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Data published by the Department for Education today (Friday 8 August 2025) suggests schools in England are starting to see the green shoots of recovery with regards pupil attendance. Absence rates spiked after the Covid-19 lockdowns during which most learners were schooled at home, and rates have remained stubbornly high since, especially at secondary school.… Read more

This article was first published in SecEd Magazine on 9 July 2025 Matt Bromley has been writing for SecEd Magazine since 2012 and is their most prolific and popular contributor. Here, he looks back over their best practice archive and counts down the top 10 most-read articles… Recently, the award-winning SecEd Podcast clocked up its… Read more

Is creativity a dying art in the English classroom? In a recent Let’s Talk English blog for Pearson Schools, Matt Bromley delved into this question and provided his five top tips on how English teachers can harness creativity in the classroom. Read the original blog on the Pearson website. I remember the first lesson I ever taught.… Read more

This is an edited version of an article that appeared in The Yorkshire Post on 25 July 2025 in which Matt Bromley argues that the recent spending review didn’t go far enough… In her spending review on 11 June, the chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that free school meals (FSM) would be extended to all children… Read more

This article was first published in SecEd Magazine on 7 July 2025. It is the second instalment in a 2-part series. Catch up with part one here. Teaching oracy is vital for all young people, but it holds particular significance for disadvantaged learners. For these learners, oracy is more than a skill – it is… Read more

This article was first published in SecEd Magazine on 1 July 2025 In SecEd’s recent supplement on oracy education and teaching, I wrote about using the power of oracy to tackle disadvantage. I gave five reasons why affluent, middle-class students tended to be more confident and articulate than their disadvantaged peers. That’s because they are: I… Read more

This is an edited version of an article that appeared in The Yorkshire Post on 9 July 2025 in which Matt Bromley argues that poverty doesn’t just cost those with limited financial means, it also costs the country … It may sound like a riddle, but it’s true: Life costs more when you’re poor.  It’s… Read more

This article by Matt Bromley first appeared in SecEd Magazine in June 2025. It is the second in a 2-part series. Catch up with part one here. In the first part of this 2-part series, I argued why reading for pleasure is not just a leisurely pastime, but a cornerstone of lifelong learning and personal… Read more

This article by Matt Bromley first appeared in SecEd Magazine in June 2025. It is the first in a 2-part series. Stories give meaning to our lives and make us who we are. They shape our self-awareness, thus helping us to make sense of personal experiences, no matter how complex or difficult. Stories can also… Read more

Education is never simply about knowledge transfer; it’s about shaping minds, equipping hands, and nurturing hearts. In my new book, Head, Hand, and Heart: How to Design and Deliver an Ambitious School Curriculum, I explore what it means to design and deliver a school curriculum that is not only ambitious but also purposeful – one… Read more

This article first appeared in SecEd Magazine’s ECT supplement in June 2025. To download the full guide for free, visit the SecEd website. The Department for Education has published a new framework to support trainee teachers and ECTs which comes into effect in September 2025 (DfE, 2024) The DfE hopes that the framework will help… Read more

A tale of two teens – part 2 This is an extract from Why School Doesn’t Work for Every Child: How to Create a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging by Matt Bromley which is published by Routledge and is available now in hardback, paperback, and ebook formats. Preview it on Amazon or via the Routledge… Read more