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In a week when the weather forced schools to be closed for a non-Covid-related reason, the DfE was facing a storm over its new guidance to keep teachers politically impartial, a ����Vlog investigation revealed the super-slow internet crisis in schools and fears were raised over teachers’ mental health.

Catch up on your must-read news and features articles right here:

News

• How the DfE plans to keep teachers politically impartial��
  The government has published new guidance aimed at ensuring that teachers don’t “promote contested theories as fact” to students.
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• Ofsted gives schools breathing space on curriculum��
  The inspectorate has extended the transition period that it is giving schools to develop their curriculum plans, in response to the ongoing Covid disruption.
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• Revealed: the scale of the teacher mental health crisis��
  Ministers, school employers and inspectorates have been accused of “failing in their duty of care” to teachers, after research showed how the pressures of the job are resulting in mental ill-health.
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• New behaviour guidance: could your school be breaking the law?��
  Schools following the DfE’s proposed new behaviour guidance could be in breach of existing equalities legislation, one legal expert has warned.
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• How I kept my promise to a teacher after 26 years��
  Author Kenny Boyle’s search for one of his primary teachers took the internet by storm - here’s what happened when he found her.

Features

• The super-slow broadband crisis in schools��
  A ����Vlog investigation reveals how thousands of schools have been left struggling with slow internet connections - and explores the options they have to get out of the digital slow lane.
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• The government needs to give teachers a break��
  School staff are exhausted after struggling to keep education going during Covid - but the DfE seems intent on major policy changes, writes ����Vlog editor Jon Severs.
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• Do you really need to do written marking?
  Some say that written marking improves student motivation - but there are other less time-consuming ways to give effective feedback, writes Mark Enser.
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• How to turn around an ailing department��
  One school leader reveals how she transformed a department judged “inadequate” into one praised as “outstanding”.
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• Teacher misconduct: how the new powers will affect schools��
  With the DfE planning to broaden the scope of the Teaching Regulation Agency’s powers to investigate misconduct, legal experts and school leaders explain what impact the changes will have.

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