All schools must produce an inclusion strategy by the end of the calendar year, the government has said, with £400 million per year in 'inclusive mainstream' funding to help develop and implement them https://schoolsweek.co.uk/new-inclusion-strategies-what-schools-need-to-know/

This looks like a brilliant example of offering the extra flexibility that some young people need.

"How should senior leaders - whose subject expertise may be in a completely different discipline to the HoDs they line manage - best support their teams to ensure everyone is ready for an Ofsted visit?" @greeborunner.bsky.social offers advice in @tesmagazine.bsky.social: www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

I analysed almost 500 inspections to see if schools with disadvantaged intakes are performing worse on pupil outcomes. The findings show that it's disproportionate. Heads say it's demoralising as they urge Ofsted not to confuse achievement & attainment.

Exclusive: Schools with the highest proportion of disadvantaged pupils are more likely to be marked down by Ofsted in the achievement category, Tes can reveal

The English hubs programme will be expanded to secondary schools from September following a 'successful' pilot, the Department for Education has confirmed https://schoolsweek.co.uk/english-hubs-support-programme-expanded-to-secondaries/

Good morning #FFBWednesday Recently retired secondary science teacher. Rose to DHT then moved into research within the RSchoolnetwork. Still involved with @associationscied.bsky.social and trying to help teachers of all phases to engage with research.

'If we do not attend carefully to the prime areas on entry, and if we continue to prioritise outcomes over access, the gap between what children need and what they experience will continue to widen' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/reception-teaching-must-adapt-to-the-reality-of-delayed-development/

The English hubs programme will be expanded to secondary schools from September following a 'successful' pilot, the Department for Education has confirmed https://schoolsweek.co.uk/english-hubs-support-programme-expanded-to-secondaries/

The English hubs programme will be expanded to secondary schools from September following a 'successful' pilot, the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed https://schoolsweek.co.uk/english-hubs-support-programme-expanded-to-secondaries/

Fieldwork might be the best stress test of a school. Take pupils out of the classroom - safeguarding, behaviour culture, inclusion, curriculum thinking and leadership all become visible. A thought sparked by a tweet from Kate Stockings. New post: open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p...

🔍 The renewed Ofsted framework offers a range of challenges and opportunities, says @greeborunner.bsky.social – here are 4 ways senior leaders can help subject leads navigate inspections

I spend a lot of time working with schools and MATs to quality assure and improve geography. One question always sits underneath: what do we actually mean by the impact of the geography curriculum? In this post I try to make my thinking visible. open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p... #GeogChat

But what are the benefits of learning walks? Read our findings in full via the weekly blog 👇 bit.ly/4aV5hno

AI that agrees with you doesn’t necessarily make you smarter (but it may make you more confident). A new study shows how confirming chatbots reduce discovery while increasing users’ confidence in their hypotheses. wp.me/p2nWPo-5M1

A true patriot

The theory of change here is that giving people more things to work on means they are more likely to improve. And that telling everyone that they aren’t as good as you thought will motivate them to do so.

The head of Ofsted says the fact that it issues more ‘needs attention’ grades than ‘requires improvement’ is evidence the watchdog is raising standards – prompting criticism for comparing new and old frameworks https://schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-chief-criticised-over-inspection-framework-comparison/

Day one of the annual Association of School and College Leaders conference is coming to a close. Catch up on the key stories here ⬇️ https://schoolsweek.co.uk/ascl-conference-2026-schools-week-live-blog/

Ofsted has announced a new way of recruiting 'groups' of school and college leaders to work as part-time inspectors, in a bid to make inspections 'more collaborative than ever before' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-piloting-recruiting-inspectors-en-masse-from-school-groups/

Assessment in foundation subjects like geography often creates a headache for leaders. I take a look at what goes wrong, and how to put it right. open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p...

'By investing in practitioner-led research and embedding evidence in decision-making, schools and trusts can drive improvements that directly enhance young people’s experiences and outcomes' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/using-action-research-can-help-ease-the-transition-from-school/

'We know that effective professional development is perhaps the most powerful tool we have to support teachers to improve, and we know that nothing leads to better outcomes for children than a good teacher' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/more-work-is-need-to-tackle-fragmentation-in-teacher-development/

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful: buff.ly/jcBWkGe #schools

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful: buff.ly/77yH9g7

📖 A £100 million scheme supporting children who are struggling to read has boosted pupils’ outcomes and 'broader literacy', researchers have said. https://schoolsweek.co.uk/100m-english-hubs-had-substantial-impact-researchers-say/

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful:

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful: buff.ly/jcBWkGe #schools

A point that Mark returns to in this podcast rss.com/podcasts/ga-...

A somewhat unexpectedly creepy find down a vomit splattered back alley in Preston.

Investigation: Dozens of struggling schools enrolled in a £20 million turnaround scheme have been paired with experts based up to 269 miles away schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-advisers...

Ofsted deferred or paused one in eight school inspections in the first full year of a new policy aimed at lessening its impact on leaders’ wellbeing, data suggests https://schoolsweek.co.uk/new-ofsted-policy-sees-1-in-8-inspections-deferred-or-paused/

Exclusive: More than half of free specialist school projects put on hold by the government are set to go ahead, as councils turn down alternative funding offers https://schoolsweek.co.uk/more-than-half-of-special-free-school-projects-set-to-go-ahead/

Exclusive: More than half of free specialist school projects put on hold by the government are set to go ahead, as councils turn down alternative funding offers https://schoolsweek.co.uk/more-than-half-of-special-free-school-projects-set-to-go-ahead/

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful:

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful: buff.ly/jcBWkGe #schools

Finally, a great TES article by @ensermark.bsky.social about making resources for others. As he notes, it's relevant in many different scenarios and there's clearly a danger of AI shortcuts meaning that the resources fail the requirements that Mark sets out. www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Ministers have been urged to clarify how special schools will be funded under their white paper reforms https://schoolsweek.co.uk/special-school-leaders-call-for-clarity-on-future-funding/

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful:

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful: buff.ly/jcBWkGe #schools

Most teachers will, at some point, write lessons they will never teach themselves. Heads of department do it constantly. That shift changes everything. 1/6

When you stop planning for yourself and start planning for others, you’re no longer relying on your own subject knowledge or classroom instincts. You’re trying to support another teacher’s thinking. www.tes.com/magazine/tea... 2/6

My latest TES article explores what writing a textbook taught me about shared curriculum resources. The key lesson? Make the reasoning explicit. If the thinking stays in your head, the resource won’t travel well. 3/6

Shared materials need: • Clear curriculum logic • Explicit explanations • Likely misconceptions surfaced • Usability under pressure Otherwise they increase workload rather than reduce it. 4/6

This thinking also shaped the Discover Geography series with Collins. The aim was not just content, but support for the teacher who has to teach it. collins.co.uk/collections/... 5/6

Shared planning is now normal in most departments. The real question is whether our resources genuinely support professional judgement, or quietly rely on it. 6/6

“How can we show students the relevance of Shakespeare in today’s world?” This SecEd podcast episode explores how schools can make #Shakespeare more appealing and enjoyable for students: buff.ly/xJoMijH

In my last Substack piece I looked at the implications of the white paper for curriuclum thinking - today, I turn my attention to what it means for the classroom. open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p...

You can also checkout Zoe Enser’s Bringing Forth the Bard which offers ideas on how #teachers can best explore Shakespeare with their students: buff.ly/ZHdf1t8 @greeborunner.bsky.social @seced.bsky.social

Is your school’s quality assurance helping or hindering improvement? QA should be about curiosity & clarity – not compliance. @ensermark.bsky.social & @greeborunner.bsky.social explore five essential questions every leader should ask to make QA purposeful and impactful: buff.ly/77yH9g7