Category Archives: Teaching

Pupils fear AI is eroding their ability to study, research finds

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One in four students say AI ‘makes it too easy’ for them to find answers

Pupils fear that using artificial intelligence is eroding their ability to study, with many complaining it makes schoolwork “too easy” and others saying it limits their creativity and stops them learning new skills, according to new research.

The report on the use of AI in UK schools, commissioned by Oxford University Press (OUP), found that just 2% of students aged between 13 and 18 said they did not use AI for their schoolwork, while 80% said they regularly used it.

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UK graduates and healthcare workers worst hit as jobs market ‘cools’

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Recruitment report identifies sharp rise in vacancies for warehouse staff and cleaners but large fall in graduate opportunities

Graduates fresh from university will find it difficult to find a job after a 35% drop in hiring by employers over the last year, according to analysis by a leading recruitment data provider.

Hiring freezes at many employers have taken the biggest toll on graduates and meant there is fierce competition for the few jobs left for younger workers.

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UK graduates and healthcare workers worst hit as jobs market ‘cools’

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Recruitment report identifies sharp rise in vacancies for warehouse staff and cleaners but large fall in graduate opportunities

Graduates fresh from university will find it difficult to find a job after a 35% drop in hiring by employers over the last year, according to analysis by a leading recruitment data provider.

Hiring freezes at many employers have taken the biggest toll on graduates and meant there is fierce competition for the few jobs left for younger workers.

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‘Kafkaesque’: teacher in Birmingham fights to clear his name after identity fraud

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Michael Bene is repaying £763 ‘advance’ despite evidence he did not attend face-to-face verification interview

A special needs teacher has spent almost a year trying to clear his name after a fraudulent universal credit claim was made using his identity, which has left him on the hook for hundreds of pounds in repayments.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to acknowledge the fraud, even though Michael Bene has supplied evidence he was in the Scottish Highlands when the claimant attended a face-to-face verification interview in Cheshire.

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‘So aware of their emotions’: Pupils are standout stars in new series about Yorkshire academy

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Educating Yorkshire Part 2 shows inspirational teachers negotiating challenges in young people’s lives

“Basically, there’s summat wrong with me. I’m like … a psychopath. Genuinely!” A teenage girl with the face of an angel is confiding in Mr Wilson, one of the student managers. He listens solemnly, but his mouth twitches with the beginnings of a smile.

“I’m going to start by disagreeing with you,” he says with all the seriousness he can muster. “You’re not a psychopath.” The girl in the sky-blue hoodie relaxes and rewards him with a broad smile.

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Teachers’ union elects former FBU general secretary on turnout below 5%

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Matt Wrack wins ballot for NASUWT general secretary after legal challenge to executive’s earlier decision

Matt Wrack, a former leader of the firefighters’ union, has been elected as permanent general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union after a ballot in which less than 5% of eligible members voted.

He beat his challenger, Neil Butler, winning 5,249 votes to his rival’s 3,126, after the NASUWT’s first contested leadership election for a generation.

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Secondary schools in England to tackle ‘incel’ culture and teach positive role models

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Government says new guidance will challenge ‘manosphere’ myths as DfE reports epidemic-scale misogyny

Secondary school pupils in England are to be taught about “incel” culture and the links between pornography and misogyny as part of long-awaited statutory government guidance due to be published on Tuesday.

It will include a new focus on positive role models for boys and challenge “myths about women and relationships that are spread online in the ‘manosphere’”, but will warn schools against “stigmatising boys for being boys”.

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One in four pupils in England ‘disengage’ when they move to secondary, report finds

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New study found a drop in enjoyment, trust and feelings of safety after year 7 and a largely positive primary experience

One in four pupils in England “disengage” when they move up to secondary school, with enjoyment, trust and a sense of feeling safe declining sharply, according to a new report.

After a largely positive experience at primary school where children report high levels of enjoyment, there is a “steep and lasting” drop in engagement after year 7 when pupils transfer to secondary at the age of 11, the survey of 100,000 pupils in England reveals.

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Teaching union faces legal challenge over new general secretary

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Appointment of leftwinger with no teaching background is controversial in traditionally moderate NASUWT

The leadership of the NASUWT teaching union has been thrown into doubt after a legal challenge was issued over its appointment of a new general secretary.

The application for an injunction, filed with the courts on Wednesday, came after a potential candidate was barred from running for the post, denying members the chance to vote in an open election.

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A third of UK school staff report ‘physical underdevelopment’ in poor students

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A survey of more than 14,000 staff also found schools having to step in to provide basic household items

A third of school staff have seen “physical underdevelopment” in students due to poverty, with schools in England stretching their budgets to buy basic household items such as cookers, bedding and clothes for pupils whose families are struggling.

A survey of more than 14,000 school staff, published at the National Education Union’s annual conference in Harrogate, found that this rose to more than half of those teachers working in deprived areas, with warnings that things “can only get worse” after recent benefit cuts.

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British Council accused of forcing gig economy teachers into ‘feeding frenzy’ for work

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With regular teaching hours unavailable, agency tutors must compete for lessons

The British Council has been accused of exploiting hundreds of agency teachers on zero-hour contracts forced to compete for lessons in a “feeding frenzy” every week.

An open letter from teaching staff reveals the prestigious government-funded public body does not offer regular hours to tutors on its popular English Online platform, which provides lessons to more than 45,000 students worldwide.

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Teacher vacancy rates at record high in England, report finds

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NFER says pupil behaviour, stagnant pay and inflexible working practices contributing to exodus from workforce

Teachers in England are abandoning the classroom over worsening pupil behaviour, stagnant pay and inflexible working practices, leaving vacancies at their highest rate on record, according to a report.

It warned that this month’s spending review was the government’s “last chance” to meet its manifesto pledge of hiring 6,500 additional teachers in state schools, as younger teachers continue to abandon the profession since the Covid pandemic and fewer graduates sign up as trainees.

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Most school leaders in England, Wales and NI say pupils’ parents have abused them

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Parents banned from school sites after leaders spat at and trolled, poll finds

Four in five school leaders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland say they have suffered abuse from pupils’ parents in the past year, according to a poll that found they had been spat at, trolled on social media and even physically attacked.

The problem has become so serious that more than two out of five (42%) of those who took part in the survey said they had been forced to ban parents from the school site in the last year. Nearly a third (32%) have reported parents to the police and almost three-quarters (72%) have issued a warning letter or email.

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English academy chain to improve conditions for Jamaican teachers after strike threat

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Union leader describes chain’s record on overseas-trained teachers as ‘Harris Federation’s Windrush’

The National Education Union has claimed a “resounding improvement” in workload and conditions for teachers from Jamaica and other countries at a leading academy chain, as part of a deal ending threats of strike action.

The Harris Federation of schools confirmed it will improve conditions for qualified teachers from Jamaica and others trained overseas, as part of a deal that eases the route for overseas-trained teachers to gain similar qualifications in England.

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West Midlands teacher was ‘forced into hiding’ after doctored video alleged she made racist slur

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Cheryl Bennett has been paid substantial damages after fake clip taken when she was canvassing for Labour was viewed millions of times

A teacher subjected to a torrent of abuse after doctored footage falsely alleged she used a racist slur while canvassing for the Labour party has said she was forced into hiding and feared it would ruin her career.

Cheryl Bennett, a PE teacher from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, was helping her colleague, Qasim Mughal, hand out Labour leaflets during the local elections in May last year when she was recorded on a household security camera.

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UK schools boost maternity pay to stem exodus of female teachers in their 30s

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Sector faces ‘catastrophic loss’ as more than 9,000 thirtysomething women leave state education in a year

Schools across England are ramping up maternity pay and offering flexible working in a bid to stem the exodus of thousands of women in their 30s from teaching.

In Wednesday’s budget, Rachel Reeves confirmed she would fund the recruiting of 6,500 new teachers by pressing ahead with imposing VAT on private school fees. Yet heads and charities are warning that with more than 9,000 women aged between 30 and 39 having left state education last year, the government will not fix the teacher shortage unless it also acts to stop experienced women leaving.

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School starters born during pandemic lack communication skills, Ofsted says

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English primary schools having to help infants catch up on speech and language to cope with lessons

Primary schools are having to teach infants how to communicate, as they struggle to make friends or cope with lessons because of speech and language difficulties, according to a report by Ofsted.

The research by Ofsted inspectors, based on visits to schools in England rated as good or outstanding, found that the Covid pandemic “is still having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills”.

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Major fears over Labour’s nursery plan for 9-month-olds in schools

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Early years experts warn of lack of staff, playgrounds and toilets

Primary schools may not have enough space, specialist facilities or staff to deliver the 100,000 new nursery places in England that the government has promised, early childhood experts have warned.

Labour is under intense pressure to create enough places to fulfil its promise of 30 hours of free childcare a week for eligible parents of children from the age of nine months to three years from next September – a commitment inherited from the previous government.

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Teachers in England offered lie-ins to make job more appealing

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Other perks including nine-day fortnight and more planning time at home offered to attract recruits

Teachers in England are being offered a range of incentives to make the job more appealing, including two free periods a week to give them a lie-in, a nine-day fortnight and more planning time at home to help with work-life balance.

An escalating crisis in teacher recruitment and retention is forcing schools and academy trusts to come up with novel ways to attract new recruits into the profession and keep experienced staff in front of classes.

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Fifty English secondary schools suspended more than a quarter of pupils after pandemic

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Exclusive: Children in disadvantaged areas three times as likely to be sent away as pupils in wealthier places

Fifty secondary schools in England suspended more than a quarter of their students after the pandemic, with children at schools with the most disadvantaged pupils three times as likely to be suspended as those in wealthier areas, according to analysis by the Guardian.

The proportion of schools suspending large numbers of pupils has risen sharply since schools were closed to many children during Covid, and teachers have struggled with deteriorating behaviour since they reopened.

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