Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Mother told to keep her autistic son at home during inspection

A secondary school in Wiltshire that allegedly asked the mother of an autistic pupil to keep her son at home during an Ofsted inspection could face another visit from the education watchdog. Matravers School has been forced to defend its actions after a staff member is heard on a voicemail message allegedly telling the mother […]

Low pupil numbers force Oasis to close academy

The sponsors of Oasis Academy Hextable in Kent say their plans to shut the school because of low pupil numbers is the “only responsible decision”. Multi-academy sponsor Oasis Community Learning said it regretted having to take the “difficult decision” to close the school, which is less than half full with 328 students in years 7 […]

UCAS to include EU universities

Students won’t see a profusion of EU universities appearing on the UCAS university application database this year, despite being included for the first time. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) recently amended its policies to consider requests from European higher education providers wishing to use its services. They will now be accepted if they […]

Mental illness and schools: No data collected on children since 2004 hampers planning

In a five-part series, Schools Week is exploring the way vulnerable groups of learners have been treated under the Coalition – and asks what can be expected for them in coming years. In the first of the series, Sophie Scott reveals the invisibility of pupils with mental health needs In a week when the education […]

Teacher wins battle to publish observation notes

A teacher has successfully published Ofsted’s observation notes of a lesson following a lengthy battle between the inspectorate, the Information Commissioner, and the National Archives. Harry Fletcher-Wood, a former history teacher at Greenwich free school, used the Data Protection Act to request the notes after an inspection last year, but was told that crown copyright […]

Cleverest classrooms have neutral walls with just a ‘splash of colour’

Paint your classroom walls taupe, grey or white with just a “splash of occasional colour” and learning will improve, new research by the University of Salford suggests. The three-year investigation by the HEAD project (Holistic Education and Design), concludes that good primary classroom design can boost progress in reading, writing and maths by up to […]

Coalition schools eat up extra portion of free school meals cash

The Department for Education has defended its decision to give almost three-quarters of an additional £16.3 million for universal infant free meals (UIFSM) to schools in the constituencies of Coalition MPs. A DfE spokesperson said the funding for the 123 schools selected from the more than 780 that applied was to “help schools that were […]

How to use TAs more effectively

School leaders are being urged to review the roles of teaching assistants (TAs) to ensure they are not being used as substitute teachers for low-attaining pupils. They should instead be used to help pupils develop independent study skills and be given direction to deliver one-to-one support, says a new guidance report from the Education Endowment […]

Exclusive: ‘God designed the solar system,’ says worksheet

Durham Free School: homework was ‘isolated incident’ Morgan announces on Wednesday that school will close Durham Free School will close at the end of this term – and Schools Week can exclusively reveal a science teacher told pupils “God has designed the solar system”. The school, which opened in September 2013, was sent a letter […]