Miss Watson emailed me recently. Miss Watson! She was my form tutor in year 9 and 10, and the only woman who taught me anything about how to break a wild class. She had poker straight hair, and huge glasses, and … Read More
One of my fears about Schools Direct - the government programme allowing schools to 'train their own' teachers - was the apparent lack of checks on school-based support and the situations participants might be placed in. I've constantly been told … Read More
Justin "Juice" Fong - Head of Internal Communications at TeachForAmerica (TFA) - yesterday wrote a blog describing upcoming changes at TFA and making his own suggestion for the future.The changes should interest people in England because they echo concerns raised before about TFA's sister … Read More
In last week's Education Select Committee, an issue was raised regarding the spread of highly effective teachers. Loic Menzies raise the point that teaching in London schools serving the most disadvantaged pupils is commonly rated as good or outstanding. Schools … Read More
People inevitably differ on opinions about TeachFirst, the training route for "high-achieving graduates". We can debate those opinions all day and I'm happy to do so. But too often those debates are hampered by ideas about TeachFirst which simply aren't … Read More
At present the government's entire focus on teacher quality is on recuiting 'higher calibre' graduates and in trying to improve professional development through Teaching Schools. The first is happening through specialised bursaries, the introduction of the Schools Direct programme and … Read More
*This post was originally at the LKMCo website and was published on 17th May 2011* Recently I’ve noticed a puzzle I can’t solve. As the writer of a booklet about Free Schools I’ve worked with several Free School applicants and I keep a … Read More