Alix Robertson | Schools Week

New guidance urges schools to look out for sexual harassment ‘online and offline’

The Department for Education has published new guidance for schools on how to deal with sexual harassment and violence between pupils, urging staff to look out for incidents both online and in school. The document provides advice for governing bodies, senior leadership teams and designated safeguarding leads on matters like consent, what constitutes sexual violence and harassment, […]

GCSE grade changes increase by 52% – mostly due to GCSE English

The number of GCSE grades changed at a marking review this year has increased by 52 per cent, with over 25,000 more changes than in 2016. This year, 73,840 GCSE grades were changed compared with 48,430 last year. Only three per cent more GCSE exams were sat this year. Ofqual said the rise “stemmed principally […]

Ofqual reports on difficulty of new ‘fat maths’ GCSEs

Ofqual has analysed the difficulty of the new maths GCSEs, as part of its 2017 summer exam series report, and found minor but not “substantive” differences between exam boards. When the new 9-1 maths qualifications were accredited in 2015, concerns were raised about the level of difficulty of the new “big fat maths” curriculum leading the […]

Sixth formers to move to site of UTC that never opened

An £8 million site that was purpose-built for a University Technical College that never opened will finally be brought back into use as a sixth form next September, after standing empty for three years. According to the Burton Mail, the de Ferrers academy trust is to press ahead with its planned move into buildings once […]

Ofsted: More challenging KS2 SATs are leaving poorer pupils behind

Harder key stage 2 SATs have resulted in a wider attainment gap between children on free meals and their peers, Ofsted has said. In the watchdog’s annual report, released today, key stage 2 SATs are directly blamed for widening results in reading, writing and maths. Ofsted notes the “more demanding key stage 2 SATs and […]

Takeovers and brand new academies – King’s Group is laying its foundations in England

An academy trust founded by a private firm that runs schools in Europe and the Americas will take over three more schools in the New Year, and has two brand new projects in the pipeline. King’s Group Academies (KGA) will take over College Park Infant School and the Northern Parade Federation (which includes an infant […]

Calls to boycott new baseline assessment trials – which won’t even start until 2019

Schools and parents are being encouraged to boycott trials of a new reception baseline assessment, two years before it is even due to start. Speaking today at a conference in London, Nancy Stewart, vice chair of the Association for Professional Development in Early Years, said that school leaders who do not agree with the introduction […]

EEF seeks schools for ‘rapid-marking’ and handwriting trials

The Education Endowment Foundation is looking for around 500 schools throughout England to take part in four new trials involving teachers “rapid-marking” in maths, and using handwriting techniques that help disabled patients improve their coordination after accidents. The programmes, launched today, have spaces available for 60,000 pupils at 515 primary and secondary schools. The Realistic […]

Exam special consideration requests up 19%

Ofqual has reported a dramatic 19 per cent rise in the number of requests for special consideration in the marking of GCSE, AS and A levels exams this summer. There were 607,110 special consideration requests this year, up from 589,650 in 2016. This jump continues a trend from last year, when the number of requests for […]