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22 May 2026

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Opinion

Advancing with the tsars

Since Nicky Morgan took the office of education secretary she has appointed several experts, lovingly named tsars by the headline-writers, and convened a plethora of working groups tasked with creating a specific product. Keeping track of the groups, though, is proving tricky. With at least two delayed, three yet to declare members, and a new […]

Changes in the Financial Handbook for Academies

The focus this year is on transparency, with the 2015 handbook seeking to bring in new rules to ensure academies spend public money wisely and fairly The annual Financial Handbook for Academies is rapidly becoming a rule book for the industry – and the 2015 edition contains several stand-out changes that need careful consideration. Here […]

How to switch to a cloud-based ICT system

The academies programme has shaken up schools’ traditional support systems, particularly in ICT. However, this reorganisation has created opportunities for the most innovative tick chains to cultivate new infrastructure models. Switching to a cloud-based system has revolutionised AET, the largest multi-academy trust With more than 45,000 staff and student users, our organisation has many challenges […]

Jeremy Corbyn: What does his Labour leadership mean for teachers?

There are those that cheer and those that look on stonily. But Jeremy Corbyn could provide the strong opposition to education policies that teachers need I was in a meeting of the Socialist Education Association when the news came that Jeremy Corbyn had been elected as Labour leader. The reaction was mixed. Those next to […]

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 […]