Opinion

Is having a go at northern schools part of Michael Wilshaw’s job description?

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw yesterday criticised schools in the north west – but was he within his remit...

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Key Stage 1 changes take writing back to the 19th Century

I attended a briefing by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) on February 5 for local authority leaders of...

John Dickens
John Dickens
Opinion

Segregation is holding our children back

Next month a report on segregation will be published for the prime minister. Hopefully it will mark the point...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Teachers must learn to tame technology

There are powerful tools already available in schools. Staff must realise they don’t need to upgrade, they need to...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Factory-farmed teachers will fail our children

The new-look training courses are trying to turn out fully-formed teachers in a matter of weeks, when what they...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

EBacc and primary testing pushing arts out of the curriculum

New findings from The National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) Survey Report 2015-16 published this week...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

‘How the new SEND statement replacements work’

A new special educational needs (SEN) system has been in place for more than a year. But have the...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

‘Can I fail Ofsted if a child I teach goes to fight in Syria?’

Despite Ofsted’s changes to the framework, we are already doing what we can – and how is this new...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Let’s give Ofsted’s short inspections two cheers (for now)

The lighter-touch regime is a welcome move, but why is the chief inspector still obsessing over pupils being well...

Colin Richards
Colin Richards