COVID-19 | Schools Week

Ofsted inspectors to have Covid tests before visiting schools

Ofsted inspectors will take Covid-19 tests before carrying out on-site monitoring visits later this month, the watchdog has announced. The inspectorate’s new ‘supportive’ monitoring visits will begin from January 18, despite partial school closures having been enacted last week. We are arranging a testing programme, which will enable inspectors to take a test before face-to-face […]

Private school furlough claim not ‘in spirit of scheme’

The country’s biggest academy trust furloughed staff across its private schools for the Christmas holiday, a tactic one law firm advises is “unlikely to be within the spirit of the scheme”. United Learning, which has 74 academies and 14 private schools, applied for public funds to pay teacher salaries from December 12 to January 4, […]

Hurrah! Telecoms firms WILL now make Oak National Academy free-to-access

Mobile networks EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have said they will move to “zero-rate” the Oak National Academy after the online education provider agreed to move all its content to a single domain. The “big four” telecoms providers have announced today they “will, subject to technical testing over the coming weeks, open up free access […]

Union anger as schools face long wait for plan B after exams cancelled

Ministers have been accused of a “dereliction of duty” as schools face a near two-month wait for the government’s plan to replace GCSEs and A-levels with teacher assessments. Few details were released this week after the exam cancellations were announced on Monday, apart from the government saying it will “trust teachers rather than algorithms” and […]

Covid infections in school-aged children peaked over Christmas, ONS data shows

Covid infection rates among school-age children peaked over Christmas, new data shows, with as many as 1 in 18 older pupils in London testing positive. The Office for National Statistics has published its latest infection survey data, the first since Christmas eve. The survey shows that the ONS believes the proportion of primary and secondary […]

DfE and PHE not on same page over school face masks evidence

A teaching union is demanding to see the “clear scientific evidence base” behind any government decision on face masks in schools. It comes as freedom of information requests show the Department for Education and Public Health England are using different evidence. The current guidance is that staff and pupils in communal areas in secondary schools […]

Special school staff ‘should get vaccine priority’

Public health experts have backed calls for the government to consider vaccinating special school staff in the first priority phase. Ministers are already under pressure to vaccinate all teachers before half-term, with a petition due to be debated in parliament and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, saying they have a “very strong case” for priority […]

‘Big four’ telecoms firms won’t zero-rate remote education websites

Telecoms companies have poured cold water on calls for them to “zero-rate” remote education websites, citing technical issues around third-party content. Calls for unfettered access to online education resources have been growing since the government announced on Monday that most pupils will learn remotely until at least February half-term. If we can prove to them […]

Calls for Williamson’s resignation amid chaos and confusion of partial school closures

Headteachers across England were left scrambling to implement last-minute partial school closures this week after a chaotic series of U-turns and confusing announcements by the government. After resisting repeated calls for further restrictions on pupil attendance over recent weeks, Boris Johnson announced on Monday night that schools would move to remote education until February half-term […]