The pressures and influences experienced by school leaders as school policymakers, during the first responses to COVID-19 pandemic, made their task of interpreting, translating and implementing school guidance both difficult and stressful. During COVID-19 pandemic, school leaders faced challenges to prioritise and balance ever-changing government…

The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned IFF Research to undertake a survey and qualitative follow-up of HE providers to understand the range of institutional policies and practices they use to support student mental health and wellbeing. Questions in this study centred around the extent to which providers have adopted mental health and…

This paper presents the findings of a multi-site case study focused on the role of mid-day supervisors in English primary schools. Ethnographic approaches were employed to gain an understanding of the role and how this is experienced by those who undertake it. This included a fully participatory phase where the researcher inhabited the role of a…

This paper analyses public conflicts over school policies that seek to advance Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality. It focuses in particular on conflicts where Muslims, who protest LGBT-inclusive policies, become racialised as other to secular national/Western values. Growing attention has been paid to the secular arguments used…

This article investigates the relationship between school-level factors associated with school quality and progress in student attainment in English secondary schools. Furthermore, it examines the relationship between frequency of classroom observation of teaching (by school leaders or by fellow teachers) in English secondary schools and progress…

This study examines teachers' views about and practices in homework in primary schools, based on questionnaire data from 235 primary teachers and 19 in-depth interviews. Findings suggest that teachers prioritise contradictory goals and act in ways that support only some of these. Reading with parents is a universal form of homework and other…

Attention on children and young people's (CYP) wellbeing has increased internationally over the past two decades, particularly in the context of education. This small scale, preliminary study was conducted across four state-funded schools in England (two primary; two secondary) amidst a time of policy change that saw the introduction of Mental…

This article draws upon a critical policy analysis approach to examine the state of inclusive education policy in Global North settings over the past decade. Building on an earlier paper on this topic ten years ago, this updated article seeks to explore whether and how inclusion and inclusive education have been understood in varied international,…

The argument for the importance of a parent's engagement with their child's learning over parental involvement with their child's school has been shown to be valuable in research literature. This study, conducted in England prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic, therefore aimed to understand how school leaders and their staff understand parental…

Since 2011, schools in England have received funds designated for improving the educational outcomes of students facing socio-economic disadvantages (SED). In response to concerns regarding the effective expenditure of these funds, school leaders have been increasingly required to justify their spending decisions and to demonstrate how decisions…

From sexist comments and harassment through to contact offences, schools are locations where young people experience sexual abuse from peers. This paper reports findings of a multi-site study into levers for preventing peer-sexual abuse in educational settings in England. Data gathered through practice observations, case and policy reviews and…

This report looks at the provision of A level subjects in England in 2019. Provision in a subject is defined as the number or percentage of schools with at least one student taking the subject. It could be argued that this may not cover all of the 'provision' since schools might offer to provide a subject, but none of their students wants to study…

The prescriptive outline that guides teachers on the use of Behaviour Policies (BP) omits to suggest whether BPs in Primary schools can be contextualised. This study explores to what extent Behaviour Classification Tables (BCTs) help staff choose strategies to improve behaviour. Using Context-Mechanism-outcome configuration (CMO) as the main…

The micro-level enactment of educational policy has received little attention in the physical education [PE] literature, particularly as it relates to setting policy. This study employs enactment theory to provide original insights into the ways in which setting policy was enacted by PE teachers in three mixed-gender secondary schools in England.…

How do academics make sense of university policies and strategic initiatives and act on them? Interviews were conducted with 27 mid-career academics in different disciplines, different research-intensive university environments and two countries (England and Australia). Data were analysed iteratively utilising a critical realist perspective,…