Opinion

‘Health care asks patients to design its services, why don’t we ask pupils?’

Disengaged pupils can be reconnected to their learning by teachers will to take innovative approaches already seen in the...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Teacher references: A classic moral hazard for schools

Schools and staff waste hours on references for departing teachers that at best can be described as ambiguous. Do...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

The 3 ideas every teacher should bin in 2016

Most teachers will already have thought about what they’d like to achieve this new year. But what about the...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Leading Learning: privilege and responsibility

The opportunity to lead learning is a great privilege and responsibility. In recent years too many school and classroom...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Why pupils must feel connected to their learning

We must close the achievement gap” is a familiar phrase among today’s educators and politicians, reflecting the international focus...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Teaching is more than delivering the curriculum

Children do not become educated through the learning of facts; they need to absorb and own the value of...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

Have yourself a mellow little Christmas – by not taking marking home

The Christmas break is not a time to catch up on school tasks; leave them all at the school...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
Opinion

There will be 1 million more pupils by 2024 – but here’s why we won’t have enough teachers

As pupil numbers rise, schools say they are perilously short of teachers – Kevin Courtney explains why. Much is...

Nick Linford
Nick Linford
Opinion

The overriding strength of the Cambridge history PGCE

Last week the Cambridge history PGCE almost disappeared in a puff of neo-liberal neglect. Its stay of execution is...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips