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24 July 2026

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Opinion

My change of heart about coaching

After joining Schools Week as deputy editor, Cath Murray was sent to mingle with readers at a training event – and bring back her observations. I approached the “coaching” day for education professionals with trepidation. Faye Kilgour, our trainer and lead coach for Graydin, a professional development organisation, had signed her preliminary email, “With heart”. […]

What school leaders can do to improve mental health provision

As many as three pupils in each class may be struggling with mental health problems, but many of their teachers say they feel ill-equipped to respond. Cuts are decimating statutory services, Ellie Mulcahy says, moving the onus on to school leaders to put improved support in place Teachers and schools need the skills to spot […]

Why some children with language needs are being missed

What have you been working on? A study on language impairment at school entry age, and how we can better identify, diagnose and treat language disorders. Using a sample of 7,267 state school children in Surrey, we assessed language, non-verbal IQ (NVIQ), social, emotional, and behavioural problems among 529 pupils aged 5 to 6. The […]

Why don’t we care about the purpose of education?

In one of the most significant periods of upheaval in education, debate around collaboration centres too much on structure and too little on the substance and purpose of education. Instead, says Marie-Claire Bretherton, it should revolve around the quality and purpose of school partnerships Earlier this year, our Lincolnshire teaching school alliance submitted evidence to […]

Academy trusts – don’t get caught out by new PSC regulations

From 6 April 2016, new company ownership rules came into force, which will affect some academy trusts. Hannah Catchpool explains. What do the Panama Papers have to do with academy trusts? The recent media focus on the offshore tax arrangements of the rich and famous may seem far removed from the day-to-day life of a school, […]

Calm down – the church isn’t after a ‘land grab’

The memorandum of understanding between the Catholic church and the government is little more than a written definition about their working relationship, says Paul Barber Much has been written over the past month about the memoranda of understanding (MoU) between the Department for Education (DfE) and both the Church of England and the Catholic church. […]

Why 3-day qualifications can be just as valid as GCSEs

The ECDL, as promoted by the schools network, the PiXL club, is a valuable qualification for many students, says Brian Lightman ­­– one that should prompt Ofqual to think carefully before placing further constraints on awarding bodies Ask any employer what they want from a qualification and they will tell you they want it to […]

Ofsted should take responsibility for primary curriculum bias

In his latest commentary, Sir Michael Wilshaw said subjects like science and modern languages have become the ‘poor relations’ of the primary school curriculum. Colin Richards argues that Ofsted is in large part responsible for the status quo. Ofsted has a lot to answer for when the chief inspector’s latest monthly commentary dares to criticise primary schools […]