Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Questions for new CEOs

Becoming chief executive of a multi-academy trust (MAT) or federation is an exciting step forward for many headteachers and gives the profession new bands of leadership to aim towards. But the change in role from head or executive head to chief executive should not be underestimated; neither should the move from a single school to […]

Trinity free school: How many pupils do they have now?

After revealing last year that a new free school in south London had opened with only 17 pupils, Schools Week goes back to Brixton’s Trinity Academy to find out how many bums are on seats for its second year. Schools Week didn’t get a warm welcome last time we were at Trinity Academy. When the […]

Our 4-step plan for dealing with ‘life after levels’

The removal of the old assessment levels is a huge opportunity to transform teaching and learning. Follow these steps to make sure your new assessment framework is the right approach The removal of the old assessment levels daunts many teachers – and is not helped by the delay and then leak of the Commission on […]

IQ may mean achievement gap can never close

An academic researcher has suggested that academic achievement “gaps” between different groups of pupils cannot be closed as differences in intelligence cannot be “erased”. Dr Stuart Ritchie (pictured), from the University of Edinburgh, presented research describing the genetic link to IQ, a measure of intelligence, and its controversies in education. Speaking to Schools Week after Saturday’s event, […]

Religious free schools lose out in latest application round

Fewer religious free schools are being approved by the Department for Education (DfE), shows an analysis of the latest wave of schools approved by David Cameron. Last week the prime minister announced 18 new schools to be opened under the government’s flagship programme from next September. Just two have a religious designation – or 11 […]

‘Teachers aren’t talking about peer-to-peer learning, they’re stressed about year 11’

A growing divide between those who spend their day talking about the profession and those who spend their day in the classroom is disempowering teachers Last weekend I, like many other keen-beans, attended the teacher-led researchEd conference. It was crammed with informative talks sharing the latest research on “what works” in education. This time last […]

Let’s replace levels with questions, says top academy advisor

Don’t replace levels with re-hashed levels is the advice given to teachers by Ark’s head of education research, Daisy Christodoulou. Kicking off the first session in the main hall at last Saturday’s packed researchED conference, Ms Christodoulou, pictured below, suggested multiple-choice questions and comparative judgments as better choices for assessing pupil progress. More than 700 […]

Training to ease college transition

Staff are being offered one-day training courses to help make the transition from school to college smoother for young people with autism. The sessions, run by the charity Ambitious about Autism, will be held in 10 colleges throughout England this term and early next year. The training, commissioned and funded by the Department for Education, […]

Southern free schools dominate new list

Nick Timothy, director of the free school group New Schools Network, this week said the north needed more free schools to drive up educational standards, which are lower than in the south. Just three of the 18 free schools approved last week are in the north. Three others are in the Midlands. Responding to this, […]