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Schools will be quizzed under new mental health inspections

Schools in some parts of the country will be contacted by inspectors and asked to explain how they support pupils with mental ill health under plans for one-off “joint inspections” of local services. Ofsted, along with inspectorates covering the healthcare, police, fire and probation services, will launch joint targeted area inspections in six areas in […]

Scrapping the QTS skills tests just passes the problem onto providers

By scrapping the QTS skills tests, the DfE is getting rid of its own barometer for aspiration, writes Professor David Spendlove. There has been some rejoicing that the 20-year-old numeracy and literacy skills tests requirements for trainee teachers are to be replaced at the end of the current recruitment cycle with a new system of […]

Education committee ‘unconvinced’ by £72m opportunity areas programme

The parliamentary education committee has questioned the effectiveness of the government’s social mobility “opportunity areas” programme, highlighting concerns over its independence, value for money and a lack of joined-up working. Robert Halfon, the Conservative chair of the committee, has written to Damian Hinds, the education secretary, following a number of hearings looking at the policy. […]

Expert panel to oversee design of new national professional qualifications

Another expert panel has been formed by the government, this time to help design new national professional qualifications for teachers. The panel is the eighth set up since Damian Hinds became education secretary in January 2018. Plans for five new NPQs – aimed at opening up career opportunities outside the traditional school leadership route – […]

DfE: More schools tackling workload, despite poor take-up of new ‘toolkit’

Ministers say more schools are tackling teacher workload, despite less than half of leaders having made use of new government guidance on the issue. A Department for Education survey found 94 per cent of school leaders are taking steps to reduce workload relating to marking, up from 88 per cent last year. However, just 46 […]

Why new research on the cost of academies vs maintained schools does not stack up

New research into the relative costs of academies and LA-maintained schools is flawed because it offers only a loose definition of the “middle tier”, argues Leora Cruddas. The report released today, Understanding the Middle Tier: Comparative Costs of Academy and LA-maintained School Systems, asks the right questions, but its conclusions are fundamentally flawed. I have […]

Nearly 1 in 5 schools ‘not in line’ with guidance on managing asbestos

Almost a fifth of schools are not managing asbestos in line with government guidance, a long-awaited report has revealed. The Department for Education has finally published its asbestos management assurance process report, based on an extensive survey of schools that launched well over a year ago. The survey confirms that the overwhelming majority of participating […]

Gibb: More prescriptive LGBT guidance wouldn’t have prevented protests

More prescriptive guidance forcing primary heads to teach about LGBT relationships would not have prevented protests outside schools in Birmingham, the schools minister has said. Nick Gibb told the House of Commons today that new statutory guidance on relationships and sex education deliberately left it up to schools when to teach about LGBT issues in […]

Social Mobility Commission chair gets new £350-a-day pay deal

Dame Martina Milburn will be paid £350-a-day for her work as the chair of the Social Mobility Commission after taking on “more responsibilities” in the role, the government has announced. The chief executive of the Prince’s Trust was appointed last year to head up the relaunched commission. The role was initially unpaid. However, education secretary […]