Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Former union boss and Reach 4 chair among new advisers for schools commissioner

A former union president and the chair of one of the country’s largest and fastest-growing academy trusts have been appointed to advise the schools commissioner Martin Post. Post, the regional commissioner for north west London and south central England, has announced that Tony Draper, Peter Little and Seamus Oates will join his advisory headteacher board. […]

Nick Gibb summoned to grammar schools ‘evidence check’ hearing

The schools minister Nick Gibb and several leading academics have been summoned to an ‘evidence check’ hearing on the government’s proposals for new grammar schools. The education select committee will grill Gibb and five other key witnesses at the session next Tuesday (November 8). An announcement last month that the government wants to see an expansion […]

Nationality data won’t be included in National Pupil Database, says minister

Pupils’ nationality and country of birth data will not be included in the national pupil database (NPD) following a backlash from schools and parents, Lord Nash has said. In a bid to address privacy concerns around the use of the data, the school system minister has announced that the Department for Education will now hold […]

Academy trusts wanting cash to grow ‘rejected’ by DfE

Cash handouts to help academy trusts expand are not reaching all the chains that want them, says a senior government official. Applications for the latest round of sponsor capacity funding – government cash available for trusts that want to take over new schools – closed in July. But a senior government official told the MAT […]

DfE refuses to release pupil nationality data agreement

The government has refused to release a new agreement that prevents the Department for Education from passing pupil nationality and country of birth data to the Home Office. The Department for Education (DfE) told Schools Week that an old agreement that allowed the Home Office to access certain information from the national pupil database had […]

Justine Greening announces primary assessment changes

Justine Greening has just announced a series of changes to primary assessment in a statement to Parliament. Here is what we know… 1. The government will not impose maths and reading resits on children’s arrival in year 7 The government has said it will instead focus on the steps needed to ensure a child […]

Nottingham schools cap teacher workload at ‘2 hours per night’

A cap on the amount of work teachers can complete “in their own time” is being pioneered in Nottingham and could be rolled out across the country. David Anstead, from the Nottingham Education Improvement Board, told MPs on the education committee this morning that the cap of two hours per night for classroom teachers and […]

Shadow education team has the right experience, says Labour

Labour’s new education team is “rooted in the real world”, says shadow education secretary Angela Rayner in an apparent swipe at the government education line-up. Rayner, who stays on following a reshuffle of the Labour frontbench, said the party would be able to draw on the “really solid and direct experience” of new shadow ministers […]

Chief of trust under investigation attacks EFA

The leader of an academy trust under investigation by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has launched a scathing attack on the government’s financial management. Dame Dana Ross-Wawrzynski (pictured), chief executive of Bright Futures Educational Trust, told a Westminster Education Forum event in London on Monday that there was “not enough money in the system” and […]