Laura McInerney | Schools Week

Headteacher boards ARE corrupt but can be fixed – just like Gove fixed GCSEs

The editorial last week led to more responses than any other in schools week’s history. One headteacher board member responded to the criticism – and here, editor Laura McInerney replies. In 2012, Michael Gove set about reforming GCSEs because he believed the exam system to be “corrupt”. At the time, I balked. Was he saying […]

Full list of schools policies in leaked Labour manifesto

A leaked copy of Labour’s draft manifesto reveals the party’s plans for schools. Schools Week exclusively saw an early copy of the manifesto. The party will sign-off on a final version today, but here is the full list of schools policies in the draft. Schools policies in leaked Labour manifesto 1. Reduce class sizes to under […]

Headteacher boards are corrupt, self-serving and secretive

Headteacher boards are the most baffling and stupid part of the schools system. They are also corrupt, self-serving and secretive. Think that’s unfair? Prove it. Only you can’t. Because of that secrecy. What I can say is that they aren’t democratic. Democracy means rule by the majority. Problem is, the headteacher boards (HTBs) aren’t voted […]

Jonathan Simons, director of policy and advocacy, Varkey Foundation

Jonathan Simons has been the pantomime villain of education circles for the past five years. As director of education at Policy Exchange, the think-tank started by Michael Gove, he often appeared on radio, television and conference panels to give a right-leaning view which – for many of education’s numerous left-wingers – was a challenge. Yet […]

How school folks can influence politicians during the election campaign

A snap election during the summer term is about as welcome as a major football tournament. Both tend to disrupt pupils, who are usually more attentive to football, but become equally intrigued about this politics thing that the adults are banging on about. Labour has focused on children from the off, with its first party […]

With a looming election, will we ever see the grammar schools consultation response?

There’s going to be a general election on 8th June – but what does this mean for the much-anticipated grammar schools white paper? Editor Laura McInerney gazes into the crystal ball. If the past year of politics has taught anything, it’s that we can’t really guess the future. Not even if you’re a professional pollster. […]

‘Standard’ and ‘strong’ GCSE pass rates: what is Greening talking about?

Education secretary Justine Greening announced today that a grade 4 will now be considered “a standard pass”, while grade 5 will be called a “strong pass”. So what’s this all about? Laura McInerney explains. Just when you thought the C-grade threshold problem was all but gone in education, Justine Greening decides to drag us all […]

Goodbye, Education Funding Agency. Hello, Education & Skills Funding Agency

The Education Funding and Skills Funding Agencies are merging and Peter Lauener is stepping down as boss of both, the government has confirmed. First revealed by our sister paper FE Week back on March 3, the move has now been announced online by the Department for Education. The agency will be re-named as the Education […]

Andy Ratcliffe, chief executive, Impetus-PEF

Facebook may get stick for perpetuating “fake news”, but the social network also helps to keep the education innovator Andy Ratcliffe grounded in reality. His day job as chief executive of Impetus-PEF may involve spending the money of millionaires, he does so with an acute awareness of what it means for education. “At the most […]