Author: JL Dutaut

Our troubles are not at an end but we can lay the groundwork for a better post-Covid education system now, writes Alison Peacock As this year draws to a close, we understandably want to throw it out with the rubbish – along with all of those plans we made in January. However, amidst the chaos, […]

The scope of the national tutoring programme and the breadth of providers and approaches are daunting. Simon Barnes sets out some first principles to help you get started As schools start to take advantage of the subsidised tuition on offer through the national tutoring programme, school leaders are keen to maximise return on investment and […]

Tutoring can transform life outcomes for students – but ensuring the NTP’s success depends on school leaders understanding its unique principles, writes Julia Silver Good tutoring is a fantastic resource. The improvements it leads to transcend the topics or subjects covered in tutoring sessions, and this spill-over effect can transform a student’s interest in and […]

The government’s moves on primary testing are welcome but the tests that remain don’t fufil the purpose they’ve been kept for, writes Alice Bradbury The announcement this month that Key Stage 1 SATs will be dropped in 2021 was a welcome relief for some teachers in primary schools. Alongside this, the DfE has decided that […]

Driving school improvement is first and foremost a question of capacity, writes Carole Willis I was delighted to be part of the NAHT’s School Improvement Commission (SIC) and to see NFER’s research play such an important role in informing its conclusions. Too often, school improvement is thought of as something for schools deemed ‘inadequate’ or […]

Engagement with families is crucial to providing a safety net – and agencies must work together as a family  to support the most vulnerable, writes Jon Yates During this pandemic, many young people have been left without the support they need. They’ve lost time at school and they’ve struggled to access support from the adults […]

From staff rotas to test and trace, school business leaders have shown how vital their contributions are, says Micon Metcalfe It seems like it must have been a different decade or another life altogether, but 2020 started with a new prime minister. There were big promises on education. Teachers were to be backed on discipline […]

Stop blaming teachers for questionable assessments and start fixing the broken system that means they can’t be right, writes Dennis Sherwood Teachers’ predicted grades are much criticised for being “optimistic”, and teachers are pilloried as a result. But exam grades are unreliable, and so teachers are denied the opportunity to learn. Imagine a primary school […]