Random thoughts and resources

IBM and the NCSC are moving CyberFirst courses onto IBM SkillsBuild and launching new cyber and AI opportunities for secondary pupils. Primary schools do not need to act yet, but there are implications for progression, staff development and existing NCSC resources.

Google's AI Overviews mean pupils may be using generative AI even when their school hasn't decided to introduce it. A history lesson in our school showed why leaders might want to check which search tools children are really using.

Most of the conversation about AI in schools is about teaching and learning. My most useful experiment so far has been with something far duller: a COSHH risk assessment for a box of dishwasher tablets.

A trial with 1,179 secondary pupils found AI tutoring helped pupils correct mistakes in the lesson as well as expert human tutors, but produced no clear gain on an independent maths test.

The DfE has updated its similar schools attendance reports and each school's Attendance Baseline Improvement Expectation. Comparing schools in context is better than relying on national averages, but only if it stays a tool for improvement. Recent history suggests that is a big if.

Teachers using Gemini Notebook in Google Classroom can now see AI-generated summaries of how pupils interacted with an assigned notebook, alongside full conversation transcripts. It is a promising step towards supervised pupil access to AI, but schools need clear procedures before switching it on - I would also strongly suggest that one of your team tests it thoroughly.

A year-long study in eight Sheffield primary schools offers a ready-made AI-literacy sequence for Years 2 to 6, and a sobering picture of how many young children are already using chatbots at home.

A new expert consensus report suggests AI can strengthen practice and consolidation, but risks removing the very effort pupils need to learn. Here is what that means for school and trust decisions, and the three questions I would ask before any AI trial.

Free AI training for 650,000 UK and Ireland educators, plus a new AI Policy Toolkit for governors and trustees. For school leaders, the toolkit may prove the more significant announcement.

How a headteacher uses a fifteen minute walk and AI voice notes to plan the day, draft newsletters, research purchases and cut through bureaucracy, with simple safeguards and honest lessons learned.

A simple three-stage framework to help school leaders set clear AI boundaries while preserving professional judgement, experimentation and innovation.

As conversational AI becomes increasingly human-like, primary schools may need to teach children not only how to use AI, but what it is, and what it is not.

The DfE is commissioning national standards for staff digital, data and AI skills. That makes this a poor moment to build an elaborate bespoke competency framework, but a good time to establish clear safe-use expectations.