Guidance

Pupil registration and attendance The DfE has updated its guidance on school attendance and registration, making it statutory for all schools and academies in England since August 2024. It sets out legal requirements for schools and academies in relation to attendance an...

/Leader/Issues/2024-Autumn-term/Guidance 08/10/2024 15:52:22

Navigating the First Year of Headship: A coaching conversation

This blog is a reflection of the coaching conversation between Steve Playford, ASCL leadership consultant, and Sarah Holman, Headteacher at Eggar’s School , during her first year of headship. The blog reflects on the key questions Steve asked Sarah during the coaching session...

/News/Blog/January-2025/Navigating-the-First-Year-of-Headship-A-coaching-c

Improving attendance

NFER’s Matt Walker shares the latest findings on why we need to rebuild connections with parents and rethink how we discuss mental health to effectively address student absence. School attendance is a key factor in supporting positive academic and social outcomes for stud...

/Leader/Issues/2025-Summer-Term/Improving-attendance 12/06/2025 10:44:51

Solving the SEND Crisis: report summary

Solving the SEND Crisis: report summary The Education Select Committee's report, Solving the SEND Crisis , demands urgent, decisive, cross-government action to deliver an inclusive, well-resourced SEND system, anchored by statutory entitlements, proper accountability and pa...

/Help-and-Advice/Inclusion/SEND/Solving-the-SEND-Crisis-report-summary 23/09/2025 09:08:32

Promising prospects

Tell us about your role My name is Andy Jordan and I’m Deputy Headteacher at Macmillan Academy, an 11–18 academy in Middlesbrough. We’re part of the Endeavour Academies Trust and I’m a governor at Archibald Primary School, one of our feeder schools. I’m currently leading o...

/Leader/Issues/2024-Summer-term/Promising-prospects 31/05/2024 15:37:02

Lost in Transition: Why post-16 education needs more than policy attention

By Claire Green , ASCL Post-16 and Skills Specialist Post-16 education is finally gaining traction in national conversations, a welcome shift after years of being treated as a policy afterthought.  The Education Select Committee’s recent report , Solving the SEND Cris...

/News/Blog/September-2025/Lost-in-Transition-Why-post-16-education-needs-mor

2024

December 2024 (including details of the new Business Leader Roadshows with Education Mutual, Business Leaders' Online Forum, Business Brunch podcast, Team ASCL webinar, school funding allocations, breakfast club early adopters, condition of funding changes, Cost of a Schoo...

/News/Newsletters/Business-Matters/2024 09/01/2025 11:33:45

Does the pause to inspections go far enough?

By Geoff Barton General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders New Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver has decided to pause inspections in the wake of the inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. It’s fair to say that the reaction has b...

/News/Blog/January-2024/Does-the-pause-to-inspections-go-far-enough

Recruiting and Retaining Generation Z

By Alex Atherton , Gen Z speaker, Leadership Coach and former Headteacher The most recent recruitment figures to the profession do not make comfortable reading. The crisis is not going away any time soon. Yet the most recent figures show that there are more teachers in ...

/News/Blog/May-2024/Recruiting-and-Retaining-Generation-Z

Change Dynamics

Geoff Barton looks beyond the issues of the ongoing pandemic and focuses instead on what another year in education may have in store. I suppose it’s fair to say that people have mixed feelings about January. Some people miss the garish glitz of the festive season, as the...

/Help-and-Advice/Curriculum-and-assessment/Teaching-and-learning/Change-Dynamics 27/01/2022 12:09:21