Billy Camden | Schools Week

Isle of Wight Studio School to close in 2019

A studio school on the Isle of Wight is set to close next August after struggling to recruit enough pupils. Inspire Academy Trust announced today that ministers have approved their plans to close the Isle of Wight Studio School from 2019 “in principle”. The final decision will be subject to a four-week consultation, and if […]

Teacher apprenticeship providers get fast-track treatment

Thirty-six teacher-training organisations have been approved to deliver apprenticeships after the Department for Education opened a secret application window just for them. Seventeen academy trusts, 11 schools, three universities, three councils and two other organisations were given special treatment after a “disastrous” first attempt by the government to get teacher training providers registered, which saw […]

Exam malpractice allegations sealed fate of doomed studio school

Accusations of exam malpractice sealed the fate of a doomed studio school, according to “shocking” minutes from its board meetings. The documents also show that former trustees at Manchester Creative Studio School had maintained their access to the school’s bank account four months after they left, staff were not even given contracts until this academic […]

71% of UTCs rated less than Ofsted ‘good’ in the last year

More than two thirds of the university technical colleges visited by Ofsted in the last year are ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’, according to Schools Week analysis. But the organisation that oversees UTCs claims the watchdog’s inspection regime is not designed to measure their performance in the most accurate way possible. Of the 14 UTCs inspected […]

Funding cuts block schools from delivering mental health support

A lack of funding has led to schools not being able to set up sufficient mental health support for pupils, a new Department for Education (DfE) study has found. Researchers also found that almost all schools funded mental health provision for pupils “at least in part” from their own budgets, and were often left with […]

Just 1 in 6 schools has character education plan despite £10m funding

Fewer than one in six schools have formal plans in place to build character in pupils, despite nearly £10 million being spent by the government to promote the programme. Research was released this morning by the Department for Education (DfE) which evaluated how schools have been approaching the development of character education since 2014, when […]

Single textbook approved for maths mastery teaching

The government has approved just one textbook as part of its £41 million maths mastery programme – falling short of expectations that more than three would be available for schools. Schools are able to claim match-funding up to £2,000 to purchase textbooks under the scheme, which is an attempt to introduce whole-class maths teaching based […]

Sports premium to double – but too late for many schools’ budgets

The PE and sports premium will double from September, Justine Greening has confirmed, but primary heads believe it will leave them scrabbling to reorganise their budgets in the last week of term. In last year’s budget, the government pledged to increase the primary sports funding pot from £160 million to £320 million in 2017-18, using […]

Sheffield school to sack TAs then rehire as ‘teaching fellows’

A primary school in Sheffield wants to sack the majority of its teaching assistants before rehiring them as “fellows” who will work towards teaching qualifications, Schools Week understands. Hatfield Academy has kicked off a staffing restructure which unions claim will allow them to get rid of nine teaching assistants, and employ six “unqualified” teachers in […]