Following Trump's comments blaming expectant mothers who take Tylenol for autism in their children, Lucy Jones asks if epidurals and caesareans will be next. Read more: https://bit.ly/4nIKxCA

Scoop: Mandatory reading test for year 8s (age 13) incoming in the schools white paper, due out this autumn DfE and Ofsted will have access to school results, but data will only be reported nationally and we understand it won't prompt intervention/early inspection

Like genuinely, how did he get here? This claim is so debunked, how is this announcement anything but further trying to control women’s bodies and ableism?

In light of recent news, we'd like to highlight that the MHRA has confirmed that taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe and there is no evidence that it causes autism in children. buff.ly/MQGedTS If you're unsure about taking any medication, talk to your GP, health visitor, or midwife.

With a month of maternity leave to go, and finally feeling more like myself, I’ve been reflecting on… how normalised it is you’re supposed to just sit on the floor at playgroups and classes when you’re a few weeks/months postpartum?! I was in the fog then but looking back it’s madness

Yes, we’ve seen this film before… under the last government

Breaking: Former council leader Georgia Gould has been appointed education minister, with ex-schools minister Catherine McKinnell departing during Sir Keir Starmer’s front bench reshuffle schoolsweek.co.uk/reshuffle-ge...

This piece struck a chord with me. When I was pregnant the Instagram algorithm served me an intense number of stories on miscarriage, children disabled by traumatic births and mothers and children dying of cancer. Something is going wrong when it targets like that www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

What's his evidence for this inflammatory claim? Can't see any reference to it in the story... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

2025 is complete then. X www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Next week I'll be taking a break from playing my daughter 'Shake It Off' on repeat to get back to the Schools Week news desk for a few days. If you're free for a well needed catch-up on Tuesday or Wednesday, just drop me a message. In the meantime, here's a very delicious baby leg.

The SEND reforms were always going to be tricky, but politically this is what Labour are now up against

I’ll be at the Festival of Education on Friday (with my baby daughter in tow!) if anyone is around and wants to catch up / hug the baby - just drop me a DM

Shout out to the @royalalberthall.bsky.social - I emailed ahead of Sophie EB gig tonight asking if I can bring expressed breast milk in. They then offered to store in the fridge for me during the show meaning it doesn’t go to waste. Much respect

SENCos will be central to plans to make mainstream schools more inclusive. But they're burning out. Schools Week investigates ... schoolsweek.co.uk/burnt-out-an...

Finding this hard to believe really, very honoured. Thanks so much to everyone who has trusted me over the past few years. SEND support is such a huge issue and glad it’s being recognised. Normal reporting service resumes when I’m back at my desk later this year

Breaking: Officials are considering shaking up the system of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) that would likely lead to a narrowing or new structure of support as part of major SEND reforms, a government adviser has said schoolsweek.co.uk/ehcp-shake-u...

Reform now controls Kent council, which has a huge high needs deficit. In this story, Farage targets diversity and climate change initiatives. But you can’t help but wonder what it means for SEND once they actually get in the door www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This miracle worker should be eligible to receive the 30 hours childcare funding

📢 Journalism job klaxon Senior reporter, @schoolsweek.bsky.social £30,000-£42,000 DoE Would suit an experienced local newspaper reporter or someone covering general news for the nationals who wants to specialise DMs open if you want an informal chat www.journalism.co.uk/media-jobs/s...

This graph is from the October 2024 NAO SEND report The "£1bn for SEND" in Labour's Nov 24 budget will be added to the DSG in April - but the benefit will have been chewed up by the unexpected deterioration in FY 24-25 Scrawled red circles show the revisions to DSG actuals and forecast out-turn

This! Also I’ve found myself going to cafes I know have some comfortable seating, as most chairs ruin your back when breastfeeding. Long live the cafe sofas www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/...

Tried to explain to our newborn why this is cool, but the crying prevailed! Very honoured to be shortlisted and grateful to anyone who has helped or trusted me with their story about the SEND system

Thanks so much for the well wishes everyone Got our own Schools Week superhero right here

I’ll be offline and away from the news beat for a little while after welcoming our first child to this wild planet ♥️ she’s the best

That's the thing with 'inclusion' isn't it. It's great to have ambition from the top in government - but what may happen in councils/MATs/schools isn't always within their control. The implementation of 'inclusion' could look different in every area

Students in 2 in 3 specialist colleges couldn’t start their courses on time because local authority transport wasn’t sorted For others, transport was unsafe - one blind student was abandoned in a town centre forcing the police to take them to college feweek.co.uk/driven-to-de...

Another council’s latest inclusion push has led to schools threatening legal action Heads say plans to charge them *£21k* for excluding a child are ‘financial blackmail’ and would only lead to schools taking in fewer vulnerable kids Scoop 👇 schoolsweek.co.uk/financial-bl...

We've since had more detail from DfE that this money can also be spent on special schools - despite the PR sounding like just money for mainstream. So without any strict funding conditions, it just sounds like much of the same as under last gov?

🚨 Freelance journalism work klaxon I am looking for freelance news reporters interested in some potential work in the new year Would be 5 days a week with two days in a London office My DMs are open...

This is an important piece and something I often think about - how women are more likely to be impacted by the crisis, which can mean them quitting their job to support their child

Since 2010, successive Conservative govts have obsessed over the Ofsted 'state of the nation' measure - the % of schools rated good or better at last inspection But it was always misleading, and now with headline grades scrapped, it has to go schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-bids-...

Fascinating story from @samanthajbooth.bsky.social looking at schools’ SEND information report If government is looking to improve mainstream schools’ inclusivity, perhaps this is a cheap and simple place to start?

Exclusive: The government has finally commissioned research into how its SEND cost-cutting programme impacts children and their families – three years after the controversial scheme was launched

There are always human stories behind the statistics, so I am really keen to speak to teachers, leaders and support staff who have struggled with their wellbeing who would be willing to talk about their experiences. This can be anonymous. My messages are open

I see the random direct messages from men we don't know have followed us over onto here...

I know it's on the other website, but for now I'm live tweeting coverage from the public accounts committee on SEND this afternoon here: x.com/samanthajboo...

Part of today’s reforms include clamping down on social care profiteering. But several of the big companies also run independent special schools - so we are awaiting details on what the policy impact may be

One to watch on Monday. The public accounts committee is holding its first session on the National Audit Office's SEND report It'll hear from DfE and DHSC senior bods from 3.30pm ⤵️ committees.parliament.uk/work/8582/su...

One to watch on Monday. The public accounts committee is holding its first session on the National Audit Office's SEND report It'll hear from DfE and DHSC senior bods from 3.30pm ⤵️ committees.parliament.uk/work/8582/su...

🗣️ Exclusive: Headteachers of council maintained schools are launching a collective group to give them a 'voice' in policy-making after being 'marginalised' by the Conservatives

England’s largest exam board has secured a High Court injunction to try and clamp down on leaks with those in breach facing a fine or prison

Teachers feel 'disempowered and deprofessionalised by overstipulation and the challenge to cover content' in the curriculum, Professor Becky Francis has said as she outlined emerging themes from her review roadshows so far

£1bn SEND funding expected to plug deficits Extra cash for NI rises...but not yet VAT policy means 35k extra state pupils at cost of £300m Here are the things you might have missed from #budget2024

A damning report by the National Audit Office has found the SEND system is 'financially unsustainable' and in urgent need of reform. Here are the eight most important findings you need to know about…

The new government should 'explicitly' consider 'whole-system' SEND reforms, the spending watchdog has urged in a devastating report that reveals the full scale of impending financial meltdown

My editor @johndickenssw.bsky.social has compiled a mega-thread on the *other site* about the collapse of the SEND system - it's worth 5 mins of your time x.com/JohndickensS...

The National Audit Office is expected to publish its report on the cost and performance of the special needs system this week It will put SEND spend in the spotlight right before the budget later this month. Schools Week looks at four of the most pressing concerns...

Next Monday at Labour conference, I’ll be speaking on this ASCL and EPI panel about SEND - it should hopefully be a productive discussion! If you’re at Lab conf and want to meet, just drop me a msg / email

Next Monday at Labour conference, I’ll be speaking on this ASCL and EPI panel about SEND - it should hopefully be a productive discussion! If you’re at Lab conf and want to meet, just drop me a msg / email