Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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An exciting new project to end the supply teacher agencies’ race to the bottom
STEVE HANDFORD introduces a co-operative in northern England that could be a massive win-win for the working class and for schools currently being fleeced by employment agencies
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
BEING made redundant from a national educational charity in 2014 was a monumental change in lifestyle for me.
After six years of teaching in mainstream and a career in the third sector spanning 15 years, I was suddenly at the bottom again. I went from boardroom to teacher supply agency in 24 hours flat.
In 2014 I received work from a small agency in Newcastle almost immediately, and with a daily rate of £160, things didn’t seem so bad.
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A teaching delegation to Cuba offered IAN DUCKETT a powerful glimpse into a schooling system defined by care, creativity and the legacy of the island’s remarkable 1961 literacy campaign
With 170,000 children living in poverty in north-east England and teachers leaving in droves over 20 per cent real-terms pay cuts since 2010, all while private companies siphon off billions, it is time to unite and fight for education, writes MATT WRACK