David is a former newspaper journalist. He is currently the Head of IT at a UK independent school, with broad experience across the State and independent sectors. Views expressed on this blog are his own.
Safeguarding
The government’s new digital safety strategy and upcoming RSHE lesson plans force schools to confront synthetic media. While banning phones protects focus, blocking network URLs cannot stop AI manipulation. IT must partner with pastoral staff to teach the actual mechanics of digital deception.
Cybersecurity
The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 has landed, and the education annex is a gift to anyone trying to force a serious cyber conversation. Secondary breach rates jumped from 60% to 73% in a year. Independent schools are absent from the data entirely – which is its own quiet warning.
Artificial Intelligence
Monday's post argued IT should refuse tools that strip cognitive friction. This week, the evidence landed. The NEU's 9,408-teacher survey and a Yorkshire school's AI marking pilot tell the same story: in real classrooms, the friction-free promise of generic AI is not always delivering as advertised.
Artificial Intelligence
The OECD warns generic AI risks causing "metacognitive laziness" in pupils. Following our look at intentional tech, we must turn this into a procurement rule: if an AI tool removes the cognitive friction required for learning, IT must refuse to buy it. Access is a marketing trick, not a strategy.
Inspection
Ofsted's new research areas and the ISI's inspection framework both signal a massive shift in how technology is evaluated. The focus has moved from hardware and filtering logs to the psychological, pedagogical, and ethical impact of AI on pupil wellbeing, resilience, and cognitive development.
Pedagogy
Headlines claim Sweden is tearing out all school technology and reverting entirely to textbooks. The reality is far more nuanced. While early years are ditching screens, secondary education is enforcing intentional tech use, demanding evidence of impact - a move the UK is also adopting.
Cybersecurity
The DfE has updated its digital standards, making cybersecurity a shared responsibility between SLT and IT. By removing technical jargon, the government has given IT the leverage to make digital resilience a whole-school cultural priority, ending the era of the isolated IT team holding all the risk.
Finance
Independent schools face a 35% rise in operating costs since 2023. Relying on "hope-based budgeting" and historic prestige is no longer a viable strategy. To justify the 20% VAT premium, schools must build a "digital spine" that converts siloed data into tangible proof of value and pupil progress.
Artificial Intelligence
As the parliamentary inquiry confirms AI is deeply embedded in schools, we must stop playing algorithmic catch-up. Adopting HEPI's 'FUTURES' framework lets us shift from assessing rote production to fundamentally repricing human judgement in education.
Social Media
The viral 'Red vs Blue' school gang trend was nothing more than an AI-generated digital ghost story. While the physical danger was an illusion, the anxiety it caused was entirely real. We need to shift our safeguarding focus from chasing phantom threats to building genuine digital resilience.
British Science Week
As British Science Week celebrates "Curiosity," a 15-year-old’s AI breakthrough in cancer research challenges the "lazy" narrative of the digital age. The 2026 Stripe Young Scientist winners and LSE's research demonstrate why raw "screen time" is an outdated metric that obscures student brilliance.
Operations
The national education debate often focuses almost exclusively on teachers. But a new DfE report finally recognises the vital role of support staff, acknowledging they are not second-class citizens in the school hierarchy but essential professionals whose expertise is non-negotiable.