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.

first prev 2 3 4 5 6 next last

Call for increased teacher efficacy to counter rise in work-related stress

Accountability and education reforms must promote increased levels of trust, autonomy and teacher efficacy and development if we are to beat the rising tide of stress in the profession.

Families seeking SEND support left exhausted by 'adversarial and bureaucratic' system

Poor implementation of the government’s SEND reforms has resulted in “confusion, at times unlawful practice, bureaucratic nightmares, buck-passing, no accountability, strained resources, and adversarial experiences”, a damning MPs’ report has concluded.

Data is still dominating working life for teachers

New workload research finds a third of teachers spend more time recording, monitoring and analysing data than they do preparing for their lessons. Pete Henshaw takes a look

Health secretary seeks advice on school immunisation plan

Health secretary Matt Hancock has mooted plans for compulsory MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccinations for children attending state schools in a bid to turn around five years of declining uptake.

Joint SEND inspections reveal inadequate support in many areas

More than half of local areas in England are failing to offer acceptable levels of support for children with SEND, figures suggest.

Sure Start: Fears grow that children’s centres cut are hitting the poorest

The services offered by Sure Start children’s centres continue to decrease, particularly in disadvantaged communities. With the attainment gap persistently evident, is this a missed opportunity to help close it?

Funding pledge: We’re not out of the woods yet

Boris Johnson’s £14.5bn funding package offers no immediate relief and will still leave many schools facing financial challenges in the immediate years ahead. Pete Henshaw looks at the recent funding pledges

Questions raised over Ofsted’s capacity to routinely inspect outstanding schools

Ofsted does not have the capacity to deliver on the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to remove the inspection exemption for outstanding schools, it has been claimed. Furthermore, plans to create a new Ofsted judgement for financial management and oversight are “misguided”.

Children in need suffering due to ‘Brexit paralysis’

The children’s commissioner says the government has been paralysed by three years of Brexit and is failing the one in 10 children who are classified as ‘in need’. Pete Henshaw reports

Financial analysis paints bleak picture for future of school funding

The cost of reversing the real-terms cuts to school funding for pupils aged five to 16 would be as much as £3.8 billion, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said.

DfE sets out plans to support the one in 10 children classified as 'in need'

Both the in-year admissions process and communication between social workers and schools are to be improved in a bid to better protect vulnerable children.

New Pupil Premium guidance urges focus on high-quality teaching above all else

The link between Pupil Premium spending and high-quality teaching should be the priority for all schools, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has said.

Pressure mounts over crisis in SEND funding

The conclusion from MPs’ inquiry into SEND looks set to be critical of how the 2014 reforms are working in practice. Funding is the core issue and last month thousands of parents took to the streets in protest. The DfE has launched a call for evidence on funding arrangements, but the pressure is ...

Children with speech and language needs face postcode lottery

Despite a government pledge to tackle the “word gap” between rich and poor children, the amount being spent to support a child with speech and language difficulties varies from as little as £31 to as much as £291 a year depending on where they live.

Research review reveals six approaches to improve pupil behaviour

Teaching specific learning behaviours and using personalised approaches can improve the behaviour of disruptive pupils, a research review has found.

Sure Start: Study finds ‘significant benefits’ for disadvantaged children

The Sure Start programme has had “significant benefits for children’s health” in the most disadvantaged areas, researchers have found.

Widespread welcome for Birmingham primary exclusion zone

Education minister Damian Hinds has welcomed the granting of an interim injunction against protests over the teaching of equality and LGBT-inclusive content at Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham.

Exclusions Review: The implications for primary schools

Schools exclusions are on the rise and while the spotlight is on secondary schools, the issue is increasingly affecting primary education. The Timpson Review of School Exclusion has investigated the reasons behind the trend and has published its recommendations. Suzanne O’Connell considers its ...

School staff on alert ahead of FGM ‘cutting season’

Teachers are being urged to stay alert for signs that pupils may be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) as we enter the “cutting season”.

Ofsted publishes final EIF and offers schools a grace period for curriculum reviews

More in-depth pre-inspection phone calls, a phasing in of the curriculum intent grade descriptor and a focus on reducing unnecessary workload. Just 22 days after the consultation over Ofsted’s new inspection framework closed, the final documents have been published, with implementation due for ...