Sir Anthony Seldon, author, historian, former headteacher, and founding director of Wellington College Education, was interviewed alongside Daisy Christodoulou, director of education at online educational platform No More Marking, on BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday morning in light of the publication of last week's Pisa rankings, which have sparked a new fresh debate about the way children are taught. The interview opened with a discussion of England’s approach to the curriculum, which has emphasised content as opposed to a greater focus on skills and competencies in the curricula of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sir Anthony told presented Jonny Diamond that England has performed "pretty well" in Pisa, but on the question of whether it has done well enough he said the answer is "categorically no". Referencing some of the "necessary" teaching methods used to drive up results in the three schools he has led, which include "knowledge-rich [teaching], expectations and rigour", Sir Anthony then warned that these alone are not sufficient. "Culture has gone down", he said, adding that "the arts have shrunk because of the focus on meeting the Pisa test", while noting that persistent absence has also become an alarming issue "in this totally different age of artificial intelligence (AI)". 
Listen from 2:43:28.

Writing in The Spectator, Thomas Casemore, a writer and teacher, Writing in The Spectator, Thomas Casemore reflects on the closure of Thetford Grammar School, one of England's oldest schools and "not an isolated tragedy". Mr Casemore notes that its loss represents more than the closure of an individual school and raises questions about the value we place on historic educational institutions. He also points to the financial pressures facing small independent schools, and says:  "The sad reality of the VAT increase is that, for the big-name private schools, fee raises have made little difference. Instead, it is the small schools, often the ones working with large percentages of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) pupils, that can't absorb the rise." On the importance of preserving the UK's independent sector, he concludes: "With the closure of Thetford Grammar and other small independent schools, our country moves ever further away the roots that once made it great."

In an article for School Management Plus, Dr Simon Hyde, CEO of HMC (The Heads’ Conference), reflects on the purpose and value of prizes in schools, from recognising pupils’ achievement, effort and progress to the growing emphasis on behaviours and values. He also questions the expansion of awards for schools themselves, warning that the line between meaningful recognition and marketing or revenue generation can become blurred. "It's probably best to follow Romans and 'rejoice with those who rejoice'", he concludes. 

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