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12 April 2026

Tag: Nick Gibb

Reality bites: What school crises should teach Gibb

When Michael Merrick, a teacher at Cardinal Newman, shared pictures of his flood-devastated school, it was a sharp reminder of the day my own classroom was destroyed by a roof collapse. Standing in the doorway, watching as debris floated by and pupil work melted into the newly-formed lagoon, my heart sank along with it. It’s […]

5 Ways Schools Can Work Together On Recruitment

Recruitment: is it a “challenge” or even a “crisis”? Or have we never had it so good in terms of vacancies filled? Is it the best time ever to be a teacher, as schools minister Nick Gibb has recently said, or are ministers sleepwalking while school leaders scratch their heads to find ever more inventive […]

Mary Bousted: ‘Don’t tell me I have low expectations’

Teachers care passionately about their pupils and strive to close the education achievement gap, but their job becomes more difficult as inequality and poverty levels rise – as they will under Conservative party policies Speaking last week at a Schools and FE Week Fringe at the Conservative party conference, I was accused by Nick Gibb, […]

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 […]

Why having one exam board isn’t as smart as Nick Gibb thinks it is

Reports that schools minister Nick Gibb wants GCSEs and A levels to be provided by one exam board were greeted with a knowing smile from Michael Gove’s ex-advisor Sam Freedman: The burnt finger wobbles back to the fire… https://t.co/SlPlK4bmig — Sam Freedman (@Samfr) August 9, 2015 The burned fingers are his and his bosses. We […]

Scrapping levels was great says Nick Gibb – but he forgets the impact on workload

Last week, members of the government’s ‘assessment without levels’ commission were announced. Much was made of the fact that Nick Gibb, the minister in charge of the group, had said it would be ‘teacher-led’. However, there are no full-time teachers on the panel. The Department for Education defended itself by pointing to the three current […]