Jess Staufenberg | Schools Week

NHS groups backtrack on proposals to restrict autism diagnoses

NHS commissioners have backtracked on proposals to diagnose children with autism only if they also have a mental health condition, after an outcry that pupils would be left unsupported. Four clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in south-west London came under fire after it emerged this month they had suggested limiting autism diagnoses to children with additional […]

Oasis academy trust denies encouraging parents to ‘home educate’ disruptive pupils

Twice the number of pupils at an Oasis academy have been “home educated” since the start of the year compared to other schools in the area, with parents alleging they were encouraged to remove their children if they didn’t want them to be excluded. Thirty-three pupils were taken out of the Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey, off […]

MAT for excluded pupils allowed to expand despite worst Ofsted

A multi-academy trust for excluded pupils will take over a failing school even though Ofsted rated its first school ‘inadequate’ – in a move that appears to contradict ministerial wishes that trusts must raise standards before being allowed to expand. One of two alternative provision schools run by the Brighton-based Olive Academies MAT received Ofsted’s […]

Affluent pupils less likely to go to university if they do National Citizen Service

Poorer pupils are more likely to go to university if they do the government’s flagship National Citizen Service (NCS), a new report has found. But pupils from more affluent backgrounds are less likely to go to university if they do the four-week holiday course, with a 10 percentage point drop in girls and 6 percentage […]

First medical needs-only MAT to open

Two hospital schools will join forces to become the first medical-needs-only multi-academy trust, after turning down offers from mainstream MATs which had threatened to “swallow” their funds. Northamptonshire Hospital and Outreach Education, a local authority-run hospital school, will sponsor Oxfordshire Hospital School and open as a MAT in September or October. The schools decided not […]

Conservatives’ free breakfast pledge ‘costed at just 7p per meal’

The Conservatives have set aside just under 7p per pupil for its manifesto pledge to give all primary school pupils free breakfasts, in what food experts have labelled a “black hole” in the government’s manifesto calculations. The party’s manifesto, launched last Thursday, scraps universal infant free school meals (UIFSM), which cost an estimated £600 million a […]

Schools should contact exam boards after Manchester terrorist attack

Schools should contact their exam boards about making provisions for pupils who may have been affected by the terrorist attack on a pop concert in Manchester last night. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents AQA, Pearson, OCR and other boards, said its members would make sure no pupils were disadvantaged if headteachers chose to […]

Schools spend thousands of pounds on ‘question banks’ to improve GCSEs and SATs scores

Schools are spending thousands of pounds on “question banks” to prepare pupils for exams and to improve assessment outcomes. The banks, which allow teachers to access different types of questions on a single topic, have grown at a “crazy” rate, say exam boards. AQA offers a question bank for primary schools called Testbase, which costs […]

Academies specialising in excluded pupils under pressure to grow

Multi-academy trusts that specialise in alternative provision are being asked to expand and sponsor new schools as local authority-run services are squeezed by greater demand. The number of alternative provision (AP) academies, which cater for excluded pupils as well as those with emotional, behavioural and medical needs, have increased dramatically in the past four years […]