Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

DfE keeps edtech demonstrator conflicts ‘action plan’ close to its chest

The government has an “action plan” to address potential conflicts of interest in its edtech demonstrator contract with United Learning, but is refusing to publish it. Schools Week revealed last month that England’s largest academy trust had been awarded the contract to run the scheme for its second year. The programme in “demonstrator” schools helps […]

DfE claims Brexit has stalled grammar schools inclusion monitoring

The government has claimed that Brexit hampered its monitoring of efforts to make grammar schools more inclusive, after admitting that the proportion of poorer pupils attending them rose by less than a percentage point in five years. To blame the pandemic for disrupting the work of widening access to grammar schools is poor Department for […]

DfE extends school leaders wellbeing service to 160 more heads with £62k

A mental health and wellbeing support service for school leaders will be extended after an extra £62,000 in government funding. We are now seeing significant signs of burnout across the profession The school leaders’ wellbeing service, a pilot scheme run by Education Support to provide online peer and telephone support to about 250 school leaders, […]

Attendance: Isolation due to potential in-school Covid contact almost doubles

The number of pupils absent because of potential contact with a Covid case in school has almost doubled in a week, new attendance data suggests. Attendance survey data from the Department for Education shows 46,900 pupils were off last Thursday because of potential contact in-school, up from 25,200 on Thursday April 22. The number of […]

Autumn exam series: Boards only required to offer AS-levels in five subjects

Exam boards will only be required to offer AS-level exams in five subjects during this year’s autumn exam series, Ofqual has confirmed. The exams regulator has set out its final plans for an autumn series for pupils who aren’t happy with their teacher assessment grades, following a consultation. Autumn exams will be open to any […]

Keep face masks in the classroom for another month, urge unions and scientists

Lifting the recommendation that face coverings be worn in secondary classrooms this month will have “consequences” for the health of children and parents, a group of unions and scientists has warned. Teaching unions the NEU and NASUWT and support staff unions Unite, Unison and the GMB have sent an open letter to education secretary Gavin […]

Another university technical college looks set to bite the dust

Another university technical college looks set to close just three years after opening. Sir Simon Milton Westminster UTC, named after the former Conservative politician, announced last week it would be pausing student recruitment from the next academic year. This is while “the UTC’s future is decided”, with chair Andrew Christie saying the “difficult but pragmatic” […]

Whiteman’s Wishlist: NAHT boss sets out his demands to ministers

The NAHT school leaders’ union will hold its annual general meeting today, with general secretary Paul Whiteman due to take the stand for a big speech on what headteachers want to see from government. The meeting, which would normally coincide with the union’s annual conference, is taking place virtually because of the pandemic. Here’s what […]

Mixed signals: evidence for mobile phone bans contested

Evidence cited by Nick Gibb to support mobile phone bans in schools is from an eight-year-old study that some academics have criticised for showing “insignificant” impact on test scores. The schools minister told MPs this week “there is evidence that those schools that do restrict the use of smartphones in schools…are seeing higher test scores […]