Blog

This week, it became clear the Education Secretary intended to introduce mandatory minimum service levels during future industrial action in schools and colleges. In reality, minimum service levels are designed to weaken the power of trade unions and give the government a free hand to impose less attractive pay and conditions, writes Geoff Barton in his latest blog. 

In this week's blog, Geoff Barton discusses the implications of Wednesday's disappointing Autumn Statement for schools and colleges, and states that 'the fight must go on' for education.
 

In this week's blog, Geoff Barton reflects on Nick Gibb's comments on the hostility faced by those in public life as he steps down from his role as schools minister.

Ofsted: stop writing schools off as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ and instead properly reflect the breadth of what they are doing, the challenges they face, and where they may need help, says Geoff Barton in his latest blog. 

Many 16 and 17 year-olds will soon resit their GCSE maths and/or English exams, having not secured a grade 4 or higher at the end of secondary school.  But the scale of this operation raises questions as to why so many students are having to resit these exams and what impact doing so has on them. Tom Middlehurst explores what can be done about this in his latest blog.
 

The many challenges in education can seem relentless, however, as half-term ends, now is the time to take a break. Geoff Barton pays tribute to the work of school and college leaders in his blog, and reminds us all that there will be sunshine after the rain. 

Teacher shortages are so severe, writes Geoff Barton in his blog, that the challenge is increasingly to get any qualified teacher in front of a class, let alone a teacher who is a subject specialist.

RAAC in schools and colleges and other public buildings is a critical health and safety issue and one which has dominated the media over the past few weeks. To assist leaders in education, Peter Jackson of ASCL Premier Partner Browne Jacobson shares key insights and information around this issue in his guest blog.   

Over the past week a lot has been written about the number of pupils failing or passing their GCSEs compared to recent years. The government has rejected the language of ‘fail’, so where has this come from, asks ASCL's Tom Middlehurst, and what does it mean in practice? 

Our Member Support Team has recently assisted an ASCL member who has experienced issues when qualifications taken abroad are not recognised in the UK, and some higher level qualifications taken whilst resident in the UK are also not recognised, leading to inequality when accessing training. ASCL’s Dr Anne Murdoch highlights the situation in her blog and asks if others have had similar experiences. 

Being a young person today is different from being a young person when we were young, writes Geoff Barton in his weekly blog, and we must help align the work of schools and colleges with a world that is shifting rapidly around us. 

How can you tell when a test paper for Year 6 pupils is not fit for purpose? After the distress caused by this year's SATs reading paper, ASCL Primary Specialist Tiffnie Harris looks at what this rogue paper tells us about the problem with SATs. 

Ofsted’s report this week on the state of professional development in our schools highlighted how teachers struggle to find time for this due to their mounting workloads. The government must now surely act, says Geoff Barton in his weekly blog. 

Schools and colleges are being left to pick up the pieces of a series of complex societal issues which require a coordinated response, all with the looming shadow of Ofsted ready to put the blame on them.  Something has to be done, writes Geoff Barton in his weekly blog. 

If we – public servants who came into a once great profession on behalf of children and young people - aren’t standing up and fighting for education, who is, asks Geoff Barton in his weekly blog. 

Video-related content is a popular teaching resource and its use, particularly in primary schools, is increasing. But how can settings be sure the videos are safe and legal, as well as ensuring identifying suitable content doesn’t have a significant impact on workload? In this blog, ASCL Primary Specialist Tiffnie Harris is in conversation with Michael Wilkinson, MD of ASCL Premier Partner ClickView.

Imagine if all children and young people were entitled to the same nutritious, healthy meal options at school or college? ASCL's Julia Harnden takes a closer look at the evidence and current debate around providing universal free school meals for all children and young people in the UK. 

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee recently published their report on how to improve diversity and inclusion in STEM. Dr Ben Dunn of ASCL Preferred Supplier STEM Learning explores some of the evidence and recommendations which aim to tackle the issues raised. 

Assurances from Ms Keegan that schools can afford the cost will not alter the reality of the figures that they have in front of them. School leaders and teachers will be the ultimate judges of whether the pay offer stacks up,​ writes Geoff Barton in his weekly blog. 

It should obviously never have needed a tragedy to prompt a watershed moment, however, ministers and Ofsted now have a responsibility to ensure that there are no more watershed moments, writes Geoff Barton in his weekly blog.