Samantha Booth | Schools Week

Council facing legal action over mandatory attendance rule

Local authority is ‘demanding’ all children are back in the classroom

Staff have to ‘drop something’ to fit in ECF, provider admits

Here’s what we learned from the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers annual conference this week

Home education rises 34%, with Covid most likely to be the reason

The number of children withdrawn from school for elective home education soared by 34 per cent last year, with Covid the reason most frequently cited by parents. Analysis by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services estimated that 115,542 pupils were electively home educated at some point during the 2020-21 academic year, up from 86,335 […]

ITT providers ‘alarmingly selling specific pedagogies’ as ‘be all and end all’, Ofsted says

Some initial teacher training providers inspected under the new Ofsted framework were “misinforming trainees” by teaching them only specific pedagogies, a senior inspector has said. Out of 26 ITT inspections since May, more than half have been rated as less than ‘good’. Previously, all ITT providers were all ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ Helen Matthews, a senior […]

On hold: NLE programme delayed until September

Reforms delayed and interim contract awarded with DfE citing Covid

Single-school trust with £280k head given finance warning

Holland Park School has been told to rein in the salaries of its highly-paid school leaders in a government finance warning that says it should now join a multi-academy trust. The school, in west London, has come under scrutiny in recent months facing allegations of a “toxic” working culture and “public shaming” of students. It […]

Academy trust appeals to court after losing special needs contract

Wave Multi-Academy Trust launches legal challenge over AP contract

Academisation rate ‘unlikely to increase’ without new policies, DfE study finds

The rate of academy conversions in the next three years will be “limited to a steady rate” and is “unlikely to increase” without any change to current policies, new research says. The Department for Education has published a research report on schools’ views on joining a multi-academy trust. Former education secretary Gavin Williamson said the […]

Six more ITT providers downgraded under new Ofsted framework

10 out of 22 inspected providers are now below ‘good’