1 Who went from selling school uniforms in a department store to become the top civil servant at the Department for Education and Skills on a pound;150,000-a-year salary?

2 Which former villain of the education world was paid a six-figure sum for writing just 11 newspaper columns before being told that his one-year contract would not be renewed?

3 What provoked mixed reactions by portraying teachers as sex-crazed individuals who occasionally squeeze in a spot of marking down the pub when they’re not breaking into school?

4 Hampshire science teacher Hillary Ellison alarmed teachers across the country when she associated which dangerous medical condition with too much paperwork?

5 Who caused widespread outrage by describing the nation’s comprehensives as “bog-standard”?

6 What unusual punishment is meted out to boys who misbehave during lessons at Ysgol Plasmawr, a Cardiff comprehensive?

7 Which fictional schoolboy’s big-screen exploits have led to a massive increase in interest in boarding school places?

8 Which famous scientist branded Government plans for more church schools as “lethally divisive”?

9 Who was appointed to take over from the highest-profile teacher union leader when he steps down from office next April?

10 Teachers were found to be safer than vicars and priests at which potentially hazardous activity?

11 What unusual accolade did husband-and-wife team Patrick and Sarah Fielding earn at the start of the year?

12 Which Labour MP described hunting as “sexier” than further education?

13 What was the name of the physics teacher who became the first man to hit the jackpot on ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and still turned up for work the next day?

14 Which head, accused of mistreating pupils, finally returned to school in a blaze of publicity after an 18-month legal battle to clear her name?

15 Which famous author and former teacher said teaching made him so miserable he wouldn’t wish it on his “worst enemy’s dog”?

16 Why was headteacher Sylvia Moore held hostage by parents who were later jailed for falsely imprisoning her in her own school office?

17 Which picture book, featuring a mother’s battle to teach her daughter to love her greens, won the Children’s Book Award this year?

18 Which former secretary of state for education, famous for his “morale-boosting crusade” among teachers and local education authorities, died this year aged 94?

19 What lofty art-form were teachers urged to boycott after an expert described current versions of it as “pornographic”?

20 Olive oil was this year hailed by Joan Sawyer and Roberta MacPhee in their self-help manual as the answer to which common school scourge?

21 Which irresistible but fictitious breed of tunic-clad schoolgirl celebrated her 60th birthday this year?

22 What is the name of the English teacher who became famous for her inability to keep her towel in place in the shower and her clothes on generally while appearing in Channel 4‘s Big Brother 2 during the summer?

23 Which unlikely publication did Anne Clarke, headteacher of Benton Park School in Leeds, resort to in a desperate bid to attract a wealthy entrepreneur to sponsor her school’s bid for technology college status?

24 Which traditional anthem had its words altered for this year’s Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall after the National Union of Teachers complained the triumphalist song was inappropriate during the war in Afghanistan?

25 Who more than made up in his famous parents’ eyes for the embarrassment of being found in a drunken stupor in Leicester Square by being appointed deputy head boy at his London school?

26 Which well-known public school, where the uniform alone costs pound;1,700, agreed to be the subject of an eight-part documentary in order to persuade people that it is no longer “elitist”?

27 What surprising quality, when present in teachers, motivates almost 40 per cent of pupils and can cause attendance to increase by 15 per cent, according to an Italian study?

ANSWERS

1 David Normington, permanent secretary. 2 Chris Woodhead, the former chief inspector of schools. 3 Channel 4‘s eight-part series Teachers. 4. Deep vein thrombosis. 5. Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s official spokesman. 6. They are forced to phone their mothers. 7. Harry Potter. 8. Professor Richard Dawkins, chair for the public understanding of science at Oxford University and author of The Selfish Gene. 9. Eammonn O’Kane, who is taking over as general secretary of the NASUWT from Nigel de Gruchy. 10. Driving a car. 11. They became the first husband and wife to share a leadership in a maintained school - Mayflower Primary in Leicester. 12. Mike Foster, author of the anti-fox hunting Bill. 13. David Edwards. 14. Marjorie Evans. 15. Louis de Bernieres. 16. Because she had refused their 11-year-old daughter permission to wear a nose stud. 17 Eat Your Peas by Kes Gray. 18. Lord Hailsham. 19. Opera. 20. Head lice. 21. The St Trinian. 22. Lisa “Penny” Ellis, currently appearing as Fairy Starlight in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Neptune Theatre, Liverpool. 23. Private Eye. 24. Land of Hope and Glory. 25. Euan Blair, son of Tony and Cherie. 26. Harrow. 27. Physical beauty - preferably in the form of red hair and green eyes.