Opinion

League tables are here to stay, but a different approach could reduce volatility and have long-term benefits for schoo leaders too, write John Jerrim and Loic Menzies Unions and head teachers have said it would be unfair to compare schools’ performance next year, given the uneven impact of lockdown. They are right. There is clear […]

Our research shows the consensus view of how best to conduct effective professional development in education is flawed, write Sam Sims and Harry Fletcher-Wood Effective and sustained professional development is collaborative, subject-specific and practice-based, and should be supported by external expertise and teachers’ buy-in. So goes the consensus view of the research community. But in […]

This summer, around 800,000 16- and 18-year olds (Yr11 and Yr13) will be collecting their exam results and trying to decide what to do next. But this year is like no other and, as well as having had their exams cancelled, these young people are facing some serious challenges. The post Covid-19 economy will almost […]

It’s all give, give, give, but the gratification is forever delayed in this week’s lockdown diary from David Phillips

Many trusts have proved that they are able to cope with the unpredictable – and the flexibility within their structure has helped them, says Sam Henson The pandemic has taught us much about school accountability, but also about the flexibilities school structures give to organisations that need to act quickly and effectively. Across the country, […]

Our Derbyshire primary-only trust’s return to school programme has attracted international attention from every phase, writes Matthew Crawford Our trust of nine primaries across Derbyshire began to plan early on for supporting children on their return to school after lockdown. That work has resulted in the “reconnection to recovery and resilience programme” that has garnered […]

Blended learning is likely to be the norm for some time, says Vikas Pota. So let’s help teachers understand what their new reality will be I’ve spent the best part of the past decade thinking about how we improve teacher status. This is why, in part, I established an annual global prize for teachers, to […]

“Children in need” is a broad term that refers to children who come into contact with social services, including those formally taken into care. It wasn’t until I began researching the children’s social care system for CfEY’s forthcoming book Young People on the Margins that I realised the scale and breadth of the challenges they […]

Working together, teachers, leaders and government will make a success of this critical return to full education provision from the autumn, writes Nick Gibb Over the past few weeks, our country has begun the slow journey back to recovery from the awful effects of the virus. It has not been easy and we still have […]