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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 23h

I’ve never been much of a Burnham fan and I’m very concerned about his education policy, but if he can keep up the standards he set today in setting out a compelling vision that means something and is visibly of the left, there’s a serious risk of me feeling proud to be a member of his party again.

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

New post out: England's schools are now the second highest performing in the world outside the far east, according to the OECD's PISA study. Is this because of policy? Attitude to technology? Cultural factors like immigration? And where can we still improve? samf.substack.com/p/why-englan...

samf.substack.com

Why England’s schools are doing so well

And what we need to focus on next

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Just quoted King George in Hamilton to Yr 13 and now I’m going to have that damn song in my head all day.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'm teaching an unfamiliar A Level subject for a bit to fill in for an absent colleague. I taught the first lesson today and I'm utterly exhausted. So easy to forget how much it takes out of you to plan new content, break the ice with a class, teach it whilst maintaining good classroom practice etc.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I met with my little extra-curricular reading and discussion group of Sixth Formers designed to build their understanding of history as a discipline beyond the A Level syllabus. It’s very niche and there were only two of them there, but it’s such a pleasure and really brightens up a tough day.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The same student got the other paper reviewed and it went up 20 marks and another grade.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I know it doesn’t make any logical sense but I feel oddly more proud of the latest PISA results knowing that students from my school were part of the sample.

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

New PISA data out England is now top ten in all three areas (reading, maths, science) and the second highest performing country outside of east Asia (after Estonia). This is a huge public policy success.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We had a student’s English Lit GCSE go up by 26 marks and two grades on review. I am a big believer in exams as the fairest form of assessment but sometimes it feels like the exam boards do their level best to undermine the confidence I have in the system. Surely they can do better?

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Visualiser and fountain pen on good quality paper.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

A fascinating and sobering listen, but the history teacher in me did die a bit over the conversation with the bloke dressed as Richard the Lionheart 19:22 in. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

Another Reform scandal: Is Farage finished?

Podcast Episode · The News Agents · 4 September · 54min

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Excellent papers produced by @cstvoice.bsky.social which are much needed to influence government towards an evidence-informed approach without losing hard-won ground. Not sure if they're available to non-members. cstuk.org.uk/resources/kn... cstuk.org.uk/resources/te... cstuk.org.uk/resources/pr...

cstuk.org.uk

Knowledge, curriculum, and the work of education | Confederation of School Trusts

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

These posts from @ensermark.bsky.social are excellent on where education’s knowledge turn hit the buffers and why, or perhaps never got going properly in the first place. As a senior leader for most of the period in question I recognise a lot of the issues only too well.

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Mark Enser @ensermark.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

People are starting to write the obituary for England's "knowledge-rich" era. Before we bury it, I wanted to check something - was it ever really alive? enserm.substack.com/p/the-knowle...

enserm.substack.com

The knowledge-rich revolution that never was

Part 1: Before we write the obituary, it’s worth checking the patient was ever alive.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I hate being forced to say that I agree with a Tory politician, but I fear Laura Trott is right about this.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

It’s been the hottest, driest summer since forever and this has to be the weekend we’re at a music festival.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

It’s going to get quite confusing when all the bodies of water are called America.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Bloody British summers. Why’s it never sunny and warm?

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Public transport in this country is beyond frustrating outside big cities. Took daughter this afternoon to practise getting bus for secondary school from next week. Website didn’t give clear info, hard to know what ticket to get and how, driver confused, young person’s saver card didn’t work etc.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Daughter is off to secondary school this September and just had the sobering thought that this is going to double the amount of ironing to do every week.

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Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

There are now quite a few schools in England achieving remarkable GCSE results. The big next question: is their success replicable? substack.nomoremarking.com/p/what-shoul...

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Mark Goodrich @markgoodrich.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

It’s surprising to me that our experience during Covid hasn’t rid people of the seductive illusion that teacher assessment would be a fairer assessment than exams at 16 and 18. We know that the bias in these assessments were bad for social mobility and unhelpful for university admissions.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This is a contender for my favourite thing ever and since Burnham seems to be looking for some crowd-pleasing wins I propose a law that every time a sportsperson comments publicly on their performance they must incorporate a quote from Gladiator. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athlet...

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Your occasional reminder that we ditched target grades a few years ago and our results stayed every bit as good. If anything they’ve improved. I’d suggest they are mostly a security blanket. Here’s what I wrote at the time to explain our decision. occamshairdryer.wordpress.com/2023/01/07/w...

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Head got me a Waterstones gift card for my birthday and that is quality leadership for you.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Happy ‘Why does nobody ever mention it when they suggest shortening the summer holiday?’ Day! Just arrived at work.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

RIP. She was an excellent supervisor who taught me to think very differently about the ‘Dark Ages’. On a selfish note, I don’t like reaching the time when every time I get a university alumni update it seems to contain obituaries of people who taught me. www.hist.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

hist.cam.ac.uk

Professor Rosamond McKitterick 1949-2026. In memoriam | Faculty of History University of Cambridge

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Stuart Lock @stulock.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Knowledge and skills a false dichotomy is itself a false dichotomy. This is like talking of ingredients and cake, & confusing component and composite. Or process and outcome. One leads to the other (and the other is pretty vague). We don’t need “both” through the process.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

So much to love about the Swedish History Museum today. Perhaps my favourite was the Buddha figure found in a Viking settlement near Stockholm after being made in the 6th century in what’s now Pakistan. I’d read about it but still striking to see. Now I want to build an enquiry around it for KS3!

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

We got into conversation with a chatty Swedish woman after a bus broke down earlier. She has American friends and when she found out we live not far from London she was very keen to find out if it’s as bad as they say it is on the internet. Depressing, but we did our bit to dispel hard-right myths.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

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.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

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...

theguardian.com

‘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

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

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.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

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.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

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!

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

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...

podcasts.apple.com

Should Polanski be arrested for his Farage Insta post?

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

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

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.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

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.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

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?

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

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...

alumni.cam.ac.uk

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.

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

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

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

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

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Jonathan Mountstevens @mrmountstevens.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

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.

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