General
Tuesday
Don’t rush ‘biggest inspection change in decades’, heads warn
Ofsted’s single-word inspection judgements should be scrapped immediately but a replacement system needs to have the confidence of teachers, says union
‘Entitlement’ to languages met by falling number of Scottish schools
Just 61 per cent offer second language as researchers point to growing number of schools allowing students to opt out of languages at the end of S2
Wednesday
Education directors criticise plans to inspect councils
Council chiefs say the decision was made with no discussion, and bodes ill for the future of the new independent inspectorate in Scotland
‘Urgently improve support’ for pupils in kinship care
Almost half of kinship carers reported that the adverse experiences of the child in their care have negatively impacted on that child’s ability to cope in education
Tuesday
Cognita expands Middle East schools footprint
New addition joins eight schools in the Middle East as part of the global group of 100 schools in 16 countries
Wilshaw: ‘Abandon’ the idea of inspecting individual schools
Ofsted cannot inspect every school in the system reliably, says former chief inspector
Friday
Child poverty strategy should not make ‘further asks’ of schools
As the government’s child poverty taskforce meets for the first time, leaders tell ÌÇÐÄVlog what they think the strategy should address when it comes to schools
Success rate rises for primary school admissions appeals
More families appealed their child’s school place for this academic year, new government figures show
Thursday
No national ban on phones in Scottish schools
New Scottish government guidance says ‘mobile phones can both enhance and detract from learning’ and leaves it to schools and councils to decide ‘restrictions and limitations’
New Scottish behaviour plan advises ‘high warmth and high standards’
‘Culture shift’ in behaviour management has made teachers feel ‘disempowered’, says plan, which backs ‘relationships-based approaches’ and barely mentions exclusions
