Emma Knights
@emmakn.bsky.social
Former CEO of NGA, just written The Power of Governance to record the changes. For yrs worked in anti-poverty orgs mainly in 3rd sector. Now chair of Action21 local environmental charity, a passion as are books, pictures, theatre, laughs & social justice
Interesting. The Dutch love four-day working weeks, but are they sustainable? - BBC News share.google/nAFjNBCx7wHK... Their productivity is good too
The Dutch love four-day working weeks, but are they sustainable?
The Netherlands has the lowest working hours in Europe, but some say it is harming its economy.
share.google
February 12, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Interesting. The Dutch love four-day working weeks, but are they sustainable? - BBC News share.google/nAFjNBCx7wHK... Their productivity is good too
Important discussion for a host of reasons. But once again the workload for governors & trustees is ignored. Why? @tesmagazine.bsky.social
This report made the increased ressure on these crucial volunteers v clear:
www.nga.org.uk/knowledge-ce...
This report made the increased ressure on these crucial volunteers v clear:
www.nga.org.uk/knowledge-ce...
February 12, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Important discussion for a host of reasons. But once again the workload for governors & trustees is ignored. Why? @tesmagazine.bsky.social
This report made the increased ressure on these crucial volunteers v clear:
www.nga.org.uk/knowledge-ce...
This report made the increased ressure on these crucial volunteers v clear:
www.nga.org.uk/knowledge-ce...
A couple of years ago I asked STRB (School Teachers Review Body) to propose that educators have their graduate loans written of during their first 5 years in public service. It wasn't formally in their remit, but it should be now
www.lbc.co.uk/article/stre...
www.lbc.co.uk/article/stre...
Streeting calls for 'national debate' on student loan system in wake of graduate fury | LBC
The Health Secretary said a serious discussion is needed about the current student loan repayment system.
www.lbc.co.uk
February 6, 2026 at 9:24 AM
A couple of years ago I asked STRB (School Teachers Review Body) to propose that educators have their graduate loans written of during their first 5 years in public service. It wasn't formally in their remit, but it should be now
www.lbc.co.uk/article/stre...
www.lbc.co.uk/article/stre...
True, but the situation can't be changed by regulation & frameworks alone. A change of culture requires more: taking note of parental voice as well & ensuring legitimacy in governance as perceived by parents. Do they have a stake in the school? Parents are not passive consumers
'While the challenges are pervasive, there is a significant opportunity for the government to implement transformative solutions that can repair the weakened social contract between schools and parents'
schoolsweek.co.uk/repairs-to-t...
schoolsweek.co.uk/repairs-to-t...
Repairs to the school-parent contract must come from the top
The situation is not irreparable, and the first small steps have already been taken
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 11:22 AM
True, but the situation can't be changed by regulation & frameworks alone. A change of culture requires more: taking note of parental voice as well & ensuring legitimacy in governance as perceived by parents. Do they have a stake in the school? Parents are not passive consumers
Reposted by Emma Knights
‘Done well, inspection is not a threat to strong trusts, but an affirmation of the role they play in shaping opportunity for every child,’ writes the CEO of Active Learning Trust
Why MAT leaders should welcome inspections
Given that academy trusts are responsible for school improvement, it is right that they are held accountable for the systems and cultures they create, says this MAT chief executive
www.tes.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:35 PM
‘Done well, inspection is not a threat to strong trusts, but an affirmation of the role they play in shaping opportunity for every child,’ writes the CEO of Active Learning Trust
A brave decision: how many leaders will follow Becks' lead? Few while there's still talk of growth, growth, growth
Intentional design is definitely the way to go, but the intentions for the system are still not clear. What exactly is being designed? The steward that is the SoS must share a vision
Intentional design is definitely the way to go, but the intentions for the system are still not clear. What exactly is being designed? The steward that is the SoS must share a vision
'A mature school system should allow for specialisation without stigma and for divestment without failure narratives. That is true stewardship'
Lift Schools CEO Becks Boomer-Clark writes about the trust's decision to give up two special schools
schoolsweek.co.uk/intentional-...
Lift Schools CEO Becks Boomer-Clark writes about the trust's decision to give up two special schools
schoolsweek.co.uk/intentional-...
Stewardship of the school system demands intentional design
A mature system should allow for specialisation without stigma and divestment without failure narratives
schoolsweek.co.uk
January 5, 2026 at 5:18 PM
A brave decision: how many leaders will follow Becks' lead? Few while there's still talk of growth, growth, growth
Intentional design is definitely the way to go, but the intentions for the system are still not clear. What exactly is being designed? The steward that is the SoS must share a vision
Intentional design is definitely the way to go, but the intentions for the system are still not clear. What exactly is being designed? The steward that is the SoS must share a vision
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Great to have Northern Societies @hannahalothman.bsky.social
And prob also needed for the West Midlands. My daughter had to keep defending Birmingham at university - lots of prejudice & ignorance masquerading as Southern humour
Great to have Northern Societies @hannahalothman.bsky.social
And prob also needed for the West Midlands. My daughter had to keep defending Birmingham at university - lots of prejudice & ignorance masquerading as Southern humour
‘Oh my gosh, they’re all from London and Cambridge’: York University’s northerners fight back
Lucy Morville, from Burnley, thought most students would be from the north and felt ‘culture shock’ surrounded by southerners
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:50 PM
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Great to have Northern Societies @hannahalothman.bsky.social
And prob also needed for the West Midlands. My daughter had to keep defending Birmingham at university - lots of prejudice & ignorance masquerading as Southern humour
Great to have Northern Societies @hannahalothman.bsky.social
And prob also needed for the West Midlands. My daughter had to keep defending Birmingham at university - lots of prejudice & ignorance masquerading as Southern humour
Reposted by Emma Knights
This year has been brutal for the #climate movement.
Rollbacks, repression, & outright denial, especially in the US, have made progress feel fragile & uneven.
Which is exactly why it matters to pause & look back at what did move forward in 2025.
Here are 12 real wins 🏆, one for each month 🧵⬇️
Rollbacks, repression, & outright denial, especially in the US, have made progress feel fragile & uneven.
Which is exactly why it matters to pause & look back at what did move forward in 2025.
Here are 12 real wins 🏆, one for each month 🧵⬇️
January 1, 2026 at 9:09 AM
This year has been brutal for the #climate movement.
Rollbacks, repression, & outright denial, especially in the US, have made progress feel fragile & uneven.
Which is exactly why it matters to pause & look back at what did move forward in 2025.
Here are 12 real wins 🏆, one for each month 🧵⬇️
Rollbacks, repression, & outright denial, especially in the US, have made progress feel fragile & uneven.
Which is exactly why it matters to pause & look back at what did move forward in 2025.
Here are 12 real wins 🏆, one for each month 🧵⬇️
I love @hayfestival.bsky.social & been going for years. But tickets prices have really gone up the last few years - eg. this on oracy is £20! You can't be paying Amol - he's an overpaid public servant
Are you involved @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social?
www.hayfestival.com/p-24836-amol...
Are you involved @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social?
www.hayfestival.com/p-24836-amol...
Amol Rajan - Hay Festival
As a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s <em>Today</em> programme, <strong>Amol Rajan</strong> makes a living out of the way he speaks. In an exclusive session for Hay Festival, Rajan kicks off a campaign to g...
www.hayfestival.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:17 PM
I love @hayfestival.bsky.social & been going for years. But tickets prices have really gone up the last few years - eg. this on oracy is £20! You can't be paying Amol - he's an overpaid public servant
Are you involved @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social?
www.hayfestival.com/p-24836-amol...
Are you involved @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social?
www.hayfestival.com/p-24836-amol...
Fascinating & bringing a little bit of hope. Green washing by big companies & new fossil fuel projects being held to account by citizen campaigners & courts all over the world @isabellakaminski.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Greenwashing, illegality and false claims: 13 climate litigation wins in 2025
Legal action has brought important decisions, from the scrapping of fossil fuel plants to revised climate plans
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Fascinating & bringing a little bit of hope. Green washing by big companies & new fossil fuel projects being held to account by citizen campaigners & courts all over the world @isabellakaminski.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Congratulations to everyone recognised, especially the volunteers. But 3 governors/trustees is the lowest for a long time. The target used to be 10 per list. Please do get nominating
#NewYearHonours
#NewYearHonours
Breaking: A prominent academy trust leader will be knighted and a well-known professor of social mobility will be made a dame in the new year's honours list
schoolsweek.co.uk/new-years-ho...
schoolsweek.co.uk/new-years-ho...
New year's honours knighthood for Cabot CEO Taylor
Plus a damehood for a prominent professor of social mobility as 57 in the school sector recognised
schoolsweek.co.uk
December 30, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Congratulations to everyone recognised, especially the volunteers. But 3 governors/trustees is the lowest for a long time. The target used to be 10 per list. Please do get nominating
#NewYearHonours
#NewYearHonours
Reposted by Emma Knights
Our 2025 version of "Carol of the Bells" - originally a Ukrainian New Year celebration song "Shchedryk" - music 1st written by Mykola Leontovych in Pokrovsk (now under Russian occupation). The composer would be murdered by a Soviet agent in 1921.
#SlavaUkraïni
#dontabandonthem
youtu.be/vvMLtJ-Wyfs
#SlavaUkraïni
#dontabandonthem
youtu.be/vvMLtJ-Wyfs
"Carol of the Bells" / "Shchedryk" - Marsh Family adaptation of Ukrainian New Year song for 2026
YouTube video by Marsh Family
youtu.be
December 23, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Our 2025 version of "Carol of the Bells" - originally a Ukrainian New Year celebration song "Shchedryk" - music 1st written by Mykola Leontovych in Pokrovsk (now under Russian occupation). The composer would be murdered by a Soviet agent in 1921.
#SlavaUkraïni
#dontabandonthem
youtu.be/vvMLtJ-Wyfs
#SlavaUkraïni
#dontabandonthem
youtu.be/vvMLtJ-Wyfs
Post a book you love from the 80s. No explanations, no reviews, just covers
#BookSky #bookchallenge
Barbara Kingsolver's first novel: The Bean Trees (tho I didn't read it til the 90's)
#BookSky #bookchallenge
Barbara Kingsolver's first novel: The Bean Trees (tho I didn't read it til the 90's)
December 22, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Post a book you love from the 80s. No explanations, no reviews, just covers
#BookSky #bookchallenge
Barbara Kingsolver's first novel: The Bean Trees (tho I didn't read it til the 90's)
#BookSky #bookchallenge
Barbara Kingsolver's first novel: The Bean Trees (tho I didn't read it til the 90's)
#Skybook #bookchallenge
I've been useless at posting book recommendations but There are Rivers in the Sky is my absolute 2025 favourite novel by the inspirational Elif Shafak. It's moving, challenging, clever, beautiful & covering a span of place & time. Savour it
I've been useless at posting book recommendations but There are Rivers in the Sky is my absolute 2025 favourite novel by the inspirational Elif Shafak. It's moving, challenging, clever, beautiful & covering a span of place & time. Savour it
December 22, 2025 at 5:28 PM
#Skybook #bookchallenge
I've been useless at posting book recommendations but There are Rivers in the Sky is my absolute 2025 favourite novel by the inspirational Elif Shafak. It's moving, challenging, clever, beautiful & covering a span of place & time. Savour it
I've been useless at posting book recommendations but There are Rivers in the Sky is my absolute 2025 favourite novel by the inspirational Elif Shafak. It's moving, challenging, clever, beautiful & covering a span of place & time. Savour it
Excellent moving column from @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social
Just what's needed in these challenging times
Just what's needed in these challenging times
In the gloom, there are points of light - and what connects them is courage. Last column of 2025 offers some reasons to be hopeful www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
At the dark end of a brutal year, I’m grateful to these heroes for showing us the light | Jonathan Freedland
From Palestinians standing up to Hamas to the Bondi beach rescuers, great acts of courage offer hope even in the bleakest times, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
www.theguardian.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Excellent moving column from @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social
Just what's needed in these challenging times
Just what's needed in these challenging times
Not sure 400 is right number (suggests an average trust size of 40-50 schools depending how many maintained schools convert), but all @markmccourt.bsky.social's arguments are important. Definitely need this debate & more effort to ensuring community connections are valued by MATs
If we want an academy trust system that works for pupils, staff and the taxpayer, we need to drastically reduce trust numbers, suggests @markmccourt.bsky.social
Why England only needs 400 academy trusts
If we want a trust-led system that works for pupils, staff, communities and the taxpayer, we need to drastically reduce trust numbers, argues Mark McCourt
www.tes.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Not sure 400 is right number (suggests an average trust size of 40-50 schools depending how many maintained schools convert), but all @markmccourt.bsky.social's arguments are important. Definitely need this debate & more effort to ensuring community connections are valued by MATs
Congratulations to @nigelgenders.bsky.social. Great appointment as schools admissions adjudicator. A man of integrity & wisdom
The Church of England’s chief education officer has been appointed to lead the adjudicator that oversees school admissions across England
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/church-education-chief-to-lead-school-admissions-adjudicator/
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/church-education-chief-to-lead-school-admissions-adjudicator/
Church education chief to lead school admissions adjudicator
The Reverend Nigel Genders will be the new chief schools adjudicator
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Congratulations to @nigelgenders.bsky.social. Great appointment as schools admissions adjudicator. A man of integrity & wisdom
www.theatrere.co.uk/the-nature-o...
A very memorable (forgive the pun) performance this evening at Warwick Arts Cente on the tough topic of dementia. Just there for one more night: recommended
#skytheatre
A very memorable (forgive the pun) performance this evening at Warwick Arts Cente on the tough topic of dementia. Just there for one more night: recommended
#skytheatre
The Nature of Forgetting
Funded by National Lottery through Arts Council England Co-commissioned by the London International Mime Festival, The Point Eastleigh, and South Hill Park Arts Centre Supported by Shoreditch Town...
www.theatrere.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 10:41 PM
www.theatrere.co.uk/the-nature-o...
A very memorable (forgive the pun) performance this evening at Warwick Arts Cente on the tough topic of dementia. Just there for one more night: recommended
#skytheatre
A very memorable (forgive the pun) performance this evening at Warwick Arts Cente on the tough topic of dementia. Just there for one more night: recommended
#skytheatre
The climate and nature crises are not given the media coverage & political attention they deserve.
What a great idea to get more evidence to our elected representatives & policy-makers: a national emergency briefing
nebriefing.org
What a great idea to get more evidence to our elected representatives & policy-makers: a national emergency briefing
nebriefing.org
I’ve just announced I’ll be leading a National Emergency Briefing on 27 November . At a time when climate is in free fall on the political agenda , it’s vital our leaders realise what is at stake if we do not accelerate a just , green transition for all .
@nebriefing.bsky.social 🇬🇧
@nebriefing.bsky.social 🇬🇧
November 9, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The climate and nature crises are not given the media coverage & political attention they deserve.
What a great idea to get more evidence to our elected representatives & policy-makers: a national emergency briefing
nebriefing.org
What a great idea to get more evidence to our elected representatives & policy-makers: a national emergency briefing
nebriefing.org
Yes finances can be a significant driver, but it is the SAT's board of trustees who will take the decision - and often locality is very important to them. We have a schools system which is very confused - at least on paper - about place. This needs more thought. The White Paper can't ignore place
The number of single academy trusts has fallen by almost a third in 5 years. This direction of travel is likely to continue given the DfE’s rumoured policy for all schools to join a MAT.
@jabedahmed.bsky.social looks at what it will take for the remaining SATs to merge:
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
@jabedahmed.bsky.social looks at what it will take for the remaining SATs to merge:
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
What will push the last single-academy trusts to merge?
Nearly 850 single-academy trusts remain, including some of the highest performing schools in England. Labour wants them to join multi-academy trusts, but persuading them won’t be easy, finds Jabed Ahm...
www.tes.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Yes finances can be a significant driver, but it is the SAT's board of trustees who will take the decision - and often locality is very important to them. We have a schools system which is very confused - at least on paper - about place. This needs more thought. The White Paper can't ignore place
Thought-provoking @adammorton.bsky.social
And what a fab legacy...
And what a fab legacy...
Bob Brown: ‘Being an environmentalist is sensible. I like defying the growth mentality because it’s irrational’
Bob Brown: ‘Being an environmentalist is sensible. I like defying the growth mentality because it’s irrational’
At 80 years old, the trailblazing environmentalist on the state of activism, optimism and why he is comfortable with the concept of his own ‘perpetual annihilation’
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Thought-provoking @adammorton.bsky.social
And what a fab legacy...
And what a fab legacy...
Reposted by Emma Knights
Short interview on the BBC Today programme with Amol Rajan, discussing the upcoming Brazil COP and how the so-called “cost of living crisis” is being (mis)used by leaders and high emitters to avoid taking meaningful action on climate change.
Starts at 2.36.30. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Starts at 2.36.30. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Today - 07/11/2025 - BBC Sounds
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Short interview on the BBC Today programme with Amol Rajan, discussing the upcoming Brazil COP and how the so-called “cost of living crisis” is being (mis)used by leaders and high emitters to avoid taking meaningful action on climate change.
Starts at 2.36.30. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Starts at 2.36.30. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The schools minister Georgia Gould MP thanks trustees and school governors #TrusteesWeek
The language of governance being 'overlooked' came from a landmark research report in 2008 and largely applies all these years later. So it's pleasing to see a small acknowledgement from the powers that be
The language of governance being 'overlooked' came from a landmark research report in 2008 and largely applies all these years later. So it's pleasing to see a small acknowledgement from the powers that be
November 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
The schools minister Georgia Gould MP thanks trustees and school governors #TrusteesWeek
The language of governance being 'overlooked' came from a landmark research report in 2008 and largely applies all these years later. So it's pleasing to see a small acknowledgement from the powers that be
The language of governance being 'overlooked' came from a landmark research report in 2008 and largely applies all these years later. So it's pleasing to see a small acknowledgement from the powers that be