Author: John Dickens

The government will fund councils to find alternative venues for polling stations to ensure school nativities and Christmas concerts aren’t axed because of the election. Schools Week revealed last week that hundreds of schools faced festive disruption because they will be used as makeshift polling booths for the snap election on December 12. Now the […]

Libby Nicholas will step down as chief executive of the Astrea Academy Trust which she helped found four years ago. It comes as the trust, a spin-off of the Reach2 academy trust and which now runs 27 schools, claims it is set to post a six-figure surplus this year. Astrea had to delay publishing last […]

The government has pledged £18 million to fund its “opportunity areas” programme for a further year. The announcement is likely to prove controversial coming just days after a snap election was announced as many of the areas that will benefit from the promised cash are in marginal seats. The Conservatives have already been criticised over […]

Ministers are withholding £500,000 for vital repairs from 17 schools because they haven’t agreed to a visit from Lord Agnew’s costcutters. The disclosure comes in the same week the government announced further conditions for dishing out maintenance funding. Trusts bidding for a slice of next year’s £400 million condition improvement funding (CIF) will now be […]

Inspectors have been told to be “sensitive” in which subjects they choose for “deep dives” at smaller schools. The warning comes after schools reported concerns over the deep dives, however Ofsted said overall new inspections are “going well”. One area of concern was curriculum leads in smaller schools – who oversee several subjects – spending […]

Ofsted will not inspect “satellite” school expansions separately, exposing an “unexpected loophole” that will allow them to avoid scrutiny. The Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys in Kent is consulting on a three-form entry expansion on a satellite site 12 miles away in Sevenoaks. The satellite will eventually have room for 500 pupils. Grammar critics […]

Another grammar school is considering opening a satellite site 12 miles away from its main location, but it seems pupils will be educated separately. Kent County Council has launched a consultation today to expand Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys onto a site in Sevenoaks occupied by the controversial Weald of Kent Grammar School “satellite”. […]

A school locked into a controversial PFI contract was charged more than £1,000 to move an LCD screen, while another forked out £640 to have a computer table removed. The pay-outs were revealed following an investigation by the JPI Media Investigations team into the spiralling costs of private finance initiatives. Consultants that provided advice on […]