that need help and then safely improve their attention.

Our first application, Tali Train, was released about a year ago and is now being used by thousands of children across Australia. Taking full advantage of tablet technology, Tali Train takes a digital video-game approach to exercise four aspects of attention; focus, attentional control, selective attention and impulsivity – each observed to be impaired in an array of neurodevelopmental disorders.

The program has been designed with ease of use in the classroom and at home, with each of the 25 sessions lasting 20-25 minutes with convenience and mobility in mind by using an iPad or Android tablet.

Most importantly, Tali Train works. Clinical evidence shows that cognitive attention improves in both neurodiverse and neurotypical children after completing the 25-session program, that improvements in cognitive attention are sustained 3 months after completing the program AND is associated with a significant improvement in numeracy.

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What does that mean in the real world?

Jessica was one of the first kids to use Tali Train and her family noticed improvements very early on.

“From the first week of playing, we started to see changes. Life is just easier, so for Jessica there’s not as many things that make life difficult for her,” says Jessica’s mum.

“I feel much more confident taking her out, as the meltdowns are much less regular. We’ve gone from almost daily meltdowns to more like fortnightly meltdowns.”

“The game is aimed at hyperactivity and inability to focus and certainly we have seen some improvements in those areas. But we’ve also seen things like; Jessica is much more empathetic to other people and she actually pays attention to how other people are feeling.”
“[Jessica] has been much more caring of her younger sister, so she will we actually go out of her way to make sure her younger sister is okay.”

Tali Train has been recognised internationally as a breakthrough technology, and soon we will be able to announce the launch of Tali Detect, the digital assessment app that will help teachers and families to identify children, like Jessica, with attention difficulties.

That’s one happy kiddo using Tali Train! Credit and full article: Herald Sun