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New Institute of Teaching sparks warning of the ‘Gibb-isation of education’

The new government-funded Institute of Teaching has been branded as another example of the “Gibb-isation of education”. The Department for Education announced on Saturday that it would establish a new provider to deliver initial teacher training, the government’s early career framework for new teachers and national professional qualifications for more experienced staff. The institute, which […]

Hurrah! Telecoms firms WILL now make Oak National Academy free-to-access

Mobile networks EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have said they will move to “zero-rate” the Oak National Academy after the online education provider agreed to move all its content to a single domain. The “big four” telecoms providers have announced today they “will, subject to technical testing over the coming weeks, open up free access […]

Covid infections in school-aged children peaked over Christmas, ONS data shows

Covid infection rates among school-age children peaked over Christmas, new data shows, with as many as 1 in 18 older pupils in London testing positive. The Office for National Statistics has published its latest infection survey data, the first since Christmas eve. The survey shows that the ONS believes the proportion of primary and secondary […]

DfE and PHE not on same page over school face masks evidence

A teaching union is demanding to see the “clear scientific evidence base” behind any government decision on face masks in schools. It comes as freedom of information requests show the Department for Education and Public Health England are using different evidence. The current guidance is that staff and pupils in communal areas in secondary schools […]

‘Big four’ telecoms firms won’t zero-rate remote education websites

Telecoms companies have poured cold water on calls for them to “zero-rate” remote education websites, citing technical issues around third-party content. Calls for unfettered access to online education resources have been growing since the government announced on Monday that most pupils will learn remotely until at least February half-term. If we can prove to them […]

Calls for Williamson’s resignation amid chaos and confusion of partial school closures

Headteachers across England were left scrambling to implement last-minute partial school closures this week after a chaotic series of U-turns and confusing announcements by the government. After resisting repeated calls for further restrictions on pupil attendance over recent weeks, Boris Johnson announced on Monday night that schools would move to remote education until February half-term […]

Partial school closures guidance: What you need to know

The Department for Education has finally updated its main Covid guidance document to include details of how leaders should handle this year’s partial school closures. Many of the instructions on how to keep schools Covid-secure are similar to or the same as they were before, but there are some other important instructions. Here’s what we […]

Gavin Williamson update on spring partial closures: What did we learn?

The education secretary has given more information about the government’s contingency plans for schools, after it was announced that mainstream settings will move to remote education for most pupils. Here’s what we learned.   1. Teacher assessment to replace exams, but no algorithm The government had already announced that GCSE and A-level exams would not […]

Government to increase remote education expectation and demand video lessons

The government will increase the number of hours of remote education schools have to provide and introduce an expectation that at least some provision is delivered via video lessons. A new legal duty for schools to provide remote education for absent pupils came into force last October, and will be used by the government to […]