Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Josh Hunt, Carl Salt and Andrea Smith

Josh Hunt, one of the first chaplains in a non-religious affiliated secondary school, says staff and students at Felixstowe Academy – part of the Academies Enterprise Trust – have “embraced” his new role. Mr Hunt joined the Suffolk academy last September after eight years as a youth worker, during which he completed a degree in youth […]

What’s happening on the education campaign trails this week?

Academy big guns boost campaign coffers Two leading hedge fund managers have donated to the general election campaigns of schools minister David Laws and education secretary Nicky Morgan, while the chair and founder of the Harris Federation, Lord Philip Harris of Peckham, has targeted Conservative candidates battling to hold seats in marginal constituencies. Jon Wood, […]

Lib Dems want top DfE spot

The Conservative party has insisted that education secretary Nicky Morgan is doing a “great job” after Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg (pictured) hinted his party might try to take control of the education department if involved in a future coalition government. On the campaign trail this week, Mr Clegg said he would like to see a […]

General election 2015: education education education

Click here to download. Education and skills are undeniably two key battlegrounds in this General Election. Promises and pledges about schools and FE policy have been raining down from the highest party political echelons since well before the short campaign started, and in less than a fortnight it will all come to a head with […]

Telford trust winds up after poor Ofsted inspections

A new sponsor has stepped in to support the leaders of a multi-academy trust after its four schools were put in special measures within a week. But a deal for the Community Academies Trust (CAT) to permanently take over the Telford schools from Telford Co-Operative Multi-Academy Trust (TCMAT), has yet to be signed off. CAT […]

Mother wins delayed reception place for summer-born daughter

A mother has won a delayed reception place for her daughter born in August, putting further pressure on other admissions authorities to allow children to enter school later. Last week, Staffordshire County Council relented and, after media reports of the case, allowed four-year-old Olivia Dutton to take a place in a reception class rather than […]

Academy big guns boost campaign coffers

Two leading hedge fund managers have donated to the general election campaigns of schools minister David Laws and education secretary Nicky Morgan, while the chair and founder of the Harris Federation, Lord Philip Harris of Peckham, has targeted Conservative candidates battling to hold seats in marginal constituencies. Jon Wood, director of privately owned hedge fund […]

Move away and siblings will lose their place, say councils

Two London local authorities have amended the sibling priority rule from 2016, taking away the automatic entitlement to school places for a number of families. Brent and Wandsworth councils will stop giving priority to siblings if their family no longer lives within a catchment area. In contrast, other councils have recognised the strain parents will […]

Free school site has ‘credible’ explosives threat

A free school says it is expecting to move “in the coming autumn” to a permanent site by an airport runway – despite an asbestos issue and a credible threat from unexploded Second World War mines. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) bought the former national air traffic control training centre next to Bournemouth airport at […]