Billy Camden | Schools Week

Council refuses to release Kent grammar school expansion documents

A council has now joined the government in refusing to reveal details of plans for the controversial expansion of a grammar school. Kent County Council (KCC) has refused a freedom of information (FOI) request from campaigners looking to scrutinise the application form from Weald of Kent grammar to open an annexe on a new site […]

Teacher recruitment video released by LKMco and Pearson

Education think tank LKMco and exam board Pearson have teamed up to produce a video aimed at boosting teacher recruitment and retention. The short film features advice from teachers and leaders around the country as well as covering some of the key findings from their Why Teach? study. Published in October, the report uncovered that […]

Professor Cecile Wright – Young black males: resilience and the use of capital to transform school ‘failure’

Professor Cecile Wright, professor of sociology, University of Nottingham What are you working on? A study funded about six years ago by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to look at young black males excluded from school before their GCSEs and with a history that led to permanent exclusion. It was a case of exploring what happened […]

Pupils to plant one million trees

From the Oak to Mountain Ash, one million trees will be grown by schoolchildren as part of the government’s green-fingered commitment to plant 11 million over the next parliament. The first phase of the scheme was launched by environment secretary Elizabeth Truss at Elmhurst Primary School today. In partnership with The Woodland Trust, the project […]

Ruth Lupton

What are you working on? A small-scale qualitative study of the impacts of the bedroom tax on children and education. We have been working in two areas in Manchester and in each we interviewed people from primary and secondary schools and community organisations. We talked to about 20 people in each area and also spoke […]

‘Bedroom tax’ leaves pupils hungry and stressed, report finds

Children are being left hungry and stressed at school because of the government’s bedroom tax, a new study has found. Education experts at The Manchester University found that pupils’ ability to learn and concentrate was being adversely affected because of the policy, alongside other cuts in benefits, with emotional distress caused by poverty taking its […]

Exclusion guidance cancelled by Nick Gibb still not replaced after 10 months

Guidance on pupil exclusions that was withdrawn eight months ago has yet to be updated by the Department for Education. In February, schools minister Nick Gibb said he wanted to adapt the guide “to address some issues with process”. This was less than a month after updated rules came into force. Originally, updated guidance was […]

Teachers need support to meet national curriculum literacy demands, claims National Literacy Trust

Greater support is needed for teachers to meet the literacy requirements demanded by the new national curriculum, a report published today has claimed. Almost a quarter of teachers surveyed by the National Literacy Trust said they did not feel confident teaching the literacy set out in the new national curriculum. The curriculum requires all subject […]

Kent school that bought every pupil an iPad cautioned for “unacceptably low” standards

A school in Kent that spent £125,000 on iPads for all its pupils has been issued with a ‘pre-warning notice’ to improve by the Department for Education (DfE). Spires Academy has been told standards at the school are “unacceptably low” in a letter sent by Dominic Herrington, the Regional Schools Commissioner for South East and […]