John Dickens | Schools Week

‘Great teaching is the opposite of what you learn in training’

The Department for Education’s former teacher in residence has claimed excellent teaching is the “direct opposite” of what he was taught during teacher training – criticising teachers who employ a “child-centred” approach. Robert Peal, a former Teach First trainee who now teaches history at West London Free School, called for an end to teaching that […]

Auditors flag increase in financially ‘unviable’ academy trusts

Auditors are increasingly raising the alarm about academy trusts at risk of running out of money, with chains raiding reserves and eyeing expansion to pay off deficits. A Schools Week analysis of annual accounts has revealed a prevailing picture of “unviable trusts”. The Rodillian Trust, which sponsors three schools in West Yorkshire, used more than […]

Meet the £200k-per-year academy chiefs who look after just a handful of schools

Growing numbers of academy leaders, many of them responsible for only a handful of schools, now earn more than £200,000 a year. In one case a headteacher at a single academy trust is now paid £220,000, while an associate head at the same trust is on £145,000. A Schools Week investigation also revealed two chief […]

Revealed: The 23 trusts that broke rules over £4m related-party transactions

Twenty-three academy trusts breached funding rules last year when they made payments of more than £4 million to companies related to members of their staff or trustees. For the first time, Schools Week can reveal who the trusts are and the 26 transactions in which they failed to show they were fully compliant with rules […]

Harris Federation boss’s salary reaches £420,000 after latest pay rise

The country’s best-paid academy boss has been handed another pay rise – boosting his salary to at least £420,000. It marks another salary increase for Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, who was paid at least £395,000 in 2015. New annual accounts published by Harris, which runs 41 schools, show another seven […]

EFA paid £16m for £5m Hackney free school site

The government paid £16 million for a free school site that was later valued by the council as worth £5.3 million. The Education Funding Agency bought a former fire station in Hackney, north London, to house a new primary for 350 pupils run by the Hackney New School, based next door. It is believed the […]

Accounts Watch: Academy trust chief gets £85,000 severance pay-out

An academy trust chief executive who resigned after a misconduct investigation received a payout of of more than £85,000. Denise Shepherd was suspended as chief executive of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT), which runs 10 schools in Kent and Portsmouth, in May last year. It was reported in a national newspaper that a whistleblower […]

Basildon Academies trust issued fourth government warning

An academy trust dubbed one of the early “untouchables” has been issued with its fourth government warning notice. The Basildon Academies trust was handed a financial notice to improve, published today, over a forecast budget deficit. The deficit figure is not published. It’s the fourth such warning notice issued to the trust or one of […]

Regional schools commissioner league tables 2014-15

After a six-month battle with the government, Schools Week has obtained the data used by ministers to assess the performance of the eight regional schools commissioners. The figures, which have never been published, relate to the commissioners’ first year in office, from September 2014 to October 2015. A regional schools commissioner who resigned after […]