Kyle Tormey

Warning over ‘unchecked’ safeguarding audits Trust leaders tell Tes that the process of submitting safeguarding audits to councils is ‘like marking your own homework’, and putting unnecessary pressure on school staff

“You mark your own homework. It’s not checked.”

Safeguarding leads warn the “onerous” audits that schools have to submit to councils aren’t improving student safety and duplicate work done by trusts.

Is it time to drop them?

Excl by @ktorm-social1.bsky.social

Warning over ‘unchecked’ safeguarding audits Trust leaders tell Tes that the process of submitting safeguarding audits to councils is ‘like marking your own homework’, and putting unnecessary pressure on school staff

Excl: Leaders say safeguarding audits heaping pressure on schools and DSLs despite going “unchecked” by local authorities.

MAT safeguarding leads have called for a “national approach”, neither LGA nor ACDS wished to provide a comment.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social:

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Warning over ‘unchecked’ safeguarding audits Trust leaders tell Tes that the process of submitting safeguarding audits to councils is ‘like marking your own homework’, and putting unnecessary pressure on school staff

"To a certain extent, you could say you have a policy and attach it, and it could be blank document"

Big investigation into the LA safeguarding audits all schools have to complete - superb work from @ktorm-social1.bsky.social

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

OBR documents (somehow!) published ahead of the Budget announcement say all SEND provision costs are to fall within DfE spending limits by 2028-29 and warn that if this is fully funded within the core schools budget, this implies a 1.7 per cent fall in mainstream school spending per pupil.

NEW🚨: Govt to cover SEND funding - possibly out of core schools budget.

From 28-29, the cost of SEND provision will be “fully absorbed”, est around £6b.

If fully funded by core schools budget, this would be a 1.7% fall in school spending per pupil.

obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploa…

Full OBR doc is up here: Reeves must be FUMING obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...

AI targets won't tackle attendance crisis, heads warn In response to new AI-powered attendance targets for every school, leaders tell the DfE that there is no 'quick solution' to the pupil absence problem

Will the introduction of AI attendance targets really make a difference?

Heads have told @tesmagazine.bsky.social that schools are already trying everything they can to improve attendance and more targets will only increase the growing burden on schools.

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

The ‘hero leader’ mindset is putting pupil outcomes at risk, warns a new report calling for a more collaborative approach to school leadership.

Read more below:

No ‘positive outcomes’ in SEND inspections this summer Just one out of 18 SEND area inspections carried out by Ofsted and the CQC so far this year has resulted in the top inspection rating, data shows

Just 1/18 SEND are inspections by Ofsted and CQC resulted in positive findings this year. Since the start of 2023, 50% of areas were found to have inconsistent experiences or outcomes and 29% were systemically failing.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social

EPI chief executive Natalie Perera moving to AQA The exam board has also appointed United Learning's director of curriculum and assessment as its chief qualifications officer

Shake up at @aqaeducation.bsky.social:

EPI Chief Exec @natalieperera.bsky.social joins as Chief External Affairs and Communications Officer, Dale Basset returns as new Chief Qualifications Officer and a new role for @annatreth.bsky.social.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social:

15-fold increase in DfE influencer spend since 2022 Exclusive data obtained by Tes shows the Department for Education spent more than £200,000 on influencer marketing from April to October this year

Exclusive:

Spending by the Department for Education on influencer marketing has increased by nearly 1500% since 2021/22.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social:

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

DfE announces 36 new attendance and behaviour hubs The latest cohort brings the total number of hub lead schools to 57, with more expected to be announced

The latest cohort of attendance and behaviour hub schools have been announced, bringing the total to 57. Of the 57 schools, none are dedicated special or AP instituions.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social:

‘Major concerns’ over Ofsted data changes Schools that volunteered to be first for new inspections should be allowed to withdraw because of changes announced by Ofsted just days before the new system begins, say heads’ leaders

It’s the first day of (volunteer) Ofsted inspections today, but leaders have been told about changes to how the watchdog uses performance data just days before.

@ascl-uk.bsky.social say it’s reason enough for volunteer schools to pull out entirely.

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Embed diversity and antiracism into teacher training, DfE told Teacher training providers also call on government to set up a national body for early career and trainee teachers

Excl: Diversity and anti-racism should be embedded into teacher training, according to an open letter from ITT providers.

There should be an "explicit focus” on addressing inequalities within ITT programmes, including in trainees’ reflective tasks.

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

What will push the last single-academy trusts to merge? Nearly 850 single-academy trusts remain, including some of the highest performing schools in England. Labour wants them to join multi-academy trusts, but persuading them won’t be easy, finds Jabed Ahm...

How do you persuade single academy trusts with some of the best attainment scores in England to join a MAT, if they’re managing ok financially? And do MATs even want them?

@jabedahmed.bsky.social speaks to heads and trust leaders to find out.

Progress 8 reform: what are the government’s plans? As part of its response to the curriculum review, the government has outlined its intention to overhaul the performance measure. Tes has all you need to know

As part of its response to the curriculum review, the government has outlined its intention to overhaul Progress 8. How is it proposing the performance measure should change?

@tesmagazine.bsky.social explains:

DfE seeks teachers for policy ‘sounding board’ The government is looking for primary and secondary teachers to join the latest cohort of its Teacher Reference Group

Primary and secondary teachers have been encouraged to apply to the Teacher Reference Group as part of the department’s commitment to “engage teachers in national education policy”.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Curriculum and assessment review: 14 key points The Francis review’s final recommendations include scrapping the EBacc, reducing exam time and making triple science available to all at GCSE

The much anticipated curriculum and assessment review is out. The EBacc is to be scrapped, and it calls for a new year 8 English test and an entitlement to triple science for all. Great piece rounding it all up here by @cerysturner.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Union’s legal challenge of new Ofsted inspections rejected The NAHT’s bid for a High Court challenge over new Ofsted framework was heard just a week before inspections are due to start

A legal claim against Ofsted's new inspection framework has been thrown out by the courts today.

@naht.org.uk say they will consult members about industrial action & are considering appealing the verdict.

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

DfE urged to probe ‘persistent disruptive behaviour’ exclusions Some pupils are being wrongly excluded from school because this vague ‘catch-all’ category is creating inconsistency in the system, warn PRU and AP leaders

DfE is urged to probe use of persistent disruptive behaviour as a reason for exclusions amid concerns from AP leaders about how schools are using different thresholds to remove students. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Wealthiest households fuel demand for delayed school starts The affluence of the area in which a school is located is linked to the number of summer-born children who start Reception a year later, research shows

New DfE data shows an increase in wealthiest parents seeking delayed admission to Reception for summer-born children.

Data obtained by @tesmagazine.bsky.social suggests schools in affluent areas are more likely to have pupils taught out of their year group.

School referrals to social services hit new high Schools made nearly 45,000 more social services referrals last year compared with a decade ago, DfE data shows

Schools made nearly 45,000 more social services referrals last year compared with a decade ago.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social -

Schools will need to find savings from their budgets to deliver the pay award, according to the DfE’s pay review submission.

Leaders will need to be “proactive” about making the most of their budgets to achieve this (in case they weren’t already…)

DfE: Teachers should get 6.5% pay rise over three years The government has told the School Teachers’ Review Body how much teachers should receive up to 2029

💷Teacher pay: 'Considering the projected trajectory of average earnings growth across the wider economy, it is appropriate that pay awards over the next three years are lower than those in the past few years'

Nearly half a million pupils entitled to free school transport Almost one in 10 children with SEND who receive funded home-to-school transport travel alone by taxi, new DfE data shows

The Department for Education estimates nearly half a million pupils are eligible for council-funded travel to school.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social -

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

8 in 10 teachers rethinking how they set assignments due to AI The British Council survey of school teachers also reveals that they are worried about how AI is changing the way students communicate

Around eight in 10 teachers say they have had to rethink how they set assignments because of artificial intelligence (AI), a new survey has found. Exclusive by @ktorm-social1.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Laura Trott: Heads have to ‘fight’ for exclusions Shadow education secretary talks to Tes about the ‘pushback’ facing heads on exclusions, how schools are ‘lagging’ on phone bans and why RISE plans are ‘reckless’

“There is no support for heads to have zero tolerance.”

My full interview with shadow education secretary Laura Trott below 👇

Statutory SEND support should not need diagnosis, say experts Taskforce urges the government to create a new layer of statutory SEND support in mainstream schools - but to keep existing EHCPs temporarily

An inclusion taskforce's report on SEND reform calls for a new layer of statutory support to be created for pupils in mainstream schools and for existing EHCPs to be retained until a better support system is in place. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

There are pros and cons to this plan (and I’ve heard quite a few concerns about AI tutors lately) but it’s quite obviously not going to work in schools with rubbish wifi or a shortage of devices - ie a lot of primaries.

SCOOP by @cerysturner.bsky.social 👇

Becky Francis: 5 reflections on the curriculum and assessment review With the curriculum and assessment review due to publish its recommendations ‘very soon’, chair Becky Francis writes exclusively for Tes about what she has learned through the process

Exclusive: The chair of the curriculum review Becky Francis says "there are important areas badly in need of improvement, and there is a need for a timely refresh across the piece to ensure that the curriculum is cutting-edge" ahead of the report being published. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...