Expert Contributor | Schools Week

Trojan Horse hearings were an abuse of justice

Five of Lee Donaghy’s former colleagues have had their names muddied and their careers ruined, he argues, through politically-motivated negligence As headteacher from 2001, Lindsey Clark transformed Park View School in Birmingham from a byword for low standards in the city into a school feted by a prime minister, with David Cameron citing it in […]

Schools must be more vigilant on Islamism than ever

We must not downplay the seriousness of Trojan Horse, claims Jamie Martin, even if the case collapsed Barely a week after the Manchester Arena attack – which was carried out by someone educated in the English state school system – a procedural failure led to the collapse of misconduct hearings against three teachers suspended after […]

The NCTL was created in a rush and it’s time to reform it

The NCTL was created in a rush and it’s time to reform it, structurally and operationally, argues Andrew Faux The National College for Teaching and Leadership was born from a rushed decision by a deeply political secretary of state to abolish the General Teaching Council for England in March 2012. Given its recent failures there […]

NCTL processes are robust but must be applied correctly

The NCTL’s procedures are robust and rigorous, says James Lynas, but it needs sufficient numbers of properly trained staff to apply the rules correctly The National College for Teaching and Leadership’s disciplinary process has rightly come under more scrutiny after the collapse of action against five teachers in the so-called “Trojan Horse” scandal – after […]

Giving UTCs a lifeline through the free school model

UTCs face a big challenge in that the English school system isn’t set up for recruitment at 14, but there are ways to make it work, says Sam Parrett With the people in charge of university technical colleges sticking their head in the sand over the growing problem of recruitment at 14, it’s no wonder schools, UTCs and […]

Leadership of school leadership is a white male preserve

The new board of the Foundation for Leadership in Education is all white and nearly all male – a fact which in no way reflects the reality of the sector it claims to represent, argues Dr Kate Chhatwal If the role of a board of trustees is to set the tone at the top, I’m […]

How do the education manifestos stack up?

Jon Andrews looks at how each of the three main parties proposes to tackle some of the main challenges facing education In every general election, education ranks with the economy, national security, and the NHS as a priority of swing voters. This election, although sitting alongside Brexit, is no different. Each of the three main […]

How schools can support students during Ramadan

Ramadan starts around May 27 for a month. Schools need to be prepared and aware that some students (and staff) will be fasting, says Amjad Ali Ramadan will again fall in summer this year, which means fasts will last 19-20 hours. Muslims will be expected to wake up before sunrise, eat, drink, pray and then […]