JL Dutaut | Schools Week

10 steps to prepare for coronavirus

The Covid-19 situation is rapidly evolving. Hayley Dunn presents ten key points to keep coming back to as the pandemic’s effects begin to be felt Coronavirus is the most important concern facing school leaders right now. Their worries include the viability of school trips, the potential for large-scale absences and closures, and how to support […]

A perfect storm threatens disadvantaged schools and pupils

The government must reconsider how it targets resources in order to support our most vulnerable pupils, says Natalie Perera Somewhere along the road, we have ended up with an education system that is alienating the children that need it most. Over the past year, some our research findings, combined with the government’s narrative on education, […]

Time for an alternative perception of alternative provision

A dramatic rise in pupils being diagnosed with special educational needs means many schools are facing significant challenges. We have to rethink our systems and assumptions accordingly, writes Sam Parrett London South East Academies Trust consists of seven schools, only one of which is mainstream. The others – two alternative provision (AP) academies and four […]

Pause Ofsted? We need to accelerate it

A recent experience with Ofsted has convinced Daniel Wright that we should be working to strengthen, not to undermine, the watchdog I’ve been a headteacher for six months, and I’m learning at pace. I had imagined myself, two days after “the call”, standing Russell Crowe-like, bloodied but unbowed, shouting “Are you not entertained?” at inspectors […]

COVID-19 school closures: the disaster that will put edtech to the test

Edtech firms have been quick off the mark to offer their systems as palliatives for school closures. JL Dutaut explores the pros and cons of this unplanned shift to digital home learning “In moments of crisis, people are willing to hand over a great deal of power to anyone who claims to have a magic […]

Helena Marsh’s top edu blogs of the week, 02 March 2020

Hacking memory, non-negotiables, promoting women into leadership, questioning as a leadership tool and the campaign to pause Ofsted are the top picks of the education topics by this week’s guest blog reviewer Helena Marsh How to remember anything, forever @daisychristo In this concise blog, Daisy muses on the forgetting curve and the power that […]

Research-Informed Practice

Maria Cunningham is impressed by a book that’s sensitive to the principles of good CPD and thoughtful implementation When talking to colleagues in schools about their use of research and applying evidence to the classroom, the teachers I meet tend to fall into two camps. Either their eyes light up and they enthusiastically reel through […]

The zero-sum paradigm of education excellence is at an end. What next?

The winners-and-losers way of doing things has taken us as far as it can and it’s time for a radical rethink of excellence in education, writes Kate Chhatwal Writing my introduction to this year’s Challenge Partners annual report, my second as CEO, got me thinking about excellence. Many representations make it out to be exclusive […]

Trauma-informed practice is the right response to austerity

Trauma-informed practice is good for everyone and best of all for the most vulnerable. Why would our government favour compliance instead? asks Colin Diamond Speeches like Gavin Williamson’s last week, in which he appeared to endorse the nationwide replication of so-called “no-excuses” or “warm-strict” schools, hardly deserve the attention, let alone the heat, they generate. […]