Expert Contributor | Schools Week

There’s more to free schools than just warm-strict discipline

The recent GCSE results have vindicated free schools for their tireless efforts, says Unity Howard. But there’s more to the movement than warm-strict discipline The much-anticipated GCSE results of the first cohort of students at Michaela Community School in north London showed the power of their headteacher’s vision of a highly academic curriculum and warm-strict […]

Now is the time to ensure that no young person is left behind

David Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, NCFE Approaching the new school year should be an encouraging time. It’s an opportunity to make a fresh start and put action to your plans made during a reflective summer. This year, schools may feel encouraged further as the inclination to start a fresh has been bolstered by the launch […]

Mobile phones in the classroom: to ban, or not to ban?

Love them or loathe them, mobile phones are high in any popularity poll. Children often seem to have them glued to their hands. But do they have a place in the classroom? In June last year, Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of Ofsted, said that she supported a ban in schools because they interrupted learning […]

Children affected by trauma must be allowed to thrive, rather than just survive

All schools need to be aware of children affected by trauma and have practical measures in place to help them, says Lynn Miles. But, she warns, there is no low-cost, quick-fix solution It is a sad fact that half the children in the UK will have suffered an adverse childhood experience (ACE) – including emotional, […]

Making it as a Teacher

This September more than 20,000 teachers will begin their NQT year. If my own experience is anything to go by, their heads will be full of big questions for the next two months: “how should I arrange my classroom?”; “what resources will I need?”; “how am I going to cope with the workload?”, and of […]

I was a grizzled, senior lawyer. Now I teach history in south London

Chris Forsyth reflects on his move to the classroom with Now Teach My metamorphosis from a grizzled, senior business lawyer to teaching history at a South London academy was something I reflected upon recently when I attended the first conference held by Now Teach – the charity set up to recruit and support experienced career-changers. […]

Amir Arezoo’s top edu blogs of the week 8 July 2019

ResearchED and 300,000 words later – some reflections Gary Jones @DrGaryJones Education is undoubtedly susceptible to dogma: batons are taken up, bandwagons are jumped on, causes are evangelised. When it comes to evidence-based practice, the concept that it should be used to inform pedagogy may seem inherently obvious. But what use is all the research […]

Do academy trust CEOs really need a teaching background?

A successful head doesn’t always make the transition to a CEO role. We need to cast our net wider to recruit chiefs with passion, experience but also humility, says Michael Pain The emergence of the academy trust chief executive officer (CEO) role in recent years has only served to magnify the fact that the success […]

What happened when teachers stopped marking?

As part of the Department for Education (DfE) Workload Challenge, I was commissioned by Tarporley High School and Sixth Form college in Cheshire to study the effects of teachers not marking school work. Two reports published in 2016 (the DfE’s Reducing Teacher Workload: Marking Policy Review Group Report and the Education Endowment Fund’s Evidence on […]