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We need to reform the academy system – and stop the power-hungry super-heads
Our schools have become joyless, stressful places, run by principals who behave like football managers obsessed by tables. Why do we put up with it? This week’s Newsnight investigation into greedy “superheads” of academies coupled with headline claims about other heads involved inmoney-grabbing and cronyism has thrown a spotlight on to the role of headteachers. […]

Free schools policy fuels social segregation
The prime minister’s announcement that, if re-elected, he will open 500 new free schools in the next five years, has catapulted this dismal policy initiative back into the headlines. Most commentators had assumed that David Cameron would keep quiet about free schools because it is generally acknowledged that they’ve been a bit of a disaster […]
Academies are an expensive red herring. Here’s how you really improve school standards
How many times must academies be discredited before policymakers look at the proven but less headline-grabbing solutionn but less headline-grabbing solution? The prime minister’s announcement today that, if elected, the Tories will force “mediocre” schools to convert to academies was important for a couple of reasons. First, it indicated that the government wants to make […]
Michael Gove offers social justice in reverse. That’s why I back the strikes
Gove’s conference speech was misleading – his education policies give more power to the privileged and fuel social segregation The main claim made by Michael Gove at the Conservative party conference was that his education policies are focused on “social justice”. It was a lacklustre speech that sounded more like a list of acknowledgements. For a large […]

Getting closure

At least my school isn’t one of the wussy ones – it’s got a blizzard-proof excuse. The comprehensive where I teach is essentially stuck in a field in Essex and is currently encased in banks of snow, encircled by treacherous roads piled high with ice and sludge and only Ranulph Fiennes would seriously consider commuting […]
Why We Should Give Teachers A Pay Rise

I bet there were a few teacher-hating members of the public chucking their breakfast at their television sets this morning when they saw the moaning members of the National Union of Teachers asking for a 10% pay rise at their conference this week. Even as a teacher myself, I have a degree of sympathy with […]
Will the teaching council ever learn?

The new code of conduct for teachers is a masterwork in stating the blindingly obvious and deeply patronising The new draft of a code of conduct and practice for teachers really made me laugh. It’s a big and wordy document from the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) and full of the off-putting, sanctimonious language […]
Why We Should Give Teachers a Pay Rise

Teachers are demanding a 10% pay rise. To educate the country out of this recession, we should give it to them I bet there were a few teacher-hating members of the public chucking their breakfast at their television sets this morning when they saw the moaning members of the National Union of Teachers asking for […]
Getting closure

Despite clear roads and public transport running, schools are still closed because teachers can’t afford to live near where they work At least my school isn’t one of the wussy ones – it’s got a blizzard-proof excuse. The comprehensive where I teach is essentially stuck in a field in Essex and is currently encased in […]