Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Steve Lancashire, chief executive, REAch2

Steve Lancashire is the first person I’ve met who’s wanted to be a headteacher from his school days. As chief executive of one of the largest academy chains, REAch2, and interim chief of its offspring chain, REAch4, you might think this is because he’s a power-hungry megalomaniac. Actually, it’s all because of his chemistry teacher. Raised in Renishaw, […]

Academy contracts are not fit for purpose – so how do we change them?

Academies have been given different freedoms depending on when they signed a funding agreement or what they managed to negotiate with a government minister. Suggested reforms from an IPPR seminar would not threaten school autonomy. Instead they would allow the government to set out a more consistent set of freedoms — and help to reduce bureaucracy in […]

Councils charge £6k ‘penalty fee’ to schools for academy conversion

Hundreds of schools across the country are facing a penalty, payable to their local council, if they choose to become an academy – with more local authorities set to follow. Staffordshire County Council plans to introduce a levy of £6,000 on schools that convert. While most local authorities pick up the conversion costs – including […]

Pupils increase coffee intakes as Costa closes school sites

Adults rushing to work with a coffee have been joined by teenagers turning up at school with a cup in their hand. Amjad Ali (pictured below), a teacher at The Cheney School in Oxford, raised the matter on social media asking: “How old do you have to be to drink coffee? Been noticing lots of […]

‘Complexities’ hold up Durand Education Trust investigation

An investigation into management at the Durand Education Trust is still ongoing, the charities watchdog has admitted. The Charity Commission told Schools Week it understood that the length of the inquiry into the organisation, which holds the land used by Durand Academy in south London, was a “concern” but insisted “complexities” must first be addressed. Launched last […]

Teacher references: A classic moral hazard for schools

Schools and staff waste hours on references for departing teachers that at best can be described as ambiguous. Do you tell the truth (“we’ve been trying to get rid of him/her for some time”) or should you move to a standard reference form? I recommend her unreservedly; I commend him for your consideration; you would […]

Kimberly Morton, Ian Stockford and Patrick Hayes

Kimberly Morton is the new head of Cobholm Primary Academy in Norfolk. She was assistant principal of her childhood school, Norwich Primary Academy. Ms Morton says school turnaround is her passion. “Both Norwich Primary and Cobholm have children from some of the most challenging areas of Norfolk, but as a former pupil I’m proof that you can go […]

£100,000 funding boost for trust

A multi academy trust (MAT) in Bradford has been given £100,000 by a charity, funded by a private equity firm, to improve long-term outcomes for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Impetus-PEF announced its investment in Dixons Academies, which runs eight schools in the area, last week. It will also provide the MAT with ongoing strategic and […]

Ife debates his way into national team

Ife Grillo, a state school pupil from east London, has secured a place on the English national debating team, a side historically dominated by privately educated students. Seventeen-year-old Ife (pictured) from Bridge Academy, Hackney, will now line up alongside team-mates from Eton, Westminster, Dulwich College and Alleyn’s School at the world debating championships in Germany this […]