Ideas for better schools.

Practical writing for school leaders, teachers and coordinators: IB, CBSE, running a school, and working with families.

A student writing in a notebook beside an open laptop

Teaching & learning · 3 min read

Do tutoring chatbots help students learn?

A new randomised trial with 2,379 university students found that adding a chatbot tutor to a course lowered final grades. What went wrong, and what it means for schools.

iScuela team2 Nov 2026

Wellbeing

Three teenagers on a park bench, each looking at a phone

3 min read

School phone bans: what the evidence says

A 2025 study of 30 schools in England found that banning phones at school did not, on its own, improve pupils' wellbeing, sleep or grades. What it does and does not tell us.

iScuela team · 31 Oct 2026

Parents

3 min read

The messages to parents that reduce absence

Randomised trials with tens of thousands of families show that simple, personal messages about attendance work. Here is what they found, and where the evidence stops.

iScuela team · 30 Oct 2026

Teaching & learning

Young pupils in blue uniforms sitting at desks in an Indian classroom

3 min read

What India's largest learning survey found in 2024

ASER 2024 tested more than 6.4 lakh children in rural India. Reading and maths have recovered past pre-pandemic levels, but most young children are still below grade level.

iScuela team · 29 Oct 2026

A teacher presenting to a class of students

2 min read

What a good MYP unit plan looks like

Start from the statement of inquiry, fix the criteria before the activities, and plan the checks that tell you it is working.

Meera Iyer · 28 Oct 2026

CBSE

Wooden puzzle and pattern blocks stepped across a school desk, with a network of connected beads growing from the top block

6 min read

Artificial intelligence in CBSE schools, 2026-27

Artificial intelligence in CBSE schools: what the 2026-27 curriculum asks of teachers, and where schools may not be ready.

iScuela team · 22 Oct 2026

Leadership

An empty classroom with desks and a chalkboard

2 min read

Five ways to cut attendance admin

Most of the time goes on chasing, not marking. Where the minutes go each morning, and how schools win them back.

Daniel Shaw · 21 Oct 2026

Leadership

A school administrator and a teacher at a desk, looking together at a laptop screen

6 min read

Is your school support system just fixing problems?

The DfE's IT support standard and the EEF's guide ask a school support system to spot repeat problems and keep training going, not only close tickets.

iScuela team · 15 Oct 2026

Teaching & learning

2 min read

Report comments parents actually read

Shorter, specific, and with one next step. A template you can hand to every teacher before the end of term.

Farah Khan · 14 Oct 2026

CBSE

A teacher asking a question to students in a classroom

3 min read

CBSE competency-based questions, explained

What changed in the board papers, what it asks of Grade 10 teaching, and how to practise it every week without buying a new workbook.

Arjun Mehta · 7 Oct 2026