Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Teacher Banning Orders: Who, Why, and How Many?

Social media: 17 teachers banned for relationships with pupils More teachers than ever before have been banned for engaging in relationships with pupils after interactions on social media. Last year, Schools Week reported that the number of banning orders for inappropriate use of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, had doubled. Now, a year […]

Online tool aims for active pupils

An online assessment tool that tracks pupil progress in PE and school sport will help teachers plan, record and measure pupil progress in physical activity. The Skills2Achieve tool from the Youth Sport Trust also aims to encourage pupils to explore, plan, predict and evaluate their own performance. The content of the resource has been created […]

Primary assessment: the good, the bad and the ugly

The changes to primary assessment and accountability have been under review for the best part of five years, and even now there are many unanswered questions Many of the questions surrounding the new primary assessment are impossible to answer until the first round of statutory tests next May. Others will hopefully emerge in the coming […]

Duo gets back on song

Two teachers from York have released a song and video to mark the 20th anniversary of local charity, Jessie’s Fund. Robin Parmiter and Ian Wilson, both teachers at Huntington School, re-formed pop duo Disco Mister to celebrate the charity’s work with children in hospices, special schools and in other settings nationwide, giving them access to […]

Jude Chin, Tom Grieveson and Sarah Ramsden

Jude Chin, chair of the schools network SSAT, replaces Rupert Gather to lead the board of trustees at the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET). He plans to focus on the “well publicised” problems AET are having at key stage 4. In April the trust had to offload eight of its schools and the Department for Education […]

Top universities ‘rank’ pupils based on attendance at open day

Top universities are telling school pupils that they must attend extra open days or risk lessening their chance of gaining a place. Schools Week last week reported that the University of Leeds told some applicants that positive feedback on a visit day “may be taken into account” if they fell short of required grades in […]

60 free schools ‘must be found’ for every area

Regional schools commissioners have been told to grant more than 60 new free schools each as the Department for Education formalises plans to meet David Cameron’s “challenging” pledge of 500 new schools by 2020. Academy chain chief executive Alan Yellup (pictured above), who is also on the headteacher board for West Yorkshire and Lancashire, revealed […]

We need your cash, schools tell parents

Schools trying to cope with squeezed budgets are taking the “unprecedented step” of asking parents for regular cash contributions to their running costs. Tadcaster Grammar, a state-funded secondary in north Yorkshire, wrote to parents claiming that “financial constraints will inevitably” affect its ability to maintain its current provision. Headteacher Martyn Sibley said rising pension costs […]

Academies braced for publication of warning notices across the country

Academies across England are bracing themselves for a series of damning warning notices after seven were made public this week – with more to come. Schools Week understands that the government will imminently publish the full slate of notices issued in the past few months. It comes after seven notices were issued to schools in […]