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2 May 2026

Tag: schools

Death of the single academy? Leaked documents reveal DfE vision

Standalone and small multi-academy trusts will wither away as mergers fuel the growth of larger trusts, according to leaked Department for Education documents seen by Schools Week. The news comes as a Schools Week analysis suggests a merger was approved every five days over the past year. It lays bare the scale of growth in […]

School staff in Devon get £10 each as Covid thank you gesture

A council with a £50 million deficit has given its schools around £65,000 to spend on staff as a “token of appreciation” for their hard work and resilience during the pandemic. Devon County Council (DCC) has awarded its schools £10 per employee to spend “in whatever way they think best to thank teaching and support […]

Schools warned Brexit driver shortages threaten meal supplies

School meals could face disruption and caterers have begun stockpiling as a driver shortage fuelled by Brexit and Covid puts deliveries at risk, a local council has warned. Sheffield City Council said cooks would be given two days’ “emergency stand-by menu items” from this week in case the national driver shortage threatens frozen and dry […]

Williamson dodges calls to publish winter Covid schools plan

Gavin Williamson has confirmed he has a plan for responding to a potential winter wave of Covid or a flu outbreak, but dodged calls to publish it in advance. I’m desperately hoping never to have to touch it The education secretary also insisted the government’s understanding of how to run schools safely while providing “high-quality” […]

Attendance: School Covid contact absences quadruple in a week

The number of pupils absent because of a potential contact with Covid-19 in school has quadrupled in just one week, new government attendance data shows. Attendance survey data published by the Department for Education shows 171,600 pupils missed school on June 17 because of potential contact with the virus in school, up from 40,200 on […]

Struggling schools need ‘support, not public tellings-off’

An academy trust given a termination warning notice for one of its schools has called the procedure “demotivating” and “against the basic principles of education”. The Dean Trust was sent the notice by the Department for Education in May after its Dean Trust Wigan school was rated ‘inadequate’ after an Ofsted inspection in February last […]

RSC’s push to get communities on board not matched by academy guidance

The Department for Education has quietly removed the need for schools to be “answerable” to communities and parents from its governance handbook. It comes in spite of renewed emphasis in recent weeks on community involvement, with Claire Burton, the regional schools commissioner for south east England and south London, saying academising schools must show the […]

An inset day on sexual abuse ‘won’t cut it’, says Spielman

Amanda Spielman has warned schools that a one-off safeguarding inset day alone “won’t cut it” as the sector looks to address sexual abuse and harassment among pupils. In response to Ofsted’s review of sex abuse in schools, the Department for Education pledged to “encourage” schools to include relationship, health and sex education curriculum and safeguarding […]