David Carter | Schools Week

The four biggest issues with academies, according to Sir David Carter

Former national schools commissioner Sir David Carter tells editor John Dickens his biggest regret in government, insists he didn’t lose the battle for education with Ofsted, and admits academy autonomy is waning. The four academy issues that need tackling NOW Sir David Carter said the system needs to improve in four areas “right now”, […]

Send annual reports to better engage with parents, Carter tells academy trusts

The former national schools commissioner has urged academy trusts to send out “annual reports” to parents, admitting their engagement with local communities is an area of “real uncertainty”. Sir David Carter, in a wide-ranging interview with Schools Week, said trusts should look at producing an annual report for parents, which he likened to the report […]

David Carter: There’s no such thing as an ‘untouchable’ school

The national schools commissioner has dismissed claims of “untouchable” schools too toxic for new sponsors to take over – insisting support is being delivered quicker than ever before. In an exclusive interview with Schools Week, Sir David Carter (pictured) said that struggling schools were not left in limbo because of entrenched difficulties – such as […]

Sir David Carter: Claim that trusts failed because they grew too quickly is a “myth”

The national schools commissioner has claimed the idea early academy sponsors failed because they grew too quickly is “a myth”, instead stating it was because they gave too much autonomy to their failing schools and did not have a trust-wide improvement plan. It had been widely established across the education community that trusts such as […]

Academy trust health checks will be rolled out from January, schools commissioner reveals

The schools commissioner has started piloting multi-academy trust “health checks” and revealed his full masterplan to ensure chains don’t overexpand will be rolled out across the country from January. Sir David Carter, the national schools commissioner, said he plans to run the health checks at more than 30 trusts before the end of the year. […]

Wilshaw and Carter to clash in first day of evidence

Sir Michael Wilshaw and Sir David Carter will appear together at the first evidence hearing next week of the select committee’s inquiry into multi-academy trusts. The pair often have differing views, says Neil Carmichael, which should make for an interesting session Next Wednesday the education select committee will begin its inquiry into multi-academy trusts (MATs) […]

Someone knock their bloody heads together

One of the few Shakespearean phrases I knew growing up was “someone knock their bloody heads together”. Unfortunately, I learned one day when I was about 20 that Shakespeare never said it. It’s still a good phrase though. And it’s an important one this week. A problem of politics is that it makes personalities impinge […]

People in education are not saints: we need to have difficult conversations about money

Conversations about money in education are difficult, tinged as they often are with a sense that real teachers are “here for the children” rather than their wallets. But such conversations need to happen. People working in schools aren’t saints. They are professionals swapping time for cash. It’s perfectly possible to care deeply and want to […]

Transparency is needed from schools commissioners, not marketing

Six months ago I sat in a room in Oxfordshire full of top school leaders – mostly chiefs of multi-academy trusts – and chaired a discussion where they could ask education policy experts questions. To my surprise, the most popular questions were about regional schools commissioners (RSCs). What were they for? How much of a […]