Kathryn Snowdon | Schools Week

£2.5m scheme to help schools open-up facilities to get more kids active

Hundreds of after-school clubs will be created and school facilities will be opened up at weekends and holidays as part of new government measures to get more children active. Extra training will also be given to PE teachers and sports volunteering programmes will be expanded to give more young people the chance to become sports […]

Teach First offered places to 82% of assessed applicants

Teach First has recruited its largest cohort of trainee teachers by allowing way more applicants through assessment and taking on more graduates with 2:2 degrees. The charity, which aims to place high-flying graduates who might not ordinarily consider teaching in schools serving disadvantaged communities, has recruited 1,735 trainees this year. While that’s still just shy […]

State schools find it much harder to access university partnerships

Schools serving deprived communities are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to encounter barriers in getting university access help for their pupils than schools in the private sector. The Barrier to Access report, published today by the education charity The Brilliant Club, calls for providers of university access opportunities to “go out of their way” […]

Scrap EBacc and reform Progress 8 to tackle creative subjects slump, ministers told

Ministers should ditch the EBacc and reform the Progress 8 performance measure to arrest the slump in the number of pupils taking creative arts subjects, says a new report. The education think tank EDSK found that since the introduction of the EBacc in 2010, design and technology GCSE entries have fallen 65 per cent, while […]

Spielman: ‘Red herring’ to blame plunge in D&T numbers solely on EBacc

Ofsted’s chief inspector has defended the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) as being the main driver of plunging pupil numbers for subjects such as design and technology. Amanda Spielman said today that between 2003 and 2017, the number of design and technology GCSEs taken by 16-year-olds in England “plummeted” by nearly two-thirds, from 420,000 pupils to just […]

‘The challenge is huge’: Oasis founder reveals vision for England’s first secure school

Rev Steve Chalke, founder and leader of the Oasis Charitable Trust, which has just been awarded the contract to run England’s first secure school, knows the magnitude of the job that lays ahead. Rehabilitation, not punishment, is going to be at the forefront of Oasis Restore, a school for young offenders to be built on […]

Proportion of pupils with SEND continues to rise, and 4 more findings

Government statistics today have revealed the proportion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities has risen for a third consecutive year. The data shows that, as of January, there were 1,318,300 pupils with SEND in England, representing 14.9 per cent of the total pupil population. Here’s five key findings from the stats. 1. Number […]

First 23 computing hubs in England announced

The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) has revealed the first 23 hubs chosen to improve computer science education in England. North Yorkshire, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and Tyne and Wear all have two hubs, with others scattered around the country in areas such as Devon, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire (see full list below). Today’s announcement […]

Ofsted: Curriculum intent isn’t new, and it won’t be the ‘next big thing’

Ofsted has said that its curriculum intent requirements are “nothing new”, nor the “next big thing”, as it attempts to alleviate concerns over the new inspection framework. The schools inspectorate said today that there was no need for headteachers to write new statements, adapt websites or restructure staffing to cover intent. The watchdog said it […]