UNISON, the union that represents early years inspectors, has welcomed Ofsted’s decision today (Tuesday) to bring the service back in house from April 2017. Early years inspection was previously…Read more…
It’s like coming home with a poor school report and the admonishment ‘must try harder’
One of AMiE’s goals is to highlight what effective leadership looks like, to help raise the standard of leadership and management practice. We believe that the profession itself is able to be…Read more…
Workload on the front line
By Ralph Surman, ATL policy officer. Workload and work life balance is a prominent issue of discussion among educational professionals. The government seems to have taken very little notice of their…Read more…
Embedding English: From Classroom to Common Inspection Framework
As part of ATL’s Union Learning Fund project, ATL Midlands have organized their first English and maths week. This week we’ll feature three blogs from Joanne Miles about embedding…Read more…
Time for common sense, not spot-fines nonsense.
The requirement of parents to ensure that their children attend school “regularly” is nothing new: it isn’t a Blair-era piece of government control, it dates back to the 1944 Education Act. This was…Read more…
Education Select Committee, there are questions we want answered
Jill Stokoe is is an Education Policy Adviser at ATL. Last week ATL submitted evidence to the Education Select Committee on the work of Ofsted, based on members’ views and experiences –…Read more…
Academies are the government’s childlike solution – to everything
Laura McInerney, editor of Schools Week, gives us her take on the first 100 days of a Conservative government. There’s a moment in every child’s life where they happen upon the secret to all of…Read more…
Stop turning every wild idea into policy
Nansi Ellis, ATL assistant general secretary (policy), gives us her take on the first 100 days of a Conservative government. When I start a project, I usually spend some time scribbling ideas. I let…Read more…
Government needs to give up the backseat driving
Mark Wright is the assistant director of AMiE (leadership and management). Politicians and practitioners ideally work together to take education on a shared journey so it doesn’t bode well that the…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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Councillor report to West Ham Ward: February 2015
This is my written report as a Newham Councillor to West Ham ward Labour Party branch which meets every month. The ward thought to save time they would prefer written reports from Cllrs of which they could then ask questions.
Councillor Report to W…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…