Authors

Geoff Barton
Geoff Barton
All articles by Geoff Barton
White Paper: ‘The mantra used to be that parents know best. Now it turns out that it’s the education secretary’
Nicky Morgan’s education White Paper, published today, contains one or two interesting ideas but lacks real substance
17 March 2016
‘I will be the last person in England dragged kicking and screaming to be an academy head’
As George Osborne is today expected to confirm plans to turn all schools in England into academies, comprehensive headteacher Geoff Barton will not be hanging up the bunting to celebrate.
16 March 2016
‘Nicky Morgan must give up the soundbites and the emphasis on endless change and instead celebrate our schools and teachers’
The education secretary is due to give her annual conference to secondary school leaders tomorrow. Now is the time for her to set out what she really believes in, writes one high profile head
4 March 2016
‘I don’t see lines of teachers queuing up to take on headship, and I can understand why’
The rate of attrition among school leaders who are sacked, who resign, or who simply disappear is one of the great scandals of our education system, writes a leading head. Also missing is the fun of the job
28 January 2016
Opinion: Ofsted expects? Forget it
The inspectorate must be held to account and taught to “know its place”, according to headteacher Geoff Barton
26 August 2015
A headteacher on A-level results day: ‘Worrying about results won’t help. They are out of your control’
As results day creeps closer, Geoff Barton – headteacher of King Edward VI School in Suffolk – has written an open letter to his students. Whatever happens on the Big Day, he says, help will be at hand...
11 August 2015