Opinion

Morgan’s primary assessment video misses the point

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has released a video to explain the government’s plans for primary assessments. Brian Lightman has watched it,...

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

Key Stage 1 changes take writing back to the 19th Century

I attended a briefing by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) on February 5 for local authority leaders of...

John Dickens
John Dickens
Opinion

‘Schools Week hasn’t done the maths on commas’

It isn’t unreasonable to expect an 11-year-old to use a comma as a thousands separator – this is a...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Primary assessment: the good, the bad and the ugly

The changes to primary assessment and accountability have been under review for the best part of five years, and...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Ofsted’s Michael Wilshaw praised primaries – but missed some important points

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector had positive words for primary schools in his first monthly address – but was it as...

Colin Richards
Colin Richards
Opinion

Baseline assessments are an impossible idea

From next year, an approved reception baseline assessment will be the only accepted way of measuring how well a...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Why I moved from secondary to primary and love it

Six years in a challenging secondary school were fulfilling, but this Teach First ambassador wanted to make the greatest...

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Opinion

The good, the bad and the teacher recruitment stats

There are reasons to be cheerful; teacher numbers are up, for starters. But the School Workforce Census for last...

Billy Camden
Billy Camden
Opinion

Like it or not: Reception assessments are looming

There are valid reasons for concerns about reception baseline assessment. But don’t be intimidated: it’s a chance to pick...

Expert Contributor
Expert Contributor