Robin Alexander gained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, beginning his career as a teacher before becoming a lecturer at the University of Leeds. He is currently a fellow of Wolfson College at Cambridge, honorary professor of education at the University of York, professor of education emeritus at the University of Warwick, and chair of...

Natasha Devon, until recently the government's mental health champion for schools, said before departing from her post: Time and time again young people – and the people who teach them – have spoken out about how a rigorous culture of testing and academic pressure is detrimental to their mental health. At one end of the scale we've got four year ol...

The short answer is, of course, that they don't. Not unless they get effective, structured feedback from their students. This is where 'formative assessment' comes in. Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, in their seminal work, 'Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment' define formative assessment as encompassing: "all those act...

Good governance is vital to a school's success, which means that appointing the right people to your board is essential. Governors need to be willing to take on this demanding role around their day jobs, and have the necessary skills and commitment to make it work – all for free. It's not an easy ask, so we spoke to the experts at The Key for Schoo...

David Didau is one of a small but growing band of practising teachers who promote the importance of research informed practice. His popular blog The Learning Spy seeks to identify the most interesting and practically oriented research on teaching and learning that can support classroom practice. Didau is never afraid to challenge wel...