Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

DfE staff offered £1k bonuses to work on school testing prep over Christmas

Department for Education staff have been offered £1,000 bonuses to work over Christmas on preparations for mass testing in schools, it has emerged. The news of bonuses for civil servants is likely to anger school staff who have been expected by the government to oversee test and trace duties during holidays, including the Christmas break […]

Unions tell ministers mass testing plans are ‘inoperable’, and pledge to back schools who refuse

Unions and professional associations have said they will fully back schools that are “unable” to deliver mass testing from next month, claiming it will be “inoperable for most schools”. In a statement today, the groups said “no school or college should come under pressure if they are unable to implement these plans, or if they […]

What did we learn from Nick Gibb about mass-testing in schools?

The schools minister Nick Gibb has set out further details about the government’s mass-testing programme for schools, which is due to begin in January. Ministers announced on Tuesday that secondary school staff will get routine weekly tests from January and that staff and pupils who were close contacts of positive cases will also get a […]

Schools find new ways to help their communities at a time of crisis

From lunch deliveries and food banks to mobile libraries and “reverse” advent calendars, schools have stepped up to the Covid challenge by transforming the way they engage with their communities. As schools across England closed to most children in March, staff turned their attention not just to supporting vulnerable pupils, but also to vulnerable people […]

Non-exam-year secondary pupils to switch to online learning for first week back in January

Most secondary school pupils who are not preparing for exams will learn at home for the first week of the next school term in January, the government has announced. The Department for Education has said that students in exam year groups, vulnerable pupils and the children of critical workers will all attend school in person […]

‘No plans’ to lengthen Christmas holidays but talks going on about ‘how’ pupils will return

The government doesn’t have “any plans to lengthen” the Christmas holidays, but “conversations” are ongoing about “how” pupils will go back, the Department for Education’s top civil servant has said. Appearing in front of the Parliamentary public accounts committee, DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood was quizzed about reports that ministers are considering a delay to […]

Exam appeals soared in 2020 following process change

The number of appeals against GCSE and A-level exam grades soared this year as a result of the exams fiasco and a change to the appeals process, while the proportion upheld also increased, new data shows. However, exams regulator Ofqual has cautioned against “direct comparisons” with previous years, which it said were “not valid” due […]

Tell us how grade inflation can be ‘washed out’, MPs urge Williamson

MPs have demanded to know how 2020 grade inflation will eventually be “washed out” of the exams system. In a letter to education secretary Gavin Williamson, education committee chair Robert Halfon said he was “keen to know your current thinking” about how grade inflation can be ended “once you deem it is appropriate to do […]

Teachers report rise in non-Covid persistent absence

Three in ten teachers have reported a surge in non-Covid-related persistent absences, with the problem more acute in the most deprived schools. Polling by Teacher Tapp for the Centre for Social Justice think tank has found that 30 per cent of teachers said they had experienced more persistent absences that weren’t to do with illness […]