Authors

Sam Gibbs
Sam Gibbs

Sam Gibbs is trust curriculum and development lead at and deputy chair of the .

Sam was an English teacher and leader in secondary schools in West Yorkshire for 12 years.

She is co-author of The Trouble With English and How to Address It: a practical guide to designing and delivering a concept-led curriculum and Love the One You’re With: why teachers stay and what we can learn from them.

All articles by Sam Gibbs
Why deciding what not to do is the key to better teacher development
Schools cannot continue to add indefinitely, so they must make difficult decisions about what professional learning to prioritise, say Sam Gibbs and Kathryn Morgan
General
28 July 2026
Juggling clubs
Why schools and trusts should ‘grow their own’ teachers
Developing support staff to step into teaching roles is an effective recruitment solution, writes Sam Gibbs, but the challenge lies in creating the right pathways to let talent grow and flourish
General
11 March 2026
Teacher recruitment: how schools and trusts can develop their own teachers
Teacher recruitment is turning a corner - let’s accentuate the positives
Positive ITT data should be welcomed by the sector – and used to shape a narrative about why it’s a great profession to build on ‘fragile’ green shoots, says Sam Gibbs
General
5 December 2025
Smiley chalked on wall
What the curriculum review means for schools
As the profession digests the curriculum and assessment review’s recommendations, thoughts turn to putting them into practice, write Tracy Goodyear and Sam Gibbs
General
7 November 2025
Stepping stones
Is ‘didagogy’ the key to better CPD for teachers?
The study of how teachers learn is unique enough to need its own terminology, finds a new report – and that has implications for how we understand teacher training and CPD
General
22 October 2025
Speech bubble jigsaw
7 books to boost teacher CPD
When done well, CPD is the engine of school transformation, write Sam Gibbs and Tracy Goodyear, who share recommended reading to help lead in this area
General
15 August 2025
Dumb bell in gym