Opinion | Schools Week

Opinion

Why 3-day qualifications can be just as valid as GCSEs

The ECDL, as promoted by the schools network, the PiXL club, is a valuable qualification for many students, says…

Nicky Phillips

Opinion

Ofsted should take responsibility for primary curriculum bias

In his latest commentary, Sir Michael Wilshaw said subjects like science and modern languages have become the ‘poor relations’ of…

Colin Richards

Opinion

Ignore social media, pupils can cope with hard GCSE exams

What do drunk rats, teenage boys and an independent drugs company have in common? Despite sounding like key components…

Laura McInerney

Opinion

Do “prison academies” make sense?

In light of Michael Gove’s plan for the prison sector to learn from schools, Peter Dawson of the Prison Reform trust explains…

Schools Week Reporter

Opinion

Teaching Assistants: are they worth it?

In light of Durham County’s decision to cut teaching assistants’ pay, and the recent warning that teaching assistants risk being replaced…

Schools Week Reporter

Opinion

How you can evaluate the impact of your decisions

With the government increasingly asking for evidence that initiatives have had “impact”, Stuart Kime writes a step-by-step guide for…

Nicky Phillips

Opinion

How can we get young people eating healthy food at lunchtime?

What’s your research about? The factors that underpin young people’s food and drink purchases in and around schools. The…

Nicky Phillips

Opinion

Be functional, not faddish, and keep it simple

New school buildings are a difficult brief: they must be flexible, functional, welcoming and poised for change. Educators can…

Nicky Phillips

Opinion

The real challenge awaits for Cameron and Morgan

The government may have made a u-turn on forced academisation, says Lucy Powell, but its misguided fixation with school…

Nicky Phillips

Must Read

The Curriculum Conversation

How to embed oracy as the national curriculum’s ‘fourth R’

Weaving oracy through all subjects can be focal point for breathing new life into the curriculum as a whole….

JL Dutaut

Geoff Barton

Opinion: SEND

A golden opportunity to help fix our broken SEND system

A new consultation invites schools and trusts to lead the way in fixing our broken SEND system

JL Dutaut

20h

Andrew O’Neill

20h

Opinion: Policy

We can’t advise our way to school improvement

Failing to deal with legal and regulatory divisions will hamper the government’s attempts to drive up standards – but…

JL Dutaut

Matt Hood

ITT

Degree apprenticeships are key to increasing and diversifying recruitment

Work to deliver the new qualification should continue at pace to meet recruitment challenges by making teaching more accessible,…

JL Dutaut

Melanie Renowden

ITT

ITT: Which is the odd one out?

The deeply flawed ITT reforms are a threat to sustainable teacher supply for purely ideological purposes, writes David Spendlove

JL Dutaut

David Spendlove

EXAMS

Exams

How sitting an exam re-affirmed my respect for our students

I still believe exams to be the best way of testing academic knowledge and understanding but they’re no bagatelle,…

JL Dutaut

James Handscombe

Exams

The number of penalties handed out to students caught cheating has risen for a second year

The stereotype that could be feeding exam anxiety

The ‘snowflake’ stereotype is damaging and unjustified, but a more pervasive idea may be perpetuating exam anxiety, says Stephen…

JL Dutaut

Stephen Caldwell

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