General
Friday
14th Feb 2025
MAT defends extending day plan after strike threat
Outwood Grange Academies Trust says its current day falls short of the expected 32.5-hour weekly minimum
Teach First appoints James Toop as its new CEO
Mr Toop was part of Teach First’s inaugural 2003 cohort and also served as chief executive of Ambition Institute
Vision to transform school grounds in Scotland
National organisations join forces to rethink school grounds as ‘playful and nature-rich environments’ that can boost learning and ‘design out violence’
MATs ‘need guidance’ on investments as returns soar
Large multi-academy trusts nearly tripled their cash returns from investments last year – so why aren’t all trusts doing the same? Experts tell Jasmine Norden that MATs need guidance on ways to invest safely
Cut teaching jobs to save Scotland £500m, says IFS
But teaching union warns that cutting teacher numbers would be a ‘false economy’ that would ‘damage life chances’
Ofsted framework will lead to ‘army of expensive consultants’
The Headteachers’ Roundtable has also expressed concerns that inclusion and SEND are ‘afterthoughts’ in Ofsted’s proposed inspection framework
Thursday
13th Feb 2025
RISE teams target 32 schools in ‘urgent’ need
The new regional school improvement programme will grow in April with the appointment of 50 new advisers, says DfE
Oliver: Time to rethink length of summer holidays
Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver warns pupils can be ‘dysregulated’ after long summer break
Scotland’s biggest council backs down over planned teacher cuts
A strike planned for next week has been suspended as Glasgow says future cuts to teaching posts will not go ahead and that it will increase teacher numbers
Ofqual ‘ready to take action’ over extra exam time gap
Sir Ian Bauckham, speaking to ÌÇÐÄVlog after being confirmed as Ofqual’s permanent chief regulator, highlights possible unfairness in students being awarded extra time in exams
Exclusive
Wednesday
12th Feb 2025
Harden rules on violence against teachers, ministers told
Schools should have to report violence against staff to police, say Tories in bill debate – but Labour says they can already do this
Estyn: Welsh secondary attendance rate ‘stubbornly low’
Welsh secondaries’ struggles to recruit teachers are ‘impacting the quality of education’, finds schools inspectorate’s annual report