DfE | Schools Week

‘Great teaching is the opposite of what you learn in training’

The Department for Education’s former teacher in residence has claimed excellent teaching is the “direct opposite” of what he was taught during teacher training – criticising teachers who employ a “child-centred” approach. Robert Peal, a former Teach First trainee who now teaches history at West London Free School, called for an end to teaching that […]

Ministers urged to drop DBS check rules ‘killing off’ school language exchanges

Education leaders are set to meet the schools minister and urge him to amend new guidance on criminal record checks that they claim are “killing off” school exchange trips. It follows confusion from school leaders about what they are legally responsible for after the government tweaked its Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance in September. […]

Flooded schools need millions to relocate

Schools repeatedly damaged by flooding are mounting multi-million pound bids to move to new sites. The Department for Education will decide in the coming weeks whether or not to provide capital funding to at least two schools that want to move following ongoing problems with water damage. Schools Week understands that one is considering a […]

DfE in danger of missing FOI request floor standard

The Department for Education is in danger of falling below the floor standard for meeting its legal duty to respond on time to information requests – although it has finally released a controversial grammar school document a year after claiming it did not hold the information. Figures published before Christmas show the department responded within […]

DfE recruits team of behavioural scientists

The Department for Education is recruiting a team of “behavioural insights” experts to aid ministers in their policymaking decisions. The move is aimed at changing the “culture” of the department with psychology specialists applying behavioural science from the start when new policies are developed. The team is also expected to help policymakers adopt a more […]

Travel costs to send students from closing UTC to Silverstone hit £100k

The government is to stump up thousands of pounds in travel costs to send children from a closing university technical college to another 20 miles away, according to the leader of the failed institution. Daventry UTC announced in December that low student numbers would force it to close this August. The “new technologies” specialist institution […]

Councils face £600m blackhole in special needs funding

More than half a billion pounds must be found by 2025 to top up an already unsustainable special needs budget and fund an “unprecedented” demand of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. A Schools Week investigation has found scores of councils proposing top slicing from other school funding pots to recoup multi-million pound shortfalls in […]

DfE had agreement to share pupil nationality data with Home Office

The Department for Education (DfE) did have an agreement in place to share pupil nationality data with the Home Office for immigration purposes, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. However, documents finally seen by the paper after a several month freedom of information battle, show the policy has been overturned and no nationality information about any pupil […]

National funding formula: the winners and losers by school type

Schools in inner London and urban areas are most likely to lose out in the government’s funding shake-up. The Department for Education has published the second consultation on its national funding formula today – revealing more details about which schools will win and lose under the new cash distribution model. The document shows that schools […]