Category Archives: Secondary schools

Thousands of pupils may have to start term online as over 100 schools affected by crumble-risk concrete

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DfE guidance sent days before start of term means students and teachers at dozens of schools in England will need to be moved off site

Thousands of pupils in England may have to begin the autumn term taking lessons remotely after the government ordered more than 100 schools to immediately shut buildings made with aerated concrete until safety work is undertaken.

The guidance from the Department for Education was sent to 156 schools and colleges just days before the start of the new school year.

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Record north-south gap in top GCSE grades blamed on ‘London-centric policies’

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North-east school leaders call for government to recognise challenges for pupils in different parts of England

The largest gap on record between top GCSE grades awarded to pupils in London and those in north-east England has prompted warnings of a “continuing widening” in the north-south education divide.

School leaders in the north-east accused the government of “London-centric” policies, while Labour said it showed that “levelling up is dead and buried” through the failure to help disadvantaged communities.

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Nearly 100,000 fewer top A-levels this year in grading plan, research suggests

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Tens of thousands of students face likely drop in As and A*s as ministers aim to return results in England to pre-pandemic levels

Tens of thousands of A-level students face disappointment on results day next week, amid warnings that nearly 100,000 fewer As and A*s could be awarded as the government seeks to return grades to pre-pandemic levels.

Up to 50,000 candidates this summer are likely to miss out on the top grades they might have expected last year, according to one estimate, throwing applications for the most competitive universities into doubt.

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Don’t talk to pupils about misogynist Andrew Tate, government urges teachers in England

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Advice comes despite charity’s warning that social media figure is fuelling shocking growth of misogyny in schools

Teachers are being advised by the government not to discuss social media influencer Andrew Tate, the “king of toxic masculinity”, with pupils – despite schools reporting a rising tide of misogyny and sexual harassment from boys as young as nine.

One small charity, Diversify, based in Rotherham, which runs school workshops about inclusion, receives about 25 calls a week from primary and secondary schools across England who want help dealing with sexual harassment and “shocking misogynistic incidents”. Many cite the influence of Tate, who is under house arrest in Romania for suspected human trafficking and organised crime. Tate’s TikTok videos tell boys that a woman belongs to her boyfriend; girls who don’t stay at home are “hoes”; and rape victims must “bear responsibility” for their attacks.

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Children read almost 25% more books last year, UK and Ireland study finds

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What Kids Are Reading report found communities on sites such as TikTok helped stimulate interest in reading

The number of books read by children increased by almost a quarter last year, according to a report, as BookTok and other social media trends stimulated interest in reading for young people.

The 2023 What Kids Are Reading report, which surveyed children in the UK and Ireland, found that pupils read 27,265,657 books in the 2021-2022 academic year, 24% more than the 2020-2021 academic year.

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Thousands of pupils in England lose out on first-choice secondary school place

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Of 33 councils polled, 18 reported a decline in the proportion of families getting their first preference

Thousands of 10 and 11-year-olds have failed to get into their first choice of secondary school as offers were made across England, but the expected increase in demand for year 7 places in some big cities once again failed to materialise.

There were predictions that the proportion of children awarded a place at their top choice could hit a record low nationally this year as a result of a baby boom 11 years ago, but in London and Birmingham the number of applications and success rates were similar to last year.

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England’s poorer pupils face ‘geographic exclusion’ from top state schools – study

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Offering places by proximity results in selection of pupils from more affluent households, say researchers

Disadvantaged children are suffering “geographic exclusion” from England’s best state schools because they cannot afford to live near those with the best exam results, according to new research published by the University of Bristol.

The research found that very few state secondary schools give priority to pupils who qualify for free school meals, despite the government’s admissions rules being redesigned more than eight years ago allowing them to do so.

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Tens of thousands of teachers prepare to strike in England and Wales

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Teachers in north of England to strike on Tuesday followed by members in other regions over course of three days

Tens of thousands of teachers will strike this week resulting in the closure of some schools as members of the National Education Union (NEU) take part in three days of industrial action.

With little sign of a solution to the dispute on the horizon, teachers in the north of England will strike on Tuesday, followed by members in the Midlands and eastern regions on Wednesday.

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Zayn Malik urges Rishi Sunak to give free school meals to all children in poverty

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Bradford-born singer who relied on free school lunches urges PM to extend provision to all families on universal credit

Zayn Malik has called on Rishi Sunak to “give all children living in poverty” free school meals during the cost of living crisis.

The former One Direction singer, 29, who relied on free school lunches as a child growing up in Bradford, recently became an ambassador for the Food Foundation and is backing its Feed the Future campaign.

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Behaviour adviser urges English schools to crack down on pupils’ vaping

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Headteachers say more children are using vapes, forcing them to take action to tackle the problem

The government’s school behaviour adviser has called on headteachers to crack down on vaping among pupils, calling it “a huge health hazard” and an “enormous distraction”, amid reports that more children are using the devices, including some of primary age.

Tom Bennett said vaping was now as big an issue in schools as cigarettes once were, with children becoming “addicted to the practice and the chemicals involved”.

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Schools urge parents to help plug funding gaps as costs soar

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Some parent bodies helping with core costs, raising fears of growing gap between rich and poor areas

Days into the new academic year, headteachers have raised the alarm about a looming funding crisis in schools, with some parents urged to make donations and parent-teacher associations on standby to plug funding gaps for classroom essentials.

As energy bills and wage costs rise, school leaders say money from PTA fundraising efforts will be needed to cover core costs rather than “nice to have” extras. In affluent areas where PTAs are able to raise huge sums, it could even be used to save jobs and help pay bills.

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School pupils’ pass rates fall in Scotland for Highers and National 5s

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Decline coincides with end of teacher-led grading after cancellation of exams in 2020 and 2021

Pass rates for Scottish pupils have fallen significantly after schools returned to using exams to grade performance for the first time since 2019.

This year’s results showed the overall pass rate for Highers, heavily used for students aiming for university, fell from 89.3% in 2020 to 78.9%. The pass rate for National 5s, awarded largely to 16-year-olds, fell from a peak of 89% in 2020 to 80.8%.

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Pupil numbers in England set to shrink by almost 1 million in 10 years

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Government forecast anticipates 12% decline, mainly due to fewer births, with surplus school places in years ahead

England’s school population is set to shrink by almost a million children over the next 10 years, according to the government’s latest data, raising the prospect of surplus places and school closures in some areas of the country in the years ahead.

Department for Education figures reveal that predicted pupil numbers, already in marked decline according to earlier modelling, have had to be revised down further in line with projections of fewer births than expected.

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Liz Truss criticised for saying her Leeds school ‘let down’ children

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Local MP and councillor angered by comments about Roundhay school, rated ‘satisfactory’ when foreign secretary attended

Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss has been criticised for comments about the quality of education at her Leeds school, which she claims caused children to be “let down”.

Speaking at the launch of her economic plan, the foreign secretary is expected to describe seeing “children who failed and were let down by low expectations” during her time at Roundhay school in the 1990s.

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Scientists call for immediate rollout of Covid jab for UK primary school children

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Call comes as data shows 2- to 11-year-olds currently have the highest rate of infection

Scientists are calling for the immediate rollout of Covid vaccines to primary-aged children, as new data suggests that even a single dose of the Pfizer jab helps to prevent older children against infection, and shortens the duration and severity of symptoms if they do get infected.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, 2- to 11-year-olds have the highest rate of infections of any UK age group, with 4.2% testing positive during the week ending 5 March. Secondary-aged children (up to Year 11) have the lowest rate of infections, with 2.4% testing positive.

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National tutoring scheme failing disadvantaged pupils, say MPs

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Consultancy firm Randstad’s contract ‘must end’ unless it delivers learning missed during Covid

A national tutoring programme is failing to help the children who need it most, according to MPs, who say ministers should terminate their contract with the consultancy firm running the scheme unlessit “shapes up”.

A report by the education select committee gives a scathing account of the government’s £5bn national tutoring programme (NTP), which aims to help children in England catch up on learning missed during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.

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NHS planning Covid vaccines for children from age 12, reports say

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UK health officials say no decision has been made yet as new school year in England looms

NHS England has been told to prepare to administer Covid vaccinations to all children aged 12 and above, as vaccine advisers continue to consider whether to extend the programme, according to reports.

The planned extension to the vaccination programme would coincide with the start of the new school year. NHS trusts have been told to have plans prepared by 4pm on Friday, the Daily Telegraph reported.

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Dear Gavin Williamson, if Latin is about levelling up, I have other ideas | Michael Rosen

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Why not emulate private schools with class sizes, playing fields, music facilities and modern languages?

Just as many of us are thinking ahead to winter and a possible next wave of Covid, worrying about whether schools have proper ventilation and what emergency measures you might have up your sleeve if a major outbreak occurs, you choose to put Latin at the top of your agenda. Well, not quite top because you also managed to signal the end of BTecs (a disaster in the making). Perhaps you were using your Latin splash to hide that announcement.

You’re also keeping very quiet about what is happening with the GCSE marking – the results only days away for my offspring. I can’t work out which is going to be more exciting: hearing his results or listening to your convoluted explanations as to why a) this year’s teacher assessment method was perfect and b) why – even though it’s been perfect – we’ll all have to go back next year to the one-off, high-stakes, unnecessary obstacle of GCSEs.

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Olympic antihero: how Michael Gove trashed the legacy of London 2012 | Letter

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Chris Dunne on the successful school sport partnership scheme that the Conservatives dismantled in 2010 – and on why good coaching is the crucial factor at any level of sport

Barney Ronay (Gold medals are illusory, world-class public facilities should be the goal, 23 July) says “the idea of a tangible legacy [from the London 2012 Olympics] was always flimflam”, but one of the most important factors in the Games being awarded to the UK was that we had already put in place the grassroots plan to ensure the legacy years before we even made the bid.

In 2002 the Labour government had created, in England, school sport partnerships (SSPs), based in 450 secondary sports colleges, each of which was responsible for hugely increasing participation in sport in both their own school and a network of local secondaries, each releasing PE specialists for half of every week to help train primary school teachers to widen the sports offer to their pupils and to deliver quality coaching. Identifying talent at the grassroots and nurturing it through to local clubs and on to county, national and Team GB participation was another very firm objective.

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Poems not proms: England’s schools give leavers send-off in Covid times

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Headteachers across the country have been forced to get inventive to recreate a sense of occasion

Headteacher Ben Davis bowed to the inevitable this week and wrote to all of his year-11 pupils and their families to inform them that the school prom – the now-fashionable highlight at the end of secondary school – had been postponed.

The hotel that was to have hosted the event contacted the school to say that in the light of the prime minister’s announcement on Monday that final Covid restrictions were to remain in place for another month, the prom could sadly no longer go ahead.

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