Opinion

Year in review: A school business manager’s perspective on 2015

The pace of change has made it a tough year for schools, academies and their business managers. But it...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

State school debts rise to £103m – but rich schools get even richer

A “wealth gap” appears to be emerging between schools rich in cash and those struggling to pay their bills....

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

Schools wait months for Ofsted visits

Schools have been waiting months for Ofsted visits as former inspectors claim job losses have cut the number of...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

EXCLUSIVE: Elite private schools named in damning inspection file

A damning dossier of previously unpublished improvement notices has revealed substantial failings at some of the country’s most prestigious...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

EXCLUSIVE: National curriculum test plans ‘contravene’ rights of SEN pupils, expert complains

Complaints about new proposals for assessing pupils with lower attainment have been passed to the Children’s Commissioner after a...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

£80m cash pot for ‘high quality’ teacher training programme opens for bids

An £80 million cash pot to run a “high quality” initial teacher training (ITT) programme is up for grabs,...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

Pupils given questionnaire to determine ‘energy group’ – is this the new learning styles?

Some schools are using personality tests to target pupils who struggle to learn by traditional “written” methods of teaching....

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

‘Communication’ not ‘consultation’ over forced academies Lord Nash tells Education Bill debate

Consulting parents and teachers on plans to forcibly convert failing schools into academies would be “overly formal and inflexible”,...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips
News

Beware of the cloud: how pupil data privacy got problematic

Security is rarely a top motivation when schools purchase software. So who is responsible for making sure that pupil...

Nicky Phillips
Nicky Phillips