Promised provision, particularly for autistic children, was announced a year ago but few schools will open on time
Plans to deliver thousands of new special school places by 2026 are falling seriously behind, with experts branding the building programme “a mess”, the Observer can reveal.
The news calls into question the only announcement on schools the chancellor made in last week’s budget – a commitment of £105m towards 15 additional special schools.
Continue reading...Assailants reportedly surrounded Kuriga school as pupils were starting the day in second abduction in country in less than a week
Gunmen have attacked a school in Nigeria’s north-west region seizing at least 287 students, in the second mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week.
Authorities had said earlier that more than 100 students were taken hostage in the attack. But Sani Abdullahi, the headteacher, told Kaduna governor Uba Sani when he visited the town on Thursday that the total number of those missing after a headcount was 287.
Continue reading...Analysis across four exam boards in England reveals white artists comprise 91.6% of all mentions
Less than 3% of artists named in GCSE art exam papers are from Black or south Asian backgrounds, research has found.
Analysis of GCSE assessment materials from four big exam boards in England – AQA, Eduqas, OCR and Edexcel – showed only 8.4% of artists referenced across the 27 art exam papers were minority ethnic.
Continue reading...Chancellor reportedly considering energy windfall levy as well as scrapping the non-dom status
The Conservative peer and former MP Stewart Jackson has also made the point about Rishi Sunak’s comments yesterday echoing what Suella Braverman has been saying. (See 9.25am.) He suggests Sunak is a weathercock, “buffeted by events”.
Rishi Sunak is now saying what #SuellaBraverman rightly said four months ago, and for which she was sacked. Tony Benn astutely divided politicians as between signposts and weathercocks. One can think ahead, the other is buffeted by events. We know which one is which, don’t we?
We commend the prime minister on his powerful speech at the CST dinner last night, pledging more funding to protect the Jewish community, outlining a new protocol to safeguard our elected representatives and effectively police protests, and drawing a clear line between democratic dissent and mob intimidation.
The last few months have seen an extreme rise in antisemitic hate in the UK, which has had a significant effect on British Jews. The prime minister’s announcement has made it clear - those bringing chaos to our streets and academic institutions will no longer be allowed to act with impunity.
Continue reading...Daily registers will also be shared online with DfE as part of government drive to improve attendance
Taking an unauthorised family holiday is about to get more expensive, with the government announcing that fines for children in England missing school are to rise by 33%.
The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, is to overhaul the way local authorities fine parents for unauthorised school absences by bringing penalties “under a national framework to help tackle inconsistencies”.
Continue reading...TUC survey finds teaching staff perform the most unpaid overtime of any profession, losing out on £15,000 a year each
Teaching unions have accused ministers of “daylight robbery” after a new survey by the Trades Union Congress revealed that teachers perform the most unpaid overtime of any profession.
The TUC survey – published to mark its Work Your Proper Hours Day on Friday – found that two out of five teaching staff in the UK worked 26 hours for free each week, for a combined 5.5m hours a year.
Continue reading...Home secretary’s mandatory reporting legislation plan already covered by statutory duties, say school leaders
Teachers in England face being banned if they fail to report evidence of children being subjected to sexual abuse under plans for new legislation announced by the home secretary, James Cleverly.
The new law would make it a legal requirement for healthcare professionals, teachers and others who work with children and young people to identify and pass on cases of possible sexual abuse.
Continue reading...Parents in disbelief after students at Montreal’s Westwood junior high found their art for purchase on mugs, phone cases and clothes
A Canadian teacher is under fire for allegedly using his personal website to sell nearly 100 pieces of art created by students, prompting disbelief and anger from parents.
Students at Montreal’s Westwood junior high school made the chance discovery last night after searching out their art teacher’s website. On it they found their own art, available for purchase on coffee mugs, mobile phone cases and clothing.
Continue reading...The announcement ends weeks of speculation about the policy
Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the anti-trans jibe he made about Keir Starmer at PMQs yesterday, after being told Brianna Ghey’s mother would be listening in the public gallery.
Speaking to journalists in Cornwall, Sunak insisted that he was just making a point about Starmer. And he said that to link what he said to the death of Brianna, whose murder was partly motivated by transphobia, was “the worst of politics”.
If you look at what I said, I was very clear, talking about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of U-turns on major policies because he doesn’t have a plan.
A point only proven by today’s reports that the Labour party and Keir Starmer are apparently planning to reverse on their signature economic green spending policy.
But to use that tragedy to detract from the very separate and clear point I was making about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of multiple U-turns on major policies, because he doesn’t have a plan, I think is both sad and wrong, and it demonstrates the worst of politics.
Today’s announcement will give confidence to the oil and gas industry and those who stand to benefit from a fossil fuel energy system. For the rest of us, faced with unaffordable energy bills, fossil fuel-funded wars, and the floods, storms and droughts that the climate crisis brings, this is a deeply disappointing signal on the low level of ambition a future government has when it comes to the biggest challenge the world is facing.
Green investment doesn’t just deliver for the planet; it also benefits our health and economy. Cutting it would be shortsighted and cost the country dearly.
The UK is already lagging behind in the race to manufacture green steel, build electric vehicles, and develop giga-battery factories. Thousands of jobs are at risk if we don’t match the investment the US and the rest of Europe are making in these industries …
Continue reading...Labour MPs call to extend provision to every primary pupil in England after study finds health and learning improve
Labour is facing calls from MPs to back the provision of free school meals for all primary school children in England, after a new study found evidence that it reduces obesity and boosts reading skills.
Levels of obesity were reduced by 7% to 11% among reception children in the four London boroughs that have already adopted the policy, according to the study seen by the Observer. For children in year six, who had been given free school meals for their entire time in primary school, there was a 5-8% reduction.
Continue reading...Federal and WA state governments’ public school funding deal dismissed as ‘not good enough’ by Australian Education Union
Education experts say a “landmark” deal to fully fund Western Australia’s public schools by 2026 is “not good enough” and still lets the state government “off the hook”.
The “statement of intent”, announced on Wednesday by education minister, Jason Clare, would increase funding for Western Australian public schools by $1.6bn over the next five years, with $770m coming from the commonwealth.
Continue reading...Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’
Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.
Continue reading...Committee calls on government to heed widespread concern and consider a more nuanced inspection system
The government should stop the use of single-word judgments such as “inadequate” or “outstanding” in Ofsted’s headline grades of schools in England, a committee of MPs has urged.
MPs on the education committee said relations between Ofsted and teachers had become “extremely strained”, with trust in the watchdog “worryingly low” in the wake of the headteacher Ruth Perry’s suicide last year after a traumatic inspection.
Continue reading...Opposition day motion seeks to create a council-maintained register of children in England not on the school roll
Labour is planning to use an opposition day debate motion to bring forward legislation for a new register of children who are not in school as part of plans to tackle persistent absenteeism.
New Labour analysis found that “one in three children currently sitting their GCSEs have missed nearly three months of secondary school since the pandemic” and said this was likely to affect academic attainment.
Continue reading...Worries about impact on neighbouring schools of money for Malmesbury primary in Wiltshire, near Dyson’s campus
A £6m donation from Sir James Dyson to help fund the expansion of his local state primary school has been approved by the government, despite concerns about the potential impact on neighbouring schools.
The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, announced on Monday that she had given the green light for the inventor’s donation to Malmesbury Church of England primary school in Wiltshire, which is close to Dyson’s research and development campus.
Continue reading...Safeguarding staff say they can’t get referrals for serious cases and don’t have the expertise to give pupils the help they need
Increasing numbers of children suffering from domestic abuse, serious neglect and homelessness are being refused help from over-stretched social services, schools across England have told the Observer.
Child protection cases that would automatically have prompted intervention from social workers a few years ago are now routinely being passed back to schools to deal with themselves. The inability to obtain help for children whom schools think are in urgent need is taking such an emotional toll on education staff, who say they have neither the expertise nor the resources to cope, that some schools are bringing in counsellors to prevent their safeguarding teams becoming traumatised.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he wants first flight to leave ‘as soon as practicably possible’ but will not give date
Q: When you said you would stop the boats, people thought that meant reducing them to negligble numbers. That is not going to happen, is it?
Sunak says he is proud of the progress he has made. He always said it would be difficult.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Unpublished OECD data on students’ motivation and sense of belonging at school calls into question validity of national rankings, experts say
More than three-quarters of Australian students say they didn’t fully try in the latest Pisa tests, unpublished data reveals, calling into question the real source behind a continued decline in rankings.
The Programme for International Student Assessment has measured the academic performance of 15-year-olds every three years since 2000, providing the most comprehensive international rankings in science, reading and mathematics.
Continue reading...Research by Sutton Trust finds disadvantaged students less likely to get into top performing schools in England than their peers
Some comprehensive schools are more “socially selective” than grammar schools, according to new research which has called on the government to review the admissions code in England to improve access for poorer pupils.
While grammars are inherently selective, as admission is based on passing an 11-plus examination, comprehensive secondary schools admit local children, regardless of academic ability or social background, based on a school’s admissions policy.
Continue reading...Kevin Hollinrake, the minister for postal services, says a government announcement on the scandal is imminent
Here are some more lines from Bridget Phillipson’s speech and Q&A this morning.
Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said keeping schools open should be a priority if a future pandemic ever required another lockdown. She said:
When the Government first reopened schools for most of our children, the pubs had already been open for weeks.
That was entirely the wrong way around. And I tell you today, that if I’m secretary of state for education, if and when such a national crisis comes again, school should be the last to close and the first to open.
Phillipson said the fact that Gavin Williamson, the former education secretary, did not give evidence to the Covid inquiry in person showed how schools were sidelined by the government. She said:
It says a lot that the Covid inquiry isn’t even taking evidence from Sir Gavin Williamson. I don’t blame them because he wasn’t important.
The education secretary – he wasn’t at the table. Ministers failed our children in their greatest hour of need.
She condemned parents who take their children out of school for holidays, saying that was a sign of disrespect. She said:
Cheaper holidays, birthday treats, not fancying it today – these are no excuses for missing school.
Penalties must be part of the system, but they can never be the answer alone. Allowing your child to skip school without good reason shouldn’t just be cause for a fine. It’s deeper.
She said Labour would introduce a single number, like the NHS number, to hold children’s records across different services together. She said:
Labour will bring a simple single number, like the NHS number that holds records together and that stops children’s needs falling between the gaps within schools and between them, between all of the services that wrap around them. That linkage allows us not just to support children with the issues that they face today, but to help identify the challenges of tomorrow.
She said Labour would “always be the party of family”.
She suggested Labour would take steps to ensure parents cannot avoid paying VAT on private schools fees by paying all fees in advance. This is from the BBC’s education editor, Branwen Jeffreys.
Will labour apply VAT on school fees retrospectively if parents try to pay fully in advance @bphillipsonMP says will make sure there isn’t avoidance
She praised Michael Gove, the Tory former education secretary, for bringing energy and drive to the department.
Continue reading...