General
Friday
28th Mar 2025
Unions warn FM of plans to ballot over class-contact time
Teaching unions have hit out at the Scottish government’s lack of progress on cutting the time teachers spend in front of classes, and say they are being ‘shut out of negotiations’
Fears of further redundancies as school funding storm brews
Edapt has already recorded double the number of redundancy and restructuring cases in the past three months than in the whole of 2024, with concerns of more on the horizon
Exclusive
CST: RISE team focus on stuck schools a ‘deeply questionable’ use of public money
Confederation of School Trusts raises concern that the definition of stuck schools can include a school that got a less-than-‘good’ Ofsted grade before a trust took it on
Exclusive
Will the schools bill force good academies to close?
‘Explosive’ changes to school admissions have divided education leaders. Amid warnings about school closures, a loss of parent choice and ideological battles, 91 looks at the likely impact of the legislation
Thursday
27th Mar 2025
SEND: 10,000 new places in mainstream and special schools
DfE warns that special schools are 8,000 students over capacity and highlights that fewer than one in 10 mainstream schools have specialist provision
Jenny Gilruth: Pupil behaviour is the ‘big’ priority
In an exclusive interview with 91 Scotland, Scotland’s education secretary sets out the key issues she is focused on during a crucial period of reform for the schools sector
Exclusive
Ofsted backs heads who ban phones, says Oliver
Chief inspector tells parents that schools have the power to ban phones ‘and should ban them’
Wednesday
26th Mar 2025
Spring Statement: Teacher pay rise should top 3.7%, says NFER
NFER’s Jack Worth said the DfE’s pay rise recommendation of 2.8% is now “unimaginable” in the light of new forecasts on average earnings growth
MATs told to seek DfE approval for ‘contentious transactions’
New guidance sets out what transactions may be considered ‘novel, contentious and repercussive’ amid a row over one academy trust’s plan for an alternative pension scheme
Over 5,000 Scottish primary teachers on temporary contracts
Over 400 more primary teachers were on temporary contracts in 2024 than in 2019 – although the latest figures are an improvement on 2023
Ofsted parents’ survey on report cards ‘misses the point’
Headteachers’ leaders voice fears that Ofsted grades in planned new inspections will be unreliable as research shows parents would prefer report cards to current system
Classes ‘shivering’ in winter and ‘overheated’ in summer
Headteachers’ leaders call on the chancellor to use her spring statement to address a £3.6bn shortfall in funding for school buildings