Opinion

Many teachers in private schools have threatened to leave if their schools withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme – a move that could benefit state schools struggling to recruit, says Phillip Reynolds The new academic year is a fresh start for everyone, but when it comes to school budgets, there isn’t much change. The pressures […]

Let’s celebrate “expert leaders”, say Jen Barker and Tom Rees, and stop always talking about charismatic, dynamic, inspirational leaders Both of us have learnt the hard way that school leadership can be complex and challenging. Of course we remember the moments when the proverbial was hitting the fan and problems had to be dealt with, […]

New classes. New colleagues. Maybe a new school. Teachers will have spent the past couple of weeks setting the culture in their classrooms and helping their pupils to build good habits. But setting a sustainable culture for pupils means also building the right habits and expectations for the adults who work with them, and that […]

The new school year is a great chance to encourage students to form good habits. Habits are automatic responses to cues: desirable ones might include students listening to a peer quietly (the response) when we ask them to do so (a cue), or students doing their homework (the response) at 7pm on Wednesday (a cue). […]

Not all the advice that schools are giving and receiving about Brexit is correct. Worse, some of it is potentially harmful, says Tomas Thurogood-Hyde The political machinations over Brexit – or the lack of them, depending on your politics – have caused uncertainty in many sectors, and education is no different. This is especially true […]

The recent GCSE results have vindicated free schools for their tireless efforts, says Unity Howard. But there’s more to the movement than warm-strict discipline The much-anticipated GCSE results of the first cohort of students at Michaela Community School in north London showed the power of their headteacher’s vision of a highly academic curriculum and warm-strict […]

In spite of decades of curriculum and qualifications reform, a third of 16-year-olds  in England are not awarded a ‘standard pass’ at their English Language GCSE. It’s high time the qualification was scrapped, argues Roy Blatchford, Chair of the Forgotten Third commission, and replaced with one we can all be proud of. It is a […]

Back to school week often signals new beginnings and a renewed optimism for the year ahead. Seemingly, in the spirit of that optimism, the government made a series of education funding pledges in the run up to the start of term. The luxury of a three-year budget settlement for schools, plus a significant funding increase […]