remote education | Schools Week

DfE advice on when schools should use remote education: 8 key findings

Remote learning can be used to ‘reintegrate’ some absent pupils and also for those who are off with infections, guidance says

Oak academy to move into public hands with ‘no privatisation’ and independence condition

Education secretary will say he’s committed to building on the ‘by teachers, for teachers’ approach behind its launch’

Revealed: Oak bosses’ bid for £41m payday

Oak bosses would have been in line for a £41 million payday under their preferred proposal for the future of the online school. A Schools Week investigation revealed last week how Oak’s management team submitted plans to turn the taxpayer-funded online school into a private company. The proposal was withdrawn after being deemed ‘unworkable’. But […]

Covid: Schools close sites after surge in Indian variant

Schools are being forced to close on-site provision and switch to online learning due to surging Covid rates linked to the Indian variant. While some have shut down their sites to all but keyworker and vulnerable children, others have had to send home whole year groups and have allowed parents to keep their children off […]

Oak Academy scrambles to secure future as privatisation plan pulled

Oak National Academy’s future set-up has still to be finalised just weeks before government funding runs out – after a privatisation plan, by which employees could have made millions, was pulled. A Schools Week investigation has established Oak management tabled a proposal whereby they would become majority shareholders of a “social purpose company” to run […]

Remote education: Schools cut screen time to boost mental and physical health

Schools have introduced “comfort breaks” and reduced screen time to boost the mental and physical health of staff and pupils during remote education. Since the third lockdown began in January schools have had to provide remote education for most pupils but some have adapted their approach after feedback from staff, pupils and parents. Although all […]

Williamson won’t commit to delivering laptops before schools reopen

Schools will be able to order the remaining 300,000 promised laptops from next week – but the education secretary will only commit to delivering “the majority” by the time they are due to reopen. Data released by the Department for Education (DfE) on Tuesday showed the number of laptops dispatched to schools had fallen for […]

Joining live lessons won’t be ‘the norm’, says Ofsted

Ofsted has reassured schools that inspectors will not be joining pupils’ live lessons as “the norm” during its remote monitoring inspections this term. New guidance last week said inspectors could join online lessons to “understand how education is being provided by the school”. The announcement prompted concern from teachers who feared that the practice would […]

Why the government’s £400m laptops roll-out is crashing

An “amazing achievement”. That’s how Nick Gibb, the long-time schools minister, describes the progress of his department’s £400 million scheme to deliver laptops to disadvantaged children. He told MPs the delivery of 876,000 laptops, since the scheme launched in April last year, was an “amazing logistical exercise” amid a “demanding global market”. But headteachers say […]