Jess Staufenberg

  • Outwood Grange Academies Trust faces legal challenge over isolation booths

    A high-profile academy trust faces a legal challenge over claims a pupil at one of its schools spent almost a third of his time in isolation rooms last year. Lawyers acting for the pupil’s family have applied for a judicial review against Outwood Grange Academies Trust over its use of “consequences rooms”. The mother of…

    18.18 Dec. 11th, 2018 | News

  • Union urges Catholic school teachers to resist academy plans

    Teachers at Catholic schools are being urged by their union to resist plans by bishops to convert their schools into academies. The National Education Union has warned teachers they face poorer working conditions and “deeper” funding cuts if their local authority-maintained schools convert to academies. In a blog post, the NEU set out what it claims…

    17.45 Dec. 11th, 2018 | News

  • Ofsted research finds schools in poorest areas have best curriculum

    Ofsted has found schools in the most deprived communities outscored their more affluent counterparts in its new study on the quality of curriculum – suggesting the watchdog’s new focus could turn the tables on inspections unfairly grading schools in poor areas. The inspectorate has published the findings of its third phase of curriculum research this…

    10.32 Dec. 11th, 2018 | News

  • Spielman: Curriculum research shows we won't be fooled by leaders 'talking a good game'

    Inspectors will not be fooled by schools “talking a good game” on their curriculum but not turning their plans into reality, the chief inspector of Ofsted has said after research found many primaries failed to implement their ideas. The inspectorate has published the findings of its third phase of curriculum research this morning, in which…

    11.41 Dec. 11th, 2018 | News

  • New DfE research shows 'lasting negative impact' on attainment of children in need

    Pupils known to social services lag far behind their less vulnerable peers at GCSE, even if they are no longer classed as being “in need”, the Department for Education has warned. New research found pupils who had been classed as “in need” at some point between 2011 and 2017 scored an average attainment 8 score…

    10.51 Dec. 10th, 2018 | News

  • ESFA names 9 organisations to roll out £2.3m cost-cutting consultant expansion

    The government has named the nine organisations that will recruit and manage a new raft of cost-cutting consultants to help schools save money. The Department for Education has confirmed today it is massively extending its ‘schools resource management adviser’ scheme – where consultants are sent into schools to help find savings – as first revealed…

    16.21 Dec. 7th, 2018 | News

  • DfE to advise teachers on how to speak to vulnerable pupils

    Teachers will get advice on “adapting how they speak” to pupils who have been in contact with social services as part of a government review. The Department for Education will today publish its “children in need of help and protection” review, which collates expert advice on improving outcomes for some of the most vulnerable pupils.…

    0.01 Dec. 10th, 2018 | News

  • Practise what you preach on SEND, Ofsted told

    A literacy charity has praised Ofsted for its “unprecedented” intervention on behalf of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities – but warned that its words “must be turned into action”. In its annual report published on Tuesday, the inspectorate was critical of the high exclusion rates of SEND pupils in mainstream schools, refusals by…

    5.00 Dec. 9th, 2018 | News

  • Flagship National Citizen Service under fire for £1m-a-year offices

    The government’s flagship National Citizen Service trust has been slammed after its rent ballooned by more than ten-fold to over £1 million last year, following a move to new offices in west Kensington. The trust, set up by former prime minister David Cameron as part of his “Big Society” agenda in 2011, also missed more…

    5.00 Dec. 8th, 2018 | News

  • 'This is about social mobility': Academy trust boss defends exclusions record

    The boss of an academy trust under the spotlight for high rates of temporary exclusions has insisted strict behaviour expectations “prevent chaos” in its challenging schools. The Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) has been the focus of several articles this year for some of the highest rates of fixed-term exclusions across the country. As revealed…

    7.00 Dec. 7th, 2018 | News

  • Trust praised by ministers tops suspensions tables in Ofsted's areas of concern

    An academy trust praised by ministers tops the fixed-term exclusions tables in four authorities that concern Ofsted Exclusions divide education. The government’s Timpson Review is currently looking at the practice and earlier this year Ofsted wrote to schools in ten local authorities about their high fixed-term exclusion rates. Six of those ten have provided figures…

    7.00 Dec. 7th, 2018 | News