Pippa Allen-Kinross | Schools Week

Longfield demands review as 1 in 5 leave school without good GCSEs

The government must take action to stem a “shameful” increase in pupils leaving education without basic qualifications, the children’s commissioner has said. Analysis published by Anne Longfield’s office today shows growing numbers of pupils failing to achieve five GCSEs at a C or above by the age of 18, with pupils with special needs or […]

IFS: Johnson’s school funding boost still leaves ‘unprecedented’ 13-year real-terms freeze

Boris Johnson’s school budget boost actually amounts to just £4.3 billion extra in in real-terms, a new report which offers a “sober assessment of the government’s hyped-up” funding pledge has claimed. Johnson pledged to reverse education cuts during the leadership contest by adding £4.6 billion plus inflation each year into the schools budget by 2022-23. […]

1 in 4 teachers work over 60 hours a week – but that’s not why they’re leaving

A quarter of teachers work more than 60 hours per week, according to a new study, which warns government attempts to reduce working hours have failed. But the paper, published by the Nuffield Foundation and UCL Institute of Education, also found high working hours have been relatively unchanged for 20 years – making it unlikely […]

Academy trust in £122k severance pay deal despite ‘significant’ challenges

An academy trust in Norfolk paid out a severance package of £122,000 to one employee in a year in which it faced “significant” financial challenges. The Right for Success Trust, which runs 11 schools – most of them primary – was the only trust to pay more than £100,000 in a single exit package during […]

DfE urged to investigate whether grammar’s satellite site is a new school

Ministers are under pressure to investigate a grammar school that has now stopped sending pupils to its satellite site – despite the arrangement being a key justification used to prove it was working as a single school. In October 2015 the Weald of Kent Grammar School was given permission to open a satellite site nine […]

ITT providers must guarantee trainees have ‘fundamental English and maths skills’

Initial teacher training providers will have to assess and offer assurance for the “fundamental English and mathematics” skills of trainee teachers after the government axed the QTS tests. An email sent to providers by the Department for Education, seen by Schools Week, said it will be an accreditation requirement from April for ITT providers to […]

‘Unanswerable’ Buckinghamshire 11-plus test questions discounted

Grammar schools in Buckinghamshire have been forced to discount two questions from their 11-plus entry test after it emerged that they could not be answered by pupils. An email sent to parents by the Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools group, which represents the 13 grammar schools in the selective county, said two questions on the verbal skills paper […]

Ofsted to rewrite ITT inspection framework with focus on behaviour

Ofsted will introduce a new framework for inspecting initial teacher training next year with an increased focus on how trainees are taught to manage behaviour. The inspectorate will consult in early 2020 on plans for the new framework, including how far-reaching the new emphasis on behaviour will be. Ofsted has not revealed any other proposed […]

First Harris academy rated below ‘good’ as Ofsted flags entry to ‘inappropriate’ qualifications

The Harris academy trust has received its first ever Ofsted rating below ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ – with inspectors flagging how pupils were entered into “inappropriate” qualifications and the number of students leaving its roll was “too high”. Harris Academy Orpington was rated as ‘requires improvement’ in a report published today, making it the first ever […]