Opinion

In the face of political and social upheavals, the teaching profession needs the Chartered College more than ever, writes Richard Willis Writing in 2019, I was critical of the work the Chartered College of Teaching had set out to pursue. I argued that teachers were wrong to continue to strive for a nebulous professional utopia. […]

A perfect storm of competing pressures threatens to shortcut critical thinking about curriculum, writes Alka Sehgal Cuthbert For some, Ofsted’s emphasis on a knowledge-rich curriculum for all students has represented a welcome change from filling in content to fit schemas of generic skills. For many, and especially for leaders tasked with previously unimaginable levels of […]

It’s possible to deliver summer catch-up without burning out the teaching workforce. We’ve been doing it for years, writes John Woodcock Exhausted teachers could be forgiven for not whooping with joy at the prospect of giving up their summer for the catch-up tuition programme announced by education secretary Gavin Williamson last week. Between adapting to […]

Jenny Arrowsmith sets out what school leaders need to know to properly manage staff’s reasonable concerns about returning next week There are many reasons why staff may be reluctant to return to work in the midst of the pandemic, or reluctant to wear a face covering. But for school leaders, taking a hard line in […]

The Covid lockdowns have provided a golden opportunity for government to work out a well-thought-through strategy for edtech, writes Mark Anderson Three national lockdowns in, by and large most schools and trusts are making a good go of blended learning. It’s been challenging, even for those who have been successfully using edtech for years, to […]

The return to school without exams presents a golden opportunity for schools to practise what they value, write Rebecca Boomer-Clark and Jake Curtis Our organisations support some of the country’s most vulnerable teenagers – the very children who, sadly but unsurprisingly, have been hardest hit by the pandemic. Together, we have been considering what seeds […]

This lockdown has been a nightmare. The government must throw everything at making sure schools stay open, writes Qais Hussain The prime minister’s announcement that I and my peers can return to school on March 8 is perhaps the best news I have received throughout this pandemic – better even than my GCSE results. Truth […]

The prime minister’s decision for a ‘big bang’ full reopening on 8 March makes no sense, writes Mary Bousted Throughout this awful pandemic, the National Education Union has followed the science and been proved right time after time.  We tracked the spread of Covid in schools and colleges and the disruption it was causing to […]