Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

RSC Guide: Janet Renou, the North of England

When Janet Renou gave her first interview to Schools Week in 2014, just 13 per cent of schools in her region were academies, well below the national figure of 20 per cent. More than two years later, that proportion has sneaked up to 19 per cent, still well short of the new national figure of […]

RSC Guide: Christine Quinn, West Midlands

Christine Quinn is the newest regional schools commissioner, filling the shoes of Pank Patel who presided over significant growth in the number of academies in the region. Quinn, the former executive principal and chief executive of Ninestiles academy trust in Birmingham, has been in post for less than two months. She was given the job […]

Children’s commissioner launches ‘growing up north’ — a project to collect data on the northern education gap

The children’s commissioner Anne Longfield will lead a project aimed at addressing educational inequality in the north of England Over the next year, Longfield will be joined by a panel of politicians, academics, sports, charities and cultural leaders for her growing up north project, which will gather data on children in the region to examine […]

Promote British values and register home-schooled pupils, Casey review recommends

A landmark report which was supposed to provide a ‘major review’ of the impact of migration on schools has made just three recommendations relating to education. The Casey review into opportunity and integration has demanded more weight be attached to teaching British values, laws and history in schools, and recommended compulsory registration of pupils outside mainstream education. […]

Government spent £205k on doomed National Teaching Service

The government spent £205,000 on its doomed National Teaching Service project before the pilot was even launched, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. Documents released by the government in response to a parliamentary question by the former shadow education secretary Lucy Powell also show that 13 of the scheme’s participants withdraw their applications ahead of the pilot, which was […]

RSC boards won’t guarantee SEND and post-16 inclusion, says DfE

Schools commissioners will not create additional spaces on their advisory boards for members from post-16 or special needs settings, but will be expected to consult experts when making decisions about them. Schools Week understands the eight regional schools commissioners (RSCs) are in talks over improved access to specialists who will “offer specific advice when they […]

National Teaching Service cancelled after just 24 accept places

The government has scrapped its flagship National Teaching Service after admitting it did not get enough recruits for its plan to parachute elite teachers into struggling schools in the north west. Figures exclusively released to Schools Week under the freedom of information act today show that just 24 teachers had accepted jobs in the scheme […]

Perry Beeches: second investigation reveals trust breached rules over Labour donation

An academy trust already under-fire over related party transactions broke the rules when it made a political donation and paid a company owned by a relative of a director for consultancy services, an Education Funding Agency investigation has revealed. A second inquiry into the Perry Beeches academy trust, which runs five schools in Birmingham, has […]