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22 April 2026

Tag: education policy

Moral character is built by more than sport

Research suggests that widely held beliefs about the character building nature of sport are wrong, with students who take part in music, choir or drama outside school responding better to moral dilemmas than those who do not In May this year education secretary Nicky Morgan invested more than £500,000 in a schools project which, despite […]

Whose knowledge is it anyway

We are entering an era of knowledge-porn. But while children need certain knowledge to take part in the “cultural conversation”, they also must be handed a way in to culture, and the ability to challenge it. This cannot be done with draconian authority, under-skilled teachers and cookie-cutter curriculums The introduction of a core knowledge curriculum […]

Forget Careers Advice, What Year 1 Pupils Really Need Are Enterprise Skills

As Enterprise Week is underway in schools, Tom Ravenscroft explains why entrepreneurialism is an important skill even for very young children. The problem with enterprise, someone astutely pointed out to me, is that everyone thinks they know what it is – but each definition is different. Global Entrepreneurship Week each year brings that very much […]

Restraint in school – what the law says

You hope you will never have to use restraint, but if your duty of care leaves you with little choice: know your school procedure and record everything The latest school shooting in the US and stories of children being locked in classrooms in the UK have once again highlighted the issue of restraint and how […]

Secondary moderns must have a voice, too

Grammar schools are back in the news with Nicky Morgan’s approval of a Kent school’s expansion. But they’ve never been away, with one in five students in England attending a school affected by academic selection The National Association for Secondary Moderns (NASM) sees the expansion of a Kent grammar school as a chance to raise […]

Remembrance is now a brand – what place does it have in schools?

The visibility of Remembrance within the public realm has grown significantly over recent years. This has been driven by the Royal British Legion, which raises nearly £42million with the Poppy Appeal, almost twice the amount of a decade ago. Activities associated with the appeal now extend into entertainment, shopping, the Poppy Lottery, and education. The […]

Leaders from other successful education systems are surprised by the imbalance in England

This week CfBT is launching its new report “Interesting Cities: five approaches to urban reform”, comparing the approaches used to improve schools in five cities across the world (London, New York, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro and Ho Chi Minh City). Each of these cities has achieved remarkable education improvements. Some aspects of what was achieved […]

‘It’s essential that governors are paid for their work’

Education is simply too important to be left in the hands of volunteers as their commitment is sanctioned purely by the extent of their own goodwill Of all the proposals to reform school governance the one that attracts the most ire is the idea that governors should be paid. It undermines the principle of volunteering […]

Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? Yes

Liz Goldspink: Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? No It’s easy to see why people have been anxious about the removal of levels but, until we have gone through the whole year, no one will really know what impact their removal will have. At present, every local authority and school has to […]