General
Monday
9th Oct 2023
Labour: ‘Dreaded’ Ofsted inspections ‘ineffective’
Ofsted is exacerbating the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, says shadow schools minister Catherine McKinnell at Labour’s annual conference
Labour ready for ‘fight’ over RAAC and private school taxes
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told the Labour Party conference that Rishi Sunak can ‘bring it on’ if he wants a fight over which party has more aspiration for children
Teachers to join DfE’s AI workload reduction trial
The government is holding a ‘hackathon’ to allow schools to experiment with artificial intelligence in areas such as lesson planning and exam marking
Unions set to question DfE over school funding error
It comes after the NEU’s Daniel Kebede said that there were ‘grounds to reopen’ the teacher pay and funding dispute
Teachers ‘must be protected from policy pendulum swings’
The next government needs to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ with education policy, National Institute of Teaching chief tells the Labour Party conference
Friday
6th Oct 2023
DfE apologises over error in school funding calculation
Gillian Keegan has ordered a formal review after her department revealed a mistake in the national funding formula allocations for schools for 2024-25
DfE to reissue school funding calculation after error
Gillian Keegan orders review after a mistake was spotted in the 2024-25 National Funding Formula allocation
Teaching quality efforts ‘crushed’ by rising poverty
Next prime minister must create taskforce to fix child poverty so schools can focus on educational impact, says former DfE senior adviser Sam Freedman
VAT loopholes make Labour private school plan ‘tricky’
After-school clubs and reduced VAT on boarding school students could reduce tax bill for independent schools if Labour pushes ahead with fee levy, say experts
Exclusive
Lack of exam data ‘put Ofsted under pressure’
Chief inspector shares her experiences and tells academy trust sector conference that MAT inspections are inevitable
Covid inquiry: ‘Mistake’ to keep schools shut
Former children’s tsar tells inquiry the government failed to ‘realistically prepare’ for Covid lockdowns and mitigate their long-term impact on pupils