John Roberts

DfE not planning for school closures 'was a dereliction of duty' Leader of the biggest MAT tells the UK Covid inquiry that while his trust was making preparations for closures in March 2020, he was not aware of the DfE issuing directives to local authorities

"I almost fell from my chair when I read that” - Sir Jon Coles to the Covid enquiry on the DfE not planning for school closures earlier in March 2020.

For @tesmagazine.bsky.social -

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

Tories vow to create more AP places to reduce disruption Shadow education secretary Laura Trott warns against ‘pursuing inclusion at the expense of order’ at Conservative conference today

Conservatives vow to create more alternative provision places and say that disruptive pupils are being kept in mainstream schools for far too long. Interesting to see if inclusion becomes a key dividing line between govt and opposition. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Tories’ education team focus on the role of alternative provision Shadow minister Saqib Bhatti highlights the importance of AP amid concerns about the outcomes for white working-class boys

As @tesmagazine.bsky.social reported yesterday a key focus of Laura Trott's speech this morning at the Conservative Party Conference is on the role of alternative provision. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

DfE not planning for school closures ‘was a dereliction of duty’ Leader of the biggest MAT tells the UK Covid inquiry that while his trust was making preparations for closures in March 2020, he was not aware of the DfE issuing directives to local authorities

Chief executive of England’s biggest MAT Sir Jon Coles told the UK Covid inquiry today that the Department for Education showed an “extraordinary dereliction of duty” in not planning for school closures. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Spielman: No ‘real subject inspection’ in Ofsted plans Former Ofsted chief inspector tells the Conservative Party conference that there is a lack of subject scrutiny in the new report card system

Former Ofsted chief Baroness Spielman warns over a "worrying" lack of subject inspection in inspectorate's new report card inspections. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Schools criticise support ‘vacuum’ as racial tensions rise Concerned leaders tell Tes the government has not equipped them to deal with debates on immigration, race and St George’s flags

Heads warn a proliferation of flags have come alongside a rise in racist abuse and a noticeable shift in the atmosphere. A @tesmagazine.bsky.social story into how school leaders are navigating tensions by @ktorm-social1.bsky.social @cerysturner.bsky.social & myself. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

The next few months will define Labour’s record on education After a Labour conference short on policy details, we can soon expect big decisions that will shape the future of education – so hold on to your hats, says ASCL chief Pepe Di’Iasio

‘Hold on to your hats!’: after a Labour conference short on policy details, @ascl-uk.bsky.social leader @pepediiasio.bsky.social says the next few months will bring big decisions that will shape the future of education

How concerning is the school leader retention data? New government statistics show that retention rates in many leadership roles continue their long decline. Tes breaks down the data

A great breakdown of the pressing school leader retention issues from the latest data by @ellencph.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Racial inclusion ‘falls off’ the education agenda, says Longfield The inclusion taskforce member calls on the DfE to make anti-racism a ‘key priority’, warning that Black children can feel ‘unsafe and over-policed’ at school

Exclusive: Anne Longfield warns that racial inclusion is ‘too often’ being overlooked in education, saying that Black children can feel ‘unsafe and over-policed’ at school

MAT Tracker: mapping the country’s multi-academy trusts Where are MATs located and how many schools do they run? Use our interactive map to find out

Which are the biggest MATs? And which regions have the most academy trusts? Find out using Tes' MAT Tracker tool, featuring an interactive map of all the country’s trusts

Racial inclusion ‘falls off’ the education agenda, says Longfield The inclusion taskforce member calls on the DfE to make anti-racism a ‘key priority’, warning that Black children can feel ‘unsafe and over-policed’ at school

Meanwhile @annelongfield.bsky.social tells Tes reporter @ktorm-social1.bsky.social that the DfE needs to make racial inclusion “a key thematic priority” because it “too often” falls off the education agenda.

Exclusive:

Schools criticise support ‘vacuum’ as racial tensions rise Concerned leaders tell Tes the government has not equipped them to deal with debates on immigration, race and St George’s flags

“You can just feel the atmosphere changing and tension rising.”

Schools say they need more support to deal with the fallout from debates around immigration and flags.

This report by the @tesmagazine.bsky.social news team reflects huge concern on the ground right now 👇

SEND spending set to exceed £20bn amid surge in support Spending on EHCPs and child disability benefits will rise sharply this decade, the IFS predicts, as the government prepares to set out reforms

Spending on support for children with SEND will exceed £20 billion by the end of the decade as demand continues to rise, the @theifs.bsky.social predicts

Schools criticise support ‘vacuum’ as racial tensions rise Concerned leaders tell Tes the government has not equipped them to deal with debates on immigration, race and St George’s flags

School leaders have spoken of their experiences of an increase in racism, a changing atmosphere and being left unsupported to deal with the community consequences of politicians' rhetoric on immigration. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Government urged to plan to keep schools open in future pandemics Baroness Anne Longfield tells Covid inquiry that the government owes children a formal apology for mistakes during pandemic

Former children's commissioner calls for formal apology from government to children for ‘avoidable mistakes’ made during Covid-19 and damage done to their wellbeing and education

1,000 school employers urged to protect staff against ‘Ofsted risk’ School leaders’ union rallies its members to ask their employer to carry out a wellbeing risk assessment over Ofsted’s new school inspections

More than 1,000 school employers have been written to and urged to take steps to ensure school staff are protected during new Ofsted inspections, a union estimates. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Ofsted finds gaps in SEND training for trainee teachers Inspectors praise overall coverage of SEND in ITT programmes but warn of patchy mentor knowledge and limited practical strategies in some providers

Some trainee teachers are missing out on crucial practical strategies for supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Ofsted has warned. @tesmagazine.bsky.social story by @jabedahmed.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Call for heads’ SEND qualification is questioned MP defends plan to require new school leaders to have expertise in special educational needs, during Labour conference event

Call for heads’ SEND qualification questioned. Helen Hayes MP replies: “We can’t just say because there are heads that do a good job, it’s all fine. It’s not fine, as we see examples of schools operating exclusionary practices for children with SEND.”
www.tes.com/magazine/news/sp...

A Labour conference review from @moremorrow.bsky.social - he sees hope and progress amid the challenges.

Reeves pledges library in every English primary school Chancellor’s promise to create libraries in 1,700 primaries has been welcomed by teaching unions, but questions have been raised over difficulties in finding space and staff

ICYMI The chancellor has pledged to provide a library in every primary school in England by 2029. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

RBA technical problems prompt concerns over progress data Teacher Tapp survey of KS1 and EYFS teachers finds 67 per cent faced technical issues when administering the Reception baseline assessment

Excl from @ktorm-social1.bsky.social

2 in 3 teachers have faced tech problems when delivering the Reception baseline assessment, the first month of the test going digital.

The primary sector has asked why issues weren't identified and worked through in advance:

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

How the system forgot about white working-class girls While the underachievement of white working-class boys has attracted political attention, the struggles of disadvantaged white girls continue to be overlooked. School leaders tell Tes why this needs t...

How the system forgot about white working-class girls. This is a great read from @charlottesantry.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

What the data on knife crime suggests schools should do next New figures show that in-school knife crime incidents have decreased in many areas of England. Ellen Peirson-Hagger hears from leaders about what they are doing to drive this reduction, and whether it’s enough

Despite alarming headlines on youth violence, new data reveals that in-school knife incidents are down in many areas. @ellencph.bsky.social looks at how schools across the UK can build on this success

Ofsted can’t say how its plan is affordable In an exclusive interview, Ofsted’s national director of education insists it will be able to fund an increase in monitoring inspections under its new system – despite not having tried to predict the likely number

Exclusive: Ofsted cannot say how many more monitoring visits schools can expect – but is ‘confident’ it can afford them, director Lee Owston tells @cerysturner.bsky.social

RBA technical problems prompt concerns over progress data Teacher Tapp survey of KS1 and EYFS teachers finds 67 per cent faced technical issues when administering the Reception baseline assessment

The majority of teachers involved in delivering it have faced technical problems with the Reception baseline assessment this year,
@teachertapp.bsky.social data shows. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Special schools fear ‘subjective’ Ofsted judgements Inclusion focus risks ‘danger’ for schools directed to take on pupils whose needs they cannot meet, warns leader

Ofsted’s new inspections risk special schools facing subjective and inconsistent judgements, leaders warn

1 in 4 primary heads deal with pupil sexual violence or harassment And nearly half of primary teachers now say that pupil misbehaviour affects their wellbeing, DfE survey finds

Some 70% of leaders at secondaries and 28% at primaries had to deal with pupil-on-pupil sexual violence or harassment last year, a DfE survey shows

Ex-minister calls for school funding rethink as London rolls plummet With schools being hit by a drop in student numbers, one former education secretary warns that the per-pupil funding formula is leaving them unable to cover their fixed costs

One alternative suggested by Sir Dan Moynihan this morning on Radio 4 was block grants instead of per-pupil funding to help primaries hit by falling rolls.

Call for more mainstream speech and language units Charity produces alternative White Paper seeking national availability of resourced provision and access to speech and language therapists for all schools

Resource provision units should be available in mainstream schools for all pupils with speech and language challenges, new @speechandlanguk.bsky.social report recommends

Two-child benefits cap has ‘no impact’ on school readiness Experts say scrapping controversial benefits limit would reduce child poverty but would not help the government achieve its school-readiness targets

Scrapping the two-child benefits cap would not help to increase the number of children who are school-ready, @theifs.bsky.social research suggests