Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Labour pledges £25bn schools spending under new National Education Service

Labour has set out plans to pump £4.8 billion in additional revenue funding into schools, and spend £21 billion on building and maintaining institutions over the course of the next parliament. The party says the additional spending will help it plug a funding gap for schools estimated at £3 billion by the National Audit Office. […]

IFS: Labour’s free meals plan will cost £950m and breakfast clubs might be more effective

Labour’s plan to provide free school meals for all primary pupils “would come at a significant cost” and might not improve pupil outcomes, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says. The think tank estimates giving every seven to 11-year-old a free lunch would cost upwards of £950 million a year, and that other policies, such as free breakfast […]

Anti-grammar schools campaign launches crowdfunding drive

A fundraising bid by a group of academics, authors and child psychologists will seek to challenge the government’s plans to open new grammar schools if the Conservatives win the general election. Theresa May wants to remove the ban on new selective institutions, and Justine Greening, the education secretary, announced at the weekend that she will build […]

Three-quarters of primary leaders lack confidence in SATs, survey finds

Three in four school leaders lack confidence in SATs, while half report having received inadequate information to prepare pupils for this year’s key stage 2 tests, a survey has revealed. A poll of more than 1,000 primary school leaders by The Key reveals that 77 per cent “do not have confidence” in the current national assessment system. […]

Meet the teachers running in the General Election 2017

The teacher union activist and Schools Week blog reviewer Emma Hardy (pictured) is among several education professionals selected to run for parliament on June 8. Hardy will be fighting to retain the former education secretary Alan Johnson’s old seat of Hull West and Hessle for Labour. A former primary teacher who left the profession to […]

David Ross Education Trust given ‘final warning’ over job cuts

One of England’s largest academy trusts has been issued with a “final warning” by unions over job cuts in what they claim is an unprecedented move that could lead to a strike by staff. In an intervention that is the first of its kind since the advent of academy trusts, eight unions representing teachers, leaders and support […]

Paul Whiteman nominated as next general secretary of NAHT

Paul Whiteman, director of representation and advice at the National Association of Head Teachers, has been nominated to succeed Russell Hobby as the union’s general secretary. The NAHT’s national executive committee has unanimously confirmed Whiteman as its “preferred candidate” to take over later this year, following an “in-depth recruitment process”. Members will now be consulted […]

Tories claim school finances need ‘strong, stable leadership’ as MPs attack funding formula

The Conservative Party is refusing to comment on reports that it could scrap the long-awaited national funding formula, instead stating the only way to finance schools properly is through “strong, stable leadership”. Theresa May’s much-mocked catchphrase has been deployed once again, but this time to promote the party’s approach to school funding in the face of […]

Boarding school places for Syrian refugee children remain unfilled

A scheme aimed at providing free education and accommodation for more than 80 Syrian refugees at some of Britain’s most prestigious boarding schools has seen just four places taken up, Schools Week can reveal. Around 50 boarding schools offered the places, worth about £1.5 million in fees, more than 18 months ago. But the government […]