General
Tuesday
Miles Briggs named Scottish shadow education secretary
In the new Conservative shadow cabinet, the Lothian MSP replaces Liam Kerr, who moves to become shadow justice secretary
Research finds ‘proliferation’ of ‘exam conditions’ testing in primary
Primary schools are using more exam-conditions tests – even though Scotland has its own national assessments – because they generate ‘a robust calculation of a child’s attainment’
Attendance: 32,000 pupils on part-time timetables
There has been a ‘notable’ drop in schools’ use of the controversial attendance code B for pupils who are learning off-site, new analysis shows
Teachers need subject-specific oracy training, experts urge
Report from Commission on the Future of Oracy Education also calls for a revision of the English language GCSE and a rebalancing of spoken language in the curriculum
Monday
Phillipson confirms £7m to tackle antisemitism in education
Education secretary says some of this funding will go towards upskilling teachers and university staff to tackle antisemitism
Patrick Roach stepping down as NASUWT general secretary
Teaching union general secretary says new government will give his successor the chance to ‘make their mark’
‘Let’s get moving’ on class-contact time, says union
‘Chronic’ workload is damaging teachers’ professional and personal lives – but progress in cutting class-contact time has been ‘pretty glacial’, says EIS boss
Teacher Development Trust to stop offering NPQs
Education charity also withdraws bid to deliver Early Career Framework, citing constraints of government contracts and an ‘increasingly dysfunctional market’
Unions call for urgent DfE action on pay, workload and funding
Teacher and school leader unions call for future pay increases to be significantly above RPI inflation, and oppose any introduction of targeted pay
NEU reps to push for home PPA time in academy trusts
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede also says it will be up to the union to make a case for ‘the supposed freedoms of trusts’ to be curtailed over this parliament
Friday
North East is left out of policymaking, Phillipson warned
Sector leaders in the North East have written to the education secretary to warn about a lack of representation in recently announced Ofsted and curriculum reviews
DfE’s West Midlands regional director to retire
Andrew Warren, who has headed up the region for six years, says ‘it feels like the right time’ to depart
