Key updates to statutory safeguarding guidance Updated statutory safeguarding guidance, including new information on domestic abuse, online safety, and child-on-child (not peer-on-peer) sexual violence and harassment, has been published ahead of implementation in September.
CAMHS: Steep rise in mental health figures is tip of the iceberg The dramatic and alarming increase in the number of children and young people being treated for mental health problems is just the tip of the iceberg.
Reading confidence: Quiet places to read and peer support key, report finds Pupils who are more confident with their reading have higher levels of wellbeing and lower levels of anxiety, research involving 80,000 young people has underlined.
Uncomfortable and disturbing: Report reveals substantial disparities in career progression for ethnic minority teachers Children entering school today have a “high probability of rarely or never being taught by a teacher from an Asian, black, mixed or other ethnic minority group”.
Who has been worst affected? New national attainment data released two years after the first lockdown reveals that some pupil groups have suffered greater ‘losses’ to their learning. Stephan Nicholls gives us an overview
Schools Bill: Funding remains the elephant in the room It is funding, not academy status or attendance policies, that will have the biggest impact on helping to raise attainment in schools, it was said this week.
Attendance policy requirements spelt out in new guidance New school attendance policies must include details of how attendance data will be used, the point at which sanctions will kick in, and strategies for reducing persistent and severe absence.
School leaders slam 'underhand' plan to publish tutoring data School leaders have accused the government of attempting to distract from the “mess” it has made of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) with the “underhand” introduction of tutoring league tables.
Energy cost crisis: A third of schools planning deficit budgets A third of schools are planning for a deficit budget by the end of next year as a direct result of soaring energy costs.
What century are we living in? “We have noticed a rise in children coming to school tired as they have no heating on at home and find it difficult to sleep on cold nights. The rise in poverty in my school’s community is shocking and stark.”
Call for £75m to end school breakfast club 'lottery' One in five schools in England offers no breakfast provision for disadvantaged pupils, with cost and staffing the most commonly cited barriers.
Deep concern at falling leadership retention rates after FoI revelations A Freedom of Information request has revealed the concerning extent to which middle and senior leaders are quitting our schools.
Climate change strategy: Carbon literacy training, sustainability leads & emissions reporting for schools Carbon literacy training is to be rolled out from 2023 as part of the Department for Education’s plans to ensure a sustainability lead in every school by 2025.
Curriculum coverage fears ahead of next month's SATs Only 8% of teachers working with pupils due to sit SATs this term say they have covered more than 90% of the curriculum content.
Teachers want to see maximum class size limits Teachers are to lobby for a maximum limit on class sizes to be introduced in schools across the UK.
Call for contractual changes as teachers clock up 57 hours a week Teachers are now working an average of 57 hours a week thanks to more time being spent on pastoral care, administration, data, and assessment.
School attendance data: Government 'pretending that the pandemic is over' The latest school attendance figures have been stripped of any data on Covid-related absence as ministers try to “pretend that the pandemic is over”.
Increasing mental health, socialisation, and speech problems among pupils Poor pupil mental health is now prevalent in schools compared to pre-pandemic with teachers also seeing increased problems with socialisation and speech and language development.
Almost one million children in 'food insecure' households More than one in four children across the UK are living in poverty, with almost one million living in “food insecure” households – and the situation is set to worsen as inflation soars.
New-look National Tutoring Programme must 'deliver on its moral imperative' The new-look National Tutoring Programme (NTP) must address regional disparities in provision and ensure clear targets for reaching low-income students, it was said this week.
'Reckless in the extreme' – school leaders issue free testing plea “We continue to hear a sense of deep frustration from school leaders as they struggle to deal with the significant and on-going disruption caused by Covid – while the government removes every measure they have for controlling it.”
Narrow and 'lacking in ambition' – White Paper fails to inspire The government’s Parent Pledge will be a “tall order” to deliver and risks being seen as nothing more than a “policy gimmick”, while the elephant in the White Paper is the lack of targets to close the disadvantage gap.
Devil in the detail: Cautious reaction to SEND Green Paper There has been cautious welcome to ideas set out in the long-awaited SEND Green Paper but exasperation that it has taken so long to get to this point.
'There is nothing for free' – schools urged to audit cost of events, fun activities, and trips Research has revealed just how little access disadvantaged children actually have to fully enjoying school events such as fairs, fundraising activities, and non-uniform days. Pete Henshaw takes a look
SATs results will be 'useless' – cancel them now, urge school leaders This summer’s SATs should be cancelled given that the results will be “useless”, school leaders have urged.
