Opinion

Announcements to please narrow audiences while washing your hands of the tough choices creates division, says Mary Bousted School leadership is difficult even in normal times. And these are not normal times. Covid-19 has cut through normal like a knife through butter and left the old certainties of school life flapping in its wake. School […]

Alternative Provision has proved its unique value to the school system and new partnerships mustn’t be shelved as schools widen their offer, writes Angela Ransby The pandemic has made many more families vulnerable and exposed others to even greater financial, social and emotional difficulties than they faced before. It has also brought their everyday struggles […]

Calls for summer catch-up lessons for young people who have fallen behind are understandable and well-meaning but they are the wrong solution to jump to, writes Nick Brook As many of us feared from the outset of this crisis, research by the Children’s Commissioner and the Sutton Trust concludes that disadvantaged pupils have been disproportionately […]

Mergers will define the next phase of MAT growth but too many obstacles still stand in the way, writes one CEO The current crisis has brought into sharp relief the value a larger school trust can bring to its network of schools – technical expertise to support remote learning, a stronger central team, greater scope […]

Despite big promises, the government has failed to deliver for our disadvantaged students and left us to pick up the pieces, writes Gerry Robinson Chantelle shares a single room with her 3 siblings and mother in the temporary bedsit that she has been living in for the past few years. The temporary home – if […]

Whatever tonight’s announcement on school reopening holds, we can’t afford to forget the lessons of this extraordinary period, writes Kate Chhatwal As we await a final decision on whether the five – or is it six? – tests have been met that will start the process of expanding primary provision next week, I am reminded […]

As unions warn of school leaders of being legally exposed by ‘deeply flawed guidance‘, Simon Foulkes says the government must use its powers to give them the cover they need to reopen Government guidance now asks schools to open for more pupils from 1 June. With a multitude of practical issues to consider, you might […]

As Ofqual publishes further details about this summer’s exams, Tim Oates lifts the lid on the ‘black box’ of standardised centre assessment It’s not a subject that usually grabs headlines, so it’s pleasing to see so many column inches dedicated to standardised centre assessment. Yet for some, the process being used to generate millions of […]

Heated debate and unhelpful commentary aside, it is by pulling together that we will do best for our teachers and their pupils, writes Amanda Spielman Wednesday’s “thank a teacher day” couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Since schools closed to most pupils in March, you – teachers, headteachers and support staff – have […]