Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Cumbria floods force school closures until new year

Schools across Cumbria face weeks of closure and extensive clean-up operations after Storm Desmond battered the UK’s north western coast. Thirty-six schools were closed on Monday as a result of flooding over the weekend. Four were still shut as Schools Week went to print, with two not expected to reopen until January as council bosses […]

REVEALED: Pupil interviews replace lesson observations for judging teaching quality

Pupil interviews are replacing graded lesson observations so senior leaders can judge teaching ability, Schools Week has learned. One London school is putting observers in lessons to watch how some children learn before interviewing them afterwards. A teacher at the school, who did not want to be named, said underperforming pupils were often chosen, and […]

Heads go on teacher recruitment trips to Australia – but still can’t convince Gibb there’s a crisis

Schools are spending tens of thousands of pounds with recruitment agencies and sending emissaries to Australia to look for teachers, but Nick Gibb still won’t use the word “crisis” when it comes to teacher supply. The schools minister was defiant when he appeared in front of the House of Commons education committee on Wednesday, following […]

Reality bites: What school crises should teach Gibb

When Michael Merrick, a teacher at Cardinal Newman, shared pictures of his flood-devastated school, it was a sharp reminder of the day my own classroom was destroyed by a roof collapse. Standing in the doorway, watching as debris floated by and pupil work melted into the newly-formed lagoon, my heart sank along with it. It’s […]

Lord Nash admits academies have been ‘untouchable’ due to funding agreement issues

Junior schools minister Lord Nash has admitted that early funding agreements have blocked the government from delivering “strong and swift” intervention in some underperforming academies. But proposed legislation will allow the government to step in. In a letter sent to academy trust leaders this week, seen by Schools Week, Lord Nash said the government’s inability […]

Fair banding tests ‘exclude’ deprived pupils

Pupils from chaotic backgrounds face missing out on school places because they have to attend several secondary schools for fair banding tests. Some schools, especially in London, use fair banding to ensure they have a balanced intake of pupils of different abilities. All children have to take a test and are split into bands to […]

Primary school league tables 2015: the ‘golden 28’ for key stage 2 SATs

Twenty-eight schools have overcome the odds and achieved the highest levels of progress and achievement for their disadvantaged pupils, analysis by Schools Week reveals. Today, the Department for Education released primary performance tables based on the results of this summer’s key stage 2 tests. Nationally, 80 per cent of children achieved at least a level […]

Have tablet, will learn independently: An investigation into iPads in the classroom

Mobile, one-to-one technology – such as lightweight tablet computers and smartphones – have given new focus to the “independent learner” debate. Some say it puts the student at the centre of their learning, others that the new technology is little more than a “sweet syrup” of distraction. Jess Staufenberg reports The independent learner debate is […]

Roy Perry, chair, Local Government Association

History may have been the school subject Roy Perry enjoyed the most. But the new chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) children and young people’s board isn’t tempted to swap life today with any other era. Perry, who is also the Conservative leader of Hampshire County Council, likes the 21st century, with its “hot […]