Michael Tidd
@michaelt1979.bsky.social
Junior school headteacher in Sussex
Reposted by Michael Tidd
We’ve been supporting the education sector for over 145 years and understand the challenges you face.
Talk to us, we exist to support you 💙
📞 Our helpline is open 24/7 on 08000 562 561
Talk to us, we exist to support you 💙
📞 Our helpline is open 24/7 on 08000 562 561
November 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
We’ve been supporting the education sector for over 145 years and understand the challenges you face.
Talk to us, we exist to support you 💙
📞 Our helpline is open 24/7 on 08000 562 561
Talk to us, we exist to support you 💙
📞 Our helpline is open 24/7 on 08000 562 561
This clip from the marvellous Two Doors Down is becoming the soundtrack to my life in education lately...
November 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
This clip from the marvellous Two Doors Down is becoming the soundtrack to my life in education lately...
It's alright though - we've got AI targets now, so that should solve that issue. 🙄
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Three-quarters of parents let children miss school for ‘duvet day’
Survey shows changing attitudes towards school attendance among parents
www.independent.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 10:05 PM
It's alright though - we've got AI targets now, so that should solve that issue. 🙄
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
@teachertapp.bsky.social Could you ask primaries how many minutes before the official start of their school day their doors are opened?
The government keeps talking about 30 minutes a day free childcare, but I suspect many schools already offer 10-15 minutes just as part of their routine start
The government keeps talking about 30 minutes a day free childcare, but I suspect many schools already offer 10-15 minutes just as part of their routine start
November 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
@teachertapp.bsky.social Could you ask primaries how many minutes before the official start of their school day their doors are opened?
The government keeps talking about 30 minutes a day free childcare, but I suspect many schools already offer 10-15 minutes just as part of their routine start
The government keeps talking about 30 minutes a day free childcare, but I suspect many schools already offer 10-15 minutes just as part of their routine start
Reposted by Michael Tidd
Even if we had the budget to pay for all this staff (we don’t) , we don’t have a big enough space to sit everyone down- lunch is already served in sittings. Presumably we’d have to use classrooms. In which case, when are we meant to prepare for , our actual core business, education?
November 20, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Even if we had the budget to pay for all this staff (we don’t) , we don’t have a big enough space to sit everyone down- lunch is already served in sittings. Presumably we’d have to use classrooms. In which case, when are we meant to prepare for , our actual core business, education?
Reposted by Michael Tidd
The Covid inquiry’s findings are shocking but unsurprising now, so the main thing it left me thinking is that without a vaccine we wd’ve been utterly screwed. & if you worked round the clock to make a thing that saved millions of lives globally, to see that legacy trashed by anti-vaxxers…
November 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The Covid inquiry’s findings are shocking but unsurprising now, so the main thing it left me thinking is that without a vaccine we wd’ve been utterly screwed. & if you worked round the clock to make a thing that saved millions of lives globally, to see that legacy trashed by anti-vaxxers…
This has been my worry all along with the breakfast club nonsense. You can talk about funding all you like, the long and the short of it is that school leaders end up with another job on the list, another extension to their working day, and the job becomes ever harder...
And this is from DfE advice!
And this is from DfE advice!
November 20, 2025 at 7:49 PM
This has been my worry all along with the breakfast club nonsense. You can talk about funding all you like, the long and the short of it is that school leaders end up with another job on the list, another extension to their working day, and the job becomes ever harder...
And this is from DfE advice!
And this is from DfE advice!
Hard to know what's the most outdated thing here: the mention of CD-ROMs, the loose Spice Girls reference, or the hideous "Books for Boys" splash.
November 19, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Hard to know what's the most outdated thing here: the mention of CD-ROMs, the loose Spice Girls reference, or the hideous "Books for Boys" splash.
Reposted by Michael Tidd
I'm becoming really worried about our SENCOs.
I think their job is becoming systemically impossible.
They're being ground down by impossible workloads and now huge numbers of complaints, which makes it all but impossible for them to be strategic.
I'm worried we're going to lose them,
I think their job is becoming systemically impossible.
They're being ground down by impossible workloads and now huge numbers of complaints, which makes it all but impossible for them to be strategic.
I'm worried we're going to lose them,
November 18, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I'm becoming really worried about our SENCOs.
I think their job is becoming systemically impossible.
They're being ground down by impossible workloads and now huge numbers of complaints, which makes it all but impossible for them to be strategic.
I'm worried we're going to lose them,
I think their job is becoming systemically impossible.
They're being ground down by impossible workloads and now huge numbers of complaints, which makes it all but impossible for them to be strategic.
I'm worried we're going to lose them,
Reposted by Michael Tidd
The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world"
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
November 17, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world"
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
I stand by this. And I think time has proven me right.
November 17, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I stand by this. And I think time has proven me right.
This doesn't make sense, does it?
How can the median be higher than the upper quartile?
How can the median be higher than the upper quartile?
November 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
This doesn't make sense, does it?
How can the median be higher than the upper quartile?
How can the median be higher than the upper quartile?
Says it all.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 16, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Says it all.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Recently-retired people: does the Antiques Roadshow theme eventually cease to trigger a deep reaction?
November 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Recently-retired people: does the Antiques Roadshow theme eventually cease to trigger a deep reaction?
My guess is that the "research" will show that it's a marvellous idea .. and also that within a decade the school will have abandoned it as a failure. Possibly sooner if they main proponent of it leaves.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Douglas classroom's 'inclusive' revamp to be tested during project
Scoill Yn Jubilee is taking part in a pilot scheme which has seen the redesign of a classroom.
www.bbc.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:03 PM
My guess is that the "research" will show that it's a marvellous idea .. and also that within a decade the school will have abandoned it as a failure. Possibly sooner if they main proponent of it leaves.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Michael Tidd
"No headteacher should ever have to consider the impact on the figures of accepting a pupil onto the school’s role - but a new target will inevitably make it a consideration."
@michaelt1979.bsky.social on the AI attendance targets
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
@michaelt1979.bsky.social on the AI attendance targets
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
Why AI attendance targets will make inclusion harder
There are multiple issues with the government’s new AI-powered attendance targets - but the most pressing is that they will deter schools from being inclusive, argues headteacher Michael Tidd
www.tes.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:26 AM
"No headteacher should ever have to consider the impact on the figures of accepting a pupil onto the school’s role - but a new target will inevitably make it a consideration."
@michaelt1979.bsky.social on the AI attendance targets
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
@michaelt1979.bsky.social on the AI attendance targets
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...
I reckon easily half of difficult conversations with families about attendance include a parent saying "you only care about your figures".
I'm sure this'll help no end 🙄
Such a massive misunderstanding of the issue.
I'm sure this'll help no end 🙄
Such a massive misunderstanding of the issue.
Every school will get an individual target to improve attendance – and this will be powered by AI, the government has announced
DfE sets AI-powered attendance targets for schools
Headteachers’ leaders dismiss new individual attendance targets for every school as a ‘Whitehall diktat’ that will be an extra burden on staff
www.tes.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:48 AM
I reckon easily half of difficult conversations with families about attendance include a parent saying "you only care about your figures".
I'm sure this'll help no end 🙄
Such a massive misunderstanding of the issue.
I'm sure this'll help no end 🙄
Such a massive misunderstanding of the issue.
Reposted by Michael Tidd
Trump wants to destroy the BBC and take our money. And Nigel Farage is egging him on.
All true patriots should tell them both: hands off our BBC.
All true patriots should tell them both: hands off our BBC.
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Trump wants to destroy the BBC and take our money. And Nigel Farage is egging him on.
All true patriots should tell them both: hands off our BBC.
All true patriots should tell them both: hands off our BBC.
Reposted by Michael Tidd
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
Reposted by Michael Tidd
‘Where’s your fucking poppy?’
November 8, 2025 at 12:05 PM
‘Where’s your fucking poppy?’
So, first skim reading of the curriculum and assessment review and despite several mentions of the need not to increase volume... There are plenty of examples of adding new content and I can only find one of removing anything - and that's GPS where the caveat is increasing the stakes of the test
November 5, 2025 at 7:41 AM
So, first skim reading of the curriculum and assessment review and despite several mentions of the need not to increase volume... There are plenty of examples of adding new content and I can only find one of removing anything - and that's GPS where the caveat is increasing the stakes of the test
Hugely disappointing that we seem to be stuck with the dreadful principle of the teacher assessment frameworks and moderation farce.
November 4, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Hugely disappointing that we seem to be stuck with the dreadful principle of the teacher assessment frameworks and moderation farce.
No sign of any acknowledgement of a crowded primary curriculum - and it seems, just new things to add.
Sigh.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Sigh.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Curriculum and assessment review: 14 key points
The Francis review’s final recommendations include scrapping the EBacc, reducing exam time and making triple science available to all at GCSE
www.tes.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:49 PM
No sign of any acknowledgement of a crowded primary curriculum - and it seems, just new things to add.
Sigh.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Sigh.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
What a depressing opening paragraph to the government's announcement of planned curriculum changes.
November 4, 2025 at 10:35 PM
What a depressing opening paragraph to the government's announcement of planned curriculum changes.
Reposted by Michael Tidd
One more time, if you are still on X you are funding this man. This man who wants to sow unrest in a country he doesn’t live in. If you’re still on X, you are part of the problem, don’t kid yourself that you’re not.
Elon Musk, "These lovely small towns in England, Scotland and Ireland, they've been living their lives quietly. They're like hobbits"
"And so one day, 1,000 people show up in your village of 500 and start raping the kids"
"This has now happened, God knows how many times in Britain"
"And so one day, 1,000 people show up in your village of 500 and start raping the kids"
"This has now happened, God knows how many times in Britain"
November 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM
One more time, if you are still on X you are funding this man. This man who wants to sow unrest in a country he doesn’t live in. If you’re still on X, you are part of the problem, don’t kid yourself that you’re not.