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15 April 2026

Tag: Nicky Morgan

Advancing with the tsars

Since Nicky Morgan took the office of education secretary she has appointed several experts, lovingly named tsars by the headline-writers, and convened a plethora of working groups tasked with creating a specific product. Keeping track of the groups, though, is proving tricky. With at least two delayed, three yet to declare members, and a new […]

My school put in an email curfew and has reaped the benefits

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has suggested teachers should not respond to work emails after 5pm in a bid to cut down on their workload. Unions have already hit back at the suggestion, claiming Ms Morgan is “delusional”. Here, Mark Steed, principal of independent Berkhamsted School explains how an email curfew has changed the culture at […]

If you REALLY want to find ‘coasting schools’, HERE is the definition you need

The government want to tackle ‘coasting schools’. Nicky Morgan has described them as schools that may be in “leafy areas” but nevertheless fail to realise the “full potential” of their pupils. This week the government released the definition they will use to find this sort of school. Under the proposed law, coasting schools are defined […]

Promises, promises, promises…

After the election results, the government now needs to make good on its election promises. With the recent election outcome, we can now only hope Nicky Morgan keeps to the promises made in the Department for Education’s (DfE) Workload Challenge report published in February. Reading back over the details this half-term, I have decided to […]

Nicky Morgan: Academies are a ‘better kind’ of school than local authority ones

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, education secretary Nicky Morgan agreed that academies are a ‘better kind’ of school than those overseen by local authorities. Ms Morgan appeared on the show to reval planned government powers for firing headteachers and forcing ‘coasting’ schools – described as those with poor levels of progress – […]

Why Morgan’s plan to fire heads of ‘coasting schools’ relies on imaginary people

So, what does the government’s new ‘coasting schools’ plan actually involve? Things we know: – As soon as a school is identified as ‘failing’ the Regional School Commissioner will intervene immediately. – If the school does not have a ‘credible plan or capacity’ for turnaround then the government will make more moves. – Headteachers, and […]

The system could be given the freedoms to be great

It looks like a busy five years for Nicky Morgan: 500 new free schools, an extra 17,500 maths and physics teachers needed, new headteachers for schools “requiring improvement”, and the academisation of failing and coasting secondary schools. The education secretary has a lot to do after wielding her “stick” during the election campaign: primary heads […]

Soft skills can’t be taught… but they can be learned

The current education secretary, Nicky Morgan, has been on a drive recently to promote ‘character education’. Adding the teaching of ‘grit and resilience’ to a teacher’s already growing workload is a big ask but a greater focus on employability and skills beyond the classroom mean that it is no longer enough to simply get every […]