Kathryn Snowdon | Schools Week

Assaults in schools soar by 72% in four years

Assaults on school premises have soared 72 per cent in the past four years, with 27,805 reports received by the police since 2015. New figures obtained by Schools Week under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the growing need for police intervention in schools, as well as the worsening situation faced by frontline staff. It is […]

Drop in the number of trainee teachers needed next year

More than 1,500 fewer primary trainee teachers and 602 fewer secondary trainees are needed to start courses in 2020-21, new government projections reveal. The Teacher Supply Model (TSM) is used by the Department for Education to monitor recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) courses. Although the TSM estimates that 11.8 per cent fewer primary trainees […]

Free schools ‘failing to reach most disadvantaged areas’

The government’s flagship free schools programme is failing to reach some of England’s lowest performing areas and disproportionately drawing pupils from neighbourhoods that achieve higher results, a new report has found. Free schools, the first of which were opened in 2011, are also being opened in regions where there is far less demand for school […]

Trial to investigate if ‘activity passport’ boosts attainment

More than 100 primary schools are wanted to take part in a new trial to find out if enrichment activities, like visiting museums, boost attainment. The Children’s University trial will see 3,000 nine and 10-year-olds in England fill in a “Passport to Learning” when they complete activities such as performing arts classes, sports clubs and […]

Ofqual wants to ‘rebuke’ rule-breaking exam boards

Ofqual wants to punish awarding organisations that flout regulations with new “public rebukes” and fixed penalty notices. The exams regulator has launched a consultation to update its Taking Regulatory Action (TRA) policy, which was first published in 2011 and was last revised in 2012. Currently, awarding bodies that are found to be breaking the rules […]

SEND system ‘in crisis’ as complaints to local government ombudsman soar

Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are being failed by a “system in crisis” as the number of complaints to the local government ombudsmen soars, a new report has found. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has warned that councils are putting up barriers to services in an effort to ration scarce […]

Seven failing private schools banned from accepting new pupils

Seven private schools have been banned from accepting new pupils for “persistently” failing to meet independent school standards. The Department for Education today published the enforcement letters sent to private schools. Schools minister Lord Agnew warned that the government will not tolerate independent schools “failing children and parents by providing substandard education, and in the […]

Adjust test scores for summer-born pupils, teachers told

Teachers should adjust the test scores of children born in the summer term in a bid to tackle the inherent disadvantage facing younger students in the year, education experts have urged. Pupils born between June and August tend to do less well at school on average than their autumn-born classmates. Summer-born children are also more […]

Independent regulator needed to oversee maintained schools and academies, CST says

An independent regulator should be set up to combine the functions of the regional school commissioners (RSCs) and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an organisation representing school trusts has said. The “divisive language of MATs and SATs” should also be ditched and financial incentives should be offered to entice schools to form or […]