Category Archives: Politics

Michael Gove. Elicits strong reactions that name. From both hysterical anti-reform types as well from uncritical disciples of the #cultofGov… Continued in Outside In: Gove – a price worth paying?:

This is my latest column for the Bury Free Press, all about performance related pay for teachers: Teachers are in the motivation business. At their best, they take a subject we might not have thought would interest us and they … Continue reading →

Wellington College, the national monument to the Duke of Wellington, is unusual as monuments go, as people do not normally have the opportunity to see it. Indeed, few realise that it is a monument at all. All credit, therefore, to … Continue reading →

The 2010 spending review was one of the most gruelling experiences of my career. It’s difficult to express to anyone who hasn’t be… Continued in When 140 Characters Isn’t Enough: What the spending review means for schools

One often hears the refrain that state schools should be more like private schools if they are to generate success. And not just from the usual ill-informed cliché peddlers: it resides within the presumptions and pronunciations of all too many … Continue reading →

Wellington’s Big Top of edu-leviathans heaved for the Grand Tsar of Promise, Mikhail Gove, in conversation with David Aaronovitch, interviewer in chief. There are few things more entertaining and edifying than watching two literate, witty men converse. And Aaronovitch was … Continue reading →

  When I heard that Stephen Twigg had given a speech outlining his vision for Her Majesty’s Opposition educational policies, my first thought was HOLY COW HAS HE RUN OUT OF ANGRY BIRDS LEVELS TO PLAY? Continued in Stephen Twigg is BACK. … Continue reading →

OK so I don’t think she’s right about everything but I agree with a lot of what she says here about school admissions. She’… Continued in When 140 Characters Isn’t Enough: Why Fiona Millar is right

‘The good news is that we now know more about the pupil-level strategies that will close the social class gap. The challenge is to make sure they are used in the classroom.’ Estelle Morris, MP ‘Schools should be engines of … Continue reading →