Opinion

The reported redistribution of responsibilities inside Ofsted for EAL and GRT pupils threatens to dilute accountability for their progress, writes Chiaka Amadi Last Wednesday, Teachers Talk Radio reported confirmation from Ofsted that there would no longer be a specialist national lead for pupils learning English as an additional language (EAL) or for pupils from a […]

The government has tried everything to distract from its failure to deal with the profession’s pay. They have run out of excuses, writes Ian Hartwright A member recently contacted me to ask: Does the government actually listen to the School Teachers’ Review Body? He had a point. This year, government again announced its decisions on […]

There are many reasons to support reform of the school calendar year. But there’s one important caveat, writes Sir David Carter In 2004, I was appointed principal of John Cabot City Technology College (CTC) in Bristol, my second headship. One of the most curious aspects of the college I was about to lead was the […]

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 […]