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A-level results day 2026 survival guide: So, it’s the “Big Day” again. Shouts of excitement and “high 5s” are juxtaposed with tears and worry. Facebook is going into overdrive. Futures are secured for some, while others face uncertainty. Overall, A-level grades have edged down this year, as pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive their results. Overall, there has been a slight fall in A* and A grades and the pass rate is down for the first time in […]

How to Celebrate A-level Success: There is a lot to celebrate after another year of good A-level results. For many families all over the country, there is great sigh of relief and great optimism for the future. Really, there are three parties involved in achieving educational success – the student themselves, their parents and their teachers. There is a great sense of feeling of achievement when the student opens that envelope and the results are excellent, as they feel rewarded […]

Hurrah – the dragon is slain – Mr Gove – the education secretary has gone and we teachers can now have a jolly good party! Is that really true? It really depends on how you look at things – as a parent or as a teacher. Are parents really interested in all the politics or do we just want the best for our children?  Many will argue that there is no conflict between having a minister who strives for high […]

  Striking Problems More than a fifth of England’s schools were closed on Thursday 10th July 2014 during a strike by the National Union of Teachers, according to government figures. The NUT said most schools had been completely or partially closed. Schools were closed across England and Wales. Many parents had to find emergency childcare or take the day off work. The strike was over changes to teachers’ pay, pensions and conditions. The Education Secretary Michael Gove wants to introduce […]

The whole nation is once again looking forward to that time of the year in which we see Images of smiling teenagers in the newspaper, with TV pictures) showing delighted young people screaming and expressing how unbelievably well they’ve done in the summer examinations. As we are now in the spring, what lies in between now and that time at the end of August does not always make good TV pictures. Parental worries and active involvement, teachers’ hard work, perseverance […]

Are students in grammar schools better behaved or are private schools the solution?  I have had the privilege of having taught in all the three main types of school – Comprehensive, Grammar School and Independent (fee paying) schools and in my opinion grammar schools are really good. I found them inspiring to teach in as it is such pleasure to be making a small contribution to the development of these bright young people. However are they perfect? No. What really puzzles […]

Is the standard of behaviour better in some schools? Considering that there are around 4,000 secondary schools in the state sector in Britain – ranging from comprehensives to academies and grammar schools – not to talk of special schools, it would be foolish to think that the standard of behaviour is the same in all of them. However, there is a common pattern in all of them in terms of behaviour and academic performance: low expectations and complacency. As a […]

Teaching can be such pleasure and extremely rewarding In my years of teaching at a grammar school and largely the top set and the sixth form in good comprehensive schools, teaching was a joy as the boys and girls were on the whole, very bright and it is such a delight to interact and lead the very best of young people. They are willing to learn and explore and you get drawn to them more when you know that most […]

The link between students’ behaviour and academic achievement is well established. A proof can be seen in the case of two prominent people in education in recent history. Sir William Atkinson took over Phoenix School in Hammersmith and Sir Michael Wilshaw’s record at Mossbourne Academy in east London. Both leaders were able to achieve seismic improvement in examination results after they had transformed students’ behaviour and sent a very clear signal to teachers, parents and students that low expectation is […]