Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Admissions review won’t look at long-promised changes for summer-borns, says DfE

A consultation on changes to school admissions will not propose changes for summer-born children, the Department for Education has said. Launching a review of how in-year admissions cater for vulnerable pupils today, the DfE said it had not included changes for summer-borns, but remains “committed to making these changes in due course”. We remain committed […]

Shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey sacked

The shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey has been sacked by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. A spokesperson for Starmer said she had been “asked to step down” after sharing an article that “contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory”. Earlier today, Long-Bailey shared an interview with actor Maxine Peake in the Independent, in which Peake claimed that […]

DfE finally reveals details of Covid summer food fund

Details of the government’s Covid summer food fund have finally been released, over a week after the scheme was unveiled. The fund will allow schools to order free school meals vouchers for eligible children to cover the summer holidays following a government U-turn. Guidance on the fund has now been published, setting out how the […]

Reception baseline assessment introduction delayed to 2021

Schools will not have to set the new reception baseline assessment this autumn, after the government delayed its statutory introduction as a result of the coronavirus. The Department for Education said today that “due to the challenging circumstances faced by schools in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, statutory introduction of the RBA has been […]

Secondary schools swell to accommodate baby bulge as pressure on primaries fades

The number of pupils in England’s secondary schools has grown for the fifth year in a row, as a baby bulge seen in the early-2000s continues to make its way from primary. New data published by the government today shows the number of secondary school pupils rose to 3.41 million in January, up 81,300 on […]

Schools can afford Covid reopening costs from existing budgets, DfE insists

Schools that incur extra costs during the process of reopening more widely will have to meet them from their existing budgets, the Department for Education has confirmed. In updated guidance on its exceptional costs fund for schools, the government states that schools are “not eligible to make claims for any additional costs associated with more […]

Year 10 attendance reaches just 16% in first week of phased return

Just over 16 per cent of year 10 pupils were back in open secondary schools last Monday, well short of the 25 per cent limit imposed by the government. Ministers asked secondary schools to begin face-to-face support for up to a quarter of year 10 and 12 pupils from June 15. But attendance figures published […]

Johnson: Schools will return in September ‘with full attendance’

Schools will reopen with “full attendance” in September, the prime minister has said, as he announced a relaxation of social distancing rules in England. Boris Johnson told the House of Commons today that “primary and secondary education will recommence in September with full attendance”, adding that “those children who can already go to school, should […]

After Durand: The school stepping out of the shadow of scandal

Two years after its rebrokering, Van Gogh primary in south London is still struggling to move on from its association with Durand Academy It’s been almost two years since Durand Academy closed its doors for the last time, its funding agreement with the government torn up and its leaders ordered to return the school’s land […]