schools | Schools Week

Pupils face £2 ‘fines’ to get their phones back

A school has been accused of holding pupils’ mobile phones to “ransom” after charging parents £2 to return confiscated devices. South Wigston high school in Leicester bans mobile phones as it says the devices are a major tool for bullying and a distraction to learning. However, its electronic device policy says that a £2 contribution […]

Revealed: The schools saving thousands slashing executive salaries

Some smaller trusts are slashing inflated leadership salaries – with one saving a six-figure sum in the process. Four trusts, each with just two schools apiece, have reduced pay after facing government scrutiny for the amount pocketed by their chief executives. The Transforming Lives Educational Trust, with one secondary and one infant school in Warwickshire, […]

DfE rejects 7,000 requests by schools to wipe pupils’ GCSE scores

The government has refused nearly 7,000 requests from schools for their pupils’ GCSE scores to be wiped from league tables after applications rocketed following the introduction of Progress 8. Schools can apply for the results of seriously ill pupils or those in police custody or who are home-educated to be “disapplied” from performance data, on […]

Top-rated schools and grammars pocket the most in parental donations

‘Outstanding’-rated schools raise almost twice as much money through parental donations as those rated ‘inadequate’, while grammar schools pick up five times more than their non-selective neighbours, it has been revealed. New figures lay bare the stark discrepancies between how much state schools can raise from parent donations to pay for essentials, including new equipment […]

Baker clause update: DfE gears up to start ‘direct intervention’ in schools

Schools could face “direct intervention” from the Department for Education from September if they have failed to allow further education providers to promote vocational education to their pupils. The move is a part of a crackdown on non-compliance with the controversial ‘Baker clause’, an amendment to the 2017 Technical and Further Education Act, which came […]

Why every school needs to learn how to handle ‘conduct disorder’

Schools have ineffective behaviour management strategies because they want a “quick fix” to a common disorder but don’t understand the neurology behind it. Some teachers don’t know how to manage “conduct disorder” – a mental condition which causes disruptive and sometimes violent behaviour in pupils – because they don’t know how to identify and respond […]