Nick Linford | Schools Week

New DT GCSE content to be delayed until 2017, Gibb announces

The introduction of a new design and technology GCSE will be delayed, school reform minister Nick Gibb has announced. The Department for Education (DfE) had consulted on the subject content for the new qualification in the autumn, but has since announced its implementation will be delayed until September 2017. It had been due for first teaching […]

BREAKING: Suspensions lifted at Cuckoo Hall

A unanimous vote by the board of the Cuckoo Hall Academies Trust yesterday lifted the suspensions on executive headteacher Patricia Sowter and headteacher Sharon Ahmet. Trustee Phill Sowter, who spoke out last month to deny allegations of gross misconduct, also had his suspension removed on January 8 after all three spent more than a month away […]

When MPs debate grammar schools — Our 10-point guide to today’s Westminster motion

In Parliament this morning, Conservative MP for Gainsborough Sir Edward Leigh, proposed a motion to end imbalances in grammar funding. The majority of the debate, however, focused on the benefits (or otherwise) of grammar schools. Our reporter, Freddie Whittaker, was live-tweeting. Here’s his 10-point summary of the arguments.

Dwindling teacher pay puts children at risk, says union chief

New teachers are paid 20 per cent less than the average graduate starting salary – and the widening pay gap is risking children’s education, a union has warned. A report by Incomes Data Services (IDS), commissioned by NASUWT and reviewing teacher salaries, shows that since 2010 the pay gap between teachers and graduates at other […]

EFA demands action over finances at free school open for less than three years

A free school which has been open for less than three years has been hit by a financial notice to improve after pleading for support from the Education Funding Agency (EFA) following a failure to balance its budget. Grindon Hall Christian School, which opened in 2012, was served with the notice on Monday. The move […]

New Year – new name

We liked the name Academies Week, but many of you did not. Rightly, you said it excluded lots of the schools we write about. The name also confused because it looked like we favoured one school type over another – when we actually do impartial reporting So, we’re changing it. From Friday, January 9 2015, […]

War of words at Cuckoo Hall after former chair denies she was removed

A war of words has broken out at an academy trust at the centre of an investigation into misconduct after the former chair broke her silence. Andry Efthymiou, left, who was chair of the Cuckoo Hall Academy Trust (CHAT) until December 17, has claimed she stood down voluntarily from her position following legal advice. However […]

Inspiration Academies Trust chair Theodore Agnew set for knighthood

Inspiration Academies Trust chair Theodore Agnew (pictured) is to receive one of four top level awards handed out in the 2015 New Year Honours. Mr Agnew, a non-executive director of the Department for Education (DfE), will be recognised for services to education with a knighthood, along with Gorse Academies Trust executive principal John Townsley, while […]

School travel fund for local authorities cut by £6m

The government has slashed school travel funding by £6 million, forcing local authorities to consider making cuts elsewhere. On Wednesday, the Department for Education (DfE) set out funding allocations for extended rights to free school travel for the financial years 2014/15 and 2015/16. Part of the Local Services Support Grant (LSSG), the funding is paid […]