General
Thursday
Breakfast club guidance: all you need to know
From the food you can provide to how the new clubs need to work alongside wraparound care provision, here are the key insights on how the DfE expects breakfast clubs to operate
Are ‘thinking routines’ in school essential for 21st-century skills?
Metacognition has become an increasingly common concept in the work of international schools; one group shares its findings on how to apply ‘thinking about thinking’ in classrooms
Wednesday
Could class sizes make a return to the spotlight in Scotland?
First minister John Swinney has said that all children – not just those in advantaged communities – should benefit from ‘smaller class sizes’. But how serious is he?
The trust versus LA debate is a damaging distraction
Rather than arguing about school structures, we should be focusing on removing accountability levers that are preventing schools of all types from collaborating, argues Keziah Featherstone
Why rural schools’ catchment challenges are worse than you realise
Everyone knows rural schools have catchment issues – but do we really appreciate just how stark they are? Michael Tidd illuminates the issue
Need to know: Scottish private schools and VAT
We look at the potential implications in Scotland of the Labour government’s plan to impose VAT on independent school fees
Friday
Why Labour’s schools bill actually makes a lot of sense
The discourse around the new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill focuses on what academies will lose – but we should look at it holistically to see the benefits for all, argues Andrew O’Neill
The safeguarding disconnect affecting children and teachers
Legal experts say a misalignment of guidance used by professionals to record allegations of sexual abuse is failing teachers and pupils – with potentially devastating consequences. Ellen Peirson-Hagger investigates
