Progress 8 | Schools Week

NUT pass motion ‘to persuade members that national strike action will be necessary’

The threat of strike action over teacher workload a step further this morning, despite the education secretary publicly pledging to reduce unnecessary tasks. At the National Union of Teachers’ (NUT) annual conference in Brighton this morning, members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion that would seek to organise a “national demonstration around the crisis […]

‘Gaming’ row flares up again over PiXL Club’s advice for schools to use three-day ICT ‘GCSE’

A row over the use of a controversial fast-track ICT qualification that can be taught in just three days has again flared up after a leading headteacher raised concerns. Schools Week revealed in May last year how the PiXL Club, an organisation that aims to raise attainment in schools, was encouraging its then 1,300 members […]

‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ White Paper: What are the actual policies?

The first education white paper since 2010 has been released by the government today. But what does it actually say? I spent this morning picking through the 128 pages of ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ to find what the government is saying it will do. Small projects that were already announced have not been included. Likewise anything […]

GCSE RESULTS 2015 LEAGUE TABLE SPECIAL: The schools where low ability pupils are not disadvantaged

Continuing Schools Week’s focus on disadvantaged pupils, we were asked by readers to highlight schools where low ability pupils are not being left behind. Here are the 10 best that we’ve found A handful of schools are beating the odds and making sure pupils arriving with low ability are leaving year 11 on a par […]

EXCLUSIVE: Ark’s new ‘Assembly’ service seeks to help edu-tech start ups

Successful academy chain Ark is launching a new cloud-based service today to break open the market for start-up education technology companies, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. The Assembly service will store data from school management information systems (MIS), which companies can then apply to use for the creation of apps with “school improvement at their […]

Alternative GCSE League Tables 2016: Which schools do best for the poorest pupils?

League tables for schools and colleges were released today by the Department for Education. Schools Week brings back its award-winning analysis, showcasing schools with high numbers of children from low income families. Disadvantaged pupils are once again at the heart of Schools Week’s analysis of the GCSE results pupils received in 2015 – with a […]

Joan McVittie, retired headteacher, Woodside High School

Dame Joan McVittie has already saved me twice by the time we are in her tiny car and zipping towards her house in Woodford, north east London. Having met at a nearby coffee shop she insists on buying me a hot chocolate (“you look cold”) and then rightly decides that an incoming crowd of teenagers […]

It is essential to involve schools in the development of 14-16 vocational qualifications

When delivered within schools, vocational qualifications can help pupils develop work-ready, practical skills, become more confident, enhance their CV and engage in a form of learning that interests them. With the flexibility to be woven into the core curriculum, vocational qualifications can complement their academic counterparts, giving real-world context to core subjects and enabling pupils […]

Accountability measures for secondary schools are ‘flawed and dangerous’, new analysis suggests

Secondary school’s published performance measures will this year be “very flawed and quite dangerous” due to a series of anomalies, a union policy director has claimed. But the government and schools inspectorate Ofsted have both said the issues will be taken into account and flagged to the public as necessary. Several education professionals contacted Schools […]