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4 August 2026

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Opinion

What does a good school workforce development plan look like?

Forget expensive, complex intervention strategies, says Sir David Carter – the best investment is to focus on the capacity, capability and competence of teachers Teacher development is the responsibility of the whole system. MAT CEOs, school leaders, school improvers, universities, local authorities and, of course, the Department for Education must all place teacher development at […]

How to develop good communication between MAT trustees and local academy committees

It’s vital to develop good communication between MAT trustees and local academy committees, says Sam Henson, who has some tips to share MAT trustees have a lot to think about. Overseeing a single organisation across multiple sites and contexts, is no easy ask. MAT governance should in theory enable more strategically focused governance, with the […]

Why education’s ‘trads’ are actually the true progressives

You can deny the debate all you like, says Tom Bennett, but sticking your fingers in your ears won’t make it go away When I began to teach, I was as unaware of the ideological framework I existed within as a fish is of water. It was progressivism, the famously child-centred educational philosophy that had […]

Is pupil enjoyment or ‘happiness’ key to effective learning?

Trying to motivate children to higher performance by making learning more enjoyable may have the opposite effect, argues James Croft The idea that pupil enjoyment or ‘happiness’ is key to effective learning is so widely subscribed to among educationists that it is almost never questioned. According to received wisdom of pedagogical authorities since Rousseau, real […]

How to tame the dragon of AI in education

Artificial intelligence isn’t a threat to education – it’s an opportunity, says Stavros Yiannouka, as long as we’re careful about how we use it The world is both fascinated by and fearful of artificial intelligence. Very few of us understand the technology behind it and even fewer can clearly articulate its social, political, and economic implications. […]

Primary-secondary transition: it’s more than drum workshops

Every month a school from the Research Schools Network – run by the Education Endowment Foundation and Institute for Effective Education – shares a research-based initiative it has implemented Transition is big business at our school. Transition events begin with Year 5 visiting the school every few weeks for Crime Scene Investigation or drum school […]

How to use specialist teachers effectively in your school

Specialist teachers should be woven into the DNA of your school, not tacked on as a patch, says Jules Daulby It always strikes when I visit special schools how few interventions outside of the classroom they have. You may, as a mainstream leader be thinking “well, that’s obvious, the specialisms permeate through the school because, […]

How should schools deal with claims of over-age students?

With media headlines alleging that a “30-year-old” had been spotted in a year 11 class, we asked a lawyer to explain how the age of asylum seekers is determined, and how schools should handle such claims Recent headlines have alleged that there was an adult seeking to attend school, claiming to be a child. How […]

Will allowing part-time teaching mean we run out of teachers?

Would more part-time and flexible working for teachers be a good or bad thing for teacher supply? Carole Willis looks at the data The teacher supply challenge in England’s secondary schools continues to grow. This week we launched our new report on teacher retention at an event chaired by journalist Laura McInerney. One of the key recommendations […]