Here is a selection of teaching ideas to bin: If only certain ideas that proliferate in education were to be consigned to the educational ‘Room 101’, the scrapheap and the bin forever. Data collections Sometimes called 'data drops' as if the cunning use of alliteration somehow makes them sound more important and relevant.

Ultimately, they are pointless.

Data collection is an endless, vicious circle/cycle for teachers.

Of course, there is a place for data in schools.

It should be analysed at times and it can be useful in identifying trends or issues.

But not every 6 weeks! In its current form, data collection is purely designed to inform school leaders of student progress – or to beat teachers with a big stick.

However, at best, data presents an erratic picture of what is actually going on. Everybody knows that the very last thing that an exam board decides in any subject in any year is what the grade boundaries are.

Often this can be as late as the last week of July or the first week in August – just weeks before results are published.

So, how can schools give an accurate 'grade' in October of Year 10? Data collection is built on quicksand! It is one of the teaching idea to bin. Pre-mocks, pre-pre mocks and MockSTEDs One of the unfortunate (but entirely predictable) consequences of the government’s focus on core subjects, the new 9-1 GCSE reform, and the return to assessment primarily by terminal examinations,  is that many schools are timetabling more formal exam practice for students. Most would accept that mock exams have a justified place on the school calendar.

But now we have pre-mocks and even pre-pre mocks. This trend places a massive burden on both teachers and students.

Not only that, it causes considerable disruption to teachers of other curriculum areas and is bound to harm pupils’ chances of achieving their potential in other subjects. Similarly, the omnipresent threat of Ofsted has created another worrying trend that should definitely be thrown in the bin – the MockSTED inspection. It only increases pressure for staff that are undoubtedly buckling under the weight of other pressures anyway. Teaching is a wonderful profession.

It is the most rewarding job there is...

or at least it should and could be.