“There is  no such thing  as  a kid  who  hates  reading. There are  kids who  love  reading & kids who  are  reading the wrong  books.”  James  Patterson,  (author). 

Lexplore's method, invented in January 2013, is based upon data from the Kronoberg project; an entirely unique longitudinal study of reading and writing which began almost 30 years ago at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. As part of the project, eye movement recordings were taken for hundreds of children, both with and without reading difficulties. Their academic and reading progress was then followed from year 3 to adulthood.

By analysing eye movement patterns from this study combined with additional research from the Dyslexia Project in the Swedish municipalities of Järfälla and Trosa, our researchers and founders Gustaf Öqvist Seimyr and Mattias Nilsson Benfatto were able to show that the statistical models they had developed could accurately predict which students would experience difficulties after as little as 30 seconds of reading. The cumulative results from their work were published in PLoS One (Benfatto et al., 2016).

• There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions. Finland’s schools are publicly funded. 

• The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local authorities, are educators, not business people, military leaders or career politicians. 

• Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-trained educators. The result is that a Finnish child has a good shot at getting the same quality education no matter whether he or she lives in a rural village or a university town. 

• The differences between weakest and strongest students are the smallest in the world, according to the most recent survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

Exploring practical approaches with a number of school leaders, practitioners and researchers asking and diving into questions such as:

• How will you identify and understand your students’ own sense and experience of loss? 

• How will you adapt and develop your curriculum for recovery 

• What do you see as the key leadership values in leading recovery at your school?

Paul Dix is author of the best selling book ‘When The Adults Change Everything Changes: Seismic Shifts in School Behaviour’. He is founder of Pivotal Education and a founding Member of the TBAP Trust of Alternative Provision Academies for excluded children.

Objective led planning Is a term born from Alistair Bryce Clegg; Education Consultant and Early Years Author. It is where you target a small group of children who are heading towards the same objective. You enter their play, taking the objective that you want them to achieve and steer it into the play. It is an alternative to calling children to you, interrupting their play. 

In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish.