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4 August 2026

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Opinion

Teachers: don’t give up in March – you can make it over ‘the wall’!

In marathon races, mile 20 is known as “the wall”, the point when the energy in your muscles runs out and continuing on requires overcoming every psychological instinct to stop. For schools, March is “the wall”. It’s the month when teachers’ good intentions for their class are in tatters and when, if things are going […]

What knowledge do school governors need?

Much has been written about the skills needed on an effective governing board or trust board, but very little attention has focused on the knowledge required when you undertake such an important role. Let’s focus on three areas: risk, finances and regulation. These three are matters for all governing boards, but become particularly important in […]

5 cost-free ways to improve school governance

A few things Damian Hinds could do to improve education governance that would cost him nothing, as suggested by Martin Matthews Every time we get a new secretary of state for education we begin another round of competition: the various educational interests vying for attention, each trying to shove their pet issue higher up the […]

School leaders: tips for successful difficult conversations

Tough conversations with colleagues and subordinates are an unfortunate but necessary aspect of leadership. Sonia Gill, an expert in such talk, explains how to make the best of them If you’re like some of the school leaders I’ve met, you’ll find difficult conversations tend to come at you from every angle many times a day. […]

Headteachers: take back control of school audit culture!

The endless papertrails modern school life seemingly requires are now actively making things worse for our overworked teachers. Becky Allen explains how to change all that Teaching should be the best job in the world. It has all the components of a satisfying profession: autonomy, impact, purpose and a sense of human connection. So why […]

Teachers shouldn’t fear a robot revolution

Two conferences this week and I got the now obligatory conference-chat about robots at both. Andreas Schleicer, the head of the PISA tests and a perma-attendee at conferences, showed a slide at the Whole Education Conference stating that “the kind of things that are easy to teach are now easy to automate, digitise or outsource”. […]

Do schools have to pay agency buy-out fees for supply teachers?

Schools are complaining that staffing agencies can levy thousands of pounds whenever a supply teacher is offered a permanent contract, even if the full recruitment process is followed. Ramona Derbyshire looks at what the law says Like any commercial entity, a school is subject to public procurement rules and at liberty to contract with other […]

What should an Ofsted inspection framework for multi-academy trusts look like?

The debate around the accountability of multi-academy trusts has intensified in recent months, writes Michael Pain As a handful of high-profile cases of failure hit the headlines, the calls for greater and more joined-up oversight of academy trusts have intensified. Indeed, just two days before MAT CEOs and trustees met for Forum Education’s most recent […]

How to use assessment effectively in your school

How do you know if your school’s approach to assessing pupils is effective in promoting learning, asks Jamie Scott Every school has its assessment framework, but is it fit for purpose? Schools use assessment every day, and it can be difficult to stop, step back and review the approach to ensure it is fit for […]