Laura McInerney | Schools Week

Charlie Stripp, director, NCETM

It isn’t supposed to be like this. The plan had been to meet in a glorious Victorian hotel and have afternoon tea. Instead we are quaffing from paper cups in the corner of a Pret. Victorian hotels, it turns out, have a habit of closing for renovation. Charlie Stripp seems unperturbed. He talks about maths […]

Who was the first politician to announce the end of grammar schools?

The common belief is that it was Labour education secretary Anthony Crosland. He sent out a circular in 1965 to local authorities urging them to end selective schools in their area. (Note “urge” not “order” as many people think.) But there is a part of the story missing. Because it was actually the Conservative education […]

How selection could – and probably will – seep back in

“There is no way they will get this grammar school thing through.” That’s what former shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said at a debate on Sunday. It’s a comforting thought, but I’m not buying. Governments tend to do what they want, regardless of the administrative hurdles placed in their way. Michael Gove used the Terrorism […]

Andrew Sabisky, political forecaster

In a week in which two shadow education secretaries resigned, the incumbent secretary angled to run the country, and no one seemed to know if the education white paper was binned or on ice, it was reassuring to meet Andrew Sabisky, a 24-year-old polymath who is edging his way to becoming a “super forecaster” – […]

Tony Sewell, chief executive, Generating Genius

It’s a brave man who takes on Owen Jones in front of a young audience. Jones, author of Chavs and darling of left-wing socialists, is beloved among angsty teenagers who see him as one of the few people on telly talking about politics in plain language and sticking up for the rights of the young. […]

Emma Breckenridge, headteacher, Kingfisher Hall and Enfield Heights

In the first months of 1985, EastEnders started, Gorbachev was elected, and Band Aid spent five weeks at No 1 with Do They Know It’s Christmas? It was also the year that Emma Breckenridge, headteacher of two outstanding primary schools in north London, was born. If your first thought is that superheads are getting younger […]

Becky Francis, director, Institute of Education

When Becky Francis was announced as the new director of the UCL Institute of Education, the largest education research body in the UK, there was something of a collective cheer across the sector. Her reputation for being calm and clear was sealed after her appearance a few years ago at what must rate as one […]

John Tomsett, headteacher, Huntington School

Each week since 2012 John Tomsett has typed a missive beginning with the sentence: “I have been a teacher for 27 years, a headteacher for 12 years and, at the age of 51, this much I know about . . .” His topics vary from the educational – assemblies, target-setting, sanctions – to the personal: […]

The Truth About Our Schools: Exposing the myths, exploring the evidence

A historical problem for people in the Labour party is their inability to make hard arguments about education. Sit in an education debate at the annual Labour conference and you will soon hear audience comments descending into a melange of “let’s give every child a hug and a screwdriver”. When the Conservatives are promising flashy […]