In reading the Network Review over the past year, you will know that I try to consider what is happening in curriculum design around the globe and the influences shaping decision makers’ decisions. One resource that features highly is the OECD’s “Better policies for better lives” initiatives that are focused...Read more
Curriculum review and redesign are accelerating worldwide, driven by converging pressures: technological disruption, climate and demographic change, deepening inequality, and a renewed focus on wellbeing and agency.Why curriculum is being redesignedSystems on every continent are revisiting what, how, and why students learn, often under similar external pressures.Key drivers include:AI...Read more
Progress 8 Reimagined: From Accountability Constraint to Curriculum SignalFor nearly a decade, Progress 8 and Attainment 8 have been among the most powerful accountability levers in the English education system. It has shaped curriculum structures, option blocks, staffing models, timetables, and, often unintentionally, student identity. Whatever its technical intent, Progress...Read more
What if, rather than treating real-world experiences as an addition to the curriculum, we started with the challenges, questions and contexts that matter to young people and built learning around them? In this episode of Friday Focus, we're joined by educator and PhD student Muna Salem Binothman to explore...Read more
Why Timetabling Is the Most Strategic Act in EducationIf The Efficient School explains why systems must align, The Perfect Timetable shows where alignment either succeeds—or collapses entirely. Whether leaders realise it or not, the timetable is the single most powerful expression of educational intent in any school. Not the vision...Read more
In just over a months time my second book will be published, this time as a paperback and Kindle version so watch this space for more information. I can celebrate an achievement that has taken over 10 years to get to. But I wanted to share why this series is...Read more
From Compulsion to CuriosityAcross Hong Kong, Australia, England, and beyond, one theme is emerging in education discourse among many I speak to: we’ve lost the joy of learning. Parents, teachers, and learners describe a system heavy with targets, assessments and compliance, but light on wonder, delight and intrinsic engagement. Yet...Read more
Why Relevance Must Sit at the Heart of Curriculum Design and Must Connect Identity, Agency, and Future PurposeIn my second part of this article on the theme of relevance in curriculum design, we will explore policy and assessment. In my first part, we looked at why neuroscience is finally making...Read more
Why Relevance Must Sit at the Heart of Curriculum Design and Must Connect Identity, Agency, and Future PurposeIn my upcoming deep dive, we will explore what neuroscience is finally making visible: that relevance is not just an engagement strategy; it is a biological prerequisite for learning. Before a student...Read more
In this episode of Friday Focus, we’re joined by Al Kingsley MBE, an education leader, author, governor and advocate for putting purpose at the heart of educational decision-making. With extensive experience across schools, trusts, governance, technology and system leadership, Al brings a broad perspective on one of the biggest...Read more
A New Year Focus on Moving Beyond Deficit ThinkingAs a new year begins, many schools find themselves in a familiar posture: heads down, braced for impact, managing pressure. The language is telling. Survival. Resilience. Coping. Getting through. These are understandable responses to sustained challenge—but they are not neutral. Over time,...Read more
Following on from the Curriculum and Assessment Review, my own work with schools, focusing on redesign and the ways forward, has inevitably led to much concern and uncertainty. Of course, there will always be time between these reports and the actual act of parliament that cements them in law. But...Read more
Education reform is rarely just about content. Across the world, nations are revisiting the fundamental question: What should it mean to prepare young people for the future? From Japan to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Estonia, Uzbekistan, and other Eastern European countries, governments are redesigning curricula not simply to transmit...Read more
Curriculum reform is often presented as a technical exercise—frameworks, guidance, qualifications, assessments. But when you look closely at the four nations of the UK, you realise the curriculum is far deeper: a mirror of national identity, values, and the kind of citizens we hope to shape.This week, we step back...Read more
For more than a decade, Wales has been travelling a courageous path in curriculum reform—one that many systems admire from a distance but few have had the conviction to pursue. The Curriculum for Wales represents not simply a policy redesign but a profound reframing of what education is for. It...Read more
