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23 May 2026

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Opinion

Is race the elephant in the staffroom?

Men at the recent WomenEd conference admitted they were scared to talk about gender. Are white people just as scared to talk about race, asks Cath Murray This week, Jon Chaloner writes a column for us about last weekend’s WomenEd “unconference”. One keynote event featured men: the HeforShe panel. There were eight men at the […]

Inclusion supporters need a winning way with words

Choose the words you use in the battle against selection with care, says Anita Kerwin-Nye, as they can frame the entire debate. Lots of clever people are writing on inclusion. Julian Astle of the RSA recently published a beautifully argued anti-grammars piece called The RSA Enters the Grammar School Debate. The argument is clear and […]

Making school leadership more accessible to women

For the first time we have a woman prime minister, home secretary and education secretary in office at the same time. But that doesn’t mean equality of opportunity for women in education is secure, says Jon Chaloner Last year #WomenEd was created by a number of female leaders as a grassroots movement to connect existing […]

How can schools best help ‘vulnerable’ children?

Research corner with Michael Jopling, professor in education a Northumbria University. What have you been working on? We’ve been researching and evaluating two programmes – one in Liverpool and one in Cumbria – supporting families with complex needs. While schools are key partners in the process, both programmes take multi-agency approaches. One is funded by […]

Let’s subvert the ‘centres of excellence’ policy

Following Schools Week’s revelation that the government will allow MATs internally to select pupils by ability, Ros McMullen suggests trusts be creative in how they do this. Last week Schools Week ran a front-page story about the possibility of selective grammar schools developing within multi-academy trusts (MATs) without the need for any legislation. The new […]

Reputation matters: How to do PR as a school

Issues management should be as much a part of forward planning in schools and trusts as the annual prospectus, says Elin de Zoete. Many moons ago business magnate Warren Buffett said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and five minutes to ruin it”… and that was before the days of lightning-quick social media. […]

The mystery of the disappearing education secretary

As another party conference season ebbs away, this is usually the part where I write a column about the education secretary. For the past two years I spent the Conservative conference at fringe events stalking Nicky Morgan – turning up at the parties she was at, springing questions on her during debates – and taking […]

Who was the first politician to announce the end of grammar schools?

The common belief is that it was Labour education secretary Anthony Crosland. He sent out a circular in 1965 to local authorities urging them to end selective schools in their area. (Note “urge” not “order” as many people think.) But there is a part of the story missing. Because it was actually the Conservative education […]

Multi-Academy Trusts could be the saviour of education in the north

Successful trusts need to leave their cosy London bubble if education in the north is to improve, says Jonathan Booth. The difference between deprived secondary schools in the north and south is stark. Ofsted called this a “postcode lottery” in its annual report for 2014-15, adding: “What we are seeing is nothing short of a […]