James Carr | Schools Week

Coronavirus: PM urged to publish evidence on increased risks of reopening schools

The National Education Union has written to Boris Johnson demanding clarity on school and colleges reopening amid “unhelpful speculation” surrounding future plans. Joint general secretaries Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney are asking for the “modelling, evidence and plans” of the government’s decisions as a full return would put teachers and pupils at greater risk […]

Coronavirus: Working-class parents are less confident home-schooling, survey finds

Working-class parents are less confident about teaching their children from home than their middle-class counterparts, a new survey has revealed. A poll of more than 1,500 parents conducted by Sutton Trust and Public First found that just 37 per cent of parents in the C2DE social grade were confident teaching their children and explaining things […]

Coronavirus: Don’t judge teachers on 2020 assessment results, DfE tells schools

Schools should not use 2020 assessment data to judge teachers’ performance, the Department for Education has said. New guidance from the government also confirms that this year’s GCSE and A-level results won’t be used to assess free school, teaching school and English and maths hub applications. It comes after joint union guidance told schools not […]

Safeguarding fears over DfE’s list of online resources

The Department for Education has today released a list of free online resources to aid pupils’ learning as they work from home during the COVID-19 lockdown. However education suppliers have criticised the “lack of tender process” for the list – adding they are not aware of any “checks on resilience, safeguarding, data protection or other […]

DfE says Easter holiday FSM funding is one-off

The government has announced it will reimburse schools that have paid for free school meals for children out of school over the Easter break – but the support won’t be rolled-out over future holiday periods. In updated guidance released today the Department for Education has stated “free school meals should be offered to eligible pupils […]

Schools offer to stay open until 9.30pm to support key workers

Schools in one region are offering to operate between 6am and 9.30pm to provide care for children of key workers as “pressure ramps up” during the coronavirus pandemic. Across Stoke-on-Trent, 10 of the city’s 100 schools have lengthened their opening hours from today to provide safe care for children of NHS workers, firefighters and police. […]

International school boss Stuart Burns appointed new David Ross Education Trust CEO

The boss of an international school in Monaco has been appointed as chief executive of the David Ross Education Trust. Stuart Burns currently runs the International School of Monaco, but was previously the founding principal of DRET’s Bobby Moore Academy at Olympic Park. Burns will replace Rowena Hackwood as head of the 34-strong academy trust […]

Coronavirus: Universities’ unconditional offers moratorium extended

A moratorium on unconditional university offers has been extended for another two weeks as regulators deal with the fallout of summer exam cancellations. Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, previously introduced a two-week moratorium on the practice to stop a “potentially dangerous scramble” by institutions to switch pupils’ offers. The moratorium was due to end on […]

Set year 11s work on post-16 courses from June, sector leader urges

Schools should set year 11s work based on post-16 courses to ensure they are “meaningfully engaged in learning” and the disadvantaged attainment gap doesn’t widen, a sector leader has urged. Ofqual today revealed details of how the teacher assessment grading system will work this summer after the coronavirus shutdown saw exams cancelled. Under guidance released […]