6 March
Inclusion
DfE eyes private special school veto
Phillipson set to have powers to stop independent special schools opening or expanding where there’s ‘limited evidence of demand’.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-
New ‘experts at hand’ won’t arrive fast enough, DfE warned
Professional bodies back bigger roles in schools for educational psychologists, occupational and speech and language therapists – but say they already struggle to meet demand.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
SEND reforms risk increasing costs in short term, says OBR
Government has not set out how its flagship reforms will result in savings, fiscal watchdog says.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum
The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Schools to provide life‑saving allergy pens under new rules
New allergies guidance will give parents confidence that schools can keep their children safe, says early education minister Olivia Bailey.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
£1.6bn SEND pot risks being ‘swallowed up’, leaders warn
Flagship fund to improve inclusion in mainstream schools ‘won’t go very far at all’, and a clear national strategy is needed on how to use it, government is told.
Retention and recruitment
Diversity and flexibility push in DfE’s 6,500 teachers plan
Ministers have finally revealed details of how they plan to grow the teaching workforce by 6,500.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
School support staff lost more than £2 billion in wages last year: ‘They are being discriminated against’
Unions are calling for school and council workers to get a pay rise of at least £3,000 or 10% for 2026/27.
https://www.independent.co.uk/
Support staff turnover hits record high as experts call for action
Report recommends government action to help schools recruit staff, including through more training and higher pay.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
Schools can only afford a 2.7% pay rise over two years, says DfE
Leaders will need to ‘realise and sustain better value’ to meet costs of a planned 6.5%, three-year pay rise for teachers.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
School Improvement
Funding and leadership questions over new area ‘missions’
Bid to improve north east and coastal schools risks ‘becoming symbolic rather than structural’, ministers told.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
More than half of specialist free school projects set to go ahead
Councils faced a choice between a new school and accepting alternative funding for SEND expansion.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
DfE advisers RISE to the challenge (269 miles away)
One in 10 schools in school improvement programme have been paired with advisers based in different parts of the country.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-
Equalities
David Bell to lead independent review on antisemitism in schools
School leaders have welcomed any support in tackling the issue.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
Social media plays ‘huge role’ in promoting traditional gender views, say experts
Gen Z men are more likely than their Baby Boomer counterparts to believe wives should “obey” their husbands, a global study by Ipsos and King’s College London suggests.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Curriculum & qualifications
Ofqual warned of ‘moving too slowly’ on digital assessments
England’s largest exam board says the ‘cautious’ rollout of on-screen assessments proposed by the regulator could ‘hinder progress’.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
No need for GCSE students to memorise equations until 2030
Minister tells Ofqual to continue giving equation and formula sheets to science and maths candidates until GCSEs are reformed.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Labour ‘hell-bent on dumbing down’ in schools after maths and science exams kept ‘easier’ for another four years
Labour has been labelled ‘hell-bent on dumbing down’ after announcing maths and science exams will retain Covid-era prompts to make them easier.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
Dame Prue Leith explains why cooking should be taught in schools
Famous culinary figures are urging children to receive regular practical cookery lessons.
https://www.independent.co.uk/
Hannah Fry: Maths GCSE should be split into two qualifications
Leading mathematician warns that the current maths qualification is trying to do ‘too much at once’ and risks leaving students behind.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Tech
Mentions of AI in BBC 500 Word stories increases
Children entering this years BBC 500 Words writing competition increasingly mentioning artificial intelligence (AI) in their stories, research has found.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Ofqual boss hears pupils’ confessions on AI
‘It’s getting harder and harder to detect it,’ warns Sir Ian Bauckham.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
Pupil absence
How peer relationships play a role in closing attendance gaps
New data shows how, for disadvantaged students and those with SEND, in particular, friendship can be an enabler to support attendance, explains Lauren Bellaera.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
Parents
Complaints reforms welcomed, but greater powers needed
Legal experts warn proposals ‘stop short’ of providing enough powers for schools.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
Policy
The Guardian view on schools: Send reforms aside, the government’s white paper lacks focus
Plans to resurrect the children’s services decimated by austerity are appealing.
Schools reform depends on staff knowledge and confidence
Translating white paper aspirations into improved pupil outcomes will depend on whether teachers and leaders have the knowledge, capacity and confidence to enact them.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/
Conservatives pledge to boost defence spending by bringing back two-child benefit cap
The Tories say the measure will fund the recruitment of 20,000 new soldiers as well as their accommodation and equipment.
Primary libraries pledge includes converted cloakrooms and corridors
Treasury has committed to ensuring that every primary school has a library by 2029, but these facilities could include former ‘storage spaces’, Tes can reveal.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/
And finally
The National Year of Reading celebrates the ‘joy’ of books. But let’s not forget they can also be deeply troubling, too
Encounters with great art can be absorbing, unsettling and even painful. How has this been tamed into mere ‘reading for pleasure’?
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