department for education | Schools Week

All state schools to receive carbon dioxide monitors to help ventilation

The government is going to hand out around 300,000 carbon dioxide monitors to state schools in a £25 million scheme to help improve ventilation from September. All schools and colleges are expected to receive “at least partial allocations” during the autumn term. Where inadequate ventilation is identified, this needs to be addressed without delay, and […]

Just 41 schools due to receive CO2 monitors this week

Just 41 schools in London are due to receive CO2 monitors this week, with just 517 devices due to be sent out, according to a schedule sent to schools. The government announced last month that it would provide around 300,000 carbon dioxide monitors to state schools to help them tackle poor ventilation. Education secretary Gavin […]

Still no date for national music plan, but another expert panel

The government has assembled a panel of music grandees to help produce its national plan for music education (NPME), but steered clear of confirming when the delayed plan will finally be published. The NPME was supposed to be published last autumn, but it was delayed during the pandemic and is now only promised “early next […]

DfE tried to avoid ‘bringing attention’ to face mask guidance error despite confusion

The Department for Education put off clarifying a mistake in its own Covid guidance because it would “bring greater attention to the error”, despite acknowledging the wrong information was being shared widely and causing “discontent”. It comes as new analysis published today reveals headteachers were “inundated” with DfE guidance during the first lockdown that they […]

£4m Latin excellence programme: What you need to know

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has vowed to tackle Latin’s “reputation as an elitist subject” with a new scheme to boost take-up of the subject among disadvantaged pupils. He unveiled the £4 million “Latin excellence programme” over the weekend, in a move welcomed by classics professor Mary Beard but panned by others. Here is what you […]

Study finds pupil premium cuts £43m worse than DfE admits

Schools will miss out on £43 million more in pupil premium funding for the poorest children than admitted by the government, new analysis suggests. The Education Datalab research indicates almost 104,000 children receiving free school meals will not attract extra funding after the government’s “stealth cut”. The Department for Education’s own analysis published last month […]

Bailed-out academy boss set for £150k payout, despite £1.1m budget hole

A single academy trust facing closure has set aside a £150,000 payout for its chief executive, despite reporting a £1.1 million budget black hole last year and needing two taxpayer bailouts. The Castle Trust is set to be wound up after it was stripped of Delce Academy in Kent last year following an “inadequate” rating. […]

MPs tell government to ‘shake up status quo’ on home education

MPs have slammed an “astonishing” lack of data on the number of children educated at home, and called for more powers for councils to check on their progress and welfare. School leaders backed calls for the government to introduce a national register of children educated at home, and to investigate a recent rise amid concerns […]