Best practice for whom? Last week saw the publication of 鈥檚 best practice report for supporting struggling readers. Responses to a by Chris Jones highlight that the report lacks any insight into the impact of , and any resources to screen or test children that lack proficiency in reading. In fact, the seldom refers to disadvantaged children or those with SEND. https://twitter.com/Chris_Ofsted/status/1587041272216313864?s=20&t=rhhFpspMAi4xs9u_RuU0qA When it comes to governance, my concerns are that it lacks any real insight or guidance for teachers with pupils at key stage one or two and fails to include any specific support for disadvantaged students. The fact that 鈥渙ne quarter of 11-year-olds do not meet the expected standard at the end of primary school鈥� should trigger alarm bells to understand why these children have slipped through the net. Schools cannot maintain educational performance without early interventions and the budgets to support the children that fall short of the benchmark. That said, Acorn Education Trust鈥檚 literacy lead, has created a really useful summary of the key findings, while shared a thread of book suggestions. Parent power Meanwhile, parents are increasingly sharing their frustrations with a system that ignores their children鈥檚 needs. 鈥榮 tweet captures the anguish many feel perfectly. My autistic child is not a problem, she is just born wired a little differently but why do schools make it out to be such a "problem"? The education system is the problem, with so little time to allow compassion time and nurturing. It's all learn, learn, learn. — sarah davey (@sarah_j_d_34) Ben Newmark, a teacher and parent of a child with SEND who, along with Ambition Institute鈥檚 Tom Rees, recently criticised the 鈥榤yth of meritocracy鈥� to popular acclaim, opined in a this week that schools should champion effort over attainment. But how can teachers adequately and fairly judge effort? This raises many questions around equality and favouritism in light of a student鈥檚 gender, race, nationality or religion. So it鈥檚 no surprise that the blog is somewhat controversial, including creating a minefield for teacher鈥檚 performance-related pay. But then, is that meritocracy setting limits on what can be achieved again? Social mobility Sticking with meritocracy and effort, the social mobility commission this week shared a and , featuring headteacher, Katharine Birbalsingh and professor of social mobility, Lee Elliot Major about supporting parents with children鈥檚 learning. The post isn鈥檛 aimed at schools but at parents and at policy makers across government departments. Nevertheless, it is an important reminder that schools and parents should be working in partnership to support learning at home. It focuses on the early years, but its reminders of the challenges many parents face are a handy prompt for ensuring we don鈥檛 judge or patronise, but recognise their efforts and support them to go further. Not all children will attain at the highest level, but we should perhaps consider removing what barriers we can before rethinking our assessment foci. Black history Last week saw the end of Black history month and as a billboard by went viral, an encouraging number of teachers were sharing resources to support year-long learning 鈥� not least Tom Sims who a host of useful links for teaching about the British Empire. Doing so is not mandatory, but it is favoured by a growing number of schools, with among the organisations supplying a raft of free resources to support them. Governing bodies can also find support with this through the , founded by Sharon Warmington, which offers networking and support for black governors, as well as diversity training for schools, trusts and local authorities. Disruption from above and below The NEU鈥檚 campaign to ensure teachers sent in their ballots intensified last week, and strikes loom. As a governor, it is of utmost importance that teachers maintain quality of education, but when a for those considering leaving the profession currently has in excess of 100,000 UK members, something is clearly wrong. And with budgets stretched to their limits, governors are likely to be sympathetic to the cause of fully-funded pay rises. Then, finally putting aside the idea of meritocracy for this week, in stepped King Charles, whose coronation was announced for 6 May, creating a new bank holiday on 8 May. Another day of lost learning 鈥� and not only another Monday, but one on which a SATs exam is scheduled. Leaving one to wonder whether Ed Dorrell might be wrong that a lack of concern for schools is indeed such a good thing.