News

Alongside our best practice section, Headteacher Update features regular news and news analysis articles to keep school leaders up-to-date with the latest policy and sector developments. Our news pieces attempt to tackle issues of direct relevance to primary school educators and offer something different to the mainstream media.

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Anger over Pupil Premium admin change that is costing schools millions

Schools nationwide will lose out on an estimated £133m in Pupil Premium funding due to the DfE's recent administrative change – with new figures showing North East schools alone face a loss of up to £7.3m. Pete Henshaw takes a look

Autonomy, workload, wellbeing, Covid: A third of teachers say they will quit in next five years

A third of teachers intend to quit in the next five years, new research suggests, with workload and a lack of autonomy once again among the key factors. However, the findings offer insights into how schools might effectively reduce workload too. Pete Henshaw takes a look

Troubled Families rebrand needs a 'long-term' funding commitment

Co-located services, a long-term funding commitment from government and a continuing focus on early intervention will all be key to making the rebranded Troubled Families programme successful, it has been warned.

Long Covid: School sickness policies need updating

With thousands of teachers reporting symptoms of long-Covid, schools’ sickness policies need to better recognise the often debilitating impact of this little understood phenomenon, the NASUWT has said.

A 10-point plan education renewal post-Covid

The NASUWT has put forward a 10-point plan for education renewal. Its annual conference has also called for Black history to be embedded as part of a decolonised curriculum, more protection for creative subjects post-Covid, and has issued a warning about pupil behaviour. Pete Henshaw reports

'I will never forget the panic in that girl's voice’ – the poverty crisis laid bare

The chilling and worsening impact of poverty on children and families has been laid bare by a survey of 10,000 teachers. The research also sets out teachers’ priorities post-Covid. Pete Henshaw reports

Increased ransomware attacks: Schools offered help to defend their systems

Remote access systems, phishing and unpatched or unsecure devices are among the common routes being used by ransomware attackers to target schools.

Schools see highest attendance figures since Covid began

School attendance last week was the highest it has been since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic – although Covid absences are rising once again…

Retention problems not over despite teacher training surge

The Covid-related spike in applications to teacher training must not fool us into thinking that retention issues in schools are a thing of the past.

Pupil Premium census change will wipe-out recovery funding for two-thirds of primary schools

The £6,000 recovery premium being given to primary schools is set to be wiped out because of changes in how the Department for Education (DfE) calculates Pupil Premium eligibility.

Covid-19: The DfE has 'made far too many missteps'

The National Audit Office's report card on ministers' management of education during Covid has sparked a scathing response about some of the DfE's 'missteps' and 'tone-deaf decisions'. There is also concern that the National Tutoring Programme is not reaching the most disadvantaged pupils. Pete ...

Deprived families describe “impossible choices” over remote education

Increasing school and education-related costs have contributed to the financial pressures facing the poorest families this year, with parents reporting stress, guilt and feeling like they are in a "permanent battle".

Reject the ‘reductive, deficiency-riddled terminology of catch-up’

We must reject the catch-up at all costs rhetoric and rebuild a school system that learns the lessons from the pandemic. Pete Henshaw reports from the ASCL annual conference, which set out plans to publish a Blueprint for a Fairer Education system this summer

Primary school re-opening: High attendance reported amid focus on wellbeing and recovery

There are reports of high pupil attendance as primary schools re-opened their doors to all children this week.

Mental Health Support Teams: Expansion welcomed but will it be too little, too late?

The acceleration of the Mental Health Support Teams initiative has been welcomed – but it is still not enough as current plans will reach only a third of children by April 2023.

Almost one million children learning in classes of 31 or more pupils

The number of pupils being taught in class sizes of more than 31 has increased by 150,000 during the past five years, analysis shows.

No new money for Covid recovery: Disappointment as Rishi Sunak's Budget snubs schools

There is bitter disappointment among school leaders and teachers after the "short-sighted" Budget included no new money to support longer term post-Covid recovery work during this Parliament.

Covid: Prioritise attendance, assessment and recovery over time, schools urged

Effective diagnostic assessment and a focus on “recovery over time” should be priorities for schools – rather than an obsession with “catch-up” – the Education Recovery Commissioner has told MPs.

Orwell? Brontë? Dickens? Steinbeck? Lee? Top 10 favourite school books revealed

Animal Farm, Great Expectations and Lord of the Flies are among the most popular books read at school.

Covid: Youngest pupils hardest hit by lockdown and slowest to recover

Emerging evidence suggests that pupils in year 1 could be among those whose learning and progress has been hardest hit by the pandemic.

Review offers SEN-specific teaching tips for remote education

With two-thirds of SEN students having not engaged effectively with remote education, a research review has sought to offer practical ideas and tips for teaching staff.

Covid: Frustration at ringfenced recovery funding amid March 8 fears

Boris Johnson’s insistence that all students will return to school on March 8 and the ‘salami-slicing’ of the latest £702m funding for learning recovery have left school leaders and teachers anxious and frustrated in equal measure. Pete Henshaw reports

This is how children fall through the gaps: Anne Longfield's final, exasperated warning to Whitehall

Known for speaking truth to power, children’s commissioner Anne Longfield has held true to form in her final address. Her stark views on how many in Whitehall view children and why the vulnerable continue to slip through the net will not make comfortable reading for policy-makers. Pete Henshaw ...