James Carr | Schools Week

Reopening schools: DfE’s ‘illogical’ Covid testing policy puts pupils in isolation

The government’s “nonsensical” Covid testing policy that pupils tested on-site must self-isolate without taking confirmatory lab tests has seen youngsters needlessly kept off school after being sent home within hours of returning. Parents warn they will no longer consent to their children being tested due to the disruption, which they blame squarely on the government. […]

Spielman says deprived schools’ lower grades offset by leadership praise

Amanda Spielman has claimed Ofsted recognises the ‘relative strength’ of schools in poorer areas by rating their leadership more highly – after admitting schools in more affluent areas are awarded better grades. The chief inspector said Ofsted has looked at the judgment profiles for schools with various levels of disadvantaged intakes, finding that overall judgments […]

DfE doubles down on policy that in-school Covid test positives don’t need confirmatory PCR

The government has doubled down on its policy that positive Covid cases identified by tests in school don’t need a follow-up lab test to confirm the result, insisting that pupils must still self-isolate even if the more reliable test contradicts the original outcome. In an email to leaders today, seen by Schools Week, the Department for […]

Laptops: DfE 50k devices short of 1.3m pledge as schools return

The government was still around 50,000 devices short of its pledge to provide 1.3 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged pupils as of the end of last week, leaving tens of thousands of pupils still waiting for support by the time schools reopened. Data released by the Department for Education today shows that the DfE […]

Majority of schools report 90 per cent of pupils taking on-site Covid tests

Nine out of 10 pupils are taking part in on-site Covid testing at the majority of schools and colleges on the first day of the full return, a union survey has found. A poll of 729 secondary schools and colleges from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) found 54 per cent of leaders […]

Pupils with positive home Covid test can return after negative lab result, government confirms

Pupils who test positive at home using a rapid-result Covid test can return to the classroom if a subsequent lab test comes back negative, the government has clarified. Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson confirmed today that a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test would override a positive result from a rapid-result lateral flow device […]

League tables could still include summer term attendance

The government has not ruled out using attendance data for the summer term in school league tables, despite backing off on “nonsensical” plans to include the autumn and spring terms. The Department for Education confirmed last week that it no longer intended to include attendance data collected between last September and this Easter. But when […]

Unify roles of regional schools commissioners and councils, says report

The responsibilities of local authorities and regional schools commissioners (RSCs) should be unified under a single governance structure for England’s schools, a new research report has concluded. The Association of Education Committees Trust and British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society have released joint research proposing a new “locality model”. It calls for a “fundamental […]

Just 0.14% of secondary school Covid tests are positive, but concerns over accuracy

Around 3,000 positive Covid test results have been recorded by secondary schools since the beginning of the year, with pupils slightly more likely to test positive than staff. NHS Test and Trace statistics show that just 0.14 per cent of all lateral flow tests (LFTs) results reported by secondary schools so far this term have […]