Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

ofqual up for award

Ofqual has been nominated for a public sector award in two categories for a consultation that sought pupils’ views on marking reviews and appeals. The watchdog wrote to headteachers in 6,500 schools in February to ask for their help in recruiting pupils to take a short survey on marking, with a chance to win an […]

£2m ‘character education’ grant goes to military-style projects

A third of a £6 million funding pot aimed at building character in school pupils will be targeted at military-style projects, prompting criticism from campaigners. The government has said that up to £2 million of its character education grant funding will this year pay for projects that have a “military ethos approach to develop character”. […]

Teens help toddlers in Norfolk scheme

A programme that pairs teenagers at risk of disengaging from school as mentors to young children has been run in Norfolk for the first time. Launched in February for 18 weeks, a small group of year 9 and 10 students from City Academy Norwich have spent one afternoon a week out of school working with children […]

Nia Salt, Kirstie Fulthorpe and Matthew Warren

Nia Salt is to take over as principal of Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise academy when the current head Dave Smith leaves next month. She has been vice-principal at Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy, in Stoke-on-Trent for the past five years. Before joining Ormiston, Salt was assistant principal at Sir William Stanier academy, in Crewe. She says […]

Garden furniture for local residents

Pupils with severe learning difficulties at Oaklands School in Middlesex got a helping hand from John Laing training instructors to make wooden benches and planters for local elderly residents. Anne Clinton, Oakland’s headteacher, says the six-week project has been particularly important to the pupils because they “have made a product for other people which they […]

Exam markers beware, there’s a camera near you

Examiners should be aware of the dangers of social media after two separate posts on Twitter sparked concerns that exams have been marked in public. Both tweets showed pictures of papers being marked on trains, with the posters suggesting they were examiners checking current pupils’ exams. Examiners are in breach of their contract if they […]

Heads authorise school absences for Wimbledon

School leaders have backed their decision to allow pupils two weeks off school to work as ball boys and girls at Wimbledon, despite Nick Gibb’s warning that even one week off could have a “significant impact” on grades. Last month the schools minister said the government would do “everything in its power” to ensure headteachers […]

EXCLUSIVE: Ofsted’s ‘double inspection’ pilot results due this autumn

Ofsted will publish the findings of its “double inspections” pilot this autumn. The education watchdog has trialled “reliability tests” since last spring, after it admitted that it had not done enough in the past to check the reliability of inspectors’ judgments. Double inspections involve two senior inspectors visiting the same school as part of more […]

International schools firm set to take over second academy in the UK

An academy trust founded by a firm that runs British international schools in countries including Panama is set to take over its second school in the UK. The King’s Group Academies (KGA) will take over Ringmer community college, in East Sussex, in September. Lyndhurst junior school in Portsmouth joined the trust earlier this year. KGA was […]