March (27)

Ofsted began piloting surprise no-notice inspections

April (17)

As rumblings grew for a Sats boycott, a teachers’ union conference heard that school support staff jobs were being advertised to bouncers

May (8)

Swine flu cast a spectre over schools, causing several to close and hundreds of children to be sent home

June (19)

MI5 tried recruiting teachers to become spies in the pages of ‘The TES’

October (23)

Postal strikes began

November (13)

Jedward fever grips the UK

November (27)

Flooding hit parts of Britain as it emerged school inspectors were taking health and safety more seriously

December (4)

Schools were involved in the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen.