John Dickens | Schools Week

Limit pupils’ lunch portions to save money, say Agnew’s cost-cutting advisers

Lord Agnew’s cost-cutting consultants told a school to replace experienced teachers with support staff on term-time contracts, while another was urged to limit lunch portions for pupils. Secret reports seen by Schools Week reveal other tips from the “school resource management advisers” include saving money on supply teachers by instead using spare staff to cover […]

Brexit nudges funding formula to the back of the line

The national funding formula sits in the wings while the government attempts to sort Brexit. But is it worth waiting for? When he was asked about schools closing early on Fridays as a result of squeezed funding, Philip Hammond suggested skewed funding was “giving rise to the unhappiness and disquiet”. The chancellor, speaking on The […]

Surge in pupils with weapons sparks calls for more support

Leading schools sector voices are warning that staff need more help to keep classrooms safe, following a surge in the numbers of pupils being found carrying weapons in some regions. Data obtained by Schools Week reveals a large increase in police call-outs to schools over the past five years after pupils as young as 10 […]

UTCs told to join MATs after Lord Baker U-turn

University technical colleges are being pressured to join multi-academy trusts after the programme’s architect Lord Baker U-turned on previous warnings that they will be “watered down” if they do. Schools Week can reveal that Baker and academies minister Lord Agnew wrote to principals and chairs of all UTCs last month, urging them to join a […]

Ofsted rules Parkfield’s LGBT lessons are ‘age-appropriate’

Ofsted has backed a Birmingham primary school at the centre of a row with parents over whether its lessons on LGBT rights and homophobia are age-appropriate. The watchdog visited Parkfield Community School last month following protests by parents over the school’s “No Outsiders” programme, which teaches pupils about LGBT relationships and other issues. But in […]

Deloitte ‘gagged’ by DfE over WCAT chain closure

A Big Four accountancy firm that was paid nearly £200,000 to help to close the multi-academy trust WCAT has a “gagging clause” that stops it from saying anything that would “embarrass” the Department for Education. A freedom of information request obtained by Schools Week shows that Deloitte was paid £198,570 to support the DfE for […]

DfE gave academy trust £500k despite serious concerns about finances

Senior Department for Education officials were alerted to a string of concerns at a high-profile academy trust before it was handed more than £500,000 under a flagship government policy for “top performing” sponsors. In November 2015, Nicky Morgan, the then education secretary, announced Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) as one of five “outstanding” sponsors to […]

AET recruits Harris leader to turnaround its London secondaries

The country’s largest academy trust has appointed a senior leader from Harris to turnaround its London secondary schools. David Moody will join the Academies Enterprise Trust this month, leaving his role as principal of the Harris Academy Battersea. It marks the second high-profile departure in recent months at Harris. It was announced in January that […]

‘Flattening the grass’: what’s really going on at OGAT and Delta?

Claims that a multi-academy trust runs “flattening the grass” assemblies in which children are humiliated swarmed on Twitter last week. The frenzy was prompted by an anonymous blog that relayed an account of the practice, claiming children were the “grass” to be “flattened”. Schools Week investigates… The term “flattening the grass” isn’t new. Schools Week […]