General
Tuesday
Centre of Teaching Excellence questions sidestepped by Gilruth
Education secretary refuses to be drawn on how the Centre of Teaching Excellence will be run or what it will cost, saying teachers must be consulted on the proposal
Wilshaw: Ofsted ‘not focusing enough on teaching quality’
Former Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw also warns that it is ‘ridiculous’ that schools with ‘terrible’ results can receive ‘good’ Ofsted judgements
Welsh schools told ‘make learning interesting’ to cut absence
Attendance will improve if pupils ‘actively want to come to school’, says new government guidance
‘Existential threat’ to catch-up tutoring, warns DfE adviser
Warning comes as government is yet to make any commitments to funding tutoring beyond this academic year, despite widening disadvantage gap
Monday
Schools face ‘huge extra workload’ from RSHE demand
Letter from education secretary risks ‘expectation’ that schools ‘must publish every piece of planning and resource used across the RSHE curriculum’, leaders warn DfE
Mark Lehain appointed special adviser to Keegan
Former free school head returns as education secretary special adviser, with a focus on school and family policy
Probe Spielman on home education concerns, judge tells Ofsted
Ofsted must ask chief inspector Amanda Spielman for evidence behind concerns she raised with MPs over home education, tribunal rules
Should wearing a school blazer be optional?
Making blazers ‘an optional item’ should be carefully considered, according to a Scottish government group looking at school uniform policy
Friday
Rise in illness absence due to anxiety
School leaders have called for the government to redouble efforts to address growing pupil mental health problem since pandemic
Heads ‘deflated’ after DfE funding email error
The Department for Education has apologised to several academy trusts after mistakenly telling them they were eligible to apply for a school building fund
DfE strike plan ‘a hostile attack’ on teachers’ rights
Unions react with anger after Gillian Keegan warns that the DfE could introduce minimum service levels for schools to curb strike disruption
Breaking: Keegan urges unions to engage over minimum service levels
Education secretary has told unions DfE will introduce minimum service levels in schools if voluntary agreement is not reached
