Pippa Allen-Kinross | Schools Week

Church of England prepares for closure of village schools

The Church of England may have to close some of its small rural schools as problems with funding, teacher supply and building maintenance get worse. It oversees 70 per cent of schools in the smallest category, those with fewer than 110 pupils, which means that the challenges facing most schools in the country – teacher […]

Studio schools to work more closely with MATs

The controversial studio schools programme has announced a dramatic shift in focus after the tally of those closed or due to do so rose to 24. Studio schools, small 14-to-19 institutions with a vocational focus, will now be incorporated into multi-academy trusts, rather than running as standalone schools with backing from the further education sector. […]

MPs to investigate impact of early years education on life chances

An inquiry into the impact that early years education has on children’s life chances has been set up by the parliamentary education committee. The inquiry will look at the effect early years education and social policy has on children later in life, and will examine current government policy in those areas. As well as focusing […]

NAHT demands immediate high-needs cash injection

A leading union has demanded better funding for high-needs pupils after the number of children with special needs increased by 21 per cent in just three years. The issue of high-needs funding will be at the top of the agenda at the NAHT’s conference this weekend, after the number of pupils with statements of special […]

National Education Trust to close, but academy trust remains

The National Education Trust will close this year, but the academy chain it operates will continue. The trust, established in 2006 to support school improvement, confirmed it had transferred its assets to the NET Academies Trust and that it will close in the next three to six months. According to the Education Uncovered website, the […]

Middle schools defend themselves as councils ditch three-tier model

The body that represents middle schools has defended the three-tier education system after another county announced plans to move a tranche of schools to a two-tier model. The National Middle Schools Forum insisted its schools are better able to “meet the needs of pupils at different stages of their development”, and pointed to evidence that […]

Ofsted WILL prosecute illegal schools, and 5 other things we learned at education committee

The education committee held a double session this morning as part of its inquiry into alternative provision. As well as questioning schools minister Nick Gibb, the committee also put its questions to Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, Stuart Gallimore, the president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, […]

£13.5 million schemes to help close disadvantaged children’s ‘word gap’

Two multi-million pound schemes have been announced to help boost early language and literacy development for disadvantaged children. The projects, totalling £13.5 million, aim to “build the confidence of parents to support their children in language and reading at an early stage” in an effort to reduce the gap in communication skills between disadvantaged children […]

Office for Students wades into unconditional university offers storm

One of the first orders of business at the new Office for Students will be to investigate the sharp rise in unconditional university offers, and it will “take action” if these are found to adversely affect pupils. Unconditional offers – which promise university places to pupils regardless of their A-level results – allow pupils to […]