PodSciSci PodSciSci

Shelley and Rach are joined by Pritesh Raichura, Assistant Principal of T&L at Ark Soane Academy. Pritesh is well-known for his exceptional classroom routines, including great use of Turn & Talk and 'All Hands Up' and in this episode, shares his knowledge and experience of rehearsal. Rehearsal is a powerful tool which can be used to encode concepts into long term memory and build fluency in our students' understanding.

Useful resources include:


Bunsen Blue (Pritesh's blog) - Turn & Talk
Bunsen Blue - Three Phases of Questioning
Tom Sherrington - Rehearsal first, retrieval practice later
Elaborative rehearsal (not education specific!)

To know more about CogSciSci:


Follow us on Twitter/X
Check out our website
Join our Discord server - code: vYwvXE6Bjr
Come to our annual conference on Friday 31 May in St Albans School

In this episode, Shelley and Rach chat to a pirate in Hogwarts (Dr Jo Castelino) about all things homework - what does 'effective' homework look like, and why will it be different in every school? And how can you begin to build a culture of homework in your school / department? This is a fun but informative episode which will motivate you to consider what homework looks like for your classes.



CogSciSci St Albans is fast approaching on 31st May - not many tickets remaining! Discounted tickets are available for early career teachers. Click here to buy your ticket!

And CogSciSci now has Discord! Join the conversation here.



Other useful links include:


Jo's blog - Dr C's Science Classroom
EEF guidance on homework
The HeadTeacher article - Homework: Let's end the debate

Keep an eye out on Jo's new book 'The Homework Conundrum: How to stop the dog from eating homework' - follow Jo on Twitter/X to know more!

After a long break, Shelley and Rach are back, chatting to Bill Wilkinson about mixed ability teaching and SEND provision in Science. They consider the Education Endowment Foundation evidence on setting and streaming, navigating the dreaded tier decisions at KS4 and breaking down 'microbarriers', bearing in mind the important accessibility concept of 'essential to some, useful for all'.

CogSciSci are also very excited to announce their next conference which will take place at St Albans School on 31st May, and we are looking for speakers. Tickets are available here.

Other useful links include:


The Pygmalion Effect
EEF evidence on setting and streaming
Bill's Threads account
Hodder Education - Springboard: KS3 Science (not sponsored)

In our final episode in the Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction mini-series, Shelley and Rach chat to Adam Robbins, the current Managing Editor of CogSciSci and the guy who makes the conferences happen! They discuss the need for independent practice, the conditions needed for it to be effective and, of course, SLOP (Shed Loads of Practice).

Some relevant links include:


Frederick Reif's book 'Applying Cognitive Science to Education'
Daniel Willingham's 'Why Student's Don't Like School'
CogSciSci training modules on writing SLOP
Shelley's Biology booklets with SLOP
Variation theory by Craig Barton

Following on from the first episode in the Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction series, in this episode the focus is 'Checking for Understanding'. Shelley and Rach chat to Deepika Narula about the importance of checking for understanding, and ensuring our students are 'learning with fewer errors'. Strategies discussed include diagnostic questions and BEST resources, cold calling for sampling, probing questions and the logistics of mini whiteboards.Some relevant links to this episode:


Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction in Action
Harry Fletcher Wood's 'Responsive Teaching'
Pritesh Raichura's blog - checks for listening vs. checks for understanding

Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction have become commonplace in T&L CPD over the last few years. Over the next three episodes, we will be considering the Principles in three blocks - effective explanations, checking for understanding and independent practice.
In this episode, Shelley and Rach chat to CogSciSci regular Tom Millichamp, a Lead Practitioner of Science in the Midlands. They discuss the importance of activating prior knowledge, what effective delivery looks like in the classroom (hint: there will be talk about visualisers and booklets) and the role of rehearsal in helping students to encode the new knowledge.
Lots of relevant links to today's episode, as follows:

Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction
Tom Sherrington's 'Rosenshine's Principles in Action' book
Springboard KS3 Science
Sarah Cottingham's book
Tom's blog
Shelley's GCSE Biology booklets
CogSciSci's Library of explanations
Jo Castelino's blog on rehearsal/giving them time to think