Rita Hindocha MBE

One of the biggest mistakes left-of-center pundits and influencers made was decamping to Bluesky. They made themselves irrelevant, shrunk their audiences, and dramatically lessened the positive impact they could have on our public debate at the precise time we needed it most.

New from me.
The Danger of Diagnosis.
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2025/09/02/t...

Thank you. You are right. Often hidden, elusive. But once again, clarity is kindness

Family of Southport stabbing victim criticise plan to reveal ethnicity of suspects Exclusive: Michael Weston King, grandfather of Bebe King, warns government against ‘kowtowing to the likes of Farage’

I'd recommend reading this article, Michael Weston King speaks with grace and insight. "the ethnicity of any perpetrator, or indeed their immigration status, is completely irrelevant. Mental health issues, and the propensity to commit crime, happens in any ethnicity, nationality or race."

A lovely day at Minmere in Suffolk

Demonising migrants won’t fill jobs or boost falling popu... ‘Stop the boats’ is a popular refrain but it obscures the real issues rich countries across the world are facing

My feature for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on global migration trends and why the battle between economic wellbeing and nationalism is only going to get more intense.

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Love the clarity and precision

A rare bit of good schools news for the government ...

An increase in applications from people wanting to teach, mixed with better retention rates and fewer pupils coming into classrooms mean that recruitment numbers are looking much healthier

Story by @lydiach.bsky.social

Photo of three longhorn cows grazing at Knepp Estate. Photo credit: Knepp Wildland.

#RewildingWin 5 is Harborough District Council’s plans to create a new 54-hectare rewilding site, using herbivores like ponies and rare breed cattle to graze the land more naturally

🧵5/7

“The wealth of bands, orchestras, concerts and gigs we see today isn’t a predictor of our musical future, it’s a reflection of our educational past”: powerful @theguardian.com letter on the bleak decline of music in state schools …

*Diagnostic overshadowing* can thwart inclusive teaching.

What's useful for teachers to know:

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NEW How can we teach do that all students experience success? open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

Statement from CST on the appointment of Sir Hamid Patel as interim chair of Ofsted. Sir Hamid is a leader who illuminates the darkness by serving a wider common good. I am extremely proud to work with him. cstuk.org.uk/news-publica...

The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O’Sullivan review – do no harm A doctor’s brilliant study of the dangers of overdiagnosis, from ADHD to long Covid

My review of the rather excellent new book by Suzanne O’Sullivan, the Age of Diagnosis www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

I'm pleased with this.

Efficiency is a mechanical metaphor which is dangerously innappropriate for education.

I think it's one of those ideas that weaves its way into every aspect of education, causing damage wherever it goes -like a tapeworm.

Could not agree more. We’re in danger of creating *another* unhelpful dichotomy, between autonomy and codification. The truth, as always, lies in the nuanced middle ground - evidence-informed practice and teacher agency.

‘Reading is part of my identity’: the woman taking on Goodreads owner Amazon

Medieval image of Joan of Arc.

New education post.
Is it useful?
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2025/01/31/i...

Not all heroes wear capes.

Hey Bluesky! 👋 I’m a reporter for the Leicester Mercury.

Excited to start sharing local news and stories from around the region 📰

You'll see me posting about breaking news and more!

Always up for a chat about what's happening in Leicestershire.

Been a while since I’ve been able to do any ‘active’ Shakespeare. Today I did a lovely lesson with a few moments of active approaches that genuinely illuminated Miranda’s opening lines to the Tempest. Here’s a little 🧵 for #TeamEnglish

7 key questions for schools arranging SEND provision Schools and trusts looking to become more inclusive face challenges along the way - a trust leader who has been on this journey shares her advice

As schools look set to be nudged into setting up more SEND bases that enable specialist provision within a mainstream setting, this piece sets out 7 important questions that leaders need to ask about such provision

#TeamRE

Seamus and Year Eight and me In Reading Lessons, I write about the shadow colleagues who share my classroom and help with my lessons: the novelists and poets and playwrights without whom I couldn’t do my job. This week, with Y…

Fantastic blogpost, saying so much about #English_teaching, from @CarolAtherton8. passing-it-on.com/2025/01/12/s...

‘It’s been life-changing’: meet the adults making big changes later in life Some people never learn to read or swim or even cook as children - but with the right spirit there’s still time to make things right

If you want an uplifting Sunday morning read, this is the thing.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Schools that are seeing improvement in attendance:

1. What do you do in addition to the usual stuff of home visits, phone calls, letters etc?

2. What is behaviour like during unstructured time?

You can DM me if you prefer. Thanks

#edusky

‘They see it is living’: Durham professor’s mission to get more pupils into classics Arlene Holmes-Henderson wants all children in UK to have equal access to classical education

“Traditionally, Latin was taught to the highest achievers to push and stretch them. “This study showed that actually we’ve been teaching the wrong people,” www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Thread complete: all 274 #Leicestershire villages are now here. When I started this (18 months ago at the other place), I didn’t consider how much effort it would involve. So I’m grateful to those who have offered likes, retweets & general encouragement to make it seem worthwhile sticking with it…

About 8 years ago, @siobhanleahy50 and I prepared a Quick Reference Guide for Embedding Formative Assessment. It's now out of print, so the copyright has reverted to us, and we are free to share it with anyone who wants it: bit.ly/EFAQRG (pdf).