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24 April 2026

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Opinion

Top 10 books of 2017 for teachers and school leaders

The best books 2017 had to offer, chosen by Schools Week features editor, Cath Murray.   For visionaries and dreamers   1. When the adults change, everything changes: Seismic shifts in school behaviour By Paul Dix   Relationships matter. People matter. As educators, we are not dealing with faceless statistics, we are dealing with brilliant, […]

Schools will need funding to provide extra training for new teachers

There should be a revised three-year teacher training route, and schools should be given extra funding to provide it, argues Emma Hollis Today’s announcement about the QTS consultation is welcome – however, ‘strengthened’ QTS is not the right term. This implies that training is not strong, when actually 99% of teacher training providers are rated […]

Teachers need good CPD throughout their career

While today’s QTS consultation is welcome, we must not forget that teachers need professional development and mentoring throughout their career, notes Alison Peacock The Department for Education’s consultation on strengthening qualified teacher status and improving career progression for teachers, published today, is nothing if not wide-ranging. While the proposed changes to QTS will attract some […]

It’s up to the schools community to deliver on social mobility

The education secretary’s vision for social mobility is a strong one, says Mark Lehain – now it’s up to the schools community to get on board Greening’s plan is a definite step forward – now it’s down to us to deliver it. It was always inevitable that education secretaries after Gove were going to have […]

Now the end of 2017 is near, I too face a final curtain

Now the end of 2017 is near, I too face a final curtain. Dear readers, this is my last edition as editor of Schools Week. It’s not a complete swansong from me, as I shall be continuing as a contributing editor: writing columns and popping up every now and then with a profile interview. But […]

We’re one step closer to solving the social mobility conundrum

Today, the government published its ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’ report, which echoes many of the points made by the National Association of Head Teachers in recent years, particularly the focus on early-years education. The problem is, that despite the good and improving system that we know exists, and was noted by Amanda Spielman in her […]

What are the ACTUAL new policies in Greening’s action plan?

Justine Greening has finally published her social mobility action plan, entitled ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’. Much of it includes policies we already knew and some philosophical underpinnings about how it hangs together, which are quite neat. But the bit you want to know is what’s new? And what’s specific, rather than a vagueish-sounding promise. I’ve […]

9 Interesting Things You Might Have Missed In Ofsted’s Annual Report

At 10am today Amanda Spielman, the Chief Inspector, launched Ofsted’s Annual Report. As ever, there were pre-arranged soundbites and heavily emphasised points on the radio and television. But if you dig down into the report there are always a few extra nuggets that you may have missed, which are worth watching.   1. 8% of […]