The government is carrying out a consultation on proposals to ‘remove barriers’ to longer private-sector tenancies in England
The article Have your say on private tenancies first appeared on the…Read more…
Are students with SEND being let down? Our members say they are
ATL recently responded to the Labour Party’s review of SEND provision in England, as part of our work on Conference resolution 43, Are SEND Students Being Let Down? We surveyed ATL members to…Read more…
Striking is a potent weapon – but one of last resort
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…
Tories will try anything to shackle unions, but ultimately they will fail
Government attempts to stop public sector staff paying union subs through payroll check-off were political and wrong, according to the high court
A high court judgment last week against the largest…Read more…
Tories will try anything to shackle unions, but ultimately they will fail
Government attempts to stop public sector staff paying union subs through payroll check-off were political and wrong, according to the high court
A high court judgment last week against the largest…Read more…
Primary assessment is broken. So what do we want instead?
I think we can say that assessment in primary schools is broken. Many words have been written (including by ATL) about what’s gone wrong this year. The question remains, what do we want instead? I…Read more…
Millions have been wasted on failed baseline. It’s time to listen to ATL members
Last week, education secretary Nicky Morgan appeared before the Education Select Committee to defend some of the controversial proposals in the white paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere. She…Read more…
This budget does nothing to make it easier to trust government on education
In a weakening global economy, people will rightly ask how the British government is providing opportunity for them. A high quality education system benefits everyone. But just because government…Read more…
Will area reviews fix the skills gap?
Janet Clark is an education policy adviser at ATL The government recently published the latest guidance for the Review of Post-16 Education and Training (known as the area reviews). At 60 pages…Read more…
Should I stay or should I go?
By Deborah Parren, ATL policy officer. Trainee and newly qualified teachers are full of energy and good intentions to be the best teacher they can be for their pupils. Will this enthusiasm be…Read more…
Counting the other costs of baseline assessment
Who knew that a test for four-year-olds could be so expensive? The “basic” cost of administering the baseline assessment has been reimbursed by the DfE in this academic year 2015/2016…Read more…
Times tables tests – as easy as 1, 2, 3?
By Anne Heavey, Education Policy Adviser at ATL. Happy New Year! Yesterday Nicky Morgan announced that in 2017 every 11 year old child will take an online test to check that they know their times…Read more…
Control + Delete: why the government shouldn’t get rid of ICT
By Jill Stokoe, Education Policy Advisor at ATL. The Department for Education (DfE) recently sneaked out an announcement (hidden in a consultation), that GCSE and A level ICT will be axed. Teachers…Read more…
School improvement is too important not to put parents in the driving seat
By James Croft Are parents really irrelevant to school improvement? You might think so, given the present behaviour of our political masters, but without them we’re not likely to get the education we…Read more…
Every childhood is worth fighting for
By John Cameron, NSPCC Head of Helplines Everyday our ChildLine volunteers are contacted by children desperate for someone to talk to about the growing pressures in their lives. Sadly they often feel…Read more…
You can’t learn when you are cold, hungry and worried about where you will sleep
In 2014, there were over 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. That is 28% of all UK children – or for those of us in education, 9 children in every class of 30. These shocking…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…
This draconian and partisan bill has no democratic mandate
ATL vice-president Shelagh Hirst is among the members of ATL’s Policy Council attending TUC this year. On Monday, she spoke to a motion on the Trade Union Bill. Much has been written about the…Read more…
This politicisation of public examinations must not be allowed to happen
On Sunday, schools minister Nick Gibb is reported to have expressed ‘greatest concern’ in response to Ofqual’s report on OCR’s problems in marking exam papers in time last summer. Apparently,…Read more…
Baseline assessment: questions but not too many answers
Here’s a puzzle for you. Q. In order to carry out an accurate reception baseline assessment of primary schools, what is the minimum number of schools that should be included in each sample? A….Read more…