Schools Week Reporter | Schools Week

The government has abandoned the reception progress measure, but schools should not

I’m struggling to get caught up in the heat of debate over the government’s recent decision not to use the results of this year’s reception baseline testing for the purpose of comparing pupils’ progress. Why? Three different assessments were never going to provide comparable results, and comparability is, seemingly, at the heart of this decision. […]

Nick Gibb at ATL Conference: The speed-read

Nick Gibb addressed the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’ annual conference this morning, and spoke about teacher recruitment, problems with Ofsted and the DfE’s mistakes on the new key stage 2 assessments. Here are the main points made by the schools minister: Teacher recruitment There is no recruitment crisis – “it’s a challenge” – something he has said […]

Education white paper’s ‘policy fantasies’ don’t address the real issues facing schools

The 2016 White Paper finishes the messy reforms began in 2010 to create a fully school-led system. I announced this to my teacher-friend over dinner last night. She hadn’t a clue what I was talking about. In 2010, a McKinsey report on the ‘best education systems in the world’ shaped policy wisdom on how to […]