Samantha Booth | Schools Week

DfE’s £1.4bn education recovery plan: what you need to know

The government has announced the first set of measures under its long-awaited education recovery plan today – but schools have been left waiting on proposals for an extended day. The £1.4 billion policies include £1 billion for tuition, on top of the £1.7 billion already announced for catch-up. A total of £579 million will help […]

Government won’t say if mental health ‘first aid’ training started for primaries

The government is refusing to to say whether its mental health “first aid” training for all primary schools has started. The roll-out is an important strand of its promise to transform children’s mental health. In response to the 2018 green paper on young people’s mental health, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Damian Hinds, then […]

Warning over DfE evidence backing extra school time

Studies cited by the government to support its proposals to extend the school day need “optimal conditions” or schools risk “making things worse”, says the chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching. The Department for Education’s exploration of how extra time in school could benefit students will be included in the long-awaited education recovery […]

GCSEs and A-levels: 7 key trends from provisional 2021 entries data

GCSE and A-level entries continued to rise this year, but subject-level data reveals big changes in some subjects. Exams for the qualifications have been cancelled this year because of the pandemic. Teachers will instead determine grades and exam boards will quality assure their results. Here we look at some of the key trends in Ofqual’s […]

DfE considers producing Queen’s platinum jubilee book for primary schools

The Department for Education is considering paying for the production of a commemorative book marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee that it can send out to every primary school child in the UK. In an early engagement notice, published on Monday, the DfE says it is notifying the market of its intention to run a procurement […]

Ofsted: 9 in 10 parents say their child’s school handled Covid well

Almost nine in ten parents believe their child’s school has handled the Covid-19 pandemic well, a new Ofsted survey has found. The watchdog’s annual parent survey found 39 per cent of 916 parents of school-aged children said their school had handled the pandemic “somewhat well”, while 49 per cent said they had handled it “very […]

Ofqual predicts more technology in exams after pandemic ‘catalyst’

Ofqual’s chief regulator said they anticipate more tech-driven changes in the qualifications market due to the “catalyst” impact of the pandemic. In the regulator’s 2021 to 2022 corporate plan, published today, interim chief Simon Lebus said he was “pleased” awarding organisations have “embraced” greater use of technology this year. He said: “Covid-19 has acted as […]

DfE considers buying 360,000 abacuses to aid maths catch-up in schools

The Department for Education is considering buying up to 360,000 abacuses for use in up to 6,000 schools across England to aid catch-up efforts in the wake of the pandemic. In an early engagement notice, published on Monday, the DfE said it was exploring the “potential” use of a specific type of abacus as part […]

Six key findings from Ofqual’s survey of teachers on 2020 grading

A third of school staff felt “undue pressure” on their professional judgment when issuing exam grades in 2020, according to an Ofqual survey. The exams regulator has published a report on a survey and interviews conducted with school staff after the grading process in 2020, which it said were used to inform guidance on teacher […]