Freddie Whittaker | Schools Week

Government needs ‘more information’ before summer-born decision

The government needs “more information and data” before it can make a decision on admissions of summer-born children, the schools minister has said, more than a year after announcing his intention to change the admissions code. Nick Gibb told MPs on Monday night that Department for Education analysis of the potentially “high” cost of a change […]

Greening’s first education questions: Green paper ‘will help’ SEN pupils, and four other things we learned

The government’s new(ish) education team faced its first proper grilling in Parliament this afternoon during the first education questions since Justine Greening’s appointment. Buoyed by the new additions to its own team, Labour went on the attack over grammar schools and funding, while Greening and her ministerial colleagues were forced to defend some of their reforms against criticism from […]

Labour reshuffle: Rayner stays, Mike Kane becomes shadow schools minister

The Labour MP Angela Rayner will continue her work as shadow education secretary following a reshuffle of the opposition frontbench, while former teacher Mike Kane will be responsible for the party’s schools policies. Rayner has revealed that she will continue to lead Labour’s education team, backed up by Kane, who is the new shadow schools minister. They will work with existing […]

Phonics check needs rethink after data shows ‘something dodgy’

The government’s phonics screening check needs an “urgent rethink” after new figures show “something dodgy” with scores, a policy expert has warned. Figures published last week show 81 per cent of year 1 pupils met the “expected standard” in phonics checks this year, up from 77 per cent in 2015. But the reliability of results […]

Academy CEOs could face local council ‘scrutiny boards’

Councils could soon have scrutiny powers over academies similar to those they already have for health bodies as the government seeks to boost mechanisms for intervention in schools. Schools Week understands the Department for Education (DfE) is in talks about replicating the work of council “health scrutiny boards” to address fears about the quality of […]

£60m opportunity areas may not stop cash shortfalls

Schools in Blackpool, Derby, Norwich, Oldham, Scarborough and West Somerset will receive extra money and support from the government to reduce inequality, the education secretary has announced. But the National Union of Teachers says the same areas face cuts of almost £50 million as a result of plans to introduce a national funding formula. Children […]

What schools need to know about collecting census nationality data

Changes to the school census that require the collection of data on pupils’ country of birth and nationality are back on the agenda again after more parents took to twitter to share examples of schools’ responses to the new rules. The debate has also potentially reignited following an announcement at the Conservative Party conference that companies will […]

Theresa May pledges to lift ban on grammar schools

The government will lift the ban on opening new grammar schools, the prime minister has announced, pre-empting the outcome of a consultation on the matter. Theresa May told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham this afternoon that the ban introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 1998 was a ‘scandal’, and pledged to lift it. Her commitment to […]

Education secretary announces £60m ‘opportunity areas’

The creation of new ‘opportunity areas’ across England will see £60 million spent on school improvement, teacher support and other schemes in six social mobility ‘coldspots’, Justine Greening has announced. The education secretary told the Conservative Party Conference that the policy would aim to give children “the best start in life, no matter what their […]