Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Pay report reveals huge disparity in school business manager salaries

A new report has revealed a deep divide in the salaries of school business managers – with the lowest earners paid just over £6.70 an hour, while their peers take home more than £75,000. A new benchmarking report by the accountancy firm Kreston International has revealed the pay of school leaders from 500 of the […]

Ofqual launches new timetable for exam reforms

The exams watchdog is set to reveal a new timetable today so teachers can keep track of when specifications will be ready for reformed GCSEs and A-levels. The tables (pictured above) show detailed information about the progress of reformed subjects submitted to Ofqual for accreditation. They will be updated every week and show when specifications for […]

Government ‘on target’ to recruit A-level students into teaching – 50 signed up so far

A new government-funded scheme to recruit top A-level students into teaching has attracted 50 applications. The Future Teaching Scholars programme offers “high-quality” A-level students a £15,000 grant to take a maths or physics degree before going into a guaranteed on-the-job teacher training place. The original January deadline for applicants was recently pushed back until the […]

Headteachers’ salaries up as schools become academies

The average salary for an academy headteacher has risen by nearly five per cent in 12 months, and the pay packet for primary school leaders is slowly catching up with that of their secondary peers. A new benchmarking report by the accountancy firm Kreston International has revealed the salary of the leaders of 500 of […]

Flood-hit Cumbria University could lose teacher training places due to national caps

Cumbria has recently been knee-deep in water, many schools damaged, and now its university’s education department is desperately waiting to hear if the cap on recruitment to its teacher training courses can be lifted so applicants still have a chance. Interviews for prospective teachers were postponed after storm Desmond battered the county at the beginning […]

Teachers won’t welcome an ‘apprenticeship’ route into the classroom

Last week we had a poke at Nicky Morgan for being in slow-motion. Slo-Mo, we nicknamed her, and said she needed to get her skates on with some reforms. But, like the headteacher who says at 2.30pm on Friday that “things are remarkably quiet today” inevitably finds herself confronted with a fight five minutes later, […]

Schools’ plan for no-degree teaching apprenticeship route sent to government

A group of schools planning an “entirely vocational pathway” to qualified teacher status (QTS) has sought the backing of government for its new apprenticeship. The proposal coincides with the government announcing new legislation requiring public bodies with more than 250 employees to recruit a minimum six apprentices per year – including schools. If agreed, the […]

‘Health care asks patients to design its services, why don’t we ask pupils?’

Disengaged pupils can be reconnected to their learning by teachers will to take innovative approaches already seen in the health sector. But do schools have the time, funds and courage to try out these ideas? A year on from the launch of the coalition government’s “workload challenge”, the burden on teachers is still under scrutiny. […]

Joyce Matthews, author and leadership development specialist

What will Joyce Matthews do next? The school leadership development specialist and samba player is thinking about her next possible career move. Could she see herself as an adviser at the Department for Education? “Yes – I’d be chief questioning officer. I’d go in and cause trouble!” She quickly adds: “I’m very nice. Honestly – […]