Kathryn Snowdon | Schools Week

Child bereavement plans ‘urgently’ needed in schools

Schools should develop a bereavement plan “as a matter of urgency”, campaigners have urged, after research found that more than 41,000 children lose a parent in the UK every year. Winston’s Wish, a child bereavement charity, called for Ofsted to ensure that the revised inspection framework takes into account the impact of bereavement on children […]

Poorer pupils in coastal areas end up 3 grades behind at GCSE

Disadvantaged pupils who live in coastal areas achieve about three grades lower at GCSE than those living in non-coastal locations, new statistics from the DfE have revealed. A report published today found the attainment gap between poor and well-off students was the smallest in cities. Disadvantaged pupils had the lowest attainment and progress in schools in […]

Government gets tough on schools shortening weeks

The Department for Education (DfE) has been accused of having a “lack of understanding” of the financial pressures schools are facing after lambasting heads for shortening school weeks. The DfE said last week that it was “unacceptable” for schools to reduce their weeks after Fulbourn Primary School, in Cambridgeshire, announced the move to make “significant […]

Investigation launched after pupils given question ‘copied’ from textbook

An investigation has been launched after it emerged a question used in the Edexcel GCSE maths paper 3 this week was almost identical to one used in a revision textbook. Pupils took to social media to share their frustration after they were faced with the same diagram, values and answer in Tuesday’s GCSE higher tier […]

Ofsted downgrades hundreds more ‘outstanding’ schools

Almost a third of previously ‘outstanding’ schools inspected since last September have dropped to ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’, Ofsted has revealed. Data covering the period from September to the end of March shows that just 16 per cent of ‘outstanding’ schools inspected during that time kept their top grade. Twenty-five per cent dropped to ‘requires […]

11-plus provider CEM bought by Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press

The University of Durham’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), a leading provider of the 11-plus test, has been sold to Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press. The two organisations have jointly acquired the CEM, which has been used by the education sector for more than 30 years and in more than 70 countries, providing formative […]

Boys and girls offered different taster lessons based on gender

Two schools have come under fire for offering different taster lessons to pupils based on their gender, after girls were told they’d be doing cooking and drama lessons and boys a design and technology class. Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School, in Lincolnshire, held a learning experience morning for local primary school pupils. Guardians […]

Cuts jeopardise leading alternative provision

The only “outstanding” pupil referral unit in North Yorkshire could close by Christmas, leading to fears students won’t have anywhere to go as other alternative provision settings are stretched to capacity. The Grove Academy in Harrogate is one of five alternative provision providers in North Yorkshire. It has 34 pupils on roll. Delta Academies Trust, […]

Women underrepresented on DfE’s new ed tech panel

Women make up just a quarter of a new government panel set up to improve the accessibility and inclusion of technology in schools. Just seven of the 28 members on the Department for Education’s edtech leadership group are women, which campaigners say is “jarring” and a “real oversight”. And of the 11 panel members listed […]