Author: Jess Staufenberg

The government will only pay £18 million towards its new “future talent fund”, which is aimed at helping the brightest poor pupils in secondary schools, £5 million less than expected. The policy was first announced last December by former education secretary Justine Greening. It formed part of her ‘Unlock talent and fulfil potential’ social mobility […]

Schools should be “cautious” about introducing mentoring programmes for their vulnerable pupils because they can do more harm than good if unsuccessful, analysis shows. A report for the Children’s Commissioner warns that despite its increasing popularity, mentoring needs a stronger evidence base before being widely rolled out to struggling pupils. Analysts at thinktank LKMCo looked […]

Ofsted is buzzing with rumours that the grading system for schools is about be scrapped and replaced with pass-or-fail inspections. Iain Veitch, a headteacher and Ofsted inspector, told delegates at the Schools North East governance conference about gossip surrounding the proposed new inspection framework, which comes into effect next year. Amanda Spielman (pictured), the chief […]

Private school fees have increased again, new data published by the Independent Schools Council reveals. The ISC, a membership organisation for 1,326 private schools which counts Harrow, Eton, Westminster and Rugby among its members, has today published the results of its annual census. Schools Week has the key findings: 1. Private school fees rise again Fees […]

The government should refocus its £75 million teaching and leadership innovation fund to help boost pupils’ speaking and listening skills, MPs were told today. Anita Kerwin-Nye, a leading special education needs professional and founder of the Communication Trust, told an event at Parliament attended by the children’s minister Nadhim Zahawi that oracy should become a “key goal” […]

Ofsted will save more than £2 million by giving ‘good’ schools – and those with “serious weaknesses” – an extra year between inspections, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. The watchdog last week revealed in a blog that it will increase the maximum time between inspections of ‘inadequate’ schools with leaders who have the capacity to […]

Pupil referral units in Dorset are turning away some excluded pupils after the local authority ran out of money to fund them. Dorset county council says its learning centres will not take any more pupils who are suspended from school or at risk of exclusion this term. The centres will only admit those who have […]