Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Ministers turn to big business for help running schools

The academies minister Lord Agnew has appealed to leading city business professionals to become school governors and trustees. During a meeting at auditors KPMG today, the minister urged senior staff to join the 250,000 people already running England’s schools. The meeting was co-hosted by Academy Ambassadors, a programme run by the New Schools Network which […]

Fact check: What are the links between school exclusions and knife crime?

School exclusions are in the news again this week after a group of police chiefs and London’s mayor demanded action from the government to tackle knife crime. In a letter to Theresa May, Sadiq Khan and seven police and crime commissioners linked a “broken” school exclusion system in England to a rise in knife crime. […]

Leadsom: ‘No exact date’ for delayed Timpson exclusions review

The government is still not ready to say when it will publish a long-delayed review into exclusions, a senior cabinet minister has said. Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, told MPs this afternoon that the Timpson review would be published “soon”, but that “no exact date” has been set for its release. […]

Government warns of ‘significant increase’ in cyber crime against academy trusts

School leaders have been urged to take action following a “significant increase” in cyber crime against academy trusts in the past year. According to an update published today by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, some trusts have also “already experienced incidents of fraud”. We are aware of a significant increase in incidents of cyber […]

Stoke council ditches pupil movement policy after school rapped for off-rolling

Secondary schools across Stoke-on-Trent have been advised to stop permanently moving their pupils into alternative provision after one school was rapped by Ofsted for “off-rolling”. Stoke-on-Trent City Council has announced it no longer supports the process whereby pupils are moved from the roll of a mainstream school onto that of an alternative provider. We have […]

Third school rapped for off-rolling had backing of local council

A school criticised by Ofsted for off-rolling its year 11 pupils did so with the agreement of its local authority, with other schools in the area potentially employing a similar practice. Discovery Academy in Stoke-on-Trent has been rated as ‘good’, despite having been rapped by inspectors for moving year 11 pupils onto the roll of […]

MPs ‘disappointed’ as minister claims schools have ‘more money than ever before’

MPs who packed a parliamentary debate on school funding were left “disappointed” with the government’s response after more than 100,000 people signed a petition to get the issue aired. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, responded to a heated three-hour debate in Parliament’s Westminster Hall by repeating claims of record education spending levels and rising school […]

OECD chief: England isn’t making the most of academies

England’s academies are failing to capitalise on the “best ideas”, says the OECD’s head of education, calling for more opportunities for teachers to share knowledge and participate in research. In an exclusive interview with Schools Week, Andreas Schleicher warned that teachers in England “have very little time for other things than teaching”, which harmed retention […]

Critics question winning bid for new model music curriculum

The Department for Education has refused to say how many bids it received for a contract to write a new model music curriculum after the tender was awarded to an exam board with no classroom teaching expertise. Music teachers and academics are unhappy that the ABRSM, the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music, […]