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25 April 2026

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Opinion

We can’t ignore the high-fliers who are not being pushed

The last few weeks of EU referendum debate have shown how badly we do latent anger as a country. Whatever ideals one may hold, whatever the reality may be, swathes of the population nevertheless feel as if politicians have long ignored them and want to exert more power over their lives. By the time you […]

‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ – what it means for schools

Changes to statutory guidance on ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ will come into effect in September 2016. Mark Orchison explains what this means for schools. The new government safeguarding guidance requires schools to put in place an effective and appropriate whole-school approach to online safety. Previous guidance focussed mainly on Prevent, but this updated guidance […]

What would a remain vote mean for education?

What would a Remain vote mean for the Department for Education and schools? Schools Week asked Amy Finch for her predictions In the event of Remain, it will be business as usual for most of the government. The prime minister will continue to drive his “life chances” strategy, and the chancellor will push forward on […]

Academy conversion: who do you have to consult? 

Who do you have to consult when making the decision to convert to an academy – who needs to be involved and at what stage of the process? Jessica says: The question is asking about voluntary conversion. Involuntary, or forced conversions, have different procedures, which are not discussed here. First steps towards conversion The recommended first step […]

The battle for informal learning

What have you been working on? I’ve been talking to teachers who are working to provide informal science teaching for students in extra-curricular clubs. I wanted to understand their motivation and their struggle. From a broader perspective, my aim is to look at education policy and try to find how it plays out in teachers’ […]

Mandatory web monitoring in schools opens a slippery can of worms

While the compulsory retention of every website visit for every person in the UK was recently debated and passed in the House of Commons in the Investigatory Powers Bill, the plans for statutory surveillance of every child’s Internet use, in schools and at home, has gone unnoticed. Without Parliamentary or public discussion, children’s internet use […]

If I were Ofsted chief inspector…

Two grades, three categories, central data analysis and no aggregation. Go on Amanda Spielman, urges Matt Hood, what do you say to that? We have a new Ofsted chief inspector agreed by Number 10 and awaiting sign-off. Hurray. But what should Amanda Spielman do on day one? Ofsted has already made big improvements in the […]

How politicians and policy makers can raise the confidence of the teaching profession

Nearly half of teachers leave the profession within the first five years of teaching. Depressing isn’t it? Teachers are being worn perilously thin, so there is no doubt that politicians and policy makers need to work hard to recover the confidence of the teaching profession. I have some ideas that, in teacherly fashion, I’ve boiled […]

Why the culture around SEND needs to change

Law firm Baker Small was criticised in many media this week for boasting about defeating parents of children with special needs in tribunals. But their behaviour is not isolated, says Tania Tirraoro – it is illustrative of broader cultural attitudes The Children and Families Act 2014 was supposed to transform parents’ experience of getting help […]