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29 April 2026

Author: Nick Linford

Parents have ‘duty’ to play with their children, says Tristram Hunt

Parents have a duty to play with and talk to their children, Tristram Hunt has said after warning that school leaders have reported a decline in speech and listening skills. Speaking after his speech to the National Association of Head Teachers conference in Liverpool, the shadow education secretary said there were “responsibilities in terms of playing […]

While some children get Apple Watches – others go hungry

Half of my facebook timeline are excited about a £500 Apple Watch; the other half are despairing over news that teachers are spending their own cash to feed, wash and clothe increasingly poor children. What a world we live in. When first learning of today’s NAHT survey, and its finding that teachers are paying from their own […]

To Google, or not to Google: that is the question

Exam time is looming. As the weeks of revision draw to an end, thousands of students will soon be sitting in rows in large exam rooms, ready to pick up their pens and to turn over their papers. “You may begin!” It’s 2015. How much longer can pen and paper exams be the only medium […]

Tories accuse Hunt of plot to sack 17,000 teachers

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has been accused by the Tories of plotting to sack up to 17,000 teachers after he said those who weren’t qualified or working towards a teaching qualification by the end of the next parliament didn’t “deserve to be in the classroom”. The accusations come after Mr Hunt appeared alongside Conservative […]

‘Coherent’ upper secondary plan needed before GCSEs can be scrapped, Husbands warns

A “coherent view of routes across upper-secondary” is needed before Labour’s plan to scrap GCSEs can be enacted, Labour skills taskforce chair Professor Chris Husbands has said. Speaking to Schools Week this morning, the Institute of Education director, pictured left, said GCSEs had “less function in the system” as when they were introduced almost 30 […]

100,000 pupils in classes of more than 30, Labour claims

More than 100,000 children are studying in primary school classes with more than the statutory maximum of 30 pupils, Labour has claimed. The Labour Party has released its analysis of freedom of information figures which it claims show that at least 102,000 pupils are learning in classes with 31 or more pupils in them. It comes […]