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This article was written for Inside Government.   The Covid-19 pandemic provided school leaders with a crash-course in crisis management. And, although I’m sure we all hope we don’t have to use these new-found skills any time soon, it is worth unpacking what we’ve learned because crises, though certainly not commonplace, do plague us from timeContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine.   In 2019, the average Attainment 8 score for pupils who were not eligible for free school meals (FSM) was 45.6. Currently, around 10 per cent of white pupils, 20 per cent of black pupils, and 45 per cent of Bangladeshi pupils receive FSM. In total, there wereContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine. Ofsted recently updated its initial teacher education (ITE) inspection framework, with the revised version having now come into effect (as of September 2020). The new framework applies to all phases of ITE, including early years, primary, secondary and further education (Ofsted, 2020). Ofsted has introduced a new keyContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine. This is the second in a two-part series. You can read Part One here.  In the first of my two articles on thriving in the time of coronavirus, I sympathised with those of you who are currently contemplating quitting the classroom and I made a plea to holdContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine. I’ve received lots of messages from NQTs recently who, having crawled to October half term feeling exhausted, have returned to school this month contemplating quitting the classroom. Many told me they’re disillusioned with teaching and are finding it harder than they’d expected. Cold days and long nights don’tContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine and first published in November 2020  You can read the original version on the SecEd website here.   You can access the full archive of my columns for SecEd here.  The best schools reflect their local communities; they bring the community into their school and take pupils out into thatContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd Magazine. Ethical leadership in education is driven by a respect for values and an unfaltering belief in the dignity and rights of others. Ethical leaders build school cultures governed by fair, clearly articulated expectations, rather than cultures driven by personalities or politics. In an ethically led school, there aContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine  More than half of teachers say that their mental health has declined as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and wider pandemic. A report from teacher wellbeing charity Education Support (2020) included a survey of more than 3,000 teachers from all types of school and found that 52Continue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine  Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. And, as ever, those from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds are among the hardest hit. The Education Endowment Foundation’s recent rapid evidence review predicted that theContinue… Read more

This article was written for SecEd magazine  Now that all pupils are back in school, the national debate has turned to the issue of “lost learning”. However, I am very uncomfortable with the terminology many are using – “lost learning”, “catch-up” – and all the rhetoric surrounding these concepts. The problem with ‘lost learning’ AnyContinue… Read more