James Carr | Schools Week

How Covid contact tracing will work in schools from July 19

The government is leaving it up to schools to decide whether or not to inform parents if a pupil in their child’s class has tested positive for Covid from Monday, according to new guidance. From July 19, NHS Test and Trace will take over responsibility for identifying Covid contacts in schools. The DfE sent new […]

DfE boss won’t say if SEND review will be out by next April

The Department for Education’s top civil servant has refused to confirm when the government’s long-delayed SEND review will be published, even declining to say if it will be out by the end of the financial year during a grilling by MPs. Permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood was questioned by the commons public accounts committee this morning […]

Ofsted’s 2020-21 annual report and accounts: 8 things we learned

Ofsted has published its corporate annual report and accounts, laying bare how the watchdog’s work has changed in an unprecedented year in which most of its functions were scaled back. The document focuses on the inspectorate’s performance, and is not the same as the official annual report to Parliament each year, which focuses on inspection […]

Two ITE providers rated ‘inadequate’ in first tranche of new Ofsted inspections

Two initial teacher education (ITE) providers have been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in the first tranche of inspections under its new framework, after inspectors found fault with the quality of training, mentoring and their curriculums. Cumbria Teacher Training and The Solent SCITT have been downgraded to ‘inadequate’ in new reports published today. Both were previously […]

EPI: Cost of universal CPD entitlement would equal less than 1% of school spending

Providing teachers with a formal entitlement to 35 hours of high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) would cost the government the equivalent of less than 1 per cent of its total schools budget, a think tank has said. A new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found it would cost the government an extra £210 […]

Speed read: Ofsted’s tips for a ‘high-quality’ music curriculum

Ofsted has warned that simply having music lessons on the timetable “is not enough” and schools need to set ambitious expectations in the subject following its latest research review. The schools watchdog has published its latest review which focuses on music provision. It sets out some of the key-principles Ofsted has identified of teaching a […]

Schools sent Covid tests with ‘incorrect instructions’

The Department for Education has clarified that ‘Orient Gene’ brand Covid test kits sent out to schools can be used by older pupils after admitting some contained “incorrect instructions” suggesting the contrary. In an email sent to school leaders, seen by Schools Week, the DfE said a “small number of boxes of Orient Gene test […]

Breakfast clubs: Schools to pay 25% of costs from next year

Schools will have to contribute 25 per cent of the costs of running breakfast clubs under the national scheme from next year, after the government announced a cut in subsidies. And only one of the two providers that has delivered the programme to-date will be taking it forward, the government has confirmed. The Department for […]

Ofsted maths review ‘needs to be withdrawn’, experts warn

Academics want Ofsted to withdraw its review into teaching “high-quality” maths as they say that half the research cited was either misused or contradicted the watchdog’s findings. The Association of Mathematics Education Teachers (AMET) is planning to lodge an official complaint after it investigated the maths review. Published in May, it was the third in […]