NEU | Schools Week

NEU urges government to start closing schools as new coronavirus guidance ‘increases anxiety’

The country’s largest education union wants the government to close some schools after claims new government guidance on containing coronavirus has “increased anxiety and uncertainty”. The National Education Union intends to tell is members who are now considered high risk – pregnant women or those with underlying health issues – to stop attending school from […]

‘We are not convinced’ – leaders’ union ASCL won’t back #PauseOfsted campaign

The Association of School and College Leaders will not back calls for school staff to stop working as Ofsted inspectors because its leaders are “not convinced” it’s the best way forward. The #PauseOfsted campaign, launched by Headteachers’ Roundtable chair Stephen Tierney at the think tank’s annual conference last week, calls for those working part-time as […]

Unions publish school funding constituency league table to sway voters

A new league table that allows voters to see how their constituency has been affected by real-terms funding cuts has been published today by the National Education Union. It’s the latest attempt by the union to put school funding at the centre of the general election campaign. A tool previously set up by a coalition […]

Alternative provision academy trust turns to online learning to make savings

An academy trust in charge of 11 alternative provision academies intends to increase its use of online learning as part of a plan to cut more than £2.5 million from its budget, it has emerged. The TBAP trust, which runs AP academies in London, Essex, Cambridgeshire and the North West, is planning widespread cost-cutting measures after […]

School sixth form funding down 21% since 2010, IfS finds

Funding for students in school sixth forms has plunged by 21 per cent since 2010–11, new research has found. Government funding for 16 to 18 year olds has been cut “much more sharply” than funding for pupils in pre-school, primary, secondary or higher education, according to the ‘2018 Annual Report on Education Spending in England’ […]

Hinds challenged over ‘dangerously inadequate’ SEND funding

A coalition of trade unions and 39 local authorities have written to the education secretary to warn of “dangerously inadequate funding” for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The School Cuts Coalition was first formed in November 2016 and now includes NEU, NAHT, ASCL, Unison, GMB and Unite. In a letter to Damian Hinds, the […]

Council steps in to save 24-pupil special school

A local authority has prevented an academy for high-needs pupils from closing, saving them from a 45-mile journey to their new school. Unity Academy – Fenland in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire will now be moved to another site in the town as part of a development which will also house a new primary and secondary school. Catering […]

TAs miss out on training as funding plummets

Nearly half of teaching assistants claim to have received no training from their schools within the last year as schools cut back to save money. In a survey of 4,500 school support staff, 53.3 per cent of classroom-based staff said their school’s money for training had dropped in the last 12 months, and 45.1 per […]