Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

DfE needs ‘proper lessons-learned’ Covid review, and 4 more demands from MPs

The Department for Education seems “surprisingly resistant” to the idea of conducting a “proper lessons-learned exercise” on its early response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of MPs has warned. The public accounts committee has published a report on support for children’s education during the Covid-19 pandemic. In it, MPs said the DfE had “no […]

Ofsted national education director Sean Harford to take early retirement

Ofsted’s national director of education Sean Harford is to stand down from his role to take early retirement, the watchdog has announced. Harford has worked at Ofsted since 2003, initially as a Her Majesty’s Inspector and then in a number of management roles. He has been in his current role since 2015, and was national […]

£10m ‘levelling up’ support will come from existing DfE budgets

None of the £10 million pledged today to improve the quality of teaching in four areas of England is new cash from the Treasury, and up to half of it will be given to expanding academy trusts, it has emerged. Boris Johnson announced today that the government’s “levelling up” agenda would include “more support” to […]

Edtech demonstrator programme phase 2: What schools need to know

The Department for Education has confirmed plans for the second phase of its edtech demonstrator programme. Guidance published today gives more details of the scheme, including a list of 43 “demonstrator” schools and colleges, and how funding will be allocated and spent. It comes after Schools Week revealed that academy trust United Learning had been […]

NAHT: Leaders have spent 7 extra school days ‘propping up’ test and trace

The government faces calls to release leaders from the “burden” of running test and trace in their schools, after union figures showed they have spent on average seven extra school days on the task since September. The National Association of Head Teachers said a survey of 401 of its members had revealed the average leader […]

Institute of Teaching won’t take first trainees until 2023 after pilot year dropped

The government’s new Institute of Teaching won’t take on its first trainee teachers until 2023 after plans for a limited pilot next year were dropped. The Department for Education had originally stated in tender documents for the £121 million, six-year contract that the IoT would be expected to deliver a “pilot” initial teacher training (ITT) […]

‘You grow with the grant, then shrink back at the end’: the primary scooping up DfE accolades

From the outside, Charles Dickens looks like any other inner-London primary school. But behind the walls of its building in Borough is a team that has worked on five different government school-to-school support initiatives in just four years. This year alone, Charles Dickens has become a behaviour hub, a teaching school hub and a flexible […]

Peter Kyle appointed as shadow schools minister

Peter Kyle has been appointed as the new shadow schools minister, Labour has announced. Kyle has been MP for Hove since 2015, and has served as shadow minister for victims and youth justice since last year. He replaces Wes Streeting, who was promoted over the weekend to a new shadow cabinet-level role covering child poverty. […]