Freddie Whittaker
-
Use of schools as polling stations falls 10%
The number of schools used as polling stations has fallen by almost 10 per cent since the last election, but more than one in six will still be disrupted by voters. However, a Schools Week investigation has also found just three councils nationally (less than two per cent) have taken up the government’s promise of…
5.00 Dec. 12th, 2019 | News
-
Patrick Roach elected unopposed as NASUWT general secretary
Dr Patrick Roach will be the next general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union. The current deputy general secretary, who was the union executive’s candidate for the role, will succeed his current boss Chris Keates. Paul Nesbitt, Roach’s sole challenger, failed to get enough nominations to stand against him. Schools Week revealed in October that…
9.28 Dec. 11th, 2019 | News
-
T-level providers criticise ‘protectionism’ of schools
Providers of new T-levels have claimed “protectionism” in schools could make it difficult for them to promote the qualifications to teenagers. A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research also found that organisations preparing to deliver the qualifications from next year still believe “significant” work is needed to raise awareness about them, with very…
0.30 Dec. 10th, 2019 | News
-
Bid to oust NASUWT president and treasurer fails
A bid to have two elected officials of the NASUWT teaching union removed from office has failed after it was ruled that they were eligible to hold their posts despite not being active teachers. Sarah Havlin, the certification officer for Northern Ireland, has thrown out a complaint from former NASUWT Northern Ireland president Susan Parlour.…
16.47 Dec. 9th, 2019 | News
-
Election 2019: What do Schools Week readers think?
It’s been clear since we started in 2014 that Schools Week readers are a political bunch, and it’s always fascinating to get an idea of the personal politics of those who read our paper. This week we polled 373 people on our mailing list to find out how they plan to vote and how much…
16.53 Dec. 6th, 2019 | Opinion
-
Special consideration requests fall for the first time in 5 years
The number of special consideration request made for GCSE and A-level exams in England fell by 4 per cent this year – the first decrease in at least five years. Special consideration requests are made by schools when pupils who take exams are disadvantaged in some way, or for those who cannot sit an exam…
10.24 Dec. 5th, 2019 | News
-
Labour would cap secondary class sizes at 30
Labour’s pledge to cap primary class sizes at 30 will also apply to secondary schools, Angela Rayner will announce today. The shadow education secretary will promise to hire almost 20,000 extra teachers to cover additional classes created by the cap. Labour will transform education standards in this country for every child Rayner will also reveal…
-
PISA 2018: Maths up, no improvement in reading or science
England’s pupils are performing better in maths, but have made no improvement in reading or science for 13 years, according to the results of an influential international study. The 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, published today, are likely to be seized upon by political parties amid the election run-up as a verdict…
8.00 Dec. 3rd, 2019 | News
-
Stats watchdog warns Tories and Labour over 'unclear' manifesto claims
Both the Conservatives and Labour made “unclear” statements about education in their election manifestos, the statistics watchdog has said. The UK Statistics Authority said the two documents repeated claims it has already issued critical rulings on. The Conservative manifesto claims the party is providing “an extra £14 billion funding for schools”. The UKSA has previously…
-
Layla Moran: Our manifesto pledges will help deliver 20k teachers target
The Liberal Democrats are counting on their reforms to school accountability, testing and teacher pay and development to deliver 20,000 extra teachers. Layla Moran, the party’s education spokesperson, told Schools Week the party was not launching one specific recruitment and retention initiative to meet its “ambitious” pledge. A crazy number of people just don’t stay…
-
LGBT protest school head hopes court victory will help other schools
The headteacher of a school at the centre of fierce protests over LGBT-inclusive lessons hopes her landmark court victory will protect other schools from abuse. Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson has spoken of her “relief” after the High Court permanently banned protesters from outside the gates at Anderton Park primary in Birmingham. Now our case is a piece…
12.51 Nov. 29th, 2019 | News