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Fair Access Protocols: Council pleas for DfE to intervene up nearly 50%
Pleas from councils for the education secretary to intervene over admission rows soared by nearly 50 per cent last year – indicating that more schools are refusing to take in vulnerable pupils. New figures reveal the number of appeals for the government to intervene after an academy has failed to accept a child who has…
5.00 Aug. 26th, 2019 | News
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Don't 'hide' periods in schools, urges charity at head of government taskforce
Schools must change the way they teach and talk about periods if they are to tackle the stigma that contributes to two in three girls missing lessons, a charity leading a government taskforce has said. Plan International UK will work with Penny Mordaunt, the women and equalities minister, and Procter and Gamble over the next…
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Just a third of DfE staff believe changes are made ‘for the better’, and 4 other survey findings
The dissatisfaction of Department for Education staff has been revealed in a survey which reveals just how little faith civil servants have in decisions made by management. The DfE’s people survey results for 2018 and 2017 were published today. Staff were asked to give their feedback on their work, manager, team, organisational objectives and purpose,…
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DfE threatens to reclaim £110k loan unless school joins a multi-academy trust
The government has threatened to forcibly claim back a £110,000 loan issued to a single-academy trust unless it joins a MAT. The threat comes as a school leaders’ union issues a warning over the “serious implications” of conditions attached to such emergency loans. A financial notice to improve issued to Hinckley Academy and John Cleveland…
7.00 Feb. 1st, 2019 | News
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National supply teacher agency database now available for schools
Schools can now access a national supply teacher agency database that reveals the mark-up each company charges, under a new government drive to help school leaders avoid rip-off fees. Developed by the Department for Education and the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), all schools have been emailed the new national list of recommended suppliers to use…
9.58 Aug. 31st, 2018 | News
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DfE rubber-stamps closure of troubled studio school
The troubled Isle of Wight Studio School will close next summer, the Department for Education has confirmed. Closure was proposed in April, when Inspire Academy Trust, which runs the school, announced that ministers had approved the plans to wind it up in 2019 “in principle”. This was followed by a four-week consultation. The school will shut…
9.00 Jun. 26th, 2018 | News
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DfE spent more than £23m on failed studio schools
The government has spent more than £23 million on studio schools that have either closed or never opened but the price tag total won’t be known until the much-delayed publication of its final costs. Twenty-six studio schools have closed or announced plans to close since the scheme was introduced in 2010. In the past week…
5.00 Jun. 15th, 2018 | News
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Secretive private school warning notices published for the first time
The Department for Education has finally published the warning notices it issued to underperforming private schools, over two years after a Schools Week campaign first pressed to make the information public. Nine notices issued in September and October 2017 were published today. They reveal how each school failed to meet national standards for education, safeguarding, governance and…
15.21 Feb. 22nd, 2018 | News
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Now Teach charity gets £350,000 DfE funding to expand into Hastings
Now Teach, the organisation founded by former Financial Times journalist Lucy Kellaway to encourage professionals to become teachers later in life, is to receive £350,000 in government funding. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has today announced that the money will allow the charity to expand out of London and start work in Hastings, one of…
0.01 Jan. 5th, 2018 | News
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Government faces legal action on pupil nationality data
A campaign group is raising money to take the Department for Education to the High Court over its decision to collect data on school pupils’ nationality and country of birth. The human rights charity Liberty will represent Against Borders for Children, which will focus on whether the policy infringes the rights of pupils. The groups also…
11.52 Nov. 20th, 2017 | News
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Mental health green paper will tackle risks of social media
A government green paper on children and young people’s mental health, tackling internet safety and the impact of social media, will be published before Christmas. In a response to a joint report on education and mental health from the education and health committees, the government today said it was “committed to the publication of a…
16.09 Oct. 24th, 2017 | News
