• Are police officers in schools a force for good?

    Hundreds of police officers are now based in schools but we don’t know enough about the work they do, or the impact their presence has on pupils, insists Dr Amanda Henshall The presence of officers in schools is part of a massive package of surveillance measures, including more CCTV in schools, that make children and…

    5.00 May. 26th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Give schools more money for free meals, say caterers

    The government is under pressure to increase the money it gives schools to pay for free meals for infant pupils. The Lead Association for Catering in Education (LACA), which represents school catering companies, has urged ministers to increase the amount of cash available to feed children. At present, primary schools get £2.30 per meal for…

    5.00 Apr. 21st, 2018 | News

  • One in three reception children aren't 'school ready', warns Teach First

    Nearly one in three children who start primary school in England at the age of five are not “school ready”, according to new analysis by Teach First. The education charity looked at the number of new reception pupils who fail to meet the level of social and emotional development, knowledge and skills needed to provide the foundation for good progress through…

    0.01 Apr. 14th, 2018 | News

  • REVEALED: The schools where the poorest pupils make most progress

    The poorest pupils have made more progress than their better-off peers at just three per cent of secondary schools, new analysis shows. About 100 schools posted a positive Progress 8 score for their pupils on free school meals, or who were on free school meals at some point in the last six year, which beat…

    5.00 Feb. 3rd, 2018 | News

  • A deep dive into Progress 8 and disadvantage

    The Department for Education released its revised GCSE results for the 2016-17 exams on January 25, and Schools Week has taken a deep dive into the data to see how disadvantaged pupils fared at different types of schools. Pupils are defined as “disadvantaged” if they have been eligible for free school meals in the past…

    5.00 Jan. 28th, 2018 | News

  • Universal Infant Free School Meals - what has the impact been so far?

    Some parents and school leaders believe free lunches are having positive effects on the lives of infants and their families, but the costs to schools may become unsustainable unless the government keeps an eye on how much money it provides, writes Peter Sellen, who co-authored the EPI’s new report In September 2013, the previous coalition…

    14.25 Jan. 24th, 2018 | Opinion

  • Universal credit: an impending 'disaster' for FSM pupils

    The government has yet to decide how the universal credit benefits system will interact with free school meals, and a former shadow education secretary is predicting a “disaster waiting to happen”. Universal credit combines six benefits into one payment for eligible people old enough to work and is now being rolled out across the country,…

    5.00 Nov. 10th, 2017 | News

  • Investigation: Schools face postcode lottery in free school meals take-up

    Figures released last week reveal that registration for means-tested free school meals – which is linked to pupil premium funding – is at its lowest since records began. Freddie Whittaker delves into local authority data to see how rates vary across the country and how councils are encouraging parents to sign up. Schools across England…

    5.00 Jul. 8th, 2017 | News

  • Corbyn fails to dish up evidence on free meals as councils admit there is none

    Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that councils that provide free meals to all primary pupils are boosting attainment and health has been dealt a hammer blow after local authorities admitted no such evidence exists. The Labour leader has pledged to charge VAT on private school fees to raise £1.5 billion to pay for an extension of universal…

    5.00 May. 5th, 2017 | News

  • £100k per council would abolish holiday hunger, MPs claim

    A cross-parliamentary group of MPs have said handing every local authority just over £100,000 a year would end holiday hunger. A report by the all-party parliamentary group on hunger, published today, stated that three million children risk going hungry in the school holidays. But the group said the government could end the issue by diverting…

    12.34 Apr. 25th, 2017 | News

  • How should we define 'disadvantaged' pupils?

    Separating pupils into those who qualify for free schools meals and those who don’t does little to highlight the more nuanced and complex picture in relation to attainment outcomes for different pupils, says Sameena Choudry. The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) research Ethnicity, Gender and Social Mobility, carried out in partnership with LKMCo and Education Datalab…

    5.00 Jan. 22nd, 2017 | Opinion