Sebastian Phillips
Bio
UK based writer and photographer, specialising in offbeat stories and obscure facts.
Stories (12)
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Giving Students the Results They Deserve...
Failure is always possible, if you work hard enough to achieve it! I think we’ve all been there. Data has just be uploaded, the numbers have been crunched, and there’s a staff meeting about Year Eleven progress. The headmaster will make positive comments about how good it looks, and remind us that we should be planning interventions to make sure these figures become a reality. Then there’s always that statement, isn’t there?:
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Education
Seven Things That Stop Teachers from Leaving Their Jobs (And How to Overcome Them). Top Story - January 2018.
I've talked to a lot of disillusioned teachers. They want to quit but they can't, for various reasons. In this article, I'm going to run through some of those and give some handy hints to those who really can't face the classroom any more, but are stopped by these key things:
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Education
'Star Trek' With Swearing
First thing I have to say: “Charlie Brooker, you let us down! Where was our 2017 wipe?" To get why “USS Callister” was so good (and why Black Mirror goes further to the edge than any TV show in recent years) you have to understand who Charlie Brooker is. He’s not a writer, nor is he a comedian. He’s a commentator. He reviews TV programmes. He makes rude and well observed comments about our world. He has a turn of phrase which swings between cringe-worthy violence and the surreal. For example:
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Geeks
Out of Bounds
At the start of the year, I truly hated doing my break duty. I was stuck in the west stairwell, which the hooligan element thought of as their picnic spot. The worst of our school would use it as a place to smoke, to eat their lunch then drop it over the floor, that sort of thing. Senior leadership didn’t seem very bothered. Requests for CCTV to find out who was throwing chairs around never even got an answer. In the end, I decided to use a behaviour management system perfected by the former provost of Eton.
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Education
Goodbye Doctor - Hello Doctor
Warning: the following article contains a few spoilers. Duh. So on Christmas day, we saw the new Doctor Who, and quite good she seemed to be, too. Honestly, that’s all I’m going to say about the whole gender thing, for one reason: I don’t care about it. Not a jot. Male, female, unicorn or dolphin, I just don’t care. What I care about are the scripts the main actor gets landed with.
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Geeks
Getting the Best from Your Writer's Group
Here's why you may want to join a writer's group. Working with other writers can really help! Being an author is a solitary business. No matter how you do it, the job involves spending hours on your own getting the words down on the page. A writer's group can make a huge difference. An activity which can be very isolating actually introduces you to other people with the same interests and problems. But not everyone really benefits from membership. There are ways in which it can stifle your creativity and kill your ambition. It takes a little care to avoid this.
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Journal
Straightforward Behaviour Management
Keep your rules clear, and remember that you are not alone. Throughout my teaching career, I’ve worked in everything from outstanding schools to ones that were in special measures and likely to remain there. I’ve seen schools which get good results and schools which get dreadful ones. It’s taught me a lesson that I’ll share with you right from the off: you will never be able to teach a poorly behaved class as much as you can a well behaved one. Fact. Simple. I’ve never seen a school with bad behaviour get a top grade from OFSTED.
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Education
'The Legend of Hell House'
What makes for a good haunted house movie? A scary building, creaky doors, people walking around with candles, and lots of sudden surprises? Well, perhaps. But maybe it takes something more to really get under the skin. Or—brickwork?
By Sebastian Phillips8 years ago in Horror
