Author: Pippa Allen-Kinross

An academy trust has made the rare decision to “de-merge” an all-through school into primary and secondary provision because it wants two heads it can hold to account separately. The request to split Yate Academy in Gloucestershire was one of ten escalated for ministerial approval by headteacher boards in the past year. My trust believes […]

A long-delayed report into the benefits of military ethos in schools will still be published, Schools Week has been told. But, bizarrely, both the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence – which allegedly commissioned the report – have now disowned it. It was announced last April that former children’s minister Robert Goodwill would compile […]

The gap between the lowest-attaining early years pupils and the rest of their cohort has widened again this year. Results for the early years foundation stage profile, published today, shows the gap between the lowest-attaining 20 per cent of children and their peers has risen from 31.8 per cent in 2018 to 32.4 per cent […]

The proportion of A-level pupils reaching the top grades has fallen even further this year, despite prior attainment remaining constant. Provisional figures released by the Department for Education this morning show that 12.3 per cent of all pupils who sat their A-levels this summer received three A*-A grades or better, compared with 12.5 per cent […]

AQA has been fined £350,000 – the largest penalty ever handed out by Ofqual – and will compensate schools by £740,000 after “serious breaches” of rules over re-marks. The exam board failed to ensure re-marks and moderation of GCSEs and A-levels were not carried out by the original marker, or by someone without a personal […]

Home education is often the “last resort” of parents of secondary school children with complex needs after their relationship with school has broken down, Ofsted has warned. The inspectorate’s new research has called for changes to legislation to ensure that agencies including schools and local authorities provide more support to home educated children and their […]

A second chair of trustees at a leading academy trust has joined a new chain set up by the government to take over schools that no-one wants. Schools Week revealed last month that David Earnshaw, chair of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust, would be chairing the Falcon Education Academies Trust. The specialist academy trust will […]

Ofsted is considering whether to change its approach to gender segregation after quashing the ‘inadequate’ rating of a Jewish school it accused of breaking equalities laws. King David High School in Manchester received the lowest possible rating in an inspection report published in June after inspectors accused it of “unlawful segregation on the grounds of […]

School leaders have been advised to take notes during feedback meetings with Ofsted as new reports omit detailed findings in favour of simplified language for parents. Reports published since the new framework was introduced on September 1 are half the length of the old ones and use general headings such as “what is it like […]