Authors

Bernard Trafford
All articles by Bernard Trafford
‘It’s no longer good enough to do what’s right in your school: you must signpost it, so Ofsted can see’
The all-powerful Ofsted drives a compliance culture in schools, writes one headteacher. You have to be seen to be ticking the pointless boxes, too
13 August 2017
‘Focusing only on school data is a dangerous obsession’
Judging schools solely on easily measurable data downgrades other vital aspects of education, writes one celebrated educationalist
7 August 2017
‘People who disagree with powerful people are demonised - this needs to stop’
I criticised the government’s new ‘face of teaching’ last week, and felt the force of a Twitter backlash - but all I wanted was an informed, courteous and rational debate, writes one celebrated educationalist
30 July 2017
‘Despite what the right-wing media say, I know of few teachers likely to shout “F*ck the Tories”’
Indeed, the overwhelming majority of teachers just want to inculcate the spirit of independent-minded criticism in their students, writes one celebrated educationist
23 July 2017
The week my pupils took me to Hades and back
Ancient myth and bleak modern reality collide to teach an old head a valuable lesson about the young
14 July 2017
‘The sheer weight of regulation that schools labour under poses a constant risk to resources for teaching and learning’
The heightened administrative responsibility hitting schools comes at a time when funding is shrinking and risks taking resources away from teaching and learning in order to conform to new, additional requirements
9 July 2017