Teacher retention and recruitment

Teacher pay should rise by more than 3%, say experts
Recruitment pain will continue, pay increases could help: NFER report
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/teacher-pay-should-rise-over-three-per-cent-say-experts

Time to fulfil 6,500 teacher pledge ‘now or never’ as unfilled vacancies reach record high
There are more vacancies, bigger class sizes, more unqualified teachers, more teachers out of subject, and more teachers leaving. Something must be done

‘Now or never’ for 6,500 teacher pledge, Labour warned, as vacancies reach new high

Private school teachers taking second jobs to make ends meet
NEU’s independent schools survey shows teacher redundancies and an increase in cost-of-living pressures
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/private-school-teachers-taking-second-jobs-make-ends-meet-neu-survey

Headteachers’ gender pay gap ‘has widened to a chasm’
NAHT data shows the pay gap between female and male headteachers is the widest for 13 years
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/gender-pay-gap-for-headteachers-widens

Emma Hollis, CEO of NASBTT, talks ITTInitial teacher training - the period of academic study and time in school leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
‘Nobody should take on debt to train to be a teacher’

Emma Hollis, CEO of NASBTT

Inclusion

Councils spent more than £10m fighting tribunals over child special needs support
SEND tribunals cost a lot of money – but cost parents, children and the system much more than just money
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-03-13/councils-spent-more-than-10m-fighting-tribunals-over-special-needs-support

‘Devastating and dangerous’: Schools hit by £82m budget raid for SEND
DfEDepartment for Education - a ministerial department responsible for children’s services and education in England says councils can take money from school budgets to pay for the SEND crisis. So how will schools make up the shortfall?

‘Devastating and dangerous’: Schools hit by £82m budget raid for SEND

DfE told to come clean on its SEND reforms plan
Education committee chair tells DfE off for not mentioning a possible White Paper when it gave evidence to their SEND review

DfE told to come clean on its SEND reforms plan

‘Draconian’ school policies unfairly impact ethnic minority children, MPs told
Labour MP Kim Johnson called for a public inquiry into a ‘miscarriage of justice’ in the 1970s, where many minority ethnic children were classed as educationally subnormal
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mps-labour-britain-government-caribbean-b2714064.html

Schools Bill

The schools bill will allow LAs to ensure all children can thrive
Contrary to criticism, Labour’s bill will make it possible to take the first steps towards more inclusive local responses to rising need.

The schools bill will allow LAs to ensure all children can thrive

School places

No exodus to state sector after VAT added to private school fees, say English councils
Turns out there’s been very little impact on secondary school places from the VAT on fees – despite what many predicted. (And look out for a rare use of the word ululation by a government source!)
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/mar/10/no-exodus-to-state-sector-after-vat-added-to-private-school-fees-say-english-councils

Pupil absence

Phillipson: Schools need ‘old-fashioned graft’ to stop absence ‘damage’
Some schools aren’t doing enough to tackle pupil absence, says the Secretary of State
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/phillipson-schools-need-old-fashioned-graft-stop-absence-damageOfsted

OfstedThe Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills – a non-ministerial department responsible for inspecting and regulating services that care for children and young people, and services providing education and skills appoints Mark Vickers as external adviser for inclusionAn approach where a school aims to ensure that all children are educated together, with support for those who require it to access the full curriculum and contribute to and participate in all aspects of school life
Ofsted says it wants its new framework to be focused on inclusion, and to improve its inspector training

Ofsted appoints Mark Vickers as external adviser for inclusion

Sir Martyn: Inclusion must be ‘ingrained’ in school culture
Can the new Ofsted framework make schools more inclusive? HMCI thinks so
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/sir-martyn-oliver-ofsted-inclusion-ingrained-school-cultureTech

Technology ‘being weaponised’ against schools and teachers – union leader
ASCL’s president warns of the ways parents and pupils are using social media. Nearly half of teachers say students have recorded teachers or pupils without permission. 10% say that ‘deepfake’ videos have been used against teachers. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/association-of-school-and-college-leaders-technology-bridget-phillipson-schools-liverpool-b2714891.html

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