Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

The Teaching Assistants Standards report that Nicky Morgan doesn’t want you to see

Standards for teaching assistants drawn up seven months ago by frontline volunteers have been ignored by ministers who are now refusing to publish the document. The review of professional standards was launched by the Department for Education (DfE) last October, led by former coalition minister David Laws, a Lib Dem who lost his seat in […]

Labour are ‘scaremongering’ over teacher stats, claim Conservatives

Teaching is a “hugely popular profession”, the Conservatives said after new shadow education secretary Lucy Powell’s attack on teacher retention and recruitment. A Conservative spokesperson said the party was “disappointed” with Ms Powell, pictured, after she claimed Department for Education figures for the year to November 2014 showed the number of teachers leaving the profession was […]

Demand for ‘family purity’ removed from Jewish school’s admissions rules

A Jewish secondary school in north London has been ordered to change its admission requirements after complaints that parents could be asked to disclose information about their sex lives. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) has upheld objections from the Fair Admissions Campaign relating to admissions rules at Hasmonean High School in Hendon. Campaigners […]

Mental health commission for schools in North East will tackle ‘pressing concerns’

Plans for a commission designed to tackle mental health issues affecting schoolchildren across the North East have been announced today. Launched by SCHOOLS NorthEast, a network which represents 1,250 schools across the region, the commission will ask leaders across several professions – including education, health and the police – to create solutions addressing the issue. […]

Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? Yes

Liz Goldspink: Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? No It’s easy to see why people have been anxious about the removal of levels but, until we have gone through the whole year, no one will really know what impact their removal will have. At present, every local authority and school has to […]

Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? No

Jane Powell: Was the removal of assessment levels a good idea? Yes There simply hasn’t been enough guidance for schools as to how they can now monitor pupil progress. We have been told that we can’t use traditional levels, as teachers should be given “greater autonomy” over the way students are monitored. However, the lack […]

Workload expert group members mostly from schools in the south

The geographical spread of schools represented in the government’s newest working groups has again raised concerns about the north-south balance. Nicky Morgan last Friday revealed the 41 people she has chosen to form three working groups to reduce teachers’ workload. The 28 people who represent schools come from six of eight English regions. Ms Morgan […]

‘Extending childcare must not become another burden on schools’

Extending out-of-hours childcare is a good idea in principle – but the government needs to clarify its proposals, including the age range it has in mind and who will foot the bill There has been a lot of discussion at the Conservative conference this week about the importance of giving young people the skills and […]

Inadequate Grindon Hall free school pushed into Bright Tribe takeover

A free school rated inadequate and is subject to a forced takeover after intervention from the local regional schools commissioner. Grindon Hall Christian School (GHCS), in Sunderland, has been told by the Department for Education (DfE) that Cheshire-based multi-academy trust Bright Tribe is its preferred sponsor for a takeover. The school, which claims that DfE […]