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15 September 2026

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Opinion

A duty of care on the sports field

Rugby union is a compulsory sport in many independent schools. Are they putting themselves at risk by compelling under-16s to play the game? A school’s legal duty of care to its pupils applies to sport as to every other aspect of school life. Sport must be taught and games supervised with a degree of “reasonable […]

Pastoral interventions can help to raise student achievement

A greater emphasis on pastoral care to remove barriers to learning has increased attainment at a 1,600-pupil academy Student welfare is a hot topic. January started with worrying reports of young people suffering from poor mental health and the think-tank, 2020health, has recently suggested that heads of well-being may help schools to combat poor physical […]

We are about to enter purdah

The looming general election will regulate the conduct of public bodies, including the DfE, local authorities – and schools. You might, for instance, face a four-month wait for a decision on an academy conversion Purdah, a word of Persian origin, means “curtain”. It’s also a word that we hear a lot of every four years […]

You’d be forgiven for thinking workload was a marginal issue

The Department for Education last week published the results of its Workload Challenge. It may have been launched with much fanfare, but the department’s reaction is little more than a damp squib According to education secretary Nicky Morgan, the aim of the Workload Challenge was to provide teachers with an opportunity to tell her about […]

College of Teaching: let’s just get on with it for now

The Claim Your College Coalition has put its proposals to the government for a College of Teaching open to everyone interested in education, with chartered membership reserved for practising classroom teachers. Since then, social networks have buzzed with complaints that membership should be solely for teachers. The coalition says that it’s worked hard to get […]

Is technology worth bothering with in education?

What do you do when you have a teacher with a PhD in astrophysics? Find a new method of learning so that pupils in other schools can share his knowledge . . . I’m not going anywhere near the problem of “evidence” or “proof” that technology has an impact in education. That would make for […]

Getting the message across (and it’s not about snow)

So you think it’s been a big week for education policy announcements? Well you would, because you’re involved in the sector. But what about the man and woman in the street? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but education gets in the news fairly frequently. (I mean, of course, you’ve noticed. After all, you’re reading […]

Why the Acas Code of Practice should change

The code discriminates against non-union staff who should be entitled to have a qualified person with them at any disciplinary hearing Business secretary Vince Cable recently announced that he was signing off a “minor” amendment to the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures after a year-long consultation. In the next breath he […]

Sacking leaders over times tables defies employment law – and common sense

Let’s get something clear from the start: children should learn times tables at primary school. They should have them thoroughly memorised so that they can spend their mental energy on problem solving; there is absolutely no contradiction between memorisation and creativity. Moreover, this process is not always going to be fun and there is hard […]