Sophie Scott | Schools Week

ASCL conference: Trojan Horse inspections have been “very difficult” for Ofsted

An Ofsted chief has said inspecting British values has made life “very hard” for the education watchdog. But Sean Harford, Ofsted National Director of Schools, said his organisation was not “shirking” its responsibility. Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference, he said: “Inspecting British values has also made life difficult for […]

College of Teaching receives promise of government “cash injection” – but amount is unknown

Nicky Morgan and David Laws have announced the creation of a College of Teaching and confirmed there will be a “significant injection of Government funding” but the amount is still unknown. The education secretary and schools minister re-iterated this morning that the professional body would be independent of government. Schools Week understands that the amount […]

ASCL conference: Tristam Hunt wants best international education innovators to run UK schools

Shadow education secretary Tristam Hunt told school and college leaders today he wants innovators from across the globe to come and run UK schools. He also said a Labour government would allow schools to leave failing academy chains under a system similar to the Bosman ruling used in football. Speaking at the Association of […]

Professional development expert panel members revealed by DfE

The names of the ten people to sit on the “expert panel” for professional development have been announced. Sean Harford, Ofsted’s national director of schools policy, is to be the official “observer” of the panel. The group is expected to publish a new standard early next year. The panel: – David Weston (chair): CEO, Teacher […]

Education must not be “sacrificed on altar of deficit”, union chief will today warn

Austerity measures putting a squeeze on school budgets must not result in children’s education being sacrificed, the president of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) will warn today. In his opening speech at ASCL’s annual conference in London, Dr Peter Kent will call on the Government to ensure education funding levels are “sufficient, […]

Exam board chief: Time to consider allowing mobile phones and laptops in exams

Assessment should be “liberated from the straitjacket of pen and paper” with pupils allowed to use smart phones and laptops, an exam board specialist has suggested. Will Hornby, a maths specialist at Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR), said assessment needs fundamental change if pupils are to develop the necessary skills for the 21st Century workplace. […]

Teach First and Barclays to bring 530 STEM teachers to schools

More than 500 science and maths teachers are to be brought into classrooms as part of a linkup between Teach First and Barclays. It comes a week after the government announced it was to offer financial incentives to A level physics and maths students to train to be teachers after university. Teach First and Barclays […]

Total eclipse of the sun: Guidance for schools (with thanks to Jaffa Cakes)

Tomorrow morning there will be a total eclipse of the sun. In the UK, we will get a partial (up to 97 per cent) view of the sun blocked out. The further north you are, the more of an eclipse you will see. Total solar eclipses take place when the Earth, Moon and Sun are […]

Experience of Priority Schools Building Programme “really has been painful” says London head

An evidence session of the education select committee into the Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) heard claims from a witness that it was “probably the worst experience I’ve ever had as a headteacher”. Andrew Seager is head of Stratford School Academy in East London, which was rebuilt under the PSBP – an Education Funding Agency […]