remote education | Schools Week

Invicta Academy drops top Tories’ ‘sponsor’ tag after backlash over founder’s comments

An online learning platform has stopped describing top Conservative MPs – including Gavin Williamson – as “sponsors” after a backlash over comments made by one of its founders. Politicians including Williamson and education committee chair Robert Halfon were until today listed as sponsors of the Invicta Academy, which was set up last summer by Conservative […]

Remote education: Laptops roll-out vital, but pupils need pens and paper too

Schools are turning minibuses into mobile stationery vans to deliver basic equipment such as pens and paper to poorer pupils during lockdown. Hundreds of families have accessed the services as school leaders move to extend their pandemic provision and “replicate normal school at home”. Research from The Sutton Trust into learning during lockdown found 31 […]

Williamson repeats ‘unhelpful myth’ live lessons claim, and 4 more edu Qs findings

Gavin Williamson and his ministers faced questions in Parliament about the government’s response to Covid-19, including issues relating to live lessons, free school meals and mass testing. Here’s what we learned. 1. Williamson repeats live learning claim branded ‘unhelpful myth’ by Ofsted Ministers were asked several questions about the provision of live teaching by […]

DfE pledges 300,000 more laptops – but unclear when they’ll be delivered

The Department for Education has pledged to provide an additional 300,000 laptops and tablets to assist poorer pupils with remote learning, but has not said when they will all be delivered. The announcement takes the total number of devices pledged to 1.3 million. Around 700,000 have so far been delivered to schools and councils. The […]

Hurrah! Telecoms firms WILL now make Oak National Academy free-to-access

Mobile networks EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have said they will move to “zero-rate” the Oak National Academy after the online education provider agreed to move all its content to a single domain. The “big four” telecoms providers have announced today they “will, subject to technical testing over the coming weeks, open up free access […]

‘Big four’ telecoms firms won’t zero-rate remote education websites

Telecoms companies have poured cold water on calls for them to “zero-rate” remote education websites, citing technical issues around third-party content. Calls for unfettered access to online education resources have been growing since the government announced on Monday that most pupils will learn remotely until at least February half-term. If we can prove to them […]

Gavin Williamson update on spring partial closures: What did we learn?

The education secretary has given more information about the government’s contingency plans for schools, after it was announced that mainstream settings will move to remote education for most pupils. Here’s what we learned. 1. Teacher assessment to replace exams, but no algorithm The government had already announced that GCSE and A-level exams would not […]

Government to increase remote education expectation and demand video lessons

The government will increase the number of hours of remote education schools have to provide and introduce an expectation that at least some provision is delivered via video lessons. A new legal duty for schools to provide remote education for absent pupils came into force last October, and will be used by the government to […]

750k laptops target by next week doesn’t include new devices (as PM promised)

The government has set a target of delivering an extra 140,000 laptops by the end of next week – however the commitment does not include any new devices. Boris Johnson’s pledge to provide extra tech for remote education during spring partial school closures is based on a commitment from last year, it has emerged. The […]