Author: Jess Staufenberg

The government has published 15 more warning notices identifying failings at private schools around the country. About half of the notices, which cover April and May this year, are for private religious schools, with many of these failing on safeguarding problems. One of the schools hit with a notice was criticised for a “falling pupil roll”, in […]

The proportion of pupils permanently excluded from school has risen for the third year in a row, government data shows. Statistics released by the Department for Education show that 0.1 per cent of pupils in all schools were excluded in 2016-17, compared to 0.08 per cent in 2015-16. It is the third year that has […]

Schools will have to teach pupils about the benefits of a healthier lifestyle and how to build mental resilience, as part of the new relationships and sex education curriculum that comes into effect in 2020. The Department for Education will today publish its draft guidance on RSE, months after it was originally promised. The guidance […]

About 1,000 high-attaining primary schools are missing out on top GCSE grades, while their richer peers with the same prior attainment are pulling ahead. Just over half of poorer pupils who were within the top 10 per cent of key stage 2 scores in English and maths at primary school went on to get top […]

Religious education should be renamed Religion, Beliefs and Values and parents must not be allowed to remove pupils from those lessons, a new report recommends. The law surrounding RE in schools is “outdated” and “hinders” the subject from being a relevant and highly respected academic one, it states. Former education secretary Charles Clarke (pictured) and […]

Brett Wigdortz, the founder of Teach First, has been appointed as the new chair of the National Citizen Service. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has named Wigdortz, who stood down as Teach First’s CEO last October, as the NCS’s chair-designate. He will take on the role at an important time for the organisation, […]

The number of pupils in English secondary schools is set to rise by 418,000 over the next nine years, an increase of 14.7 per cent. Pupil numbers in secondary schools will increase from 2.8 million this year to around 3.3 million in 2027, according to the Department for Education’s latest forecasts. The increase is the […]

Nine in ten teachers believe SATs are detrimental to pupils’ well-being and mental health. Of 1,200 primary school teachers surveyed by the National Education Union, 90 per cent reported crying, nightmares, changes in behaviour or high stressed among pupils ahead of the tests. Eighty-six per cent of the teachers also blamed SATs for lowering the […]

SEND specialists across England have been tasked with creating a network of 10,000 schools over the next two years to spread best practice for pupils with special educational needs. Nadhim Zahawi, the children’s minister, met with newly-appointed regional SEND leaders last week to talk about setting up support hubs across the country. It is hoped […]