John Dickens | Schools Week

Angela Rayner at Labour party conference 2019

My, but Angela Rayner is a canny political operator. Early on a Sunday morning, not a high point for crowd engagement, even at party conferences. The delegates had been whipped into a fervour by discussions of motions from the conference arrangements committee, and then a fairly somnolent speech from the leader of Welsh Labour. The […]

CPD firms struggle as funding squeeze shifts landscape

Two major school membership organisations have posted losses as schools tighten their belts in the face of budget restraints. One of the companies has scaled back the number of conferences it runs, with staff now increasingly sent into schools, while another continuing professional development provider was forced to run a training camp over a weekend […]

Schools told to ‘set off alarms’ and ‘drop curriculum’ for climate protests

Schools are being advised to “set off alarms” and “drop the curriculum for the day” as part of a protest on climate change tomorrow. The action is widely predicted to be the largest ever protest against climate change, with thousands of walkouts and demonstrations around the world. In Doncaster, the council wants headteachers to “sound […]

Lilac Sky investigation report STILL not published

The Department for Education has failed to meet its own pledge to publish a long-awaited investigation report into a defunct academy trust. The nine-school Lilac Sky Schools Academy Trust (LSSAT) shut in 2017 amid a government investigation into allegations of financial malpractice. Publishing findings is an important part of this and our aim is to […]

Students ‘unlawfully’ kicked out after missing ‘minimum’ grades

A school in north London “unlawfully” booted out sixth-formers halfway through their A-levels because they didn’t achieve high enough grades. Three parents have told Schools Week their children were left devastated by the “horrifying” and “appalling” decision of Queens Park Community School in Brent not to allow the pupils to progress to year 13. One […]

Nick Gibb’s ministerial brief expanded to include early years

Schools minister Nick Gibb will take on policy for early years education under an expanded ministerial portfolio. Gibb will take charge of policy on early education and childcare including funding, support for the early years workforce, curriculum, quality and the early education entitlements. He will also take on responsibility for PE and school sport and […]

The ‘Forgotten Third’ deserve the dignity of a new type of qualification

In spite of decades of curriculum and qualifications reform, a third of 16-year-olds in England are not awarded a ‘standard pass’ at their English Language GCSE. It’s high time the qualification was scrapped, argues Roy Blatchford, Chair of the Forgotten Third commission, and replaced with one we can all be proud of. It is a […]

Gavin Williamson’s AP free schools promise won’t work unless…

The news that alternative provision (AP) will be a major focus of the free schools programme under the new government is most welcome and overdue. While there are excellent APs all over the country, there are also too many cold spots, where vulnerable children are left without any access to quality education. Setting up new […]

Ofsted’s inspection grace period won’t apply to full primary curriculum

Ofsted’s curriculum grace period will not apply to reading, writing and maths in primary schools. Further details of the education watchdog’s transition plans to give schools some breathing space in developing their curriculum were released in notes to inspectors today. It shows the transition arrangements apply to four of the “good” criteria of the quality […]