Expert Contributor | Schools Week

Imperfect Leadership

The prevailing narrative about school leadership in England has often been centred on talk of transformational leaders, superheads, and in extreme cases, of leadership cloning. Steve Munby’s book begins from the perspective that no leader is perfect, and nor should they strive to be. At Imperfect Leadership’s heart is the strong conviction that leadership should […]

Professional development on SEND is bottom of the pile

Special educational need CPD must be prioritised, says Karen Wespieser. The OECD’s latest data on teacher working conditions and learning environments includes a figure that sticks out like a sore thumb: just 6 per cent of teachers in England report “a high level of need for professional development in teaching students with special needs”. This […]

Knife crime: why a slogan on a T-shirt is not enough

When the student council of a north London secondary met to discuss knife crime, the discussion soon moved away from traditional campaign tactics, says Gerry Robinson In a recent school council meeting our students were discussing how they could lead a campaign against knife crime. There were the anticipated suggestions – poster campaigns, speaking in […]

The patterns and trends that shape pupils’ lives

These three studies used different methods to explore phenomena affecting young people, whether transitions and attainment, special needs and disability, or family life. Bart Shaw and Dr Will Cook previewed study findings that shows pupils’ perception of their academic ability dips dramatically once they start secondary school. This comes from an ongoing project that LKMco […]

The Thinking School

Kulvarn Atwal boasts an impressive history of school improvement that gives his views immediate credibility. In this book he lays out the theories that have shaped the schools he has worked that have used his “dynamic learning communities”. The research evidence he presents over six chapters is clear and compelling. The first two chapters set […]

I am a classroom teacher and I want isolation booths

Isolation rooms are calm, orderly environments with a clear routine. And behaviour is better in schools that have them, says Steve Garnett The older I get the more irked I become by the nonsense on social media, especially from EduTwitter types who should know better. Some people seem to have lived their career in a […]

Numbers alone can’t tell us that off-rolling has taken place

Schools sometimes put their interests first when a child is removed from their roll – which is why Ofsted is determined to look at any unusual pattern of pupil movement, says Dan Owen Children and parents up and down the country are being quietly encouraged by school leaders to leave that community. In some cases, […]

Robin Conway’s top blogs of the week 24 June 2019

A thought on creating a learning culture @SaysMiss At this time of year, when there may be more mental space to reflect on the past few months and to plan for September, it is great so see so many blogs sharing suggestions and ideas to help learners. This post outlines the efforts of @SaysMiss to […]

The importance of early language development

Many conversations in education these days seem to come back to the idea of early language development as fundamental to successful outcomes in school. The 30 million word gap on entry to school between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged peers is a widely discussed concept. The changes in expectations in the year 6 SATs, including the key […]