13 February
Teacher retention and recruitment
Why apprenticeships could be critical in the teacher recruitment crisis
Teaching apprenticeships have grown by 800 per cent since launch, but to reap the benefits we need more support, argues Hannah Senel-Walp.
Why we’ve made the difficult decision to end teacher grants
The CEO of charity Education Support says a drop in donations has forced it to focus its efforts on mental health and wellbeing support for the sector.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Inclusion
Cash-strapped councils’ spending on private special schools soars
Local authorities with the biggest SEND deficits see their spending on places in independent special schools rise by up to 58 per cent, Tes analysis shows.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Children with special needs in England will keep current support, minister says
Georgia Gould reassures parents that no child will be asked to leave school or have levels of assistance removed.
Third of areas cut core school funding to prop up SEND
DfE urged to fix the ‘scandal’ of mainstream school funding being diverted to support councils’ ‘mountainous’ SEND debts.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
DfE expects all secondary schools to have ‘inclusion bases’
Each school would have a ‘dedicated safe space away from busy classrooms where pupils can access targeted support’, says government.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-
Send provision leaving deprived areas of England ‘trailing behind’, report finds
Ex-education secretaries urge change as data shows special educational needs spending rising fastest in wealthy areas.
School Improvement
Heads ‘on trial’: 8 findings from first RISE evaluation
But report concludes the initial rollout of Labour’s school improvement scheme has been a ‘success’.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
‘There is a fundamental muddle with the design of RISE’
The interim evaluation of the government’s RISE school improvement programme indicates some critical challenges for the scheme that need to be addressed, argues Leora Cruddas.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Curriculum & qualifications
The gulf between ambition and reality on curriculum reform
The wind of change is blowing in education.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/the-
Reading
‘Kids do love reading, if you give them the right stuff’: Campaign to get children back into books
Research carried out by Public First for Lit in Colour suggests 33% of young people say the books they read at school put them off reading, while 68% want an English curriculum that better reflects modern Britain.
Wales’s reading problem – and the data gap behind it
The schools watchdog’s latest warnings on literacy in Wales will sound familiar to many.
https://www.itv.com/news/2026-
Tech
‘It’s the only way I talk to my friends’: What do 16-year-olds really think about a social media ban?
As the government contemplates banning social media for under-16s, The Independent heard from those who know what it is like to grow up in online world.
New advice for parents about ‘toxic’ social media
Parents are to be offered advice and support on how to talk to their children about harmful online content as part of a new government initiative.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Third of children who use AI chatbots consider tech to be a ‘friend’
Some 81% of children aged between 11 and 16 say they use the technology, the poll for Vodafone found.
https://www.independent.co.uk/
Majority of young people worry AI will be used to make inappropriate images of them
Three in five young people worried about inappropriate use of AI.
https://www.independent.co.uk/
Social media companies accused of deliberately addicting children in pivotal trial
The world’s biggest social media companies are to face the first of several landmark trials this week in the US that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms.
How mobile phone policies in schools impact students’ wellbeing
A new study by the University of Birmingham found that restrictive mobile phone policies in schools do not improve pupils’ mental wellbeing, showing no discernible difference in measures such as worry or optimism.
https://www.independent.co.uk/
Police investigation launched after deepfakes of school staff circulated online
The deepfakes are understood to have been created using real pictures from social media profiles of staff.
School buildings
RAAC crisis in schools demands permanent fixes, MPs warn
Significant risks remain across ageing school buildings – and that affects pupils’ learning and wellbeing, warns education committee.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Education estates strategy to replace CIF and create surplus land framework
New process for repairs to standalone academies and small trusts will not require ‘full bids’, says DfE.
Ofsted
Ofsted: Heads question fairness of combining attendance and behaviour
Tes analysis shows most schools graded as ‘needs attention’ were only criticised over attendance and not behaviour.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Ofsted ‘needs to urgently review’ inspections over grade disparity
Headteachers’ union experts raise concern about difference between primary and secondary ratings and watchdog’s approach to grading achievement.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Estyn
Many children ‘failed’ by teaching standards – watchdog
Urgent improvement is needed to teaching and literacy in schools or more young people in Wales will fail to reach their potential, the education watchdog says.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Parents
Why are schools getting more complaints than ever?
Headteachers are reporting a surge in complaints from parents.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
What if… schools all stopped setting homework?
As part of our thought experiment series, Naveen Rizvi asks whether homework is worth the workload cost – and if anyone would miss it if every school stopped setting it.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
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