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22 May 2026

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Opinion

Will small schools be able to breathe a big sigh of relief?

In a week of big news – threatened strikes, parent boycotts, backbenchers shouting about academies – there has been one quiet sigh of relief. And one awkward question. Buried in the middle of her speech at the weekend’s union conference, Nicky Morgan promised that “no good small school will close” due to “structural changes” – […]

Why effective heads don’t need to have been teachers

Too many headteachers are nearing retirement with too few to take their place. But there are plenty of highly skilled people with the potential to run schools, says Mike Buchanan. Toby Young, Sir Michael Wilshaw and Sir Anthony Seldon are all colourful characters who prod us with their pronouncements. They are all passionate believers in […]

The motorway model of mental health risks

What have you been working on? We’re interested in the characteristics of schools linked to pupil mental health risks and are trying to research what those factors might be. We measure specifically a cognitive function called “steering cognition”. If you think of a pupil as a car, steering cognition (which is unrelated to IQ) regulates […]

A lack of fluent thinking

There are not enough teachers to teach the mandatory Ebacc modern foreign language. In the spirit of détente, Leora Cruddas puts forward three steps that could bridge the gap Bonjour. Guten Tag. Buenos dias. Welcome to the future of foreign language teaching. It is a future that will be shaped by the government’s aim that […]

How a charity can be effective

Philanthropists like giving to schools, says Angela Kail. But if the school system in England was ever straightforward for charities, it isn’t any more. Here’s a guide through the minefield Scan The Sunday Times Giving List, which names the UK’s top 200 philanthropists, and it quickly becomes clear that education is a priority for today’s […]

A jobs board distracts from the teacher shortage

Patrick Hayes is stumped by the government’s “slightly odd u-turn” on a national teaching website. It’s been tried before – and failed, he says  From the recently published white paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, the Department for Education (DfE) seems to be labouring under the somewhat confused notion that the current teacher shortage can be addressed […]

Why we’re all on board in the north east

Heads in the north east say that teacher recruitment is one of their greatest problems. So its regional network set up a jobs board all of its own – and so far things are blossoming, says Mike Parker It was a scene worthy of George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Animal Farm. “Four legs good, two legs […]

Character education: teaching through subjects

Dr Tom Harrison, Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham What have you been working on? The Teaching Character Through Subjects publication and programme of activities – funded by one of 12 character grants handed out by the Department for Education – is built on our prior research at the Jubilee Centre into […]

Nobody puts EAL in the corner

A DfE-convened national working party on English as an additional language is long overdue. Practitioners, researchers and the subject association NALDIC should all be involved to set a strategic direction for EAL, writes Diane Leedham   They don’t seek it here, they don’t seek it there, the DfE seeks it – nowhere. Is it in […]