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22 May 2026

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Opinion

Teaching is more than delivering the curriculum

Children do not become educated through the learning of facts; they need to absorb and own the value of what they are taught Sorting out my books, yet again, I came across the 2009 Nuffield report on education and training for 14 to 19-year-olds, Education for All. I had a very small hand its production, […]

Have yourself a mellow little Christmas – by not taking marking home

The Christmas break is not a time to catch up on school tasks; leave them all at the school gates and give yourself some free time to relax The one thing that all teachers would agree on is that having to take your holidays to fit with the academic year can be a curse. The […]

Reality bites: What school crises should teach Gibb

When Michael Merrick, a teacher at Cardinal Newman, shared pictures of his flood-devastated school, it was a sharp reminder of the day my own classroom was destroyed by a roof collapse. Standing in the doorway, watching as debris floated by and pupil work melted into the newly-formed lagoon, my heart sank along with it. It’s […]

Mental health support for young people should be a priority

Mental illness affects about one in four people: that means six pupils in a class of 24. And yet young people, who often cannot access the right help, can be told that they are little more than “upset”, that they need to get out more. This year the UK Youth Parliament takes up their cause […]

How I had a fight in the name of social justice

Forget your pedagogical differences: teachers need to speak up about how a reduction of services to alleviate poverty is the real threat to closing the education gap, says Kiran Gill Last weekend I got into a fight. I had spent the day listening to stimulating talks at Michaela Community School in north London and debate was still rumbling […]

The overriding strength of the Cambridge history PGCE

Last week the Cambridge history PGCE almost disappeared in a puff of neo-liberal neglect. Its stay of execution is welcome: teacher training needs such a model of excellence, rigour, curriculum, mentoring and reading lists. he National College for Teaching and Leadership-imposed cap on university PGCE places kicked in before Cambridge had the chance to interview […]

Moral character is built by more than sport

Research suggests that widely held beliefs about the character building nature of sport are wrong, with students who take part in music, choir or drama outside school responding better to moral dilemmas than those who do not In May this year education secretary Nicky Morgan invested more than £500,000 in a schools project which, despite […]

You don’t need to be paid to do a professional job

Sir Michael Wilshaw is right: governors need professional development. But he’s wrong about the money. It would be a mistake to do away with the voluntary nature of governance altogether Governance is getting better. Boards are taking their development seriously, many more understand performance data than five years ago, and far more are concentrating on […]