Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Widnes success story

Trips to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and the zoo are some of the ways a secondary school in Halton has worked towards closing the gap between pupil premium children and their peers. Ian Critchley, from Wade Deacon High School, explained how the 11-16 school has improved the outcomes and aspirations for those from the […]

David Laws cleared to act as adviser to academy chain Ark

Former schools minister David Laws has been given government permission to join education charity and academy chain Ark as an adviser, just months after receiving a £15,000 donation for his failed general election campaign from the chain’s chair of trustees. The former Yeovil MP joined Ark last month as a part-time adviser in its international division. […]

Sir Jim’s rockets to the finish line

A team of kit-car racers from Sir James Smith’s School, Cornwall, rocketed to victory in this year’s Greenpower International final. The squad, guided by the school’s subject leader for art, Ben Langton, battled through local and regional heats to reach the finals at Rockingham Motor Speedway track in Corby, Here they competed against home-grown kit-car […]

Prince charms primary pupils

Prince William has congratulated the first primary schoolchildren in Birmingham to complete a new award scheme in his name. The Duke of Cambridge spoke with 14 pupils from Cofton Primary School who took part in the SkillForce Junior Prince’s Award, which aims to develop character, resilience, confidence, teamwork and problem-solving skills. Debbie Dudt, headteacher of […]

Year in review: a headteacher’s perspective on 2015

It’s all very different from the Michael Gove years (and they weren’t great), with layers of “extra things” now applied without much thought You can tell it’s Christmas because I’ve sorted my end-of-year quiz for my last year 11 class. Working with teenagers every day is the best thing about this job. But the system […]

When a toothbrush becomes a robot

A bite-size syllabus based on ice cream and toothbrushes has been launched to get pupils interested in engineering. University College London (UCL) has joined The Brilliant Club to create the courses, which are aligned with the themes of UCL’s integrated engineering programme, “Everyday Engineering and Changing Lives”. Pupils in years 5 and 6 across the […]

Umbar Sharif, Aidan Sadgrove and Sharon Weir

Umbar Sharif is the new principal of Ormiston Six Villages Academy, Chichester. She was deputy headteacher at Highbury Grove School, north London, where she has worked for the past nine years. Ms Sharif says she is a believer in “tailored training programmes for teachers, as well as self-evaluation systems and processes”, which she implemented at […]

Schools reported for hack attacks and data breaches avoid ICO punishment

Dozens of schools that breached data protection rules have walked away without punishment, despite being reported to the information watchdog. New figures obtained exclusively by Schools Week show that during the past school year the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) dealt with 66 reports of breaches by schools of the Data Protection Act 1998. Almost half […]

Warning: bursting bananas ahead

A science teacher’s flame throwers and bursting bananas left Plymouth pupils on the edges of their seats. Delivered by All Saints Academy Plymouth’s Justin Smith, more than 200 year 5 pupils were treated to the “fire and ice spectacle” of science in action. The one-hour show, which explored ideas about particles, energy, chemical reactions and […]