Teach Secondary Magazine

Welcome!

We’re going to go out on a limb here and suggest that most of you
aren’t pining for the days when Education Secretaries would
characterise the teaching profession as a ‘Blob’, and take
apparent glee in giving off strong ‘My way or the highway’ vibes
with every policy announcement.
Nearly two years into Keir Starmer’s Labour administration,
the relationship between the profession and the government
seems nowhere near as adversarial as it once was, though that’s not to say there
haven’t been tensions. At the time of writing, the NEU is balloting its members
on potential strike action over teacher pay, school funding and workload
concerns, the rollout of Ofsted’s report cards could certainly have gone a bit more
smoothly, and the DfE’s pronouncements on AI have raised a few eyebrows – but
on balance, things at least seem a bit more civil than in years gone by.
How long that remains the case will be interesting to see. Thanks to last year’s
drop of the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report, we know that there
are some big changes on the horizon, but the precise nature of those changes
remains somewhat murky. In fairness, we know the process still has a way to go
yet, having been told to expect the unveiling of Labour’s new schools curriculum
in spring 2027 – but a couple of developments in recent weeks may have given
some educators pause for thought.