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4 October 2026

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Opinion

Classrooms are vital to the fight against racism

Stephen Lawrence Day is a reminder that while fighting racism is complex, the educational goal is a simple one, writes Deborah Lawson This Thursday marks Stephen Lawrence Day. A day to celebrate the life and legacy of a young man whose premature death forced a nation to rethink its attitude to race. A day to […]

Research: Is all our evidence all it’s cracked up to be?

Three new studies call into question the evidence base for feedback, growth mindsets and deliberate practice, reveals Harry Fletcher-Wood The potential of feedback, growth mindset and deliberate practice to boost learning has become familiar through repetition in books, blog posts and training sessions. We don’t always have time to unearth the roots of these claims, but three recent studies have, each shedding new light on the strengths and limits of these approaches.  The […]

A tribute to a great patron for teaching and teachers

The passing of the Chartered College’s patron punctuates a challenging year for the profession but the Duke of Edinburgh’s support for teachers should continue to drive us forward, writes Alison Peacock In 2017, the Duke of Edinburgh relinquished his patronage of many organisations. We were delighted that the Chartered College of Teaching was not one […]

Everyone’s Invited: Policies alone can’t solve the problems

The sector’s response to sexual harassment clearly requires improvement, but policies holding schools responsible for society’s ills won’t fix what’s wrong, writes Lucy Harris Ofsted is to review how schools in England have dealt historically with sexual harassment and assault amongst pupils. This follows a pledge from the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to take ‘appropriate action’ after […]

Let’s consign grades to the educational graveyard

All awarding systems must discriminate but our grades discriminate in all the wrong ways, writes Dennis Sherwood Grades, grades, grades. Why are we so obsessed with grades? Simple. Because the difference between an A and a B means a student can become a doctor, or can’t. Because a 3 rather than a 4 in GCSE […]

Local solutions are what will make music education thrive

A new curriculum and some central funding are welcome, but it’s local action that will ensure all children benefit from music education, writes Madelaine Caplin When I arrived at to take up the headship at my current school, I was struck by the fact that there was no music. The children struggled even to sing […]

Why reducing exclusions is a curriculum matter

A children’s consultation could be a game changer. But only if we’re ready to hear the truth about curriculum’s role in exclusions, writes Meena Kumari Wood “This is the moment for something big,” said new children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza last week. Steered by an ambitious vision of “reducing exclusions to near zero”, she […]

The question is why MATs are so small, not why they’re so big

By almost any measure, multi-academy trusts are small organisations. Yet their benefits are many and accrue with size, writes Jon Coles In these pages last week, National Governance Association CEO, Emma Knights promoted her organisation’s latest MATs moving forward report by suggesting we are “moving towards a system dominated by larger MATs” and that this […]

A world-leading school system starts with supporting teachers

Better supporting teachers into and throughout their careers is central to reforms designed to make our schools the best place to be a teacher, writes Nick Gibb Everyone across the country knows how challenging this past year has been for schools – for staff and pupils alike. Our teachers and school leaders have rightly won […]