Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Wilshaw: I would have refused pupil immigration checks as head

The collection of pupil nationality and country of birth data by schools is a “daft idea”, Sir Michael Wilshaw has said, indicating that he would have refused to carry out immigration checks on pupils when he was a headteacher. The outgoing chief inspector of Ofsted gave his view on recent disclosures that Theresa May wanted teachers to […]

Academy ‘tipping point’ is 5 years away, says minister …. and 4 other things we learned at today’s education select committee

The academies minister Lord Nash and Education Funding Agency chief executive Peter Lauener took questions on academy trusts from MPs this morning. Here is what we learned… 1. The tipping point for full academisation will still come in 5 to 6 years The government may have abandoned its plans to force all schools to become […]

11 academy trusts now have more than 30 schools and are labelled ‘system leaders’

There are now 11 ‘system leader’ academy chains in England, but almost a third of academies are still operating within single-academy trusts, new research has revealed. A report released today by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) shows that 11 trusts are now over the 30-school threshold to become one of the government’s ‘system […]

Government continues judging RSCs on academy conversion rate – despite conflict of interest concerns

The government continued judging regional schools commissioners (RSCs) on how many schools they converted into academies last year despite fears about a conflict of interest, a key report has revealed. The Department for Education’s academies annual report, published today, shows that RSCs were judged on the percentage of schools in their areas which were academies between […]

RSC Guide: Dominic Herrington, south-east and south London

Dominic Herrington started his tenure with a distinct advantage over his colleagues. As a Department for Education insider – he had been the director of its academies group – he was well-placed to work closely with Whitehall officials. But has the inside knowledge helped? Although the number of academies in his area has grown 35 […]

RSC Guide: Martin Post, north-west London and south central England

Former grammar school head Martin Post oversees an area spanning parts of London, the south-east and several home counties. Analysis of the government’s open academies and free schools databases shows varying growth in academy numbers across the region over the past two years. Northamptonshire now has 159 academies, up 34 per cent on 2014 and […]

Former UKIP education spokesperson Paul Nuttall becomes party leader

Paul Nuttall, a former history lecturer who served as the UK Independence Party’s spokesperson on education for two years has been named as its new leader. The 39-year-old, from Merseyside, led on education policy for the party between July 2014 and this September while also serving as its deputy leader. Nuttall, a big fan of […]

Wilshaw warns against over-reliance on data as he lists proudest Ofsted achievements

Sir Michael Wilshaw has warned against an over-reliance on data in judging schools, as he listed his proudest achievements at the helm of Ofsted in one of his last speeches as chief inspector. The Ofsted boss told delegates at an Education Policy Institute event this morning that a purely data-driven school accountability system would save the government […]

GCSE resit changes cost schools £6 million

Schools and colleges have lost almost £6 million in funding this year as a result of new rules around GCSE English and maths resits. More than £5.9 million of “adjustments” have been made to this year’s funding allocations in more than 290 schools, sixth-form colleges and university technical colleges, with some losing six-figure sums. Under […]