A week in

Well hello there, and welcome to update #194!

It’s been almost a week since 𝘒𝘚3: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 was published, and I wanted to pause and share something of what this week has felt like.

I’ve been genuinely moved by the responses coming in.

Reviews and reflections on LinkedIn and X. Messages from colleagues I haven’t spoken to in years. Notes from teachers saying the book has put words to something they’ve been feeling but couldn’t quite articulate.

One line from Sam Gibbs’s review has stayed with me:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.”

That is exactly what I hoped the book would say. And hearing it reflected back has reminded me why it mattered so much to write.

Because KS3 is not a holding pattern.

It is not a warm-up for GCSE.

It is not where ambition should dip while we all wait for the “serious” years to begin.

Years 7, 8 and 9 are where pupils build the knowledge, confidence, habits and sense of belonging that shape everything that follows. They are where we either raise the intellectual pitch or quietly lower it. And pupils notice. They always notice.

When we get KS3 right, we give young people something powerful: access to the richness of subjects, time to think deeply, and the message that these years matter.

When we get it wrong, when we simplify texts, repeat primary content, or treat Year 7 as a soft landing, we don’t remove the difficulty. We move it. Into Year 10. Into intervention. Into gaps that are harder to close.

Writing this book made me a learner again.

I visited schools and trusts. I asked questions. I expected to hear that pupils weren’t ready for demanding work in Year 7. Instead, I heard teachers say: “They’re more capable than we give them credit for.”

I expected to find curriculum gaps. Instead, I found curriculum repetition when the same content, pitched lower, was taught again.

I expected the problem to be resources. It wasn’t. It was assumptions about what pupils could handle, about what Year 7 was for.

The schools getting this right weren’t waiting. They were raising the pitch from September, offering rich texts, sharp questions, high expectations. And pupils were responding.

So thank you, to everyone who has read, shared, reviewed or recommended the book. I am so grateful.

And more importantly, I’m heartened that this conversation is gathering momentum. Because KS3 deserves our attention. Not as a bridge. Not as a waiting room. But as the foundation.

The ambitious years are now.

If you’d like to read more, the book is available here

Until next time,

Mary