I think it is safe to say that teachers and school leaders are very cross with the Government at the moment. It takes a lot to get the profession in such an agitated state, but relentless workload,…Read more…
Unhelpful scaremongering?
This post originally appeared on the TES. I hope all the teachers reading this column had a relaxing half term, busy doing nothing, and certainly not ticking pupil progress data boxes. The…Read more…
Why are so many children so unhappy at school?
The 2015 Good Childhood Report comes to some chilling conclusions. Children in England were found to be among the most unhappy with their school life in the world. And their dissatisfaction…Read more…
Coasting schools: why the Education Bill proposals will harm the most disadvantaged
The designation ‘coasting’ severely disadvantages maintained schools – and is designed to do so. Schools with deprived pupil intakes will struggle to meet the threshold to avoid being deemed to be…Read more…
Cridland’s comprehensive demolition job on Tory education policy
And another thing… A weekly blog by ATL general secretary Mary Bousted John Cridland, director general of the CBI, cannot remotely be named or shamed as a member of the education ‘blob’. And yet his…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…
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…
A qualified workforce?
Why a qualified workforce? Is this a question we should even be posing? Does it make sense to talk of an unqualified workforce? How is it that teaching in FE colleges or academies, independent…Read more…
Teachers want for themselves what they give their pupils – frequent opportunities to learn
Dr Mary Bousted is general secretary of ATL and AMiE. Michael Barber recently opined that teachers are ‘semi-professional’. He argued that the profession remains heavily unionised (obviously a bad…Read more…
Review of the year
The major educational event of 2014 was the sacking of Michael Gove. Joy was unalloyed among the vast majority of teachers and school leaders as this most ideological of politicians was shown the…Read more…