Jim Lauder
@mrjlauder.bsky.social
Dixons Academies. Schools as civic institutions - ensuring our communities have a voice and power. Building place based partnerships. Views my own.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jimlauder
https://open.substack.com/pub/jimlauder
Reposted by Jim Lauder
Proud to stand alongside friends and Parliamentary colleagues today in calling for the real Hillsborough Law.
For the families, the campaigners and all victims of state-led cover-ups – truth, accountability and lasting change must finally come.
#HillsboroughLawNow
#JFT97
For the families, the campaigners and all victims of state-led cover-ups – truth, accountability and lasting change must finally come.
#HillsboroughLawNow
#JFT97
January 19, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Proud to stand alongside friends and Parliamentary colleagues today in calling for the real Hillsborough Law.
For the families, the campaigners and all victims of state-led cover-ups – truth, accountability and lasting change must finally come.
#HillsboroughLawNow
#JFT97
For the families, the campaigners and all victims of state-led cover-ups – truth, accountability and lasting change must finally come.
#HillsboroughLawNow
#JFT97
Cavolo Nero and feta pie Sunday dinner. Yum.
January 18, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Cavolo Nero and feta pie Sunday dinner. Yum.
@psalisbury.bsky.social continues to blog on essential, and much overlooked, relational practice for teachers.
No rocket science, and experienced teachers will nod along, but with the trends we are seeing it is important to surface and codify this stuff in a way we haven't before.
No rocket science, and experienced teachers will nod along, but with the trends we are seeing it is important to surface and codify this stuff in a way we haven't before.
So I have written another blog, still under the file 'dull but useful'. This one is parents' evening. As with everything I write, take it or leave it as you please...
philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/p...
philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/p...
Parents evening – what you’re never told
For this blog, I will be talking about Parents’ evening for years 1 to 6. Although some of the principles can be applied to Early Years, at our school we adopt a slightly different approach for the…
philsalisbury.wordpress.com
January 18, 2026 at 4:59 PM
@psalisbury.bsky.social continues to blog on essential, and much overlooked, relational practice for teachers.
No rocket science, and experienced teachers will nod along, but with the trends we are seeing it is important to surface and codify this stuff in a way we haven't before.
No rocket science, and experienced teachers will nod along, but with the trends we are seeing it is important to surface and codify this stuff in a way we haven't before.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
New post just out:
"Power to the People"
Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
"Power to the People"
Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
Power to the People
How Labour can restore civic life and counter the "Britain is broken" narrative
open.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:54 AM
New post just out:
"Power to the People"
Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
"Power to the People"
Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
Reposted by Jim Lauder
Are people doing 'eduthreads' any more? Thought I'd give one a go. Some thoughts on the 'revolution' of whole-class feedback (and a cautionary tale).
#EduSky
#EduSky
January 16, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Are people doing 'eduthreads' any more? Thought I'd give one a go. Some thoughts on the 'revolution' of whole-class feedback (and a cautionary tale).
#EduSky
#EduSky
Just another one of the increasingly common moments where you stop and think, what the f*** are they on about?
January 17, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Just another one of the increasingly common moments where you stop and think, what the f*** are they on about?
Getting the impression that Georgia Gould is doing a hard job pretty well at the moment. I think the white paper could make a decent fist of a lot, given some big constraints.
January 16, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Getting the impression that Georgia Gould is doing a hard job pretty well at the moment. I think the white paper could make a decent fist of a lot, given some big constraints.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
In case you missed the stories, you can catch up below ⬇️
‘People will listen’: turning anger into community pride in North Shields - www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘A rise of love’: Liverpool church targeted in 2024 riots forges links against hate - www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
‘People will listen’: turning anger into community pride in North Shields - www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘A rise of love’: Liverpool church targeted in 2024 riots forges links against hate - www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
January 16, 2026 at 11:26 AM
In case you missed the stories, you can catch up below ⬇️
‘People will listen’: turning anger into community pride in North Shields - www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘A rise of love’: Liverpool church targeted in 2024 riots forges links against hate - www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
‘People will listen’: turning anger into community pride in North Shields - www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘A rise of love’: Liverpool church targeted in 2024 riots forges links against hate - www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
I watched Newsnight for the first time in a long time last night. Everyone on there was thrilled to bits at the latest childish nonsense from Westminster.
None of them seemed to know, or care, about the country's problems and how to solve them. Profoundly dispiriting.
None of them seemed to know, or care, about the country's problems and how to solve them. Profoundly dispiriting.
January 16, 2026 at 7:20 AM
I watched Newsnight for the first time in a long time last night. Everyone on there was thrilled to bits at the latest childish nonsense from Westminster.
None of them seemed to know, or care, about the country's problems and how to solve them. Profoundly dispiriting.
None of them seemed to know, or care, about the country's problems and how to solve them. Profoundly dispiriting.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
Excited about discussing regional inequalities at the Fiscal Studies symposium event next week!
We've got a star-studded lineup of @andyburnham.bsky.social, Paul Collier, Philip McCann, @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @amcanning.bsky.social and more.
Summary of new papers below 🧵👇
We've got a star-studded lineup of @andyburnham.bsky.social, Paul Collier, Philip McCann, @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @amcanning.bsky.social and more.
Summary of new papers below 🧵👇
How can policy tackle regional inequalities? | Institute for Fiscal Studies
At this policy conference, researchers will present new evidence on the scale and causes of regional inequalities.
ifs.org.uk
January 15, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Excited about discussing regional inequalities at the Fiscal Studies symposium event next week!
We've got a star-studded lineup of @andyburnham.bsky.social, Paul Collier, Philip McCann, @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @amcanning.bsky.social and more.
Summary of new papers below 🧵👇
We've got a star-studded lineup of @andyburnham.bsky.social, Paul Collier, Philip McCann, @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @amcanning.bsky.social and more.
Summary of new papers below 🧵👇
Reposted by Jim Lauder
There's too many primary school places in London for not enough kids. So schools are competing to stay alive, copying private school marketing tactics with Instagram ad campaigns — and in one case offering a £50 Amazon voucher referral scheme for parents. www.londoncentric.media/i/184437718/...
Amazon vouchers to fill school places
Plus: How engineers installed phone signal on the London Underground, how many freemasons can you fit in a police force, and the house with a swimming pool in the middle of the living room.
www.londoncentric.media
January 15, 2026 at 9:19 AM
There's too many primary school places in London for not enough kids. So schools are competing to stay alive, copying private school marketing tactics with Instagram ad campaigns — and in one case offering a £50 Amazon voucher referral scheme for parents. www.londoncentric.media/i/184437718/...
Routinely sacking/moving people on for this kind of inspection result is, for better or worse, pretty well embedded in education.
I've long thought education needs a bit less of that and police & NHS need a bit more.
I've long thought education needs a bit less of that and police & NHS need a bit more.
The WMP are not a good police force! In practice, the trigger for a change of leadership shouldn’t be “use AI to provide false info to after becoming part of a national story”.
January 14, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Routinely sacking/moving people on for this kind of inspection result is, for better or worse, pretty well embedded in education.
I've long thought education needs a bit less of that and police & NHS need a bit more.
I've long thought education needs a bit less of that and police & NHS need a bit more.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
A 🧵 that gives you a 👀into my classroom.
These are the questions students are asking in my Religious Studies lessons this week.
Exactly the kind of thinking that makes me love teaching my subject. 1/8
These are the questions students are asking in my Religious Studies lessons this week.
Exactly the kind of thinking that makes me love teaching my subject. 1/8
January 13, 2026 at 7:55 PM
A 🧵 that gives you a 👀into my classroom.
These are the questions students are asking in my Religious Studies lessons this week.
Exactly the kind of thinking that makes me love teaching my subject. 1/8
These are the questions students are asking in my Religious Studies lessons this week.
Exactly the kind of thinking that makes me love teaching my subject. 1/8
Reposted by Jim Lauder
My school will be advertising a maths teacher job vacancy this week. Please get in touch by DM or email if you're interested and want more information. Happy to show potential candidates around. Brilliant team, amazing maths results, happy students. Teaching KS3-5. South London. September start.
January 12, 2026 at 7:12 PM
My school will be advertising a maths teacher job vacancy this week. Please get in touch by DM or email if you're interested and want more information. Happy to show potential candidates around. Brilliant team, amazing maths results, happy students. Teaching KS3-5. South London. September start.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
I think I am persuaded that we should tackle kids online at the level of hardware (eg no smartphones til 16) and app stores, rather than individual social media app bans, as that means fewer protections for kids that do get accounts & a Wild West on those apps
January 11, 2026 at 11:58 AM
I think I am persuaded that we should tackle kids online at the level of hardware (eg no smartphones til 16) and app stores, rather than individual social media app bans, as that means fewer protections for kids that do get accounts & a Wild West on those apps
It does feel like, having cheerfully abandoned enforcing the taboo on racism, elites are now moving on to pull the same trick with child abuse.
Who wants this? Utterly bizarre.
Who wants this? Utterly bizarre.
Disappointed w BBC for that Mandelson interview. A slap in the face to Epstein victims. He was part of the system of male power which enabled & dismissed abuse. The media went after Mandelson correctly in my view. Now the media is aiding his swift rehabilitation & PR. 1/2
January 11, 2026 at 11:32 AM
It does feel like, having cheerfully abandoned enforcing the taboo on racism, elites are now moving on to pull the same trick with child abuse.
Who wants this? Utterly bizarre.
Who wants this? Utterly bizarre.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
Will the argument about state effectiveness solve our fiscal crisis? Of course not.
open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...
open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...
How to afford the state we want
State effectiveness and state capacity are not the same thing
open.substack.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Will the argument about state effectiveness solve our fiscal crisis? Of course not.
open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...
open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...
This is great.
Going to throw the cat amongst the #EduSky pigeons - for individual staff, and at a systems/leadership level, relationship building is more important in 2026 than the equivalent for teaching and learning.
We traditionally put vastly more thought and time into the latter.
Going to throw the cat amongst the #EduSky pigeons - for individual staff, and at a systems/leadership level, relationship building is more important in 2026 than the equivalent for teaching and learning.
We traditionally put vastly more thought and time into the latter.
Right I've written a blog. At least I think I have as this may not work:
philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/09/r...
It's pretty dull.
philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/09/r...
It's pretty dull.
Relationships with parents
Establishing good relationships with parents is essential for many reasons, and children benefit more when there is a strong relationship and good communication between the two. Working with parent…
philsalisbury.wordpress.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:04 PM
This is great.
Going to throw the cat amongst the #EduSky pigeons - for individual staff, and at a systems/leadership level, relationship building is more important in 2026 than the equivalent for teaching and learning.
We traditionally put vastly more thought and time into the latter.
Going to throw the cat amongst the #EduSky pigeons - for individual staff, and at a systems/leadership level, relationship building is more important in 2026 than the equivalent for teaching and learning.
We traditionally put vastly more thought and time into the latter.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
Yeah. I look at it and I go 'wow, this is your brain on negative polarisation'.
I'd like to think it's about cynically getting donations from the parents, but it's just culture war, isn't it?
January 10, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Yeah. I look at it and I go 'wow, this is your brain on negative polarisation'.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
I’m returning to blogging. Here is an introduction to my new blog. Please consider subscribing and helping spread the word:
Catholic education, leadership, Religious Education and the work of formation
theblogonahill.substack.com/p/the-blog-o...
Catholic education, leadership, Religious Education and the work of formation
theblogonahill.substack.com/p/the-blog-o...
The Blog On A Hill
Catholic education, leadership, Religious Education and the work of formation
theblogonahill.substack.com
January 10, 2026 at 9:12 AM
I’m returning to blogging. Here is an introduction to my new blog. Please consider subscribing and helping spread the word:
Catholic education, leadership, Religious Education and the work of formation
theblogonahill.substack.com/p/the-blog-o...
Catholic education, leadership, Religious Education and the work of formation
theblogonahill.substack.com/p/the-blog-o...
The maintained/trust schools data fallacy rides again. The remaining maintained secondaries are ones that are almost always *doing fine* because if they weren't, they would have been academised.
So of course their internal exclusion numbers are lower.
schoolsweek.co.uk/internal-exc...
So of course their internal exclusion numbers are lower.
schoolsweek.co.uk/internal-exc...
Internal exclusion: Reset or rejection? We investigate
Secondary schools that use internal exclusion are isolating almost a fifth of their pupils from their classmates at least once each year, new data shows
schoolsweek.co.uk
January 10, 2026 at 9:12 AM
The maintained/trust schools data fallacy rides again. The remaining maintained secondaries are ones that are almost always *doing fine* because if they weren't, they would have been academised.
So of course their internal exclusion numbers are lower.
schoolsweek.co.uk/internal-exc...
So of course their internal exclusion numbers are lower.
schoolsweek.co.uk/internal-exc...
Paul Nurse is a lovely, humane individual but is totally wrong on this.
(And very separately also very wrong about education policy)
(And very separately also very wrong about education policy)
Musk should remain member of UK Royal Society, says president ft.trib.al/tC0vaAa
Musk should remain member of UK Royal Society, says president
Paul Nurse tells FT that national science academy should avoid ‘making judgments’ about ‘character’ of fellows
ft.trib.al
January 9, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Paul Nurse is a lovely, humane individual but is totally wrong on this.
(And very separately also very wrong about education policy)
(And very separately also very wrong about education policy)
Have had a chance to catch up on this now. This is a really welcome from @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social acknowledging the importance of school trusts, our civic and community value, and committing to build a system that nurtures and improves trusts.
Lots of detail to work through but this is good.
Lots of detail to work through but this is good.
‘Trust inspection will be about understanding quality and supporting trusts to improve… And when standards are not being met, we will step in’: @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social writes exclusively for Tes about Labour’s MAT inspection plans
Bridget Phillipson: Why we're moving forward with trust inspections
Writing exclusively for Tes, the education secretary sets out the government's rationale for bringing trusts into Ofsted's inspection remit
www.tes.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Have had a chance to catch up on this now. This is a really welcome from @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social acknowledging the importance of school trusts, our civic and community value, and committing to build a system that nurtures and improves trusts.
Lots of detail to work through but this is good.
Lots of detail to work through but this is good.
Reposted by Jim Lauder
'Trust inspection must build from a clear and focused understanding of the problem it is trying to solve': @steverollett.bsky.social outlines some of the key concerns around the government's MAT inspection plans
Why risks remain in government’s plans for trust inspections
The Confederation of School Trusts’ Steve Rollett questions the overarching strategy behind Labour’s plans for inspecting academy trusts
www.tes.com
January 8, 2026 at 6:05 AM
'Trust inspection must build from a clear and focused understanding of the problem it is trying to solve': @steverollett.bsky.social outlines some of the key concerns around the government's MAT inspection plans
Important point from Mark's thread - Cambridge and other unis have become much more representative. Lots of the colleges do a lot of good and innovative work (including in the North).
The TH decision is a retrograde step in the context of progress.
The TH decision is a retrograde step in the context of progress.
Due to pressure from a number of sources including the student union (which I was involved in), the University and Colleges started to take a much more proactive approach to encouraging state school applicants and there has been steady improvement since to over 72% in the most recent figures.
January 8, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Important point from Mark's thread - Cambridge and other unis have become much more representative. Lots of the colleges do a lot of good and innovative work (including in the North).
The TH decision is a retrograde step in the context of progress.
The TH decision is a retrograde step in the context of progress.