General
Wednesday
8th Jan 2025
Schools bill passes second reading as Phillipson praises trusts
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was heavily scrutinised during a fractious debate in Parliament. Here’s everything you need to know
What did Jenny Gilruth say today about school funding?
The extra £29m for ASN should be spent on staff, says education secretary, who also stressed importance of funding to close attainment gap continuing beyond 2026 election
Rising SEND costs will ‘wipe out’ school savings, IFS warns
Any savings that schools could hope to make as a result of a falling pupil population will be swallowed up by higher high-needs spending, says influential think tank
Tuesday
7th Jan 2025
Schools bill is ‘educational vandalism’, say Tories
The bill puts the benefits enjoyed by more than 20,000 teachers at risk, according to a Conservative Party analysis of 91¶¶Òõ MAT Tracker data
7 things Sir Martyn Oliver told MPs on Ofsted reforms
Ofsted chief gives Commons committee an overview of what he believes the new school inspection report cards should cover
Monday
6th Jan 2025
‘Less vital’ curriculum areas to be ‘combed back’, says Francis
The lead on the government’s review of curriculum and assessment also expresses frustration that it can’t fully consider emerging digital technologies that are still relatively ‘untested’
10 ways to ‘future proof’ Scottish education
The Royal Society of Edinburgh publishes a wish list of changes for Scotland’s schools system, saying an ‘optimal’ model of education could be achieved by 2050
Friday
3rd Jan 2025
Final round of trust growth funding falls £18m short of requests
The last tranche of money given to MATs under the now-defunct Trust Capacity Fund has been revealed in new DfE figures
Teachers are owed millions in overpaid tax, says EIS
The union is calling on the UK government to repay the tax ‘as a matter of urgency’ following an impasse lasting ‘many months’
Thursday
2nd Jan 2025
MPs to quiz Ofsted chief over school inspection reform
Sir Martyn Oliver will appear before a Commons committee to answer questions on everything from the introduction of inspection report cards to inspectors’ subject knowledge
Rise in pupils needing severe mental health crisis support
Increase comes after the previous government’s rollout of mental health professionals to schools was criticised for being too slow