Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Government faces second judicial review over pupil data collection

The Department for Education faces its second legal challenge over the data it collects on school pupils. Months after Against Borders for Children and Liberty jointly requested permission from the High Court for a judicial review of the way the government controversially gathers pupil-nationality data, lawyers for the campaign group Defend Digital Me have written […]

The new times-tables tests will get no love from teachers

Times-tables are important but the government’s latest test is a complete waste of time for schools, argues Nick Brook. Children should learn their times-tables. They are a useful thing to know as pupils launch themselves into the secondary stage of their school career. That’s why they are already part of the curriculum: every primary school […]

Times-tables tests for 8 and 9-year-olds to start at 290 primary schools next month

Trials of a new times-tables test for year 4 pupils will begin at around 290 primary schools from next month. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, today announced the next stage in the government’s primary testing reforms. He claimed the new online multiplication table tests will “help teachers identify those pupils who require extra support”. But […]

Times-tables tests: What do schools need to know?

The government is keen to reassure heads that its new times-tables test won’t become just another stick to beat schools with, but heads aren’t convinced, explains Freddie Whittaker. It’s official. Nick Gibb has spoken: times-tables tests are here. From next month, almost 300 schools will take part in a trial of the government’s new on-screen multiplication […]

QTS rule change means 9,000 prospective teachers can retake skills test

At least 9,000 prospective teachers barred from training after failing a skills test three times will be able to book retakes again from this Thursday. Schools Week understands that the government’s decision to scrap the controversial lock-out rule, which prevents would-be trainees from taking the QTS literacy and numeracy skills test for two years if […]

QTS skills test: Lock-out period and retake charges scrapped

The government is to scrap the controversial lock-out period that currently prevents would-be teachers from retaking the QTS skills test for two years if they fail it three times. The end of the lock-out, which last year prevented thousands of teachers from qualifying, is one of a series of measures announced by the schools minister […]

Yeovil’s St Michael’s Academy hit with financial notice to improve

A junior school in Somerset has been hit with a financial notice to improve from the government after it failed to set a balanced budget. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has issued St Michael’s Academy in Yeovil with a financial notice to improve. Under the terms of the notice, many of the school’s spending […]

Floreat Brentford Primary free school to close

The sponsor of Floreat Brentford Primary School, a free school in west London, has announced plans to close the school, citing problems with temporary buildings and “critically low” funding levels. Floreat Education, the academy trust founded by the health minister and former David Cameron adviser Lord O’Shaughnessy, has today announced that it has put in […]

Campaigner wants school absence contact procedures changed

Schools should be forced to contact multiple family members in the event of unexpected pupil absences, according to a mother whose young children spent almost 24 hours alone at home with their father’s body after he died. Helen Daykin (pictured) was travelling for work when her husband Chris died of heart failure in October 2016. […]