Jon Severs
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jonsevers.bsky.social
Jon Severs
@jonsevers.bsky.social
Editor of Tes Magazine
Reposted by Jon Severs
My latest for @tesmagazine.bsky.social: are you getting goal setting right in your classroom?
January 7, 2026 at 5:36 PM
A BIG change, one the DfE hopes will reduce variation in quality between trusts and champion best practice, as Bridget Phillipson writes in an exclusive piece below.

Lots to iron out in the Ofsted 'pilots', though, and some q the 'need' if school inspection is reliable.
Exclusive: The government is pushing ahead with plans to introduce multi-academy trust inspections, which could start in the 2027-28 academic year
DfE to push ahead with MAT inspections
Inspections of academy trusts could be launched in 2027-28 as Labour legislates for a major new role for Ofsted
www.tes.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Jon Severs
My look forward to education policy in 2026.
January 7, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Jon Severs
‘The stakes are high’: @samfr.bsky.social explains why there is a lot riding on the government’s long-awaited schools White Paper…
The White Paper is a make-or-break moment for Labour
The long wait for Labour’s schools policy document has ramped up the pressure – and the stakes are high, writes Sam Freedman
www.tes.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by Jon Severs
Newly introduced legislation has a significant impact on the employment rights of teachers and other staff. Alistair Wood of @edaptuk.bsky.social explains how it will affect schools and trusts
Employment Rights Act: what does it mean for teachers and schools?
The key legislative changes to employment rights that heads and HR teams need to be aware for the year ahead – and beyond
www.tes.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:05 AM
"I’m lucky to have had opportunities in life, to have capabilities, and I think if you can take on a role for your community at whatever level, then you have a responsibility to do so"

Our first ever joint How I Lead with @simonknight100.bsky.social and Heidi Dennison

www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
‘We’re an organisation that embraces its “wrongness”’
In our How I Lead series, we ask education leaders to reflect on their careers, their experience and their leadership philosophy. This month we talk to Heidi Dennison and Simon Knight, joint headteach...
www.tes.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Three bits of this 2017 @newyorker.com piece seem very, very relevant today

This the first...
January 3, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Jon Severs
⏱️ In our special Year in Review newsletter this morning, we revisited some of Tes magazine’s most-read stories of 2025. You can catch up via the link below (and as a new year bonus, all the stories within are currently free to read).

➡️ Read here: buff.ly/HeTe08h
December 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM
This took a long , long time to put together and it was great to see the (largely) sensible debate it prompted over the month after it was published a few months back.

The scientific debate is still where it was, but the cultural debate has certainly become even more polarised.
Have social media and smartphones ‘rewired’ today’s teenagers? Jonathan Haidt argues they have in 'The Anxious Generation' – but critics say that banning phones won’t bring the salvation he promises
Is Jonathan Haidt right about smartphones?
In ‘The Anxious Generation’, Haidt makes the case that social media and smartphones have ‘rewired’ today’s teenagers, but his critics say the evidence tells us something very different - and that…
www.tes.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Jon Severs
Heads warn that mainstream schools opening specialist provision risk coming under pressure as ‘magnet schools’ – despite the government pushing more schools to open these resource bases
SEND: Opening resource bases ‘risks making you a magnet school’
With the government wanting mainstream schools to open specialist provision, heads warn that this can lead to increased pressures from parents and other schools
www.tes.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by Jon Severs
There will be no extra funding for next year's teacher pay award, the Treasury has confirmed. The DfE would have to fund any award from existing budgets.

www.tes.com/magazine/new...
No extra funding for teacher pay, Treasury confirms
Treasury says the DfE must fund any teacher pay award from its existing budget, with no additional money being provided beyond spending review settlements
www.tes.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:23 PM
"If nearly 40 per cent of the reviews of marking discover and correct a marking error, how many marking errors are there in the 97.1 per cent of marks that were not reviewed?"

Interesting take here from Dennis Sherwood on new Ofqual remarks data

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
What Ofqual’s new exam data reveals about grading errors
New Ofqual data on the number of GCSE and A-level marks changed on review after the summer 2025 exams provides more clarity on the accuracy of marking, explains Dennis Sherwood
www.tes.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Does the funding formula need to shift away from per-pupil to enable schools to survive falling rolls? Policy experts say no, and trusts in favour of a few different options, finds @jabedahmed.bsky.social

Superb analysis here:
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Can per-pupil funding keep schools afloat as rolls plummet?
Demographic decline is squeezing school budgets and forcing political choices. Is it time to rethink the way schools are funded?
www.tes.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Do you know why reading a screen and a physical piece of paper differs? Or why handwriting is processed differently to typing? Or how multiple-choice quizzes are poorer for memory than narrative answers?

Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath explains all

www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Pupil tech and memory: what schools should do next
Many schools have become reliant on tech to deliver lessons, but we need a more reflective approach if we are to avoid lost learning, says neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath in an exclusive extract f...
www.tes.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:23 AM
"My view is that England should have no more than 400 trusts and that we should try to achieve this by 2030"

Agree with him or not, this is very thought-provoking indeed from Mark McCourt - many in policy circles do agree, but tend to whisper it...

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
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 7:05 AM
Reposted by Jon Severs
A former schools minister has warned that a failure to ensure home-to-school transport policies cover breakfast clubs could mean the most in-need pupils miss out
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Warning over breakfast clubs transport ‘barrier’
Former schools minister asks DfE officials if home-to-school transport to breakfast clubs will be a legal entitlement
www.tes.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
"The headteacher role is the most critical in education: on that we now seem largely agreed. But we’re failing to do the hard bit of creating a system that is geared to reflect that"

Today's Tes briefing: email.tes.com/cr/AQiOjhAQu...

Links to @vicgoddard.bsky.social @davemcpartlin.bsky.social
The reconstruction of the role of headteacher
email.tes.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:20 PM
"The policy improves the home environment for some children, but it doesn’t remove the pressures schools experience every day," says @vicgoddard.bsky.social

Important analysis from @ellencph.bsky.social on the impact on schools of the two-child benefit cap removal
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
Will lifting the two-child benefit cap really make a difference to schools?
The government’s announcement that it will remove the limit was welcomed by anti-poverty campaigners. But to what extent will it help schools? Ellen Peirson-Hagger finds out
www.tes.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Is the flagship RISE school improvement initiative for ‘stuck schools’ at risk of running out of money without a significant new funding commitment?

"it’s pretty clear the funding assumptions were off," one CEO tells @jabedahmed.bsky.social

Exclusive analysis below

www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Revealed: how RISE money is being spent
Nearly £19 million has already been spent on the government’s school improvement plan - but there are concerns over where the rest will come from
www.tes.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by Jon Severs
Reading is not an easy skill to assess, says @alexjquigley.bsky.social, and so one type of test is unlikely to give the full picture
Why we need to rethink secondary reading assessment
Opportunities for teacher-led diagnostic assessments are being missed amid overreliance on reading ages and standardised reading tests, suggests Alex Quigley
www.tes.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by Jon Severs
Getting accountability right is a "key" area being looked at as part of the government’s planned SEND reforms, schools minister Georgia Gould has said

www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Getting accountability right is ‘key’ to SEND reforms, says minister
Schools minister Georgia Gould was taking part in the first public online event in a series discussing the government’s planned SEND reforms
www.tes.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:09 PM
December 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
The English school system is awash with attendance data, but is the government using it responsibly – and does it tell us as much as we hope it can?

@ellencph.bsky.social with an excellent deep dive analysis on attendance this morning - read below

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
Why attendance data tells you less than you think
The government is focusing huge amounts of attention and funding on trying to solve the attendance crisis. But how sure are we that steps to tackle persistent absence will actually lead to a significa...
www.tes.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:46 AM
"In my interview for my second headship, a woman on the panel asked me how I thought I could be both a mother and a headmistress"

Searing honesty, challenging experiences, and beautiful reflections in this Julie Robinson How I Lead for December

www.tes.com/magazine/lea...
Julie Robinson: ‘Leaders have a responsibility to be positive’
In our How I Lead series, we ask education leaders to reflect on their careers, their experience and their leadership philosophy. This month we talk to Julie Robinson, CEO of the Independent Schools C...
www.tes.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:02 AM