Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Ministers announce opportunity areas ‘twinning’ project to help address impact of Covid-19

The government’s 12 social mobility opportunity areas will be “twinned” with places facing similar challenges in an effort to help disadvantaged pupils recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been announced. Michelle Donelan, the minister in charge of the project, announced today that £1 million of the project’s £18 million in funding for 2020-21 will […]

DfE paid £490k to rebroker three failing Steiner schools

The government paid out almost half a million pounds in grant funding to rebroker three failing Steiner schools, new data shows. Steiner free schools in Bristol, Exeter and Frome were moved to the Avanti Schools Trust last year after all three were placed into special measures by Ofsted. The schools are now called Avanti Gardens […]

Ofsted confirms shake-up of redress system – but will give schools longer to complain

Ofsted has confirmed it will proceed with a shake-up of the redress system for inspections, but will give schools five working days to complain, rather than two. The watchdog has published the outcome to its consultation on changes to complaints, which was launched in March. The consultation proposed that formal complaints raised by schools within […]

ESFA raps trust that spent £2.4k on wellbeing conference and spa break for senior staff

An academy trust that spent over £2,400 on a wellbeing conference and spa break for senior managers has been ordered by the government to take “urgent action” to resolve issues with its financial management. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has published a report of an investigation into the Learning Academy Partnership (South West), a […]

STA plans autumn phonics check for year 2s who missed June test

Schools will be asked to administer a phonics screening check for year 2 pupils in the autumn, after the June test was missed because of coronavirus. The Standards and Testing Agency announced in its most recent update for schools that it is proposing an autumn check to avoid all year 2 pupils having to take […]

Nine things we learned from Ofsted’s 2019-20 annual report and accounts

The education watchdog Ofsted has published its corporate annual report and accounts, which give an update on the inspectorate’s performance as an organisation. The document is not to be confused with its official annual report, which is a report to parliament on its inspection activity, and is normally released in the winter. Here are nine […]

Proportion of schools open more widely falls as end of term nears

The proportion of schools open more widely to pupils in selected year groups has begun to fall as the end of term nears. New attendance data published by the Department for Education estimates that around 91 per cent of schools and colleges were open in some capacity on July 9, down from 93 per cent […]

Almost all pupils were set work during partial closures, but half of year 11s and 13s missed out

Almost all pupils were given some remote learning tasks by their teachers during partial school closures, but year 11 and 13 pupils were far less likely to receive work to do at home, according to new research. Analysis of a survey of 40,000 UK households by the National Foundation for Educational Research found 90 per […]

Councils scramble for places as school-building falls behind

Covid-19 has left pressured councils scrambling to complete building projects on time, a Schools Week investigation has found. The pandemic halted construction in most sectors, leaving some councils resorting to contingency plans and others with projects going to the wire. Analysis by Schools Week of local authority school place scorecard data, published by the Department […]