iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Few will ever have the impact on children and young people as Esther.

020

And the thousands who are alive thanks to her work on childhood transplants.

120

And there is Childline, still going strong today.

On a personal note, she also brought the story of a family member's traumatic experience in childbirth to a national audience. That mattered. A lot.

100

"Can I ask is there anyone her tonight who owes their life to Sir Nicholas Winton? If there are, can you please stand up." <Four rows stand> Journalism at its very finest.💫

130

BBC TV's That's Life - Nicholas Winton - 28/02/1988 and 03/07/1988

Esther Rantzen brought the story of Sir Nicholas Winton's heroism to the world. 600+ children saved from death. One of the most moving TV moments ever. Worth watching every. single. moment. Rest in peace Esther Ranzten. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcGK...

youtube.com

YouTube video by That's Life!

2144

After all, who wants to be a modern-day equivalent of the Doctor admitting women into an asylum for the reason of menopause?

021

It’s important to remain humble. Inclusion changes. No one can stay ahead of every change. That’s nothing to worry about if you are open-minded to change.

120

How society supports disabilities now is based on the knowledge we have right now. In future, maybe we will gasp whether we under-recognised or over-recognised trauma... We just don’t know until tomorrow.

100

The bigger lesson is that how a society cares for disabled people will always change. In future, people will look at our approaches and gasp. Society learns and moves forward.

100

Asylum staff were probably doing their best with the best knowledge they had at the time. Wadsley asylum had inspections by Commissioners in Lunacy, who visited in 1867. These experts praised the Saturday night dances, picnics to Wakefield, and noted that restraint had only been used once that year.

Other patients were admitted due to quarrelling, greed and disappointing marriages. Being ‘sent to Wadsley’ for being a quarrelsome wife must have been a pretty brutal life event. However, this isn’t just “Weren’t we bad in the old days.”

100

Charles Sanderson was a solicitor until who was admitted for dementia. He was 34. His record shows that his dementia began aged 18. That means that it was probably not dementia (e.g. could have been epilepsy, brain injury, or even depression). Charles then spent 35 years in the asylum.

100

There were many ways to end up in the asylum. Whilst many patients were discharged, many died there. Sarah Helliwell was admitted because she had ‘change of life’ (i.e. menopause). She died at 55, having had 2.5 years of asylum treatment for her menopause.

101

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 29/09/2026

This churchyard in Sheffield is a window into ‘inclusion’ in the past. There are 2,500 unmarked graves of patients at the Wadsley Lunatic Asylum (that was actually its name). The long dry summer of 2026 meant that this year, their graves could be seen – normally, it just looks like an empty field.

A field in Wadsley Churchyard is covered by brown rectangles of grass amongst the green grass.

Each brown area is the unmarked grave of one of the former patients of the former Wadsley Asylum.

191

If you want better inclusion in your mainstream school, there's a free Inclusion Strategy template that completes the compliance so that school leaders can focus on matters. It's in the free Inclusive Mainstream Fund Guide download bit.ly/4yiHVBk Please share #Inclusion

Shows compliant template for a mainstream school inclusion strategy, including pages for contents, goals, and evidence.

023

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 28/09/2026

Inclusion Strategies are here. Mainstream schools must publish their first one by 31st Dec. These are a brand new plans for leadership teams. The strategy outlines how they will spend their Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) grant. Helpfully, there's now the Ultimate Guide to the IMF. bit.ly/4yiHVBk

bit.ly

Ultimate Inclusive Mainstream Fund Toolkit – Your free step-by-step guide

Our free Ultimate Inclusive Mainstream Fund Toolkit turns a daunting new statutory duty into a manageable, step-by-step process...

000

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 22/09/2026

Exam boards don't want to offer a GCSE in British Sign Language. 💫 So the charity Signature have offered to do it. They've never provided GCSEs before, so credit to them. 👏 @signature.org.uk

082

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 19/09/2026

On language in the areas of development: there will be a hill to climb... At the mo, I'm not sure that everyone has the same understanding of executive function.

Danny Nicholson @dannynic.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Reposted by Aaron King

Did you know, UK Schools can apply for free trees from The Woodland Trust? Details here www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/...

woodlandtrust.org.uk

Free Trees for Schools and Communities

We’re giving away hundreds of thousands of trees

033

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 17/09/2026

I'm curious: Do you mean the SEND reforms or the areas of development?

100

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 17/09/2026

🚨 SEND briefing As part of the SEND reforms in England, the DfE propose five new areas of development. #UkEd #EduSky

Slide shows 5 new areas of develop which the government proposed to introduce.

The areas include executive functioning; sensory; social and emotional; speech language and communication; and Physical.

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 08/09/2026

Will you have any new school governors this term? If so, give them Fee Stagg's A-Z of Governance. 90 superb pages to help them fire on all cylinders. It's excellent. bit.ly/3I1tiNP

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 01/09/2026

PSA: I put free inclusion advice on LinkedIn. You can search for 'Aaron King Inclusion' to find me. I've been explaining SEND reform on there for some months and am happy to connect with other educators. #UkEd #EduSky

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 27/08/2026

There's never a bad time to remind ourselves of this. #UkEd #EduSky

Image: The Mood pyramid

An illustration by Liz Fosslien of a "Mood pyramid." At the bottom is, "Time to recharge" with a recommended "As much as needed" frequency. Next are, "Time with loved ones," and "Sunlight" with a recommended "Many servings per day." Above that is, "Some form of movement," recommended "A couple servings per day." Then "Meaningful projects," with a few servings per day, and finally, "Fun," with "At least one serving per day."

1113

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 21/08/2026

Fair point. Local FE providers can be a factor, as can the employers (and employment types) in the local economy. Also, some apprenticeships are 18+ due to the nature of the role (e.g. some in groundworks). So, whilst it's imperfect out there, they're still a great step into work for many. 🌟

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 21/08/2026

Fair enough. If I'd had to keep guessing, my next S6 guess would've been Cox Road or Cox Place... After that, I'd have exhausted my Peacock / Sheff street names puns 😉

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 20/08/2026

GCSE results day! 💫 Congratulations to everyone who'll be celebrating. 💫 If you're a parent, here's how grades translate.

Table: 9 to 1 grading scale compared to previous A* to G scale

The number scale is not directly equivalent to the old letter one. But if you are still used to thinking about the old A* to G grading scale, the old and current grading scales are comparable at the following points:
- The bottom of a grade 7 is comparable to the bottom of the old grade A
- The bottom of grade 4 is comparable to the bottom of the old grade C
- The bottom of grade 1 is comparable to the bottom of the old grade G

020

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 20/08/2026

💫 16 year olds, GCSE results day is here - Well done for your efforts! - Didn't go as you hoped? Think about apprenticeships. - Did go as you hoped? Think about apprenticeships.

A female apprenticeship surveys bricks as part of a construction apprenticeship.

141

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 13/08/2026

💫 A Levels! Well done for your efforts. 💫 - Didn't go as you hoped? Think about apprenticeships. - Did go as you hoped? Think about apprenticeships.

An apprentice, wearing safety glasses and ear defenders, uses woodworking tools.

032

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 12/08/2026

If it's still on your desktop, I thought you can still use it? If it helps: I tried to use an online convertor to change a few design heavy pub docs into MS Word. It was ok for the text sections but struggled with images overlaid on colour. At least having the text sped it up for me.

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 06/08/2026

When visiting North Yorkshire, I'm always reminded of this AA Milne quote.

Quote reads: "Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known."

It is written by A.A. Milne.

It has an image which shows Christopher Robbin and Winnie the Pooh and Piglet (from the Winnie the Pooh books) standing on a bridge looking down at the water below.

061

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 29/07/2026

Photo credit: Wildlife Online / Susan Warn

020

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 29/07/2026

1. The mammal with the biggest heart relative to its body is the shrew. 2. Inclusion begins in the heart. 3. Maybe we should try to be a bit more shrew.

A lesser white toothed shrew peers over a mossy log.

Photo is taken by Susan Warn.

1133

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 28/07/2026

For everyone who'll take a holiday this summer. #UkEd #EduSky

A caption reads "Notice when you're happy."

A family look out onto a landscape. One member says to the others "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."

The landscape is cleverly drawn so that the landscape could be either hills and fields or it could be the ocean. The happy landscape is in the eye of the beholder.

The image is by Sketchplanations based on wisdom by Kurt Vonnegut.

042

Reposted by Aaron King

Exeter Cycling Campaign @exetercycling.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Incentives for people who🚶‍♀️30m/day from NHS England? BMJ @scarlettmcnally.bsky.social "A better system'd reward modal shift 🚗 =>🚶🚲🛴🚌 It'd need changes to infrastructure, but strong evidence shows that active travel improves mental & physical health" #NHS #ActiveTravel www.bmj.com/content/394/...

An image of a "drug" capsule "labelled Physical Activity"
The accompanying text reads Physical activity, the under-rated 'wonder drug' Even small increases in physical activity among those who are the least active can bring great health benefits. As the former chief medical officer noted: "The potential benefits of physical activity to health are huge. If medication existed which had a similar effect, it would be regarded as a wonder drug or miracle cure cure'. - This was from a Public Health England publication

175

Reposted by Aaron King

Tes magazine @tesmagazine.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Former journalist Paul Waugh has been appointed as a DfE minister while Olivia Bailey is out as early education minister

tes.com

Who are the new DfE ministers?

The DfE team has been reshuffled, with Lucy Powell now taking the helm as education secretary. But who will she be working with?

014

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 23/07/2026

I've enormous empathy for working parents who are both MPs and ministers. MPs could already fill their diaries thrice over and these people have ministerial and mum duties on top. Whatever party, they're human first.

100

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 22/07/2026

Fair enough. I don't know much about Minister Bailey, but Josh MacAlister seems to have won favour of some of the charities for his efforts (although those good vibes are also tempered with some frustration that things should happen faster).

100

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 22/07/2026

It normally takes several days to appoint non-cabinet ministers. By the end of the week, we should know who has Early Years and Social Care briefs. For now, it's anyone's guess if Olivia Bailey and Josh MacAlister will return to DfE. If they do not return, both will have left after 10 months.

200

Reposted by Aaron King

Teaching with my eyes shut @eyesshutteacher.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Always this. Write down or scrapbook the good stuff for when you’re feeling despondent. A folder of photos of thank you cards on your phone is a good start.

184

Aaron King @9000lives.org · 22/07/2026

Fair enough. I also wonder if there's an element of what gets attention and what gets reported. Valuable work of MPs is often missed (e.g. Helen Hayes, Georgia Gould, Munira Wilson, Saqib Bhatti, Jess Asato, Sureena Brackenridge and Manuela Perteghella and Ben Obese-Jecty). I still have hope. 🙂

Laura McInerney @missmc.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Reposted by Aaron King

If you’d like to know more background about Lucy Powell we did a profile on her in Schools Week ten years ago when she was shadow Ed Sec. schoolsweek.co.uk/lucy-powell/

schoolsweek.co.uk

Lucy Powell, shadow education secretary

For someone who by her own admission 'hardly knows' Jeremy Corbyn, you can imagine Lucy Powell’s surprise when she was offered the position of shadow education secretary

173

Lucy Powell was Shadow Education Sec under Corbyn circa 2016.

Education is now Lucy Powell. Phillipson stays on as Minister for Women and Equalities. Energy is possible.

It's Lucy Powell, but interesting how educators often struggle to name people who they'd want (but can name who they don't). Given Phillipson is moved out, I'd have been happy for Helen Hayes to have had the job. She has good knowledge on some of the key issues in DfE.

220

Lucy Powell, Deputy leader of Labour, has the gig.