Tom Belger | Schools Week

Union demands more ‘robust’ rules as sports event held amid Covid cases

Unions want stricter Covid curbs after one school with 33 cases sent pupils to a sports event while others with fewer cases limited events or sent year groups home

DfE army of cost-cutters extended after visiting 1,000 schools

The government’s school resource management adviser (SRMA) programme will run until 2024.

Revealed: the 21 areas set for £15m AP taskforces to prevent crime

The government has confirmed the 21 areas set to receive funding under a scheme to prevent vulnerable pupils in alternative provision “entering a life of crime”. Alternative provision specialist taskforces will be launched across England in “serious violence hotspots”, receiving £15 million between them in Treasury funding. The taskforces will include mental health professionals, family […]

SchoolsCompany: Former bosses of scandal-hit academy trust sued over missing millions

A scandal-hit academy trust is suing former trustees to recover up to £2.8 million of “lost public funds”. Experts say the case sets a precedent that should serve as a warning for the sector. Normally the government would just write off liabilities owed by collapsed trusts. An investigation by Schools Week has established the government […]

Leading academy CEOs demand £5.8bn catch-up cash for poorer pupils

A group of leading academy trust bosses have set out proposals for a £5.8 billion Covid recovery plan, as Gavin Williamson confirmed he was lobbying within government for extra school funding. In an unusual intervention, the chief executives of five large multi-academy trusts have co-signed a letter to the education secretary warning failure to adopt […]

School funding will remain below 2009 levels despite government’s spending boost

School spending will still be lower per pupil by 2023 than more than a decade ago under the last Labour government, a new analysis has estimated. Cash available for schools in England will be between 1 and 2 per cent lower in real terms – accounting for inflation – in 2022-23 than it was in […]

2022 exams: Labour wants ‘standardised’ teacher grades as plan B

Labour has called for a “standardised” version of teacher-assessed grades as a plan B in case Covid forces another year of cancelled exams. If exams go ahead, the opposition is calling for grades to be pinned at 2020 levels, despite concerns over “baking in” grade inflation. But, setting out its own proposals for GCSE, BTEC […]

Two-thirds of heads warn schools face cuts despite ‘record’ funding

Two-thirds of primary school leaders say sharp cutbacks could be needed to balance their books in two years’ time, according to a union survey. The NAHT union warned almost a third of those polled had already made cuts in the past year, with some heads revealing they had cut teaching assistant and site manager roles […]

Private schools extend Olympic medal lead but Eton stumbles

Twenty prime ministers may have once graced Eton’s playing fields, but – for the first time in nearly three decades – they did not produce a single medal winner for Team GB at an Olympic Games. England’s most famous private school is likely to be quietly mourning the lack of Old Etonians on the podium […]