local authorities | Schools Week

Councils cut primary school places as baby boom flattens

Pupil numbers are expected to fall by around 300,000 over the next five years

Let schools quit trusts and create super-regulator to complete academisation, ministers told

Ex-adviser also calls for ‘range of new powers’ for councils under fully-academised system

Academy avoids rebrokering threat until third ‘inadequate’ rating

The leeway given to Nuneaton Academy raised eyebrows, with other academies and maintained schools facing swifter intervention

Ofsted: Councils won’t get heads-up on ‘inadequate’ judgements

Ofsted will no longer notify local authorities of provisional inadequate judgements of their maintained schools and academies. But the decision has been met with opposition from the Local Government Association (LGA), which warns schools need immediate support. The schools watchdog released updated guidance for schools and early education today. Ofsted provides early notification of provisional […]

£45 million for schools to prevent violence ‘nowhere near’ amount needed

Experts have warned £45 million package of school funding is “nowhere near” enough to tackle youth violence, highlighting a decade of cutbacks to public services and the need for more wide-ranging reforms. The government announced the funding on Monday as part of a wider “beating crime plan”, promising to launch schools-based taskforces in “serious violence […]

Urgent action demanded on home education after deaths of ‘invisible’ children

The government must pay “urgent attention” to safeguarding for pupils educated at home, an expert has warned, amid a probe into the deaths of three children. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel revealed it had been notified of 15 incidents of “serious harm” involving home-educated children over the past year in England. Three children died, […]

Admissions shake-up in September to end struggle for in-year school places

The Department for Education has confirmed a shake-up of in-year admissions to stop schools turning away “challenging” pupils will come into force in September. It also set out multiple changes to the reforms first proposed last June after analysing consultation feedback from councils, academy trusts and parents. Previous investigations by Schools Week have revealed how vulnerable […]

DfE to scrap LA-moderation of EYFS profile, despite calls for its retention

The government is to proceed with plans to scrap statutory moderation of the early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) by local authorities, despite pleas to keep it in place. The Department for Education has published its response to a consultation on the EYFSP, which is how pupils’ development and learning is assessed at the end […]

Investigation: The schools that slip through the council finance net

Thousands of council schools have not had their finances independently scrutinised for more than five years – three of which were last audited by their local authority nearly 20 years ago. Schools Week can also reveal that council schools have been breaking rules over tax checks, issuing contracts and unauthorised pay rises for staff. And […]