Monday
School belonging schemes ‘unlikely to lead to big rises in attainment’
But FFT analysis finds that monitoring pupils’ sense of belonging can still be useful for schools – as long as they are clear about exactly what they are measuring
Why a teacher coaching session should end with one decision
It’s easy to give teachers lots of advice and ideas in a coaching session – but that can simply create inertia. Instead try to ensure that a single idea is agreed and tested, says this leader
Make climate education ‘fully cross-curricular’ in schools, DfE urged
Climate change and sustainability education must be ‘woven’ into the wider curriculum in schools and connected more clearly to careers, according to UCL report based on a survey of teenagers
Friday
How the Day of the Dead can help schools teach about grief
Updated RSHE guidance requires schools to teach about bereavement in age-appropriate ways. Learning about the Mexican Day of the Dead can be a useful route into this topic, says Jane Lavery
School evaluation from a new perspective: 5 insights for leaders
An IB leader who just completed his first school visit as an evaluator reflects on what the process taught him from the other side
Wednesday
‘Useless degree’ fears: how AI is changing student choices
AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini are being used for advice on course choices and university destinations, according to a survey of almost 5,000 international students
Is a lack of support forcing dads out of teaching?
The DfE is pushing ahead with improving maternity pay to help keep new mothers in the job, but what about the dads who are teachers? Better paternity support would benefit the whole sector, experts tell Zofia Niemtus
Why school improvement starts with the most isolated staff
If you want to deliver sustainable positive change in a school, you need to look beyond the most visibly successful staff, says this senior leader, who shares his strategic approach
Monday
Do schools need to ‘teach’ friendship?
Amid an epidemic of youth loneliness, rather than trying to ‘fix’ children, schools need space to explicitly set the conditions for friendships to flourish, argues Margaret Mulholland
Why CPD should (sometimes) be about doing less, not more
Professional development can also be about working out what to drop and how to be more efficient, says this international leader
