Our curriculum of hope: A culture of creativity

This article has been published as part of the Rethinking Curriculum project, kindly funded by The Helen Hamlyn Trust. Tina Farr, Headteacher, St Ebbe’s Primary School, UK Introduction This case study examines how our approach to reworking our primary school curriculum has unleashed creativity in our staff and learners, has allowed us to overcome the […]

AI in primary schools: In conversation with the Leo Academy Trust

 Speakers Matthew Clements, Class Teacher, LEO Academy Trust Cheryl Shirley, Director of Digital Learning, LEO Academy Trust   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach by the Department for Education or the […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: What students need to know

Speakers Neelam Parmar, Director of Digital Education and Professional Learning, AISL Harrow Schools; Chief Digital Officer, E-ACT Academies Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: Workloads and wellbeing

Speakers Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Neelam Parmar, Director of Digital Education and Professional Learning, AISL Harrow Schools; Chief Digital Officer, E-ACT Academies Chris Goodall, Head of Digital Education, Bourne Education Trust   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: Supporting inclusion and accessibility

Speakers Al Kingsley, Chair, Hampton Academies Trust Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Chris Goodall, Head of Digital Education, Bourne Education Trust   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach by the […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: Teaching and learning

Speakers Neelam Parmar, Director of Digital Education and Professional Learning, AISL Harrow Schools; Chief Digital Officer, E-ACT Academies Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Al Kingsley, Chair, Hampton Academies Trust   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: Leadership and strategy

Speakers Al Kingsley, Chair, Hampton Academies Trust Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Chris Goodall, Head of Digital Education, Bourne Education Trust   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach by the […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: Training staff

Speakers Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Neelam Parmar, Director of Digital Education and Professional Learning, AISL Harrow Schools; Chief Digital Officer, E-ACT Academies Chris Goodall, Head of Digital Education, Bourne Education Trust   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply […]

AI in multi-academy trusts: Ethics, data and safeguarding

Speakers Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer, United Learning Neelam Parmar, Director of Digital Education and Professional Learning, AISL Harrow Schools; Chief Digital Officer, E-ACT Academies   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach […]

Using AI safely and responsibly in a primary setting

 Transcript for ‘Using AI safely and responsibly in a primary setting’ Speaker Sacha van Straten, Merchant Taylors’ Prep School   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach by the Department for Education […]

Using AI to enhance learning in a primary setting

 Transcript for ‘Using AI to enhance learning in a primary setting’ Speaker Sacha van Straten, Merchant Taylors’ Prep School   The examples of AI use and specific tools in this article/case study are for context only. They do not imply endorsement or recommendation of any particular tool or approach by the Department for Education […]

From the editor

Abstract microscopic photography of a Graphics Processing Unit in rainbow colors.

Dr Cat Scutt MBE, Deputy Chief Executive, Chartered College of Teaching, UK In Spring 2019, the Chartered College of Teaching published a special issue of Impact focused on EdTech, funded by the Department for Education (DfE). In the six years since then, EdTech use in schools has changed almost beyond recognition: firstly, due to the […]

Using GenAI: What do teachers really need to know?

Two digitally illustrated green playing cards on a white background, with the letters A and I in capitals and lowercase calligraphy over modified photographs of human mouths in profile.

HANNAH OWEN, CLASS TEACHER, RIVERSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL; PHD RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UK My first experience of using artificial intelligence (AI) almost crept up on me. I was aware of some of the AI tools available, particularly ChatGPT, but had yet to try them out. Yet one morning, as I was preparing a spelling activity for […]

Teachers’ use of ChatGPT in lesson preparation can save time

Three groups of icons representing people have shapes travelling between them and a page in the middle of the image. The page is a simple rectangle with straight lines representing data. The shapes traveling towards the page are irregular and in squiggly bands.

HELEN POET, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, NFER, UK KATHERINE ASTON, RESEARCH MANAGER, NFER, UK Introduction Since the release of various generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models for public use, there has been great interest in its potential use in education. By August last year, 57 per cent of teachers reported using at least one form of AI tool to help […]

Utilising AI and emerging technologies to support learners with autism

Building blocks are overlayed with digital squares that highlight people living their day-to-day lives through windows. Some of the squares are accompanied by cursors.

CRAIG LOMAS, SENIOR LECTURER IN EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF GREATER MANCHESTER, UK PROFESSOR GEOFF BAKER, CEO, TRUE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP AND EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF GREATER MANCHESTER, UK Introduction There has been an exponential increase in the number of pupils diagnosed with autism spectrum condition (ASC) in schools in England since 2020, with 70 per cent of […]

AI tutoring: Bridging the educational disadvantage gap

Several small cartoon representations of people are linked by brown handdrawn lines representing a network.

MARK LESWELL, RESEARCH LEAD, SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST, UK This article examines how AI tutoring could address the educational attainment gap for socio-economically disadvantaged students. Recent studies suggest that AI tutoring can deliver significant learning gains, while overcoming the scaling limitations of traditional one-to-one tutoring. While implementation challenges exist, the technology shows promise as a cost-effective tool […]

Inclusive education in the age of AI: Adaptive teaching strategies using ChatGPT

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ANNA CHATWIN, DEPUTY HEAD OF TEACHING, LEARNING & INNOVATION AND TEACHER OF HISTORY & POLITICS, BERKHAMSTED SCHOOL, UK The rapid advancement of generative AI presents educators with a pressing question: how can artificial intelligence (AI) be harnessed to foster inclusive and adaptive teaching practices? Research by Mollick and Mollick (2023) provides a tangible framework for upskilling […]

Early research themes for teaching about AI

Seventeen multicoloured post-it notes are roughly positioned in a strip shape on a white board. Each one of them has a hand drawn sketch in pen on them, answering the prompt on one of the post-it notes "AI is...." The sketches are all very different, some are patterns representing data, some are cartoons, some show drawings of things like data centres, or stick figure drawings of the people involved.

JANE WAITE, RASPBERRY PI FOUNDATION, CAMBRIDGE AND RASPBERRY PI COMPUTING EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UK Introduction Resources related to AI and education are emerging, from international and country-specific policy guidance (e.g. Miao and Holmes, 2023; DfE, 2025), to suggested competency frameworks (e.g. Miao and Shiohira, 2024). When considering how AI technology may manifest in […]

How AI can be a panacea for the growing SEND, workload and retention crisis

An person is illustrated in a warm, cartoon-like style in green. They are looking up thoughtfully from the bottom left at a large hazard symbol in the middle of the image. The Hazard symbol is a bright orange square tilted 45 degrees, with a black and white illustration of an exclamation mark in the middle where the exclamation mark shape is made up of tiny 1s and 0s like binary code. To the right-hand side of the image a small character made of lines and circles (like nodes and edges on a graph) is standing with its ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ stretched out, and two antenna sticking up. It faces off to the right-hand side of the image.

REBECCA STOTT, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, TWINKL; NPQH; MA-ED, SEND & DIGITAL LEARNING, UK GEORGINA DURRANT, SEND AUTHOR, BLOOMSBURY; NATIONAL THOUGHT LEADER FOR INCLUSION, TWINKL, UK JONATHAN PARK, AI LEAD, TWINKL, UK Lost amid the noise of the election, the Department for Education updated its risk report in July to warn that the SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) […]