The conference season for the main political parties in England drew to a close this week, with the Conservatives meeting in Birmingham.
In his first conference speech as education secretary, Damian Hinds announced some new policies - the most eye-catching of which was probably the creation of a new School Sport Action Plan to get more competitive sports in schools.
There were also some small pots of money for new projects, such as £10 million to improve training on behaviour management for teachers early in their careers.
However, as Tes reporter Martin George noted, Mr Hinds’ speech was probably as notable for what it did not say as for what it did.
There was no clue about whether schools would receive more overall funding, and he did not mention any new initiatives to improve teacher recruitment.
But the teacher shortage is an issue which refuses to stay quiet. At the beginning of the week, we revealed new Tes research showing that almost two in five UK teachers would consider moving abroad next term if the right job came up.
And on Friday, Sir David Carter - making use of his freedom to speak out now that he is no longer the national schools commissioner - warned that the Department for Education was not moving quickly enough to address the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.
Another issue which continues to rumble on is the row over Ofsted’s proposed new inspection framework.
The inspectorate wants to place greater emphasis on how schools deliver the curriculum to crack down on “exam factory” schools.
However, the list of those opposing the plans grew this week, with Teach First chief executive Russell Hobby and Inspiration Trust boss Dame Rachel de Souza among those voicing their scepticism.
But rather than capitulating in the face of this pressure, Ofsted seems to have decided to up the ante. In a comment piece published on the Tes website, Ofsted’s director of strategy, Luke Tryl, claimed there were “powerful vested interests” against the change.
“There are a small minority of heads who hide behind Ofsted as they impose unreasonable practices on their staff,” he wrote.
“In other cases, a change in our focus will undoubtedly expose the emperor’s new clothes, those who have trumpeted stellar headline results that are built on the back of curriculum narrowing and teaching to the test.”
They don’t sound like the words of an inspectorate prepared to back down.
