Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

School rebuilding programme ‘will disappoint more than it pleases’, warns DfE director

A top civil servant has warned that the government “will be disappointing more people than we please” during the early years of its new school rebuilding programme. Rory Kennedy, the DfE’s director of capital, told a Westminster Education Forum webinar this morning that his experience working on Labour’s flagship “building schools for the future” project […]

High-profile trusts win share of £1.5m ‘exemplary leadership’ fund

Four of England’s most high-profile academy trusts have won the first tranche of a £1.5 million government contract to deliver “exemplary leadership” training. Schools Week revealed earlier this year that the Department for Education was developing the leadership programme”, which will see ‘outstanding’ schools designing training programmes to replicate their success. However, the government was […]

Williamson: Covid is an ‘opportunity’ to drive education reforms

Innovations in education seen during the coronavirus pandemic such as blended learning should have a “lasting impact” beyond the next two years, the education secretary has said. Gavin Williamson told a webinar organised by the Foundation for Education Development this morning that the pandemic had presented an “opportunity to make the changes that need to […]

Ex-PRU leader’s mentoring project wins prestigious innovation award

A former pupil referral unit leader who founded a mentoring service for children at risk of exclusion is among the winners of this year’s Fair Education Alliance (FEA) innovation awards. Hussein Hussein’s organisation, CAPE Mentors, is one of five projects to receive six months of support. Ancestors unKnown, GriffinOT, the Bridging Project and Life Lessons […]

Chairs of governors at odds with boards over workload

The organisation that represents school governors has warned of a “disconnect” on workload between chairs and their boards. A survey by the National Governance Association found that while 81 per cent of chairs believed their school was effectively addressing the issue, just 49 per cent of staff governors and 61 per cent of other governors […]

Covid-19: Ofsted rebukes school that did not contact pupils ‘frequently enough’

Ofsted has accused one of the largest special schools in the country of failing to contact its pupils often enough during partial closures – leaving children “at risk of harm”. The watchdog said safeguarding arrangements at Severndale Specialist Academy in Shrewsbury were “not effective” after an emergency inspection in July. The “no formal designation” inspection […]

1 in 10 pupils has not returned to school, Boris Johnson admits

More than 1 in 10 pupils have not returned to school yet, the prime minister has revealed. Boris Johnson told today’s Downing Street press briefing that “something like 89 per cent of pupils are back in school”, indicating that around 11 per cent are not. Most schools across England have now fully reopened to schools, […]

Widen eligibility criteria for NLGs and pay them, says government advisory group

The government should widen the eligibility criteria for national leaders of governance to include clerks and other non-chairs, and should pay them for their time, an advisory group has said. The Department for Education has today published the recommendations of its NLG advisory group, which was formed earlier this year to discuss reforms to the […]

DfE seeks retired educational psychologists to support returning pupils

The government wants retired educational psychologists to return to work to help support children returning to school. The Department for Education is inviting former educational psychologists who “may be interested in temporarily returning to the profession”, and those still practicing who have additional capacity for temporary support to express interest. It follows warnings from psychologists […]