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26 April 2026

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Opinion

New behaviour panel has more people called John than women

Last weekend, there was much criticism of gender representation in the shadow cabinet. Meanwhile, I was getting worked up over the selectivity of a different line-up. Last Sunday, schools minister Nick Gibb announced eight behaviour experts that will be assisting Tom Bennett in his review of teacher training to deal with student behaviour. As teachers […]

What has happened to the teacher workload groups?

Few teachers answered the series of questions in the DfE’s workload challenge on “unnecessary and unproductive tasks”. But apathy is no excuse for the government putting the challenge on the backburner — which will probably mean another wasted year until anything is done. Why are we still waiting? The 43,855 responses to the Department for […]

Six lessons for leaders

It is hugely rewarding to become a chief executive of a trust. Having established the first hard federation in West Sussex and now as chief executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, with 30 schools across the country, I know the challenges and rewards of chain leadership. Know what you are responsible for It might sound simple, […]

Questions for new CEOs

Becoming chief executive of a multi-academy trust (MAT) or federation is an exciting step forward for many headteachers and gives the profession new bands of leadership to aim towards. But the change in role from head or executive head to chief executive should not be underestimated; neither should the move from a single school to […]

Our 4-step plan for dealing with ‘life after levels’

The removal of the old assessment levels is a huge opportunity to transform teaching and learning. Follow these steps to make sure your new assessment framework is the right approach The removal of the old assessment levels daunts many teachers – and is not helped by the delay and then leak of the Commission on […]

‘The job that we love is being undermined’

Government policy on curriculum, exam and assessment is crippling headteachers. The result? There will be no one left to do the job . . . We have 23 years of headship experience between us, all of them in communities that face challenging issues. We are both national leaders of education (for now!) and we both […]

How to start addressing extremism in the classroom

Discussing extremism requires knowledge of a wide range of issues unconnected to the mainstream curriculum, as well as clarity, objectivity and the confidence to respond to difficult questions. Here are some suggestions as to how to frame the major questions — and approaches to answering them The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 introduced statutory obligations on […]

Let’s agree a standardised year-by-year curriculum for all schools

In my role as Director of Academies for a large multi academy trust, I know how important it is to recognise the local context of the schools that I work with. Yet if there is one area where all schools would benefit from central direction it’s in the field of curriculum and assessment. It’s difficult […]