This week is Carers Week and 2015 has been the year of the carer for ATL, and whether we are talking about adult carers or young carers, many of the same issues have been brought to the fore. At all…Read more…
Allowing students to find their passion changes everything
Students at Springwell Learning Community experience a personalised and engaging curriculum that succeeds in both promoting a love of literature and development of empathy and social understanding….Read more…
Why so tight-lipped? What Nicky Morgan wouldn’t say
Following her announcement that 1000 ‘failing’ schools would be converted into academies, Nicky Morgan was questioned repeatedly this morning about how many of those ‘failing’ schools are, in fact,…Read more…
And so it begins…
And another thing… Our weekly blog by ATL general secretary Mary Bousted. And so it begins – Nicky Morgan’s bonkers announcement that the leaders of ‘failing or coasting’ schools will have…Read more…
There is policy and reality. Why can’t we bring the two together?
Dual professionalism was meant to leap the chasm of teacher practitioner and industry expert. However, it did not spell out what ‘industry expert’ means or even attempt to develop what such a…Read more…
When will all of our children and teachers have the learning environments that they deserve?
Anne Heavey is an Education Policy Adviser at ATL. Purposeful; Calm; Bright; Interesting; Clean. These words sum up the physical environment of both Stanley Park High and Springwell Learning…Read more…
Education has remained in the shadows of the election debates
And here’s another thing… Our new weekly blog by ATL general secretary Mary Bousted. Education policy has not been a prominent feature of the election campaign. Political parties have vied for the…Read more…
I predicted this catastrophe in teacher supply. It should have been avoided.
And here’s another thing… Our new weekly blog by ATL general secretary Mary Bousted. Tristram Hunt has pledged that Labour would reform School Direct, the school based ITT model introduced by the…Read more…
Stating the obvious, or the importance of aims and values
Anne Heavey is an Education Policy Adviser at ATL. The Curriculum is more than simply facts and figures arranged into subjects; as Dylan William has stated “The National Curriculum is the intended…Read more…
The self-imploding system
Mark Wright is the assistant director (leadership & management) at AMiE. Following the speech Tristram Hunt gave at the ATL conference outlining Labour’s education policies, this, along with…Read more…
Igniting a passion for learning
Anne Heavey is a policy officer at ATL. The mood at Stanley Park High is a happy one, in which all students and staff are united in joint purpose – learning. The students were engaged in their…Read more…
The workload is part of the job… isn’t it?
Abbie Hayden is a member of ATL Future. ATL Future have undertaken a survey of teachers new to the profession to ascertain the attractiveness of teaching and the results are powerful, shocking and…Read more…
Ofsted has become a weapon of fear and terror – it’s time for a different approach
In private, and off the record, politicians of all political persuasions will admit that Ofsted is no longer, if it ever was, the key to raising educational standards. It is now widely acknowledged…Read more…
Ofsted must re-think the way it collects and uses evidence during inspection
By Terry Pearson Mary Bousted blogged well last year about the inadequacies of Ofsted quality assurance systems. I’d like to look at one of the fundamental problems with Ofsted’s methodology…Read more…
Shorter inspections will end the stressful ‘cliff-edge’ experience for schools
Sean Harford is national director, schools at Ofsted The title of next Tuesday’s debate is “What’s the top priority: inspection or improvement?” I believe that this is the wrong…Read more…
In a fast-changing world, how should a curriculum and assessment system enable all learners to achieve?
William Stewart is a reporter at the TES. Opinions on the kind of curriculum pupils should be taught have tended to become steadily more polarised in recent years. On the one side is the…Read more…
A qualified workforce – what was said
Alan Thomson is editor of InTuition magazine. The first seminar in ATL’s Developing collaborative expertise in the FE sector programme took place on 30 January 2015 at ATL’s offices in…Read more…
Value what is valuable – not just what is measurable.
Nansi Ellis is ATL’s assistant general secretary with responsibility for policy. ATL wants a broad, balanced curriculum which prepares young people for life. Here are three principles that…Read more…
Let’s make the most of the choices we have
David Crossley is the Executive Director of Whole Education Network. The Whole Education Network champions and shares innovative practice in education and supports the development of a curriculum…Read more…
Engineers and teachers are uncomfortable bedfellows, it seems.
Scott Young is responsible for delivery of skills and employment objectives on the Thames Tideway Tunnel. Question: Which two-word answer, according to the UK press, threatens the success of UK…Read more…