Whitehall is continuing to tighten its grip on councils’ SEND functions by forcing them to agree to prioritise mainstream specialist places or face having capital cash withheld https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-whitehall-to-leverage-capital-cash-to-force-council-mainstream-focus/

A fascinating case where two councils are rowing over unpaid special school fees..

I feel like every time I'm in St Pancras station for the commute, someone is practicing Interstellar on the piano. It's both eerie and beautiful?!

The government has a bad habit of sending press releases about policy announcements close to the end of the working day, embargoed for the following day. It means journalists don’t have the full facts on which to base stories, nor the time to ask important questions

Journalists are being banned from conferences where ministers, senior government civil servants and advisers are slated to speak https://schoolsweek.co.uk/journalists-shut-out-of-events-with-ministers-and-officials/

Two in five leaders believe schools in their area “actively discourage” applications from pupils with SEND, with poorer pupils entitled to support underrepresented at top-performing schools https://schoolsweek.co.uk/some-schools-actively-discourage-sen-support-pupils-research-warns/

This trend makes us deeply uncomfortable. I can't think of another event where we wouldn't be allowed entrance to watch a minister speak. You can read my editor Freddie's views on it here: www.linkedin.com/posts/freddi...

Ofsted chief inspector Martyn Oliver has been blasted for an 'incendiary' speech to school leaders, as headteachers insist schools’ contexts are not being adequately considered in inspections https://schoolsweek.co.uk/fury-as-ofsted-digs-in-on-low-expectations-barb/

Exclusive: Plans to run more than 100 academies could leave the country’s biggest trust 'spread thin', a former academies minister has warned https://schoolsweek.co.uk/109-schools-leaves-united-learning-spread-thin-says-former-academies-minister/

Very excited to be joining the team at Schools Week! Feel free to get in touch with any education-related stories, particularly if they relate to exams, the curriculum, edtech (AI) and post-16

Delighted to welcome our new reporter @esmekenney.bsky.social to the Schools Week team. She has a super newsy patch including exams, curriculum, edtech and post-16 stories. So please do connect with her and get in touch...

Di'lasio says ASCL leadership have received 'too many reports' of local disputes in which members 'have been targeted in a way that is personal and vindicitive' 'We will not tolerate this behaviour'. Read more on our live blog https://schoolsweek.co.uk/ascl-conference-2026-schools-week-live-blog/

Exclusive: Councils will be given top marks by the government if their SEND reform proposals include 'little to no' plans to increase special school or alternative provision capacity https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-dfes-secret-plan-to-cut-special-school-expansion/

Exclusive: Councils will be given top marks by the government if their SEND reform proposals include 'little to no' plans to increase special school or alternative provision capacity schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-dfe...

Comments made by Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver ahead of today's ASCL conference have not gone down well with school leaders' unions...

Exclusive: Councils will be given top marks by the government if their SEND reform proposals include 'little to no' plans to increase special school or alternative provision capacity schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-dfe...

Exclusive: Councils will be given top marks by the government if their SEND reform proposals include 'little to no' plans to increase special school or alternative provision capacity, it has emerged https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-dfes-secret-plan-to-cut-special-school-expansion/

20 years of Waterloo Road on the telly this morn … and 18ish years since I was a school pupil on it 😂😂 Vague memory of having a brief speaking part too. So funny looking back

A timely revisit of this article from 2022. @beckyfrancis.bsky.social schoolsweek.co.uk/follow-evide...

Exclusive: More than half of free specialist school projects put on hold by the government are set to go ahead, as councils turn down alternative funding offers https://schoolsweek.co.uk/more-than-half-of-special-free-school-projects-set-to-go-ahead/

Bringing #FFBWednesday to BlueSky. Ready to build genuine education connections? 💫 Like and repost 💫 Comment with your edu bio + #FFBWeds 💫 Follow everyone who participates Let's create the education community BlueSky deserves.

The schools minister has issued a rallying cry for expert SEND professionals who quit their jobs to return and staff the £1.8 billion 'experts at hand' service https://schoolsweek.co.uk/ministers-rallying-cry-for-expert-send-staff-to-return/

Government has pledged to wipe 90 per cent of high-needs deficits, yet some councils will remain in financial trouble – and may face a clamour from families and schools to get statutory support before reforms https://schoolsweek.co.uk/will-reforms-fix-the-send-funding-crisis/

🚨 Breaking: Former NCG CEO Joe Docherty, now Lord Docherty, has been suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he resigned from his college role after conducting sexual liaisons during working hours feweek.co.uk/joe-docherty...

Exclusive: Kevan Collins has been appointed as the education secretary’s delivery adviser with a focus on SEND reform and reviewing how the department engages with councils https://schoolsweek.co.uk/kevan-collins-to-be-phillipsons-send-delivery-adviser/

Your evening schools white paper round-up... Firstly - the 14 key points you need to know from the SEND reforms. Including the three new 'layers' of support, new individual support plans and duties for schools schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-whit...

Your evening white paper round-up... Firstly - the 14 key points you need to know from the SEND reforms. Including the three new 'layers' of support, new individual support plans and duties for schools schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-whit...

@jackydys.bsky.social and @lydiach.bsky.social have collected what you need to know from the main schools white paper...

Pupils with only the “most complex needs” will require an education, health and care plan by 2035, the government has said as it outlines its large-scale reforms to the SEND system https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-what-is-happening-to-ehcps-under-send-reforms/

Pupils’ special educational needs will be met through a new layered system of support, with education, health and care plans reserved for only the most complex cases Here's what you need to know... https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-white-paper-the-key-send-reform-policies/

Pupils’ special educational needs will be met through a new layered system of support, with EHCPs reserved for only the most complex cases. These the proposed 'layers'. But there's also new individual support plans and retaining of EHCPs schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-whit...

Big day today - we will finally find out the details of the government’s SEND reforms (following the drip, drip over the last few weeks). Follow @schoolsweek.bsky.social for what you need to know later this morning - and full analysis throughout the week. #SEND #schoolswhitepaper

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has also said the government will 'ensure all schools join high-quality trusts', and allow councils to set up their own chains schoolsweek.co.uk/new-headteac...

The devil will absolutely be in the detail on this, but it's a big move on private special schools. Quite a bit we don't know yet such as the £ value of the bands and what the 'standards' will be. One big question for me is - will this see companies pull out of the market and close schools?

Ministers have pledged eight weeks of full maternity pay for leaders, teachers and support staff in England https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-pledges-eight-weeks-full-maternity-pay-school-staff-teachers-support-leaders/

The way parts of the white paper are being drip-fed through leaks and limited after-hours PR on individual announcements is deeply frustrating. Tonight we receive word school staff maternity pay will be boosted, with no clarity on whether this will apply to all schools (academies can deviate)

With press reports of a price cap on independent specialist provision, I thought it's worth revisiting my investigation from a few years ago on the companies behind some of these schools. It's one of the pieces I'm most proud of as it took months of digging... schoolsweek.co.uk/how-investor...

💭 As the sector awaits the long-delayed SEND reforms, many schools have started to work together to create more inclusive environments. We spoke to three schools leading the way... https://schoolsweek.co.uk/sharing-not-siloed-the-special-schools-bringing-inclusion-into-the-mainstream/

I noticed this when looking at special school report cards and thought it was bizarre. Why would you compare a special school's intake to a mainstream school? Of course their EHCPs will be 'well-above' average! @warrencarratt.bsky.social also flagged with Ofsted - now they may remove it

From replacing the school condition improvement fund to creating a framework for the use of surplus school land, here's everything schools need to know about the DfE's education estates strategy https://schoolsweek.co.uk/education-estates-strategy-to-replace-cif-and-create-surplus-land-framework/

All secondary schools will be expected to have 'inclusion bases' where 'pupils can access targeted support that bridges the gap between mainstream and specialist provision', the government has said https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-expects-all-secondary-schools-to-have-inclusion-bases/

Major news on SEND funding this evening… All the details here ⬇️⬇️

The government has pledged write off 90 per cent of councils’ historic SEND deficits – estimated to be worth £5 billion https://schoolsweek.co.uk/government-to-write-off-90-of-councils-send-deficits/

Major news on SEND funding this evening… All the details here ⬇️⬇️

Breaking: The government has pledged write off 90 per cent of councils’ historic SEND deficits – estimated to be worth £5 billion https://schoolsweek.co.uk/government-to-write-off-90-of-councils-send-deficits/

In light of the leadership confidence crisis - in Sept it will be *seven years* since review of 2014 SEND reforms was launched. But there has been no resulting change, at least at a nationwide scale. We are expecting the schools white paper in the weeks ahead. What would a change in PM mean?!

Brilliant find by @samanthajbooth.bsky.social - we’re still waiting for the white paper, but quietly in the background, the government has already asked local areas to begin the reforms…

Exclusive: Schools could be required to record internal exclusions under new guidance that will encourage headteachers to only send pupils home for the most serious cases of poor behaviour and violence schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-coul...

Exclusive: The government appears to lack a clear picture of which schools are defying its expectation that they should operate a 32.5-hour week, after dozens of schools suggested data on their school week was 'inaccurate' schoolsweek.co.uk/dodgy-dfe-da...

💸 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...