Jess Staufenberg | Schools Week

DfE ‘looking at’ resilience measure for trainee teachers

A Bradford teacher-training organisation has reduced drop-out rates by screening applicants for their resilience. The wastage rate of teacher trainees at Bradford SCITT fell from 10 per cent to one per cent in the first year after applicants’ resilience was measured and those with low scores were targeted with support. The man behind the idea, […]

Teach First increases trainee numbers more in south than north

Teach First has made progress placing trainees in the north of England but is still struggling in some areas, reflecting the recruitment difficulties faced by schools there. Figures seen exclusively by Schools Week show 630 trainees have been posted in northern areas and the Midlands this year, while 741 are stationed in the south including […]

QTS consultation: Only 50% back two-year induction period and 6 other key results

The education community is split on extending the induction period for new teachers to two years, the government’s consultation response has revealed. New teachers will now spend two years in an induction period, where they can receive extra support and professional development. But respondents were evenly split on the idea, with more than 900 against […]

Parents stay away from EEF’s family literacy programme

A programme which taught parents how to help boost their children’s literacy shows promise but also found too few parents turned up to the sessions. Although pupils whose parents came to sessions apparently made as much as two months of additional reading progress, only one third of eligible parents attended. Run by the Education Endowment […]

AI will soon beat pupils taught knowledge-based curriculum

Pupils will be unable to compete with advanced artificial intelligence systems if they are taught a knowledge-based curriculum, a leading academic has warned. Rose Luckin, professor of learner-centred design at UCL, has told heads of private schools at the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference that teaching a knowledge-based curriculum is “naive” because it imparts facts in a […]

Named: The 92 academy trusts with multiple staff on £100k+

Ninety-two academy trusts with multiple staff on £100,000 to £150,000 a year have been named by the government. Data obtained exclusively by Schools Week shows the majority of trusts with multiple employees on this kind of salary are small. In fact, of the 92 trusts named today, 56 have fewer than 10 schools, and 11 […]

Schools without professional clerk are breaking government rules

Schools are breaking government rules by failing to employ a professional clerk to advise governors on their legal duties in meetings. The governance handbook clearly states that a board must use a “professional clerk” to take minutes, organise the board and help navigate the law. But Julia Millard, an advocate for National Leaders of Governance, […]

Ofqual investigates examiners’ experience and background

Ofqual is surveying examiners on their background amid fears from teachers that some lack the experience to mark scripts to a suitable standard. Examiners will be assessed on how long they have been marking papers, whether they have degrees in their subjects, and how confident they feel at the task. The report will be published […]

Which local authorities got flexibility on high needs funding?

In a move allowing certain local authorities greater control over special-needs funding, the education secretary has lavished Conservative-run councils with more flexibility. Councils are no longer able to freely move money from general schools funding to cover spikes in demand for higher-needs funding, which is used to pay for special needs places and excluded pupils. […]