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14 November 2026

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Opinion

Can teachers really remember how many hours they’ve worked?

As a psychology A-level teacher, one of my favourite teaching topics was the fallibility of witness testimony. A classic study, devised by Loftus and Palmer in 1974, had 45 students watch films of different traffic accidents and answer questions about it afterwards. The psychologists discovered that the way a question was phrased changed the answers. […]

Character or attainment: which would you choose?

Parents and teachers value the character development of young people more than exam results, but may need support to recognise that they share this priority, says Rachael Hunter The inclusion of character education in the draft Ofsted framework for inspection of schools was another significant step towards ensuring children receive an education that prioritises academic […]

Children shouldn’t be able to skip RE

High quality religious education should be a fundamental part of every school’s offer. It’s too important for young people to miss, writes NAHT’s Sarah Hannafin, a former RE teacher I chose to teach religious education. After graduating, I started work as a teaching assistant in my local secondary school to see what I thought about […]

What the new Ofsted framework says about the curriculum

Ofsted doesn’t need a new inspection framework, says Frank Norris. But as it’s here, he urges “all colleagues to analyse each word, sentence and paragraph closely” In 2004, I was asked to join the development HMI team for the new school inspection framework that was implemented in 2005. I redesigned the joint area review framework […]

The Early Career Framework will stop us throwing new teachers in at the deep end

Clare Sealy explains why the new early career framework is the best bit of edu-news she’s seen for some time Education is going to have a tough job if it wants to top this January in terms of important, sector-defining announcements. The new Ofsted framework brings renewed hope that the inspectorate can become the organisation […]

Don’t underestimate the importance of school culture for retaining teachers!

Support for new teachers needs something more intangible than a framework; the right environment is vital too, says Cat Scutt The new Early Career Framework released this week has the potential to radically improve the experience of new teachers. It marks a step-change in the support that they will receive at the start of their […]

The Early Career Framework: disconnected, piecemeal and lacking ambition!

The government’s teacher recruitment and retention strategy has been warmly welcomed in most quarters, but David Spendlove finds it seriously lacking The Early Career Framework launched by Damian Hinds on Monday has been described as “bold” and as “game changer” so why do I see it as a low cost, low ambition gesture? Firstly, let […]

Hinds is right to shift focus from recruitment to retention

The recruitment and retention strategy covers the right areas, but will need to develop effective policy detail quickly to deliver what is needed, says Jack Worth I was chatting to a teacher recently, speculating on what might be included in the Department for Education’s long-awaited teacher recruitment and retention strategy. “Why is recruitment always seen […]

The new Ofsted framework is great for AP

Debra Rutley rejoiced when she read the new Ofsted framework. “At last we in AP could tell our story” The day the new Ofsted framework came out I was at an event for alternative provision chief executives, where two Ofsted HMIs, Nick Whittaker and Dan Owen, were speaking. None of the attendees had had a […]