COVID-19 | Schools Week

Ofsted monitoring inspections find all schools taking ‘effective action’, but verdict ‘limited’

The first batch of letters published following new remote Ofsted monitoring inspections found that all schools were “taking effective action” to educate pupils during the pandemic. But the watchdog admits within each of the 41 reports released so far that they provide only “a more limited level of assurance” than usual monitoring inspections. The admission […]

Reopening schools: DfE’s ‘illogical’ Covid testing policy puts pupils in isolation

The government’s “nonsensical” Covid testing policy that pupils tested on-site must self-isolate without taking confirmatory lab tests has seen youngsters needlessly kept off school after being sent home within hours of returning. Parents warn they will no longer consent to their children being tested due to the disruption, which they blame squarely on the government. […]

Exams 2021: Leaders fear pressure from parents with ‘pointy elbows and lawyer friends’

School leaders fear the switch to teacher assessment instead of exams this year will lead to pressure to adjust grades from parents with “pointy elbows and lawyer friends”. Richard Sheriff, president of the ASCL school leaders’ union and chief executive of the Red Kite Learning Trust, said he feared more privileged parents would try to […]

Attendance: Almost 1 in 5 pupils were in school the week before reopenings

Almost one in five pupils were in school last week, just days before wider reopenings, new attendance data shows. Survey data from the Department for Education shows 18.7 per cent of pupils were in attendance at state schools nationwide last Thursday, up from 18.3 per cent the week before. The data also shows a large […]

2022 exams may need similar ‘adaptations’ as those proposed for 2021, warns Ofqual chief

The government is considering making “adaptations” to exams in 2022 similar to those proposed for this summer’s assessments before they were cancelled, the head of regulator Ofqual has said. Simon Lebus, the interim chief regulator, told MPs this morning that the “thinking at the moment is about adaptations along the line that had been originally […]

Government medic warns of school disruption as Covid testing regime beds in

Schools may see a “larger number” of children forced to self-isolate during the first weeks of reopening while new Covid testing regimes bed in, the government’s deputy chief medical officer has said. Dr Jenny Harries told the Downing Street briefing this afternoon she expected to see an impact on transmission rates as pupils return to […]

DfE ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ after admitting £705m for catch-up isn’t all new money

The government stands accused of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” after finally admitting that a £705 million Covid catch-up package is not all new money. Ministers announced last month that they would spend an additional £405 million on top of £300 million announced in January for a range of measures to help address lost learning. […]

Speed read: What the DfE’s updated Covid contingency framework means for schools

Schools may be asked to restrict attendance to vulnerable and key worker children and certain year groups as a “last resort” if cases spike under an updated Covid contingency framework put in place by the government. The Department for Education has updated the framework to reflect wider school reopenings from this week. But just like […]

League tables could still include summer term attendance

The government has not ruled out using attendance data for the summer term in school league tables, despite backing off on “nonsensical” plans to include the autumn and spring terms. The Department for Education confirmed last week that it no longer intended to include attendance data collected between last September and this Easter. But when […]