Friday
Pastoral capacity in Scottish schools and the case for a national review
The crucial role of pastoral support in schools still does not get the recognition it needs, even after the pandemic made it abundantly clear, says Frank Lennon
Why asbestos remains a risk in school buildings
Building materials installed more than 70 years ago pose major health risks to school staff and potentially even pupils – yet efforts to remove them are thin on the ground, as John Morgan uncovers
Tuesday
Exclusive: Why teacher numbers in Scotland are falling
Cuts to attainment gap funding, ‘significant’ challenges filling secondary posts and high probationer dropout rates – councils tell government the reasons behind the drop in teacher numbers
Trusts named to run 30 new special free schools
But the DfE says the process of finding a trust sponsor will need to be repeated in three cases after suitable trusts were not identified to run the schools
Reception baseline: wrong time, wrong data, wrong idea?
Three years after the introduction of the DfE’s controversial test for four-year-olds, John Morgan finds out what, if anything, the Reception Baseline Assessment has taught us about assessing early progress
Monday
Improving education in Britain’s Overseas Territories
The chair of an MPs’ committee says it wants to hear from those with experience of education in the 14 British Overseas Territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands
Saving Scotland’s ‘languages ecosystem’ from collapse
Languages are a fragile but essential part of the curriculum and urgently need stronger backing in Scotland, say Fiona Barclay and Fhiona Mackay
‘Sats results should not be public for next two years’
NAHT’s James Bowen explains why the lack of progress data for the cohort of primary pupils set to sit key stage 2 Sats would make it unfair to publish outcomes
Friday
Reasonable force and behaviour: 8 ways guidance may change
New DfE research into the use of reasonable force, restraint and restrictive practices in alternative provision and special schools could indicate how future guidance is developed
‘Something bad will happen’: how social care cuts hit exclusions
School leaders trying to uphold good behaviour are facing impossible decisions because the decline in social services has removed the safety net for vulnerable students who are suspended or excluded, finds Dan Worth
