SEND

Pilot of SEND tech device ‘lending libraries’ for schools launched

DfE says £1.7m scheme will benefit up to 4,000 schools across up to 32 local authorities

Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Lydia Chantler-Hicks
News

Ofsted pledges specialist inspectors for most visits from November

All school inspections will also be led by either current or recent HMIs, says the watchdog

Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Lydia Chantler-Hicks
News

EHCPs: 6,000 youngsters now wait a year for plans

Under half of new EHCPs also issued within legal timeframe – falling to a record low as SEND system…

Jack Dyson
Jack Dyson
Recruitment and retention

Teacher retention payments not as effective as first thought, study suggests

NFER analysis finds some initiatives that gave teachers bonuses to stay in the classroom did not boost retention rates

Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Academies

Academy trust handbook 2025 changes: what leaders need to know

Trusts barred from paying hacker ransoms and told CEO pay must be ‘defensible’ in latest funding rules

Jack Dyson
Jack Dyson
Schools Bill

Minister ‘frustrated’ over school behaviour survey delay

Skills minister also shoots down calls to ban social media for under 16s, saying the evidence on its impact…

John Dickens
John Dickens


AP

Internal AP risks becoming ‘costly holding pens’, report warns  

Lack of guidance and oversight of in-school AP highlighted in new report that aims to codify good practice

John Dickens
Ella Jessel
Ofsted

Ofsted: Unions consider asking leaders to quit as inspectors

Leadership unions tell Ofsted they will take the ‘unprecedented step’ unless watchdog changes course over inspection plans

Schools Week Reporter
Schools Week Reporter
Ofsted

‘Delay new Ofsted inspections until September 2026’, demand unions

Leaders of four unions call for Bridget Phillipson to intervene over plans that will create ‘wholly unacceptable pressures on…

Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Movers and Shakers

Movers and Shakers: AEP, HFL Education, Odyssey and Extol trusts

This week’s movers and shakers include a taekwondo enthusiast, a former football coach and a committed girlguider

Schools Week Reporter
Schools Week Reporter
Honours

‘I’m a champion for teachers’: How Mr P got his MBE

‘The influencer label lets people put you on a pedestal only to knock you off’

Freddie Whittaker
Ella Jessel
Academies

DfE faces big bill as secret settlement ends SchoolsCompany saga

Ministers face writing off a sizeable chunk of £2.8m owed back to the DfE, despite spending potentially millions to…

Freddie Whittaker
Freddie Whittaker