Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

GCSE marking concerns lead to schools spending thousands on external coursework re-graders

Schools have spent thousands of pounds hiring external moderators to reassess coursework grades amid concerns they have been wrongly marked down. Three schools in the north east of England called in the independent markers as they prepare to mount a challenge against iGCSE English language grades. None wanted to be named, but one school admitted […]

‘We’re asked if we’re going to have babies’, claim women teachers

Women teachers say they are often asked questions about their future maternity plans when they apply for jobs, conference delegates heard last week. One newly qualified teacher (NQT) from an Essex secondary school told delegates at Saturday’s WomenEd “unconference” (so called for its accessible approach) that female staff members were asked about their plans for […]

Party conferences 2015

If conference season has shown us anything, it’s that one wing of the political establishment has changed its tune on education policy while the other remains steadfastly on the same track. Given the fervour surrounding the election of new leader Jeremy Corbyn after a heavy defeat at the polls under Ed Miliband, Labour could be […]

Hayfield School in Doncaster closes sixth form telling pupils a free school will open in its place

A Doncaster school is closing its sixth form as a new free school college prepares to open on the same site. Hayfield School told parents it will close its 200-pupil sixth form in August 2017, raising fears that more schools could follow suit – and prompting questions about its relationship with the new college. Staff […]

Finding NiMo’s sparkle is easy. Her policies less so.

Anyone who ever endured the pain of sweating over a piece of work only to have it disappear off the computer at the last minute will have empathy for Nicky Morgan this week. Toiling hard, she was the government minister with the most number of fringe events at the Conservative party’s annual conference. As I […]

Nicky Morgan pushes for teachers to receive bonuses in future pay deal

Schools could be allowed to offer teachers bonuses and the chance to drop down pay scales as part of the latest government effort to ensure the “best” teachers are rewarded. Education secretary Nicky Morgan has asked the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), the body tasked with reviewing teachers’ pay for next year, to consider granting […]

Primaries flounder as three in four receive no support on assessment from local authorities

What help are local authorities giving to primary schools as they face life after levels? Schools Week contacted every local authority in England to see if they are easing the burden, and if they are not – why not. Sophie Scott reports Only a quarter of all local authorities (LAs) are offering support to primary […]

‘Precious little’ to tackle money, teacher and pay challenges

The political context for education over the next five years can be summed up crudely as ‘more pupils and more demands — with less money, fewer teachers and lower pay’. So what did we hear from the Conservative Party conference to tackle these genuine challenges? Precious little. he debate in our governing party is still […]

3 ideas for improving pupils’ enterprise skills

What if schools were to focus on the soft skills with as much vigour as they do on core subjects and academic rigour? Rigour and results will get students to the interview stage, but it is the soft skills that show the real ingenuity and potential that lasts a lifetime When students leave school or […]