Delivering subject content through nine life themes
The acclaimed author and former children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo says that teaching children to love writing is more important than learning about grammar. Morpurgo’s latest intervention – headlined Let’s not suck the joy out of writing in the print edition of the Guardian –… Continue Reading “Literacy and creativity go hand in hand”
In June 2021 the so-called schools catch-up tsar, Sir Kevan Collins, resigned after saying that government funding for his long-term plan to help pupils make up for lost learning during the Covid pandemic fell “far short” of what was needed. The recovery plan is… Continue Reading “Meeting the challenges”
New research suggests that around 7 in 10 people in the UK – 42 million people – could be overweight by 2040. The shocking figures, from Cancer Research UK, were published in May, just after the decision by the UK government to delay implementation… Continue Reading “A health challenge we cannot afford to ignore”
Something like 17 million people in the UK took an active part in the recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations, according to the Together coalition, the organisation behind the Thank You Day campaign, who say their aim is “to build kinder, closer and more connected communities… Continue Reading “Building stronger communities”
A lockdown opinion poll found that 73% of people would like society to be more connected in the future; they wanted “a new, country-wide moment that celebrates communities and what we have in common.” Some of that spirit of community was shown during the… Continue Reading “Promoting community education”
The UK government’s long-awaited food strategy, announced this week, has been widely criticised, including by its own food adviser. It comes in the same week that the charity Diabetes UK announced that the number of children being treated at paediatric diabetes units has risen… Continue Reading “A collective approach to obesity”
A year-long education commission, which took evidence from more than 600 experts across fields including business, the arts and education, has recommended major changes to the education system in response to the challenges of the coming decades. Many of the report’s criticisms of the… Continue Reading “Reimagining education”
Researchers say that there was an increase in screen time during the Covid pandemic affecting all age groups, and most noticeably in children aged six to ten. Screen time is the amount of time spent using a device with a screen such as a… Continue Reading “Limiting screen time”
Britain’s education system “is failing on every measure”. That is the stark conclusion of the recently published Times Education Commission final report, which begins with a discussion of a fundamental question: what is the purpose of education? The report itself is a bold call… Continue Reading “The purpose of education”
The phrases ‘blue-sky thinking’ and ‘thinking outside the box’ would probably be somewhere near the top of many people’s list of most annoying examples of management speak. Clichés are, by definition, tired and hackneyed, but they usually convey something important – in this case… Continue Reading “Promoting creativity”