Author: James Carr

High-quality programmes of professional development for teachers are more effective at boosting pupils’ attainment than performance-related pay or lengthening the school day, a new study claims. The Education Policy Institute and Ambition Institute have today released a joint report on the impact of professional development on teachers and students. Teacher development programmes compare favourably with […]

The exams regulator will proceed with plans for greater regulation of technical award qualifications for 14 to 16-year-olds, amid fears about their vulnerability. Under the new rules, awarding organisations will have to submit new technical awards to be reviewed by both Ofqual and the Department for Education if they want them to count in school […]

The Department for Education has confirmed that Baroness Berridge will be the new minister for the school system. While her responsibilities have yet to be published, she’s likely to take on many of those previously held by Lord Agnew, who was promoted to a job at the Cabinet Office and Treasury. Here’s what we know […]

A school in which disgruntled staff staged a series of strikes has been put in special measures after Ofsted claimed that “untenable tension” within the school community was adversely impacting pupils’ education. Last year staff at Hasland Hall Community School, in Chesterfield, held three strikes to protest against unruly pupils and excessive workloads. And while […]

Schools from across the country are being urged to enter their star staff for a prestigious set of awards dubbed “the Oscars for teachers”. The Pearson National Teaching Awards celebrate excellence in education across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the deadline for submissions looms, previous winners are calling on schools to put forward their […]

Massage treatments, 24/7 helplines and walking groups are among the services schools are providing to help teachers’ mental wellbeing. New figures collated by Schools Week suggest the number of sick days taken by teachers for mental health reasons, including stress and depression, are on the up. Since the 2015-16 academic year, 27 per cent of […]

Ofsted has moved to quash fears among schools that enrolling a high percentage of pupils in certain BTEC qualifications will automatically be viewed as “gaming”. Last week Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy, in Cheshire, was placed in special measures and rated ‘inadequate’ by the inspectorate after it entered all pupils into two vocational courses against “pupils’ educational […]

Baroness Berridge has been appointed parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Education. The Conservative peer was appointed as a government whip in July last year. The DfE has yet to release details of her brief. The announcement follows Schools Week revealing yesterday that academies minister Lord Agnew will leave his role. Gillian […]

A ban which prevented a Catholic academy trust’s 19 primary schools from hosting 11-plus exams has been lifted after its Archbishop ruled that it is “inoperable”. In September last year a letter was distributed across the Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership (KCSP) which said academies “must now cease enabling, facilitating or, especially, administering the Kent test […]