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The Oracy Debate
Lucy Powell’s recent announcement that oracy will be given equal status to reading and writing within the new English curriculum has sparked intense debate. Whilst there is compelling evidence to suggest classroom talk enhances learning, there are concerns within the education community that oracy is a nebulous term and that without a shared understanding of…
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Collaboration in Further Education Initial Teacher Education (FE ITE): Messy, complex and worth it
Sarah We champion collaboration for our students, but what does meaningful collaboration look like in our partnerships? Recent DfE guidance emphasises that, within collaborative arrangements, responsibility for programme quality remains with the lead institution. Partners should be “fully engaged”, understand the nature of the partnership and able to explain how it benefits them and their…
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A new chapter, together
I write this post as I approach completing my first full week as Head of the Sheffield Institute of Education (SIoE). New job nerves have been quashed by the warmest of welcomes. When speaking to colleagues, I’ve heard the pride in all aspects of our work. I can sense the passion for getting things right…
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Improving student engagement and learning with interactive H5P videos
COVID-19 seems like a long time ago now. As teachers, we won’t easily forget the challenge of shifting to online learning and how we missed interacting with students in the classroom. But we all learned that, to some extent, online learning had advantages. An ongoing question is how we can retain those advantages back in…
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Striving but not thriving: Reflections on the multiple challenges facing many UK families on the UN Day of Families
The 15th May is the UN day of families. This year’s theme ‘Families, Inequalities and Child Wellbeing’, highlights how growing inequality affects families and the long-lasting impact it can have on children’s outcomes. The day and the theme resonate with our research on the multiple insecurities families in the UK face and the way these…
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Why new school food standards could leave children with SEND hungry at school
Note: To support accessibility and processing, the commonly used term ‘SEND child’ is used throughout this post. Please note that a preferable term is ‘child that attracts the label of SEND.’ The government’s proposed overhaul of the School Food Standards (the first in over a decade) has been broadly welcomed. Banning deep-fried food, removing ice…
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Climate change is already in the classroom, so why aren’t we designing for it?
Each year, Earth Day invites us to reflect on our relationship with the planet. The 2026 theme, “Our Power, Our Planet”, emphasises agency and action. In education, this often translates into renewed attention on climate literacy and encouraging more sustainable behaviours among learners. But there is a more immediate question we need to ask: What…
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Autism research and ethics creep
Autism awareness month is often framed around three themes: awareness, acceptance, and inclusion. The merits and limitations of the month itself can be debated elsewhere, but it does provide an opportunity to reflect on how awareness, acceptance, and inclusion operate within research. In particular, autism awareness month offers a moment to consider an issue neuroaffirming…
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What is a university?
Beneath this blog post is the following disclaimer: “The views expressed in this post are the views of the author and do not represent the views of the university or its policies.” This raises an important question: what is the university? The answer is often assumed to be obvious, left to common sense. However, the…
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Can we discuss Gaza in the classroom? Maybe a human rights approach could help
As I write, hostilities are raging in the Middle East. This war has had an impact on civilians in Palestine, with all crossings into Gaza closed, suspending the entry of aid (OCHA, 2026), affecting an already devastated territory. Isreal’s war on Gaza had a catastrophic effect on the Strip’s children, with at least 21, 289…
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