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22 May 2026

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Opinion

Forget Careers Advice, What Year 1 Pupils Really Need Are Enterprise Skills

As Enterprise Week is underway in schools, Tom Ravenscroft explains why entrepreneurialism is an important skill even for very young children. The problem with enterprise, someone astutely pointed out to me, is that everyone thinks they know what it is – but each definition is different. Global Entrepreneurship Week each year brings that very much […]

Know the risk of getting outside help with procurement

Schools are busy, under-resourced places that often turn to outside agencies for help. But beware: there is a trade-off between getting the job done and the potential risks of doing so Budget constraints and the scale of academy conversions has led to different buying responsibilities landing in the trays of teachers and school business managers. […]

Restraint in school – what the law says

You hope you will never have to use restraint, but if your duty of care leaves you with little choice: know your school procedure and record everything The latest school shooting in the US and stories of children being locked in classrooms in the UK have once again highlighted the issue of restraint and how […]

Has collaboration over-reached itself?

Research studies on collaboration should switch their focus from staff development and support to pupil attainment Collaboration between schools is now seen as an important way to improve educational performance. Yet little is known definitively about what impact this has for improving pupil attainment. Despite the popular rhetoric, most studies are qualitative and focus on […]

Secondary moderns must have a voice, too

Grammar schools are back in the news with Nicky Morgan’s approval of a Kent school’s expansion. But they’ve never been away, with one in five students in England attending a school affected by academic selection The National Association for Secondary Moderns (NASM) sees the expansion of a Kent grammar school as a chance to raise […]

Why we’re not ‘shunning Islam’

Schools Week invited the Catholic Education Service to give more details about its decision to change how it teaches RE at GCSE (Schools Week, November 6). It is a decision, says the service, that has been much misinterpreted . . . Many of the recent headlines about the teaching of RE in Catholic schools have […]

Remembrance is now a brand – what place does it have in schools?

The visibility of Remembrance within the public realm has grown significantly over recent years. This has been driven by the Royal British Legion, which raises nearly £42million with the Poppy Appeal, almost twice the amount of a decade ago. Activities associated with the appeal now extend into entertainment, shopping, the Poppy Lottery, and education. The […]

‘Why the National Reference Test trial should reduce worry about comparable outcomes’

Ofqual trials its national reference test next year, the first big step in gaining information to help to refine GCSE awarding. Earlier this year we announced our plans to develop and pilot a national reference test. Some teachers, parents and students are understandably concerned about “yet another test”, but others are positive, appreciating why we think it right […]