Innovative CPD leadership
Carol Taylor, of the London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, writes about the pilot of a Masters module designed to address a lack of dedicated support for CPD leaders.

Building Colleges for the Future
Ian Nash examines the findings of the Foster report on the Building Colleges for the Future scheme, which lays the majority of the blame at the feet of the Learning and Skills Council.

How independent will Ofqual be?
Warwick Mansell discusses whether the Government will allow the new exams regulator the freedom to speak its mind on the reliability of exam statistics.

Politics
Frances Rafferty points to the remarkable similarities between the education policies of the three main parties.

Higher Ground
John Izbicki reports from around Britain’s universities.

Post-Foster: Can FE build its own future?
Jim Clifford, Head of Charity and Education strategy and corporate finance, and Stephanie Mason, Director of Learning and Skills, Baker Tilly, argue that colleges should begin to look for less traditional sources of funding.

Improving behaviour and attendance
Our Wales editor, Professor Ken Reid, reports on the Welsh Assembly Government’s behaviour and attendance action plan.

Schools and local authorities break exclusion law
Nearly a third of schools and half of local authorities in an Ofsted survey failed to comply with the law when it came to providing education for excluded pupils.

Children First - Health - Click link to view PDF
Susan Young looks at the response of directors of children’s services to the Government’s strategy on children and young people’s health.

The adult learning revoution - Click link to view PDF
Ian Nash writes about The Learning Revolution, the Government’s recent White Paper on informal learning.

Much ado about much to do... - Click link to view PDF
Our children’s services editor Chris Waterman gives the long awaited child health strategy Healthy Lives, Brighter Futures the once over.

Comprehensive Area Assessment: An even harder test? - Click link to view PDF
Chris Waterman casts a critical eye over the new inspection regime that began on 1 April 2009.

An appreciation of John Dobie
Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, writes a tribute to our late Scotland editor, John Dobie, who succeeded her as Director of Education at the City of Edinburgh.

Children’s Health
Teen pregnancy and the importance of dance.

Media Watch

Opinion
John Izbicki on changes to the entry requirements for higher education and the need for greater recognition of the International Baccalaureate.

Making Progress after Laming ‘Mark II’
Our children’s services editor, Chris Waterman, takes a detailed look at the recommendations in the Laming Progress Report and who will be responsible for implementing them.

General Section

Events
Demitri Coryton reports on the annual conferences of ASCL and the NUT, while Frances Rafferty was at the Institute of Education for the 7th international conference of the Gender and Education Association.

Conference round-up

Reference Section

Obituaries
We report with regret the death of Lord Ron Dearing and our Scotland editor, John Dobie. Obituaries by George Low.

Reports Digest

Document Digest

Document Review
We review Looked-after Children from the Select Committee on Children, Schools and Families, and The Building Schools for the Future Programme: Renewing the secondary school estate from the National Audit Office.
Research

Research Notes
Our research editor, Michael Marshall, writes about research providing more evidence for the theory that playing a musical instrument can have a positive effect on children’s abilities in other areas of learning.

Changes and challenges
Sue Rossiter, Chief Executive of the National Foundation for Educational Research, writes about the Laming review of child protection, Every Child Matters and diplomas.

Research Digest

Mathematics and science education - how is England doing?
Linda Sturman and Graham Ruddock of NFER report on the latest analysis of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey.

Parliament Section

The ASCL Bill and Lord Laming
Our Parliamentary editor, Nick Kent, reports on the Committee Stage of the ASCL Bill and Ed Balls’ response to Lord Laming’s report on child protection.

Countering anti-social behaviour
Arabella Hargreaves, editor of EPM Scotland, reports on a debate in the Scottish Parliament on its new antisocial behaviour framework.

New children’s commissioner
We report on the appointment of Tam Baille as the new Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland.

Concern about Swansea children’s services
We report on a statement in the Welsh Assembly on children’s services in Swansea.

Young disabled people losing out in FE
We report on a debate in the Welsh Assembly on young disabled people and further education.

Parliamentary Questions
Answers to written parliamentary questions on statements of special educational needs in the House of Commons, the Early Years Framework and pre-school physical education in the Scottish Parliament, and the attainment of looked-after children and funding for complex disability needs in the Welsh Assembly.

Phoenix
The Open University, union conferences and the AEC Trust.