About our schools: Improving on previous best

Foreword by Danny Dorling.

Through revealing and forthright interviews with 14 secretaries of state from Kenneth Baker to Michael Gove and Gavin Williamson, together with many other leading figures in education Tim Brighouse and Mick Waters provide fascinating insights into the various evolutions and revolutions that have taken place in English state education since 1976.

In so doing they highlight key areas for improvement and assess where we should go from here to enable teachers and schools to improve the learning and broaden the horizons of each and every one of their pupils whatever their talents, challenges, advantages or problems.

Tim and Mick have both spent a lifetime in state-provided education first as pupils, then as teachers, and finally in various leadership and policy-making positions, both in and out of schools. About Our Schools is born out of their shared love for education and their appreciation of how schooling can be a transformative element in the lives of children and young people.

All royalties from sales of this book will be donated to Barnardo's and the Compassionate Education Foundation.

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Examines in detail the turbulent years of education policy and practice from the late 1970s to the present day and sets out what policy-makers and education leaders can do to enable our schools to improve on their previous best.

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This book of historical context, present vexations and plans for a brighter future throws a light on the range of deep-seated barriers that need pulling down if children are to have a productive and enjoyable schooling. Brighouse and Waters offer both national decision-makers and school leaders a nuanced and insightful vantage point to look at the challenge of providing education in a post-pandemic world, and provide suggestions for planning ways forward.About Our Schools is a must-read if you want change in our educational landscape.

Martin Illingworth

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I had to smile when I got to the 39 steps. I read John Buchan's novel at secondary school and the hero, Richard Hannay, sets an example to his readers of an ordinary man who puts his country's interests before his own safety. Mick Waters and Tim Brighouse are extraordinary men who have always put the interests of children first. As the authors tell us, About Our Schools is not meant to be read from cover to cover. Instead, it will become the go-to guide to education in England. A guided tour - with expert guides - through education policy and practice. I hope, and expect, it will be on every student's reading list when they start teacher training and will be kept as an essential reference book.

Chris Waterman

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Over the past six decades and in a wide variety of roles in education, Tim Brighouse and Mick Waters have inspired, challenged and supported teachers and head teachers across the country. Their status as education heavyweights is shown by the truly impressive cast of A-listers interviewed by them in their research for this important new book.About Our Schools is packed with fascinating insights into the motivations of and influences on the secretaries of state for education in England since 1976. It charts the key features of and changes in the education system over the last 45 years, giving the perspectives of key players and sharing amusing and moving tales from the authors' careers. The final chapter also offers a powerful and compelling rallying cry - a manifesto for 'building forward together'. Younger readers will find this a fascinating history lesson, and those who have lived and taught through the years described will find it brings back a host of memories - but all who read it will gain an enhanced contextual understanding of how our education system has evolved.

Rachel Macfarlane

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What has happened to English schools over the past 40 years? Are they stronger after decades of rapid and often bewildering change? Tim Brighouse and Mick Wate

Twice a chief education officer for ten years each in Oxfordshire and Birmingham and leader of the London Challenge, Sir Tim Brighouse says he has learned from most of his many mistakes as a teacher, teacher educator and administrator. He believes in the power of teachers and schools to change the world for the better.

A former head teacher, Mick Waters has worked in teacher education and at policy levels in both local and national government. Over time he has been asked to work in the UK and abroad either with national governments or directly with schools to develop revised policy and practice for leadership, teacher education, governance and classroom teaching.