Billy Camden | Schools Week

Edition 22: Greg Sayer, Kerrie Courtier and Ashley Harrold

Greg Sayer has been appointed a senior manager at Let Me Play, a provider of school sport programmes, where he will be responsible for introducing PE coaches to aid school staff. He will also concentrate on continuing professional development to coaches and sports and activity clubs within schools. Mr Sayer, 38, started in his new role Monday […]

Can they hack it? Yes they can!

The technical skills of Greig City Academy students were put to the test last week when they designed, prototyped and built projects for a ‘smart city’. The pupils, all in year 10, were taken from the first cohort of the GCSE computer science programme being taught at the school. After plugging in their brains, the […]

Summer born pupils 90 per cent more likely to be on SEN register

Children born in August are 90 per cent more likely to be put on the special educational needs (SEN) register, an Education Select Committee member revealed during a one-off evidence session this week at the Commons. Conservative MP Neil Carmichael offered the statistic on Wednesday as further evidence of the difficulties experienced by summer-born children […]

Revoked ‘English identity’ charity claims to have taught in at least 10 schools

A group whose supporters were exposed giving Nazi salutes and chanting “white power” in an ITV documentary claim to have taught history lessons to children in at least 10 different schools. The Steadfast Trust, whose goal, according to its website, is to “support projects that promote a positive sense of English identity, culture and heritage”, […]

Teaching resource asks pupils to ‘devise a plan for war’

A government-issued teaching resource which includes a task asking pupils to devise a plan for going to war, is presenting a “sanitised” and “positive” view of life in the armed forces, claims a prominent educationalist and citizenship expert. In a report joint-issued by campaign groups ForcesWatch and Quakers in Britain about the ‘British Armed Forces […]

Comparing Education Manifestos – Policy Exchange vs ATL

In the run up to this May’s general election, Schools Week will analyse the manifestos of various education organisations, typically from opposite ends of the political spectrum. This first pre-election manifesto comparison is between Policy Exchange and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. Click here for Part 1

Applications for banned school worker waivers quadruples in a month

The number of applications for ‘disqualification by association’ (DBA) waivers has quadrupled in the last month and hundreds of school staff are still suspended, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. The figures come after the Department for Education (DfE) last Thursday published new guidance in response to an ongoing saga over DBA, stemming from a previous […]

University sponsors quiet over promised academy support

Universities have withdrawn their sponsorship from at least four academies amid government concerns over the way they were being run. Analysis by Schools Week has found at least three of the 20 trusts facing financial notices to improve either include or have included university sponsors. Two universities have pulled their sponsorship, while another faces having […]

Care leavers: The Achievement gap isn’t closing, it’s widening

In a five-part series, Schools Week is exploring the way vulnerable groups of learners have been treated under the Coalition – and asks what can be expected for them in coming years. In this second instalment, Ann McGauran reveals that narrowing the stubbornly high achievement gap for children in care remains a significant challenge The […]