Opinion

I’m fairly sure my school had a motto, but I can’t remember what it was. What I can remember however, in encyclopedic detail, are the mottos of the great houses in Game of Thrones. For those with slightly less nerdy proclivities, the great houses in Game of Thrones are a pastiche of the noble houses […]

Thousands of pupils with complex needs are guaranteed a negative P8 score and are at increased risk of exclusion as a result, writes Steve Preston. They and their schools deserve better When you visit the performance table for secondary schools, the Department for Education makes it clear that Progress 8 (P8) is its key accountability […]

Ofsted has been downgrading schools that “off-roll” students. But what does it actually mean? Cath Murray explains… The whole area of alternative provision (AP), off-rolling, exclusions and managed moves can be confusing. In a recent inspection, Ofsted said the school’s pupils educated in AP were “well cared for” and achieved good results. But the inspectors […]

As an election looms, funding promises abound, but Thomas Moore is pretty sure that small schools will continue to miss out Earlier this month the Department for Education released a spreadsheet and simultaneously announced a funding boost for schools for 2020-21, following “the prime minister’s pledge to level up education funding and give all young […]

The Headteachers’ Roundtable’s “Big 5” election manifesto gives a new vision of professionalism and trust, restoring confidence in education, writes Ros McMullen The education system is in crisis. Recruitment and retention, funding, special needs provision, accountability and ethical leadership are all at breaking point, but it won’t do to look at these five factors individually. […]

How we organise our thoughts shapes how we view the world and how we act. At Ambition Institute, we have found that three papers by Mary Kennedy, professor emeritus at Michigan State University, have been incredibly useful in framing our beliefs and actions about the work of teachers and teacher educators. 1: How can we […]

The paths in Andy Byers’ school flood, the science prep room is the size of two toilets and less than half of its classrooms are accessible to wheelchair users. It was due to be rebuilt in 2010. Instead, he will again have to apply for funding just to keep existing buildings safe. Schools deserve better […]

The Chartered College of Teaching believes strongly in the value of teacher professional learning. Yet the term encompasses a huge variety of things; CPD can take myriad forms, many of which are explored in our new report on teacher CPD internationally, full of articles and case studies exploring trends, opportunities and challenges. This variety means […]

Raedwald Trust is taking matters into its own hands on recruitment, retention and workload, writes Angela Ransby, with a project that moves beyond performance management to professional development As chief executive of a multi-academy trust, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of a teacher’s success has much more to do with the lived […]