Expert Contributor | Schools Week

Don’t underestimate peer-to-peer support in young people’s mental health

Putting more money and resources into current mental health provision is a pointless exercise if the children who need help are rejecting the system, says Sarah Newton. The Institute for Public Policy Research recently recommended that all secondary schools have guaranteed access to at least one day a week of on-site support from a mental […]

Why councils should check up on academies

There is an accountability gap in the new education landscape that council scrutiny committees could help to fill, just as they do in health, says Su Turner. Accountability matters and is well understood within schools between pupils, teachers and parents, as it is between staff, headteachers and governors. The same is not the case, however, […]

Why schools should engage with apprenticeships

The apprenticeship levy will be a game-changer for many young people, especially those who get little benefit from being stuck in a classroom, says Mark Dawe. But first they need to know all their available choices. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April next year will be a game-changer in young people’s choices. Many […]

We need to get over the taboo of talking about race

Until we make it acceptable to discuss race, the crucial conversations required to drive change will simply never happen, says Ndidi Okezie. One of the barriers a black, Asian or ethnic minority (BAME) person stepping into a leadership position faces is that they are not taking on the weight of leadership purely for themselves – […]

Progress 8 is fairer, but some flaws need fixing

David Blow explains why your Progress 8 scores may have been lower than you had predicted. The move to Progress 8 has undoubtedly been fairer than the previous measure of five A*-C GCSEs, especially for schools with lower prior (key stage 2) attainment, who were likely to have lower outcome attainment (at key stage 4). […]

How to be an LGBT+ ally in schools

Posters on walls in schools don’t cut it – it’s how teachers and school leaders deal with specific incidents that really makes a difference, says Annette Pryce. Here’s a story: it’s about a teenage girl who was 14 when she came out at school as a lesbian. After months of verbal abuse and no support, […]

Work experience can benefit employers as well as schools

Ask not what employers can do for your students. Ask what your students can do for employers, says Gerard Liston It was encouraging to hear Justine Greening tell the Conservative Party conference that, ‘British business is the ultimate opportunity giver. I want to see businesses spotting and polishing up the talent of a new generation’. […]

We are rewarding the wrong school leaders

The UK is falling behind in international league tables because it is appointing, rewarding and recognising the wrong school leaders, say Alex Hill and Ben Laker Why does the UK educational system fall behind its peers? In the 2012 Program for International Assessment (PISA) study, the UK invested the 8th largest amount of 34 OECD […]

Independent schools want to engage with state schools but red tape abounds

Tom Hicks was thrilled when his son had the chance to play in a local under-7 football tournament. But then bureaucracy showed the red card… As a kid, there was little that got the blood stirring more than the anticipation of a sports tournament. It would start the night before: you would lay out your […]