Schools Week Reporter | Schools Week

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle Emma Hardy may be a relative newbie in Parliament, but she’s a bit of a trendsetter. Last May she launched the all-party parliamentary group on oracy. By January Nick Gibb, the schools minister, was announcing that educational traditionalists should claim oracy for themselves. “He’s going to be […]

Beccy Earnshaw, director, Voice 21

Oracy hit it big on the education agenda earlier this year when Nick Gibb unexpectedly dropped it into a conference speech, causing pundits to speculate whether it might replace phonics as the new darling of the schools minister. As director of the oracy charity Voice 21, Beccy Earnshaw has seen the power of such pronouncements […]

How could schools be held accountable for excluded pupils?

Various government reviews, at least since the 2010 white paper, have claimed that the way to improve alternative provision is to make schools take greater responsibility for the pupils they exclude. Leaked documents suggest the Timpson review of exclusions will repeat this recommendation, but how might it work? Cath Murray takes a look Last autumn […]

Ian Bauckham, CEO, Tenax Schools Trust

Ian Bauckham is probably one of the few people to have talked explicitly about sex with Department for Education officials. As their relationships and sex education adviser for the new guidance, the multi-academy trust chief executive soon realised that someone had to break the ice, and it would have to be him. “I’m probably one […]

Excluded children more likely to develop mental health conditions

Children who are excluded are more likely to develop a mental health condition than their peers who stay in mainstream, a leading researcher told the Mental Health in Education conference on Wednesday. “It won’t surprise anyone that children with mental health conditions, particularly the more disruptive ones – ADHD and conduct disorder – are more […]

Should multi-academy trust CEO pay be regulated?

Lord Agnew, the academies minister, has sent out a fifth batch of letters to multi-academy trusts who pay their chief executives high salaries, asking them to justify their decisions. But the government is powerless to do more. We asked Leora Cruddas and Lucy Powell, whether this should change. How should pay be determined? Leora Cruddas: […]

No evidence for “no excuses” behaviour policies

Until there is evidence that “zero tolerance” behaviour policies work, schools should prioritise approaches that have proved successful, a professor of child psychiatry told the Mental Health in Education conference on Wednesday. “Whilst a lack of evidence is not evidence of lack, there is very little that suggests that those punitive measures are effective. But […]

Duchess of Cambridge: teachers need more mental health support

Teachers are essential frontline workers who need more mental health support, the Duchess of Cambridge told education leaders on Wednesday. “It is vital that we support teachers with their own wellbeing so that they can find the best level of care for all children, in their schools and communities in which they work,” she told […]

Navdeep Sanghara, executive headteacher, Inspire Partnership

Navdeep Sanghara is the only interviewee ever to have interpreted my question about what makes a great gift as something other than a birthday present. “A book” – the most common response – would have been an easy choice for Sanghara, who waxes lyrical about how her five-school southeast London primary trust has designed a […]