Newsnight carried a item on 20th February about the growing gap in school performance between London and the rest of the country. Chris Cook of the Financial Times did his customary job cogently summarising the situation and Sir Michael Wilshaw attempted to suggest that what was happening in London could happen elsewhere. Nudged by Gavin Esler, he also said heads could and should 'root out' poorly performing teachers.

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Philippa's Autumn Blog

The Olympics gave us a glorious close to a very unglorious summer but I guess the cultural and sporting triumphs will long be remembered as rather special. New academic years are always exciting too, and the sunshine cheers us along even if it would have been nice to have more of it during the break. But with new years come new challenges and 2012-13 promises lots of them.

I spent two days in company of academics, government officials and teacher professional association representatives from around the world looking at this question.

This was a terrific event. Great presentations from a good range of perspectives, most kept to strict timescales and lots of debate amongst smart people form lots of countries. Things that stick in my mind and that I am still pondering:

The longer days and snowdrops are telling me that we are on our way out of winter’s gloom – even if the colder weather feels more wintry.