Education Secretary Michael Gove has been likened to many things in his time, but the image of him as a "fanatical" personal-fitness trainer is one that does not readily come to mind. The analogy was made by Bernadette Hunter, president of the National Association of Head Teachers, in her address to her conference at the weekend.

A few years ago, Unity Academy didn't even have a library. Now other schools visit to find out how its students' literacy skills have been transformed, reports Richard Garner

The Olympic legacy means different things to different people, as we could see from the article on these pages earlier this month about the school that inherited the athletes' dining hall to use in place of its burnt-out arts block, .

Education costs are soaring but bursars and product providers have new schemes that may help

When lightning struck Lytchett Minster's arts block, it looked like curtains for school drama productions. But help arrived from an unexpected source.

Controversy over the proposal to open a state boarding school for inner-city teenagers in the heart of the West Sussex countryside appears to have reached fever pitch.So much so that elements of the controversy have a distinct feeling of Carry On films about them.

To the House of Commons for a seminar on a new book by former national curriculum boss Professor Mick Waters, Thinking Allowed on Schooling.

Schools say it's essential and means pupils learn to work independently. But students – along with some of their teachers – say it's a waste of everyone's time. Here, a headteacher and a pupil lay out their arguments for and against.

A big donation from the luxury-goods businessman Dickson Poon means a new name and a bright future for law at King's College London. Its incoming dean tells Richard Garner his plans

I went to a West End theatre on Sunday night – not something I would normally mention in this column, but it was rather a special occasion.

Its name may evoke scholarly tranquility, but under its previous identity, Oxford Spires was closed down for its poor results.

They say 40 is the new 60 as we get to grips with our new ageing population – and the message seems not to have been lost on the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

Now that education-standards watchdog Ofsted no longer rates schools on their efforts to promote community cohesion, the Accord Coalition's Inclusive Schools Award takes on a new dimension. It can give some deserved credit to schools that have been beavering away to break down barriers – not, of course, that the award is their main reason for doing so.

There's a spring of discontent looming for teachers. But industrial action needn't harm pupils, says veteran union leader Nigel de Gruchy – in fact, it can be good for them, he tells Richard Garner.

The London Metropolitan Hotel turned out to be a most appropriate venue for last weekend's annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders. Appropriate, that is, because just opposite the hotel entrance was a hair salon called "Headmasters" – which led me to wonder whether anyone had dropped into the salon expecting to find the conference. Probably not, though, because they would have had to have been sexist.