politics | Schools Week

‘Precious little’ to tackle money, teacher and pay challenges

The political context for education over the next five years can be summed up crudely as ‘more pupils and more demands — with less money, fewer teachers and lower pay’. So what did we hear from the Conservative Party conference to tackle these genuine challenges? Precious little. he debate in our governing party is still […]

The Prime Minister mentioning our school in an article made us an open target

What would your response be if, within a month, your school moves from being a shining example of all that is right to an example of how all is not well? To set the scene: the prime minister mentions you in a “One Hundred Days in Office” article as an example of a school that […]

Will Lucy Powell be a great shadow education secretary?

It’s too soon to say and she got off to a slightly shaky start, but three speeches in and the signs are that the government is not going to have it easy Watching Lucy Powell give a speech three times is a bit like observing a teacher in their first few months. The first time […]

Can Corbyn get his way on comprehensives?

How will Jeremy Corbyn’s unwavering commitment to cull the 11-plus and the remaining grammar schools work, politically and practically speaking, now that he has become leader? For starters, it will mean a chance – at last – of starting a national conversation about the extent and reality of selection in England in the 21st century […]

Jeremy Corbyn: What does his Labour leadership mean for teachers?

There are those that cheer and those that look on stonily. But Jeremy Corbyn could provide the strong opposition to education policies that teachers need I was in a meeting of the Socialist Education Association when the news came that Jeremy Corbyn had been elected as Labour leader. The reaction was mixed. Those next to […]

I gave evidence to MPs on the Education Bill, but here’s what I REALLY wanted to say…..

I was invited to give evidence to the scrutiny committee for the second reading of the Education & Adoption Bill. I had a few things I wished to say – but wasn’t able to, given a truncated session and an exclusive focus (in my section) on the definition of a “coasting school”. The following expresses […]

Forget (most of) your post-election blues

Funding cuts, a recruitment crisis . . . what is there to be happy about? Well, the quality of the profession and the initial signals the government is sending about how it will work with it So, the job of steering the school system through its most difficult challenges for a generation falls to Nicky […]

‘Rigour’ mortis for Gove GCSEs?

In November 2013, Michael Gove reminded us the Coalition had “outlined plans for changes to GCSE qualifications designed to address the grade inflation, dumbing down and loss of rigour in those examinations”. “Rigour” was Gove’s watchword. More rigorous exams in English and Maths would be first examined in 2017. This meant teachers had to be […]

Government to rewrite academy rules after staff member halts school conversion

The Government has been forced to stop the academy conversion of a school after opposition from a single staff member. It will now rewrite government regulations to close the loophole that halted the process. In March, The Department for Education (DfE) issued academy orders for three schools in Lewisham, following applications by the Leathersellers’ Federation which runs the schools. But Schools Week […]