Billy Camden | Schools Week

Tutor agency claims it has found a term-time holiday ‘loophole’

A private tutoring firm claims that it has found a loophole for parents wanting to take their children on holiday during term-time. Tutor House, an agency based in London, says many heads would agree to absences if families took teachers with them. The agency launched such a service this year for families with children aged […]

Schools urged to remind staff of ’emergency plans’ after Manchester bomb scare

Schools have been reminded to keep staff up-to-date with procedures in their individual plans for emergencies after a school was evacuated today following reports of a bomb threat. Castlefield Campus, a school for year 10 and 11 pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, in Manchester, was cleared out this morning following reports of […]

Science teachers most likely to leave profession, and 3 more DfE retention data findings

The Department for Education has this morning released an analysis of teacher supply, retention and mobility. It was a deeper dig of data published last year from the schools workforce census, and analyses the different trends found between 2010 and 2011. Schools Week has the key findings: 1. More teachers leaving the profession, especially […]

Poor verbal skills weaken 30,000 pupils’ GCSEs

Tens of thousands of pupils with strong spatial skills are failing to get top grades because their talents are masked by poor verbal skills, according to a new study of more than 20,000 children. Research published today by schools assessment provider GL Assessment suggests that about 30,000 GCSE pupils with “hidden talents” each year underperform […]

Struggling UTC opens its own 11-14 feeder school to boost numbers

A university technical college that has struggled to recruit pupils is opening an 11 to 14 “specialist academy” next door to act as its own feeder school. The Inspiration Academy@Leigh UTC will open in September on the same plot and directly opposite the Leigh UTC in Kent. It will be run by the Leigh Academies […]

Exodus of children in care from London – but why?

An exodus of looked-after children from the capital could be driving down the achievement rates in other parts of the country, a new Schools Week analysis has found. The number of primary-aged children in care nationally has risen 21 per cent since 2011, but during the same period numbers in London dropped by 16 per […]

DfE believes fewer teachers in creative subjects will be needed in the future

Official government figures show the demand for teachers in EBacc subjects is set to soar, indicating the subjects will become mandatory, despite a consultation response on the policy being withheld from publication. Almost twice as many trainees in geography, for example, are needed next year, while the demand for new teachers in creative subjects will […]

Bolton Wanderers Free school governor who claimed £3,250 remains secret

A cash-strapped free school due to close later this year does not seem to know which of its governors racked up a bill of more than £3,250 for attending four meetings. Schools Week revealed in March that Bolton Wanderers Free School (BWFS), opened by the former premier league football team Bolton Wanderers in 2014, had […]

137 academy trusts miss EFA’s accounts deadline

Nearly 140 academy trusts failed to submit their accounts on time in the past financial year. Trusts must submit audited accounts to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) by December 31 each year, under rules in the Academies Handbook. However, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Local Schools Network has revealed 137 trusts did […]