One of the things I wasn’t expecting about Sweden was how many butterflies there would be. Gorgeous Camberwell Beauty enjoying the sunshine today in the Stockholm Archipelago.

What this piece brought home was how lousy a job those of us who have spent years talking to each other about ed on social media, going to confs, blogging etc have done of communicating to anyone outside of teaching. Leaves the field wide open to stuff like this. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘Tiger mum’ Lucy Powell on Labour’s vocational skills drive: ‘It’s about ambition for everybody’

Lucy Powell says it is ‘false trade-off’ by critics to suggest schools in England can’t pursue academic excellence alongside technical skills

theguardian.com

Really pleased that @daisychristo.bsky.social has written about the govt’s tech ed proposals. It’s predictably excellent and I hope ministers are listening. I suspect they aren’t.

Daisy Christodoulou@daisychristo.bsky.social · 4d ago

I've weighed in on the great vocational education debate. From what we can see of the govt plans, I think they will repeat mistakes of the past. Also, we need to retire the phrase "parity of esteem". It's not helping. substack.nomoremarking.com/p/the-proble...

Latest post by @samfr.bsky.social captures a lot of my concerns with Burnham’s technical education proposals and, helpfully, provides more data to support them.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 5d ago

New post just out: "Burnham's first mistake" Splitting 14 year olds into academic and vocational paths seems intuitive. But it's a terrible idea that risks increasing inequality, and closing down options for the young people that need them most. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

Much to be happy about today, but perhaps my favourite is that I managed to buy the tickets in Swedish. All that Duolingo was clearly well spent!

Caught up with this @thenewsagents.co.uk episode a day late but was pleased about how sensibly @lewisgoodall.com spoke about Burnham’s technical qualification plans. Refreshing to hear a journalist well-informed on education. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Should Polanski be arrested for his Farage Insta post?

Podcast Episode · The News Agents · 28 July · 41min

podcasts.apple.com

Fantastic few days in and around Stockholm for our first visit. More people should definitely come here. Staying in the area but moving on to the coast and archipelago. Hopefully that will live up to the high standards set.

Fantastic few days in and around Stockholm for our first visit. More people should definitely come here. Staying in the area but moving on to the coast and archipelago. Hopefully that will live up to the high standards set.

I’ve seen some args for Burnham’s tech ed reforms on the grounds that these options will motivate kids to study the rest of the academic curric. I don’t know if this is true but it seems self-defeating. Shouldn’t the quals stand up as good things in and of themselves? If not it’s hardly persuasive.

Out of interest how is Burnham’s tech education proposal in keeping with his commitment to deliver the 2024 Manifesto? I don’t remember that being part of it. Surely he should be implementing the findings of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, which was a manifesto promise?

What a deeply disappointing thing to wake up and read in the Cambridge University alumni magazine. It’s not that I disagree with absolutely everything it says, but the aims it sets out would be highly unlikely to be achieved by the methods proposed. www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/magazine/iss...

This idea must die- ‘The school system is broken beyond repair’

Professor Hilary Cremin believes the status quo for the education system is becoming untenable, and has some ideas about what might come next.

alumni.cam.ac.uk

Spot on from @joshvallance.bsky.social. The direction of travel is very worrying and threatens much progress made in recent years.

Schools Week@schoolsweek.bsky.social · last wk.

'Parity of esteem cannot mean asking poorer children to narrow their horizons earlier. The most progressive education policy remains the simplest: give every child access to powerful knowledge and allow them to decide for themselves what they will become' schoolsweek.co.uk/no-andy-burn...

The Vasa Museum in Stockholm. What a remarkable exhibition! Both fascinating and moving.

Lovely meeting today with my little Sixth Form History reading/geekery group focused on E.H. Carr. Fish on the fishmonger’s slab and bees buzzing in a bonnet etc. It wasn’t a fun day but that was a really nice part of it and I’m very glad I had it in my calendar.

Taking a chilly turn next week then.

NEW from me. Evidence Informed? bennewmark.wordpress.com/2026/07/07/e...

Evidence informed?

As a trainee and in CPD in the early part of my career, I don’t remember anyone ever using evidence to justify anything. We got homilies and truthism instead, compelling ideas communicated as fact.…

bennewmark.wordpress.com

I feel like the latest DfE survey has scope for improvement in its question design.

I don’t believe in hell, but waiting to go through passport control at the port of Calais on a coach with 55 Yr 8s does make me question whether I really should dismiss the idea of eternal punishment.

The 16% should be careful what they wish for. Can you imagine the insane preparation that would end up going in, the performative stuff that would get asked of staff, the pressure to do well since the date had been picked to show the school in its best light etc?

‘Tis the obligatory theme park visit day of the residential trip and you will find me reading, having Kaffee und Kuchen and staffing the naughty student station. I’ll see you at the end.

Popped up to the roof terrace of our trip accommodation to watch the sun go down over the castle. Nice to pretend there aren’t over 100 Yr 8s with us for a few minutes.

Sad news. I have fond memories of his lectures nearly 30 years ago. RIP.

Cambridge University History Faculty@camhistory.bsky.social · last mo.

We are very sad to announce the death of Professor John Hatcher, Emeritus Professor of Economic and Social History and Life Fellow of @corpuscambridge.bsky.social (7 January 1942 - 13 June 2026). Colleagues and former students pay tribute to a brilliant scholar: www.hist.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

The curriculum wave may have broken. Sallie Stanton discusses how that affects our approach at Advantage Schools in this excellent blog here: thedustytsundoku.wordpress.com/2026/06/26/c...

Curriculum: Navigating Conditions, Holding Course

I have been thinking, writing and speaking about curriculum for a while now. Back in 2018, when I first tried to put my thinking down on paper, the central argument I made was a simple: what we tea…

thedustytsundoku.wordpress.com

Very important anniversary in the UK today. Ten years since we went with great trepidation to a foster carer’s house for our first meeting with the little girl who was to become our daughter. That’s after we’d voted in the Referendum, of course. She’s our very own Brexit benefit.

Wore shorts to work today. First time ever other than on trips and non-uniform days. Can confirm the world didn’t end as a result.

Happy Windrush Day. Today is the 78th anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush at Tilbury Docks on June 22nd 1948, an occasion being marked by events and activities around the country.

Might have to risk disapproval and smirks and do the smart shorts at work thing this week.

Please complete for Alistair if you teach Russian/Soviet history. It’s quick to do and a really important issue that drives me nuts about the Edexcel A Level course.

Typical ‘on-call’ conversation with a student: Me: Why did you get sent out of your lesson? Student: I didn’t know the answer to a question. Me: That seems a bit unlikely. Are you sure there isn’t more to it? S: That’s all it was. Me: Ok, so talk me through exactly what happened. …

Time to go home and stop trying to tackle all of tomorrow’s challenges in advance. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.