schools | Schools Week

Schools, pupils and their characteristics 2021: 5 things we learned

The secondary and special school populations continue to grow in England, the latest data shows, with a slight decrease in the number of primary pupils and a big fall in those attending pupil referral units. The Department for Education has published its annual schools, pupils and their characteristics data collection, which is based on the […]

DfE to unveil vision for schools, and 4 other things we learned from Gavin Williamson at the Festival of Education

Gavin Williamson has pledged to set out a “broader vision” for the school system later this year. The education secretary this afternoon addressed the Festival of Education, which is taking place virtually over the next two weeks. He spoke about his wider plans for schools, his regrets over last year’s exams and plans for primary […]

Campaigners fear another ‘hostile environment’ over EU pupils’ status

Schools will face “inappropriate” pressure to snoop on EU pupils’ immigration status from next month, say heads and campaigners afraid of a “hostile environment” damaging relationships with parents. EU nationals who have not applied for settled status by June 30 will become undocumented and could risk losing the right to work or their children’s right […]

School drops sports course questioned by Ofsted

A Liverpool school has dropped a controversial sports science qualification that Ofsted said might not be in the pupils’ “best interests”. St Francis Xavier’s College, one of ten schools found not to be providing effective education during the pandemic, said it decided to drop the course before the inspectors’ visit. A monitoring inspection conducted in […]

Bring back face coverings in secondary schools and vaccinate pupils on site, say unions

Face coverings should be reintroduced in secondary school classrooms and for students in communal areas, unions representing teachers and support staff have said, amid growing fears about the impact of the Delta variant of Covid-19. The National Education Union, along with support staff unions Unison, the GMB and Unite, have also said pupils should be […]

Randstad’s tutoring contract worth £37m less than total offered by DfE

Dutch outsourcing giant Randstad will take over the National Tutoring Programme for tens of millions of pounds less than the maximum amount being offered by the Department for Education. Tender documents published in February stated that up to £62 million was available to bidders for the second phase of the NTP. But documents show Ranstad’s […]

Revealed: The school Covid expenses the DfE rejected

Covid could leave a lasting “black hole” in school budgets, experts have warned as new figures lay bare the pandemic’s financial toll. Official figures show schools made thousands of pleas for Covid expenses at the invitation of the Department for Education – which then decided not to reimburse them. Requests included 250 claims totalling £475,691 […]

Outbreak fears cause cautious schools to continue with mask rules

Mask rules for pupils will remain in place at some schools across England next week amid fears about localised outbreaks and a highly transmissible new variant of Covid. Several schools told Schools Week that they would continue to require masks in classrooms and communal areas even after the official government recommendation lifts on Monday. Prime […]

Covid outbreaks in schools double in a week

The number of Covid outbreaks in schools and other education settings doubled last week, new government data shows. Public Health England’s latest flu and Covid-19 report shows there were 48 new acute respiratory infection (ARI) “incidents” involving Covid reported by education settings in the week to May 9, up from 23 the week before and […]