Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Birmingham pupils celebrate health award

More than 100 pupils from South Birmingham schools have picked up a Health for Life award for committing to building and sustaining a healthy lifestyle. A celebration event held in the city’s Council House and attended by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham saw 24 primary and six secondary schools presented with awards which celebrated the […]

Back to school for Gibb and Miliband

The schools minister, Nick Gibb and former Labour leader Ed Miliband returned to their old schools as part of a nationwide campaign to inspire state pupils to academic and career success. Mr Gibb returned to Roundhay School in Leeds as part of Back to School Week, February 1-5, run by education charity Future First. During […]

Alice Barnard, Martin Sutcliffe and Eleni Kettles

Alice Barnard starts as the new chief executive of the Edge Foundation on Monday. She takes over from David Harbourne, Edge’s director of policy and research, who has been acting chief executive since Jan Hodges’ retirement last April. Ms Barnard moves from her position as leader of the Peter Jones Foundation, which she has held […]

Bristol primary takes literacy crown

A primary in Bristol has been crowned the UK’s Literacy School of the Year. St Peter’s Church of England Primary was given the award by the UK Literacy Association (UKLA), a charity that aims to raise standards in literacy, for placing the subject at the heart of the curriculum. UKLA judges said they were impressed […]

Anti-bullying resource for disabled young people launched

A new resource to help staff tackle the homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying of disabled young people was launched last week. Developed by the Anti-Bullying Alliance in partnership with Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (Each), the guide was published to mark the start of LGBT History Month. It tells staff to focus on a “whole-school […]

Factory-farmed teachers will fail our children

The new-look training courses are trying to turn out fully-formed teachers in a matter of weeks, when what they need is time to think and support as they develop. We can’t dismiss the great educational thinkers of the past The increased focus on competition in education has produced a conveyor belt of quick fixes in […]

Schools hit by storm Desmond and Eva will not get automatic exemption, says JCQ

Schools whose pupils have had coursework and classrooms ruined by flooding will not automatically be granted deadline extensions or grade adjustments, it has been revealed. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents several of England’s largest exam boards, has confirmed that schools must apply for special dispensation from each board responsible for each subject […]

Theresa May pushes troubled children free schools plan

Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) should support and open alternative provision free schools, Theresa May has said. The home secretary told the right-leaning thinktank Policy Exchange that future PCCs should “work with and possibly set up” schools to “support troubled children and prevent them from falling into a life of crime”. But the future of […]

Free schools: parents pushed out as multi-academy trusts move in

The government’s latest announcement of approved free schools continues the trend away from parent-led schemes, with multi-academy trusts the big winners. Of the 22 applications approved last week, 15 are from existing multi-academy trusts, three from trusts already running a school, two from further education colleges, and from a religious group backed by a large […]