Opinion

A new report into diversity among school business professionals (SBPs) offers new insights into this under-researched workforce, writes Sandy Tomlinson Last month, ISBL published its first report on diversity in the school business profession. Penned by Dr Fiona Creaby, its findings are based on a small-scale research project because sadly, a more complete data set […]

Ian Thorssteinsson opens his lockdown diary to reveal it’s been another week of resilience-building in education leadership

The lack of referrals during the Covid crisis means that funding for alternative provision is likely to be reduced in future – just when we are going to need it most, writes Sarah Dove Over the past nine months I have heard from a number of senior leaders of pupil referral units (PRUs) and alternative […]

Inclusion is a constant teacher priority and our research shows some forms of professional learning foster more effective approaches to getting it right, write Rachel Lofthouse and Mhairi Beaton Few, if any, teachers in the UK work in monolingual, monocultural schools. Every class is a community of learners with a range of individual characteristics and […]

The creation of car-free school streets would be a huge help in combating the high levels of air pollution children experience, writes Siobhan Baillie For all the immeasurable disruption lockdown is causing to children’s lives, there is a silver lining for their health. With school attendance substantially reduced, children are less exposed to the high […]

Gerry Robinson opens her lockdown diary to record the past week with year 10 poetry still echoing in her mind

Its intentions are reasonable, but it’s hard to see any positive outcomes from Oqual’s proposal, writes Tom Richmond “I am afraid your grades were almost derailed by a mutant algorithm,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson last August following the exams fiasco of the preceding weeks. Five months later, the unenviable (and arguably impossible) task of […]

After months of dithering and conflicting messages, the government’s latest noises on trust in teacher grading look likely to put them in the firing line, writes Alison Peacock When the secretary of state announced exams would be cancelled this year, he said he wanted to place his trust in teachers. In September 2020, The Chartered […]

A new report by the NFER shows that regardless of lockdown all schools are struggling with Covid-related schools and the poorest are faring worst, writes Jenna Julius   Since the beginning of the pandemic, schools have been taking additional safety measures to protect pupils and staff, mitigate the spread of infection and provide support to […]