Writing

As an experienced journalist and book author, Laura can help create and refine your story ideas.

I regularly write for a host of publications including The Guardian, Schools Week, and Teach Secondary.

If you would like me to write for you, please contact me.

My top 5 favourite things I’ve ever written are:

Toby Young’s apologetic interview
Profile of Jill Wood, the headteacher who refused to make her pupils sit the SATs
‘Stadiums of Redemption’ – my column after Brexit
The hiding of the blue penis
The importance of the Open University

The Guardian articles:

January 2020 – The Tories are hiding from blame for youth crime. That’s not on.
December 2019 – British girls have finally made the global top table… for fear of failure
November 2019 – Here’s an election idea: Why not let anyone sit Oxbridge exams?
October 2019 – Populism has no place in education – so stop bashing Germans and private schools
September 2019 – Politically literate citizens seem to be a problem for Michael Gove
August 2019 – Let’s replace religious assemblies with thought for the day
July 2019 – A misguided obsession with STEM subjects is to blame for the decline in English
June 2019 – We’ve constructed a ruthless exam system where bereavement doesn’t matter
May 2019 – For poor children, lunch is a rushed butty. For the rich, it’s orchestras and comedy.
April 2019 – Do A-level results matter or not? A question for unscrupulous universities
March 2019 – While the UK government runs down schools, other countries pour money into theirs
February 2019 – A child in a bedsit has more character than a braying public schoolboy
January 2019 – A century of adult education has been tossed aside – is it too late to rescue it?
17th November 2017 – Sexual harrassment isn’t only rife in Westminster, but also in schools
17th October 2017 – Your child’s teacher could soon be an undergraduate on £3.50 an hour
19th September 2017 – Historians will laugh when they look at our university application system
30th August 2017 – The Lesson From St Olaves
26th August 2017 – Exams change but we continue to fail the non-academic
15th August 2017 – The new GCSEs cut off chances for pupils like Aisha
20th June 2017 – You messed with schools, Theresa May, so you messed with half the electorate
18th June 2017 – Exam stress rising? No, pupils are just better at seeking help
30th May 2017 – The real school problems are poverty and housing
18th April 2017 – Stage schools are no reason for grammar schools
21st March 2017 – The future of schools: core subjects only, pay for the rest
21st February 2017 – Cappucino with extra Italian? How pop-up classes are bringing a buzz
17th January 2017 – You can see the cuts in the NHS but the cuts in schools are just as dire
20th December 2016 – Farewell, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Dirty Harry of Ofsted
11th December 2016 – There’s a better way for private schools to help state schools
15th November 2016 – Simple transparency on schools can stop legal battles
18th October 2016 – What society lets families fear deportation for sending their child to school?
20th September 2016 – Allow failing schools, not grammars, the first choice of pupils
11th September 2016 – Theresa May to persist with selection of the fittest
16th August 2016 – It’s time to confront A-level’s dirty little secret
18th July 2016 – Justine Greening doesn’t need grammars to bring back selection
21st June 2016 – Teacher or not, Ofsted’s new chief inspector passes the test
17th May 2016 – Should boys get a bigger slice of school funding?
19th April 2016 – Osborne’s academy plan is smashing Thatcher’s legacy
16th March 2016 – This academies plan doesn’t solve the real problems for schools
15th March 2016 – How the Tories picked free schools: chaotic, incompetent and incoherent
28th February 2016 – Golden handcuffs won’t solve the teacher recruitment crisis
16th February 2016 – Complicated GCSE changes are a calamity in the making
19th January 2016 – The rich fear schools will teach their children to care
14th December 2015 – So much for A-level ‘rigour’; universities are taking anyone
17th November 2015 – How Nicky Morgan plans to grab land from the church
20th October 2015 – When even Hawaii has teacher shortages, what can Blackpool do?
15th September 2015 – We will have to find refugees as big a space in our schools as in our hearts
18th August 2015 – What about children who have no place in the GCSE story?
20th July 2015 – Poverty is about not having enough money. So don’t blame schools for it.
16th June 2015 – There’s nothing sadder than EBacc with bad teachers
18th May 2015 – Let the school battle commence, without delay
21st April 2015 – Britain sponsors for-profit schools aboard — but not in our back yard
17th March 2015 – Labour’s focus on the brightest wins votes, but it’s not the right thing to do
17th February 2015 – Size does matter – when you’re in a class of 42
20th January 2015 – Top Ofsted rating for many SEN schools – so why aren’t we trumpeting success?
16th December – Will teachers’ lists of what wastes their time be taken seriously?
18th November – This half-baked A Level reform is being rushed for the elections
21st October – Why the gender divide in school uniforms? Or loos?
16th September – Party Conferences: What teachers and parents can expect to hear
19th August – Nicky Morgan has given birth to a child so, obviously, she can solve childcare…
15th July – How I lost my free school secrecy court battle
17th June – Trojan Horse: Why some ‘extremists’ are more acceptable than others
20th May – Why is Michael Gove so coy about money to provide school places?
6th May – Free Schools – what can America teach Britain?
15th April – What if your academy brand loses its shine?
17th March – Why do we worry that few girls take physics but not that boys are only 29% of English students?
18th February – If Academies save money on wages, whose gain will it be?
21st January – Snobbery about vocational opportunities is denying our children opportunities
10th January – Five Lessons We Learned from Tough Young Teachers
7th January – Why is the government being so secretive about free schools?
17th December – Gove’s “Progressive Betrayal” seems to be a private school phenomenon
18th November – Without counselling in schools, we are left banging our head against brick walls
14th October – Gove’s education reforms make second chances a thing of the past
16th September – The nightmare of the teacher in the GCSE hall
20th August – Selective Schools may help poor, bright children; what about the rest?
15th July – What’s the big difference between charter schools and free schools?
17th June – Tell teachers what you want, Ofsted – what you really, really want
20th May – Confused about the national curriculum? Here, have a pre-loaded tablet
15th April – Why welfare and education are inextricably linked
19th February – Why Gove’s “ABacc” Could Exclude Students From Doing Subjects They’re Good At

Schools Week articles:

LKMCo articles:

2014
1st May – Could the Middle Tier look like THIS?
30th April – Regional School Commissioners vs. Labour School Directors: Who Wins?
7th April – Why Gove Can’t Have It All Ways on Free Schools
27th March – Map! What’s the % of Unpaid School Fines in Your Area?
19th March – The Problem of the Free Schools & Academies Enquiry
5th February – First Education Select Committee on Free Schools & Academies
4th February – Why Gove Was Absolutely Right About State Vs. Private Schools. (And Yet Not Correct).
6th Jan – Today’s Parliamentary Education Questions – LKMCo

2013
18th December – Today’s #AskGove Education Select Committee Round-Up – LKMCo
17th December – Progressivist vs. Traditonalist: The PISA 2009 Data – LKMCo
9th December – Why Are White Working Class Students Falling Behind? – LKMCo
2nd December – The Simplest Way To Solve Several Ofsted Problems – LKMCo
11th November – Today’s Parliamentary Education Questions – LKMCo
23rd October – Education Select Committee – School Places (featuring David Laws) – LKMCo
18th October – Do We really Want More Parent-Led Academies? – LKMCo
2nd October – 7 Great Things We Read About Education (& You Should Too) – LKMCo
23rd September – What A-Level Subjects do the Russell Group prefer? – LKMCo
9th September – Today’s Education Questions Round-Up – LKMCo
8th August – What If Everything You Thought About Education, Was Wrong? – LKMCo
29th July – 7 Fascinating Things To Read About Education in July – LKMCo
3rd july – Second Education Committee – School partnerships & Co-Operation – LKMCo
19th June – Why Gove vs. Twigg Is Not Helping Schools – LKMCo
19th June – First Education Select Committee on School Partnerships & Cooperation – LKMCo
23rd May – Three Easy Things Gove Could Do To Improve Learning – LKMCo
21st April – Questions for the Gove Who Cried Summer Holidays – LKMCo
28th March – Marxists, Feminists & The Blob: Rethinking Gove’s Outburst – LKMCo
1st March – The A-Levels That Make You Successful At Oxford? – LKMCo
14th February – If Ofqual Can Decide Grade Boundaries What Does That Mean For Teachers? – LKMCo
7th Feb – What Happened? Round up of the EBC-Ebacc-Best8 Announcements – LKMCo
21st January – Stop Whining About The 1950s: What Are The Actual Problems of EBC/GCSE Reform? – LKMCo

2012
31st December – The Next Big Thing? What Might Improve Teaching & Learning in 2013 – LKMCo
17th December – Why Education Reformers Can’t Just Ignore Democracy – LKMCo
22nd November – Which Coalition Policies Do People Actually Like? – LKMCo
13th November – A Simple Test For Gove’s “Soft Bigotry” Claim – LKMCo
23rd October – Things You Need To Know About ED Hirsch and the Common Cultural Literacy Idea – LKMCo
2nd October – Of omlette, OFSTED and Getting to Good – LKMCo
18th September – GCSE Reforms: A Tale of Two (confused) Issues – LKMCo
12th September – Highlights from the House of Commons: Gove on Ofqual – LKMCo
11th September – Highlights from the Education Select Committee: Glenys Stacey – LKMCo
11th September – How is it possible that no-one in England knows what a Cgrade looks like? – LKMCo
3rd September – The Ecology of A Classroom: Maslow, Bloom & Solo – LKMCo
20th July – PISA: It’s Like An Olympics of the Brain – LKMCo
18th July – A Simple Solution to the Exams-Are-Getting-Too-Easy-Issue – LKMCo
4th July – The School Information Regulations – LKMCo
22nd June – The Question That Gove Forgot To Ask About GCSEs – LKMCo
19th June – A-Level Reform: The Solution Must Fit the Problem – LKMCo
3rd Apr – Universities Writing The A-Level Exams Won’t Create Superhumans – LKMCo
18th Mar – If you let ‘School Operating Companies’ run schools, is that privatisation? – LKMCo
4th Mar – When Dad Met Ahmed – LKMCo
17th Feb – What the History of Forceps Can Teach Us About Academies – LKMCo
12th Feb – The Disciplined Incoherence of Footnote 57 – LKMCo
15th Jan – Does a longer school day raise achievement? – LKMCo
9th Jan – When Accountability Measures Eat Themselves – LKMCo

2011
21st Dec – National Curriculum Review Summary for LKMCo
20th Dec – The National Curriculum Review & The Importance of Annex3 for LKMCo
4th Dec – Ladders, Stairways & Sieves: The basis of almost all education debate for LKMCo
20th Nov – If You’re Going To Demand Excellence, Do It Properly! for LKMCo
23rd October – Masters of the Teaching Universe for LKMCo
18th September – How will being in a free school change what is in the mind of an 11-year old? for LKMCo
17th May – The Puzzle of the Free School Excellent Teachers for LKMCo
1st May – Gove, Don’t Just Speed Up Capability – Improve it! for LKMCo
14th April – Summary of the James Review for LKMCo
13th March – “The data says 20% of my students are underachieving – what can I do about it?” for LKMCo
18th Feb – Forget The Big Society, Why The Connected Society Will Drive Education Policy for LKMCo
6th Feb – If you liked rail privatisation, you’ll love the Education Bill for LKMCo
23rd Jan – The English Baccalaureate: A Blessing In Disguise? for LKMCo
9th Jan – How can we best help young people learn about sex? for LKMCo

TES articles:

2014
30th January – The Godless Delusion – If you tell people not to think about elephants, they will think about elephants. And, in US schools, Jesus is the elephant.”

2013
25th October – Education? It’s mission impossible for Obama – “As states are still in charge of education legislation, the president is really just a man with a plan, and a large pot of cash.”
15th September – How do you get seven classes in six classrooms? – “Class scheduling is a complex optimisation problem. Even mathematicians with sophisticated computer algorithms struggle to make everything fit neatly.”
8th July – Take your tablets, and let’s begin the lesson – “In the world of 1830, naughty children had to wear sacks and were raised up in baskets to sit above the classroom and feel the ridicule of their classmates”
31st May – What price liberty? – “The system of “contracting” schools shows little sign of stopping.”
22nd March – Taking the reins – “So confident were Quaker bosses of their ability to sell drinks that they ignored warnings about differences between the products, only to wipe $1.4 billion of value from the Snapple brand in just over two years. But how?”
15th February – Stars & Gripes – “American high schools look just like they do in the movies… But eerie familiarity aside, unless you have ever attended or taught at a US school, it is likely that everything you thought you knew about them is wrong”.

2011
23rd Dec – How to take Toby’s tale with a pinch of salt – Times Education Supplement
29th April – Free school founders and newly weds face the same pitfalls – Times Education Supplement

All other articles:

14th July 2016 – The problem of policy pass the parcel – Schools North East
15th September 2015 – Academies dismantled; tuition fees scrapped: Education policies under Corbyn – Politics.co.uk
14th August 2015 – Academies are the government’s childlike solution… to everything – ATL
7th August – Corbynomics? The Panel’s View – Prospect
30th April 2015 – What does an ‘independent Ofsted’ actually mean? – The Key
9th April 2015 – Can Labour get your children into work? – Prospect
2nd February 2015 – David Cameron’s election soundbites on schools won’t work – Prospect
14th November 2014 – What’s wrong with making a profit from education? – ATL
20th March 2014 – Are Teachers Who Dislike Group Work Using It Wrong? – Edapt
6th February 2014 – What Should We Do About Education’s Berlin Wall? Follow The India Model – New Statesman
3rd January 2014 – 6 New Term Resolutions Every Teacher Makes…And How To Stick To Them – Edapt
18th October 2013 – Five Lessons From Derby: The Significance of the Al-Madinah Case – New Statesman
27th June 2013 – It Should Not Be Harder To Work At McDonald’s Than Become A Teacher – Edapt
3rd May 2013 – Why Education Reforms Need Some Rules – Edapt
3rd May 2013 – On the Sidelines of America’s Abortion Debate – The New Humanist
15th March 2013 – Who Owns Teachers – Edapt
31st Jan 2013 – Free Schools Will Invite Corruption Unless We Fix Them Now – New Statesman
13th November 2012 – School Accountability: Are Governors Up To The Job? – Optimus
24th September 2012 – Data, data everywhere – Centre for Education Research and Policy at AQA
1st May 2012 – How can teachers better use research findings in their class practice? – National Education Trust
2nd June 2011 – A Choice Too Far for The New Statesman

Want to work together?

If you would like me to write for you, please contact me.

Laura McInerney