Jack Dyson

Off-rolling curbs welcomed, but warnings over ‘gaps in data’ Ministers plan to tighten up scrutiny of pupil moves - and to interrogate leaders suspected of off-rolling

❌ Labour’s off-rolling crackdown could finally 'shed light on a practice that is currently invisible' but must be supported by councils and trusts to work, experts have said
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/off-rolling-curbs-welcomed-but-warnings-over-gaps-in-data/

Trust growth funding ‘notably absent’ from white paper Ministers want all schools in trusts, but cut funding for expanding trusts last year

💸 Academy bosses are urging ministers to give them 'clarity' over whether recently dumped trust growth funds will come back from the dead
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/clarity-sought-as-trust-growth-funding-absent-from-white-paper/

Schools white paper: The key schools and academies policies Fair banding transparency, a crackdown on off-rolling and calls for all schools to be in trusts

‼️ A crackdown on off-rolling pupils, a call for standalone schools to join or form MATs and changes to the admissions code are among major plans unveiled in today's schools white paper
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-schools-policies/

Job cuts loom at trust with £9m deficit Ministers tighten oversight of chain amid concerns over 'weak financial position' and 'continued' breaches

💸 An academy trust loaded with a £9 million deficit has been ordered to slash costs, as it banks on government bailouts to keep it afloat
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/job-cuts-loom-at-trust-with-9m-deficit/

Star fell victim to ‘historic fraud’ over several years MAT with 36 schools says 'all reasonable steps taken' following 'significant financial irregularity'

📝 One of England's biggest academy trusts fell foul of a 'historic fraud' over a number of years

Read more 🔽

Heads 'on trial': 8 findings from first RISE evaluation Report concludes the initial rollout of Labour's school improvement scheme has been a 'success'

📝 Bosses of under-performing schools given targeted support through the government’s RISE improvement scheme have felt 'on trial' and ignored during the first few months of the programme

Secret £1m bailout as PFI windfalls and school woes grow Deal to cover £1m 'bullet payment' revealed as figures suggest PFI firms could have made £86m in one year

Exclusive: One of England’s first PFI schools struck a secret deal for taxpayers to cover a £1m 'bullet payment' to break free of its contract

Analysis also suggests PFI owners of English schools could have made as much as £85.7m in profits in one year
schoolsweek.co.uk/secret-1m-ba...

CEO of trust with £8.4m deficit resigns Richard Gill leaves his role at the head of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership

The prominent boss of a troubled academy trust saddled with a multi-million-pound deficit has resigned following a leave of absence
schoolsweek.co.uk/ceo-of-arthu...

Coast and Vale paid Delta £440k ahead of merger The sum was handed over for 'extensive work' before trusts joined forces to create 63-school trust

💸 Almost £440,000 was spent supporting a merger that created one of England’s biggest MATs
schoolsweek.co.uk/coast-and-va...

Piloted in-school SEND support 'cut exclusions' - report Standardised EHCPs also welcomed by parents and councils, researchers find

📊 Changes rolled out across 32 local authorities as part of a Tory-era SEND pilot have cut exclusions and kept more children in mainstream education, a report has found
schoolsweek.co.uk/piloted-in-s...

Trust failed to clear payment to outgoing ‘senior executive’ MAT also did not conduct internal audit as reserves tumbled due to 'rising costs', accounts show

📝 An under-pressure academy trust broke rules over a £15,000 payment to a former school leader
schoolsweek.co.uk/struggling-t...

‘Schoolboy error’ as smaller schools escape RISE crackdown The DfE has not contacted some primaries potentially needing support because data goes unpublished

❗️Exclusive: More than a thousand schools with poor outcomes slipped through the net of the government’s RISE low-attainment crackdown, exposing a 'significant gap' in its latest bid to boost results
schoolsweek.co.uk/schoolboy-er...

Best-paid academy boss earns £530k after £15k pay rise Harris Federation CEO Sir Dan Moynihan received £15k wage hike last year, accounts show

💸 Exclusive: England’s best-paid academy boss has been given another pay rise, taking his salary to at least £530,000
schoolsweek.co.uk/best-paid-ac...

Schools with good governance 'better prepared for Ofsted' Those with effective boards 'more likely to sustain improvement beyond the inspection cycle', report finds

Exclusive: Ministers urged to recognise role played by governors as 'core component' of accountability framework for schools

It comes as a study found schools with effective boards were better prepared for Ofsted visits and 'more likely to sustain improvement'

schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-with...

Trusts’ finances improve, but leaders brace for rainy days Some chains boost reserves by up to 900%, but others remain in deficit as leaders warn of tough times ahead

Investigation: Dozens of academy trusts have bolstered their reserves by up to 900 per cent, as leaders tighten their belts ahead of the coming financial storm

schoolsweek.co.uk/trusts-finan...

New AI platform aims to make sense of ‘myriad of data’ Open Education AI seeks to help schools bring together data from multiple apps and tools

Two trust bosses have teamed up to develop their own artificial intelligence (AI) platform to solve the 'challenge of data fragmentation' in schools

schoolsweek.co.uk/new-ai-platf...

Community health hubs could use empty classrooms LocatED chief 'seriously worried' falling rolls could undo the work of the free schools programme

📉 Exclusive: Classrooms in schools rocked by falling rolls could be used by the NHS as 'community health hubs', the boss of the Department for Education’s property arm has said
schoolsweek.co.uk/community-he...

Dr Jenny Blunden, CEO, Truro and Penwith Academy Trust Fighting low aspirations for children in Cornwall

🏫 When Dr Jenny Blunden took charge at her Cornish trust, its three schools were 'broken'

But in a fight against low aspirations, the CEO has added successful schools and continues to battle for them as budgets remain squeezed

Read our profile of her here 🔽
schoolsweek.co.uk/dr-jenny-blu...

Suspensions fall as trust embraces ‘emotional intelligence’ Influential turnaround MAT criticised for high suspensions bidding to cut exclusions and 'keep kids in school'

Exclusive: A 'turnaround' trust once criticised for controversial behaviour policies has revealed plans to boost its academies’ 'emotional intelligence'
schoolsweek.co.uk/suspensions-...

RISE consultation pushed back to this term Government to begin 'informal engagement' over schools with low attainment

📝 Exclusive: A government consultation on the broadening of its RISE school improvement teams’ remit has been delayed into this term
schoolsweek.co.uk/rise-consult...

DfE wants to scrape real-time MIS data from schools Department calls for tech companies to take part in trials to feed it data to inform policy

🔢 Exclusive: The government wants school management information systems (MIS) providers to help it 'harness the potential' of the real-time data they collect to inform policy decisions
schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-wants-to...

Artists removed from GCSE assessment over website images AQA deletes photographers' names from exam after images 'not appropriate for learners' found on their websites

England’s biggest exam board has scrubbed the names of two photographers from one of its GCSE assessments over concerns their websites contain images that 'may not be appropriate' for students

schoolsweek.co.uk/photographer...

Impact of RISE teams to be published this year But government will publish individual adviser objectives amid data protection concerns

🔢 Exclusive: Ministers are set to publish data on the effectiveness of new RISE school improvement teams in the spring – but they won’t out individual advisers for poor performance

Arthur Terry academy trust did no internal audit The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership did not conduct an internal audit last year despite deficits swelling to more than £8 million

❌ A trouble-hit academy trust has admitted it did not conduct internal financial checks as its deficit swelled to more than £8 million and it received another government loan to keep it afloat
schoolsweek.co.uk/no-internal-...

Lift set to hand over two special schools The 58-school MAT believes both academies will be 'best supported within a specialist trust'

Exclusive: One of England’s biggest academy trusts is set to give up two special schools after deciding they would be better off in a specialist chain
schoolsweek.co.uk/lift-academy...

Putting out the welcome MAT Catholic academy trust CEO Andrew Truby reveals how he built the 'home for orphan schools’

👨‍🏫 When Andrew Truby took leadership of a Catholic trust, he was on his own and had no schools

He reveals how he built the 'home for orphans’ and secured its future, during a career that has been characterised by seizing opportunities... 🔽
schoolsweek.co.uk/andrew-truby...

Ofsted should check SEND funding not plugging budget holes SEND system on a 'trajectory toward complete breakdown' and 'incremental change will not suffice', warns NGA

Exclusive: School governing boards are urging Ofsted to ensure cash-strapped leaders are using SEND funding for children and not to fill other budgetary holes
schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-shoul...

Top academy's success 'at too high a cost' to some pupils Review details 'isolating, shaming' practices at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy

❗The success of one of the highest-performing schools in the country has been 'achieved at too high a cost for some pupils', a safeguarding investigation has found
schoolsweek.co.uk/mossbourne-s...

Presenting edition 413 of Schools Week

💷 Investigation: The council schools with million-pound deficits
🏫 School spotlight: Internal AP
👂 Fears over last-minute SEND listening exercise

Plus teacher recruitment, free school meals, falling rolls and more

Subscribe: schoolsweek.co.uk/subscribe-to...

Some worrying findings here:
📈 71% rise in council-run schools in deficit in three years
❗️48 schools over £1m in the red
📝Deficit schools charged up to £340k in 'interest'