Anne Clarke hit the headlines when she advertised in Private Eye for sponsors to help her school become a technology college. Today it is thriving and she is set to retire. She tells why she is going

William Atkinson is on a mission to extend opportunities to his disadvantaged pupils and spearhead learning in the wider community. He tells why setting up a sixth form is integral to his plan

Ian Mikardo High is a special school that offers pupils a tailor-made curriculum based on principles of psychotherapy. Claire Lillis, the head, tells how it achieved 'outstanding' status

How do you manage when three out of ten of your pupils move schools each year? Marva Rollins tells of the strategies she has adopted

Barry Day's school has scored in the top 10 for CVA for five years. He explains how it was achieved

Tests punctuate my son's school life. Yet they cause him no especial grief. He is not one of those "tested to destruction" kids. He just comes home, learns his stuff, goes in, does the test, checks if he hasn't learnt anything, then if necessary learns it again. Nor is he some teenage angel; this is the pattern of behaviour which the school lays down, and pupils - mostly - follow.