Schools Week Reporter | Schools Week

The school giving pupils stolen bikes

When Churchill Community College brought in three local employers to talk about career opportunities, some of the “most disaffected” boys thought they were lying, says David Baldwin, executive head of Churchill and Norham High School in Tyneside. It was a disaster. The boys hated it. They learnt nothing from it. They were difficult. And at […]

Trust gets £300,000 for taking over troubled Whitehaven Academy

An academy trust was given more than £300,000 in government funding to aid its takeover of a troubled Bright Tribe school. The Cumbria Education Trust took over the Whitehaven Academy in September. The school has been in special measures since late 2016, and more recently was at the centre of a row between parents and […]

Should Ofsted be abolished? Bousted debates Mastin

Should it stay or should it go? Or should it be reformed? The debate on the future of Ofsted continues, this time between Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, and Steve Mastin, chair of the Conservative Education Society Mary Bousted: The question isn’t quite whether Ofsted should exist, because it does; […]

DfE funding ‘poster boy’ marches on Downing Street over cuts

Just two years ago The Weald School was lauded as an example of financial efficiency by the Education Skills and Funding Agency. Tomorrow its headteacher will march on Downing Street to deliver a letter to chancellor Phillip Hammond protesting against school funding cuts. “I am the poster boy on efficiency for the Department for Education,” […]

Better behaviour: A guide for teachers

Jarlath O’Brien brings his wide-ranging experience to bear in this plea to teachers and school leaders to truly understand children’s behaviour, and there is much to commend this book. Over the first chapters O’Brien advocates a highly empathetic approach to improving behaviour, drawing on lessons learned from psychological research and his own career. Throughout the […]

Shireland Collegiate Academy: The school replacing TAs with technology

Shireland Collegiate Academy has been signposted by the DfE as an example of EdTech best practice. Schools Week went to observe the teaching in their immersive room and chat to the leadership team about what they’re doing, and why If you ask the Department for Education which schools are doing EdTech well, Shireland Collegiate Academy […]

Exclusions: are there too many or too few?

As the debate on school exclusions becomes increasingly polarised, we brought together two people with opposing views to see where there might be common ground. Mark Lehain, director of campaigning group Parents and Teachers for Excellence, chatted with Jules Daulby, director of education for literacy charity Driver Youth Trust. Qu: Are there too many or […]

H is for Harry

Given the aspirational philosophy that underpins the South-London free school Reach Academy Feltham, it seems apt that when it decided to invite in a film crew, it wasn’t to produce a TV series for Channel 4, but an art house documentary. “We are all on the path to university”, the new Year 7s are told […]

Should you hand back an EHCP if you think the child no longer needs it?

Ed Vainker is the co-founder and executive principal of Reach Academy Feltham, the school featured in the documentary H is for Harry. We chatted to him about some of the themes raised in the film Qu: The documentary says Reach Feltham was spending twice the amount of funding allocated by Harry’s education, health and care […]