Jess Staufenberg | Schools Week

Let grammars use expansion cash to help secondary moderns, says leading head

A leading grammar head wants expansion cash redirected to encourage selective schools to give support to secondary moderns. This call comes as another grammar school has announced plans to set up an academy trust alongside a secondary modern, a year after ministers first urged them to join with neighbouring schools. The Boston High School, a […]

Interserve seeks to reassure schools amid administration reports

Outsourcing giant Interserve, which provides services to more than 700 schools, is reportedly going to be put into administration today. However, the company has insisted this will not be a Carillion-style collapse and it is very much business as usual, with no big job losses anticipated. Shareholders at Interserve, which employs 45,000 people in the UK, today […]

School keeps top grade despite failing emergency inspections

A private school is still rated ‘outstanding’ after failing emergency inspections that found pupils were not safe and some were unlawfully excluded. The Heathside preparatory school in north London, which charges up to £18,000 a year, got Ofsted’s top grade in September 2017. But just months later it failed two additional inspections on independent school […]

School forced to pay £270k for healthcare of disabled pupils

A school has been forced to pay £270,000 for nursing assistants to help three pupils with profound long-term disabilities because the local health agency refuses to cover the costs, according to the headteacher. Sabrina Hobbs, head of a specialist academy in Shrewsbury, said her local clinical commissioning group (CCG) paid for the pupils’ healthcare at […]

More pupils miss out on first choice of secondary school

Half the councils expecting the biggest rise in demand for secondary school places have offered fewer pupils their first choice of school, Schools Week analysis shows. It comes as a pupil population bulge moves out of primary and into secondary schools, leaving one council at least 400 places short. More than 600,000 pupils were last […]

Government set for High Court showdown over legality of SEND funding cuts

The government will be taken to the High Court over its cuts to special educational needs funding after a judge ruled in favour of a landmark judicial review. Families representing pupils with SEND announced in September they were crowdfunding a legal challenge against education secretary Damian Hinds and chancellor Philip Hammond over their high need […]

DfE pledges ‘career-related learning’ in all primary schools

All primary schools will offer careers-related activities to pupils, the Department for Education has pledged. Education secretary Damian Hinds today revealed his department is working with firms like oil company BP and financial services firm UBS to bring “career-related learning” to all primary schools. Government research shows 96 per cent of primary schools already offer […]

Exam stress is ‘not necessarily a bad thing’, says Ofqual

The exams regulator has released new guidance for pupils which states that exam stress is “not necessarily a bad thing”. Pupils stressed with exams could do mindfulness or yoga to cope, Ofqual’s guidance published today states. The watchdog has also launched a series of blogs for teachers on supporting pupils with test anxiety, with the […]

Investigation: The highs (and occasional lows) of academy CEO pay

Nearly half of the academy trusts ordered by the government to justify high salaries paid their chief executives more last year. Three paid their leaders an extra £40,000 or more, with another handing out a £26,000 bonus – despite the trust shedding schools. Just one in seven paid their chief executives less last year, although […]