New: Catholic academy chain nearly £10 million in the red, as accounts reveal it also broke government financial transaction rules educationuncovered.co.uk/news/catholi...

Lots of people working in English are excited by the prospect of curriculum change now the new NC is being written. We've just published 7 blogs looking at key areas identified for reform, with our hopes for where this might lead. Introduction here 1/7 englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/emc-thi...

New: How staff and parent campaign toppled the leadership of 24-school academy trust educationuncovered.co.uk/news/how-sta...

530k salary of Sir Dan Moynihan, CEO of Harris Federation, is higher than that of the vc of Oxford University, as covered here: The university bosses getting rich while higher education is in crisis share.google/RCq8h4nXn1Mp...

Harris Federation's accounts have dropped a bit earlier than usual this year, with Schools Week carrying the annual story about increase in Sir Dan Moynihan's £500,000-plus salary two days in advance of accounts publication deadline. schoolsweek.co.uk/best-paid-ac...

Nice comment underneath this piece, from union person: "Thank you for covering this- such an important dispute as many teachers and support staff, all across the country, are facing the same issues."

Update: ATLP has responded, saying, on the issue of EHCP and PP funding... (1/3)

...when a system doesn’t have the mechanisms to scrutinise itself there’s always going to be continued cases such as this."

V interesting comment beneath this piece: "The word that kept coming up in the 'big SEND conversation' with Georgia Gould et al is 'accountability'. Thank you for all the work you do to publicise these horrendous breaches of trust and ethical mismanagement BUT...

New: 24-school academy trust “using EHCP and pupil premium cash to fund its central topslice,” union says chain has admitted educationuncovered.co.uk/news/24-scho...

Interesting from ULT re making sure voice of schools is "always heard". But is this local governance? schoolsweek.co.uk/trust-makes-... Ran story back in 2022: "Former chair of governors says he lost position and LGB members were replaced after challenging United Learning on spending+appointments"

Of all the bad/stupid policies I’ve covered as an education journalist over the years, one that’s hit our family most blatantly is these automated letters which are issued by schools if a child’s attendance drops below a certain level.

Just back from attending NEU demostration at the DfE, over the situation at Arthur Terry Learning Trust, with its 20%-plus topslice for central services. Can't recall seeing quite so much anger from teachers as in this case. Group made a lot of noise while handing in letter of concern.

“Landmark” Court of Appeal case secures EHCP rights for children “ordinarily resident” in an LA’s area and rules families must be consulted on any decisions taken www.matrixlaw.co.uk/news/lan...

"1 in 5 pupils are getting a SEND diagnosis..the vast majority then trip into the benefit system because they get child disability allowance allowance.' This is completely false from Milburn. He's supposed to be reviewing this issue and he's just making things up. Inexcusable.

New: Academy chief executive says he hopes Labour politicians who challenged trust takeover will be “washed away,” seemingly at next elections – prompting deputy council leader to call on him to resign educationuncovered.co.uk/news/academy...

I genuinely don't understand why some MATs employ highly qualified teachers and then tell them exactly how and what they must teach, even down to the exact timing of lessons. I couldn't work under those conditions and I'm sure a lot of other people feel the same. #EduSky

New: Average pay and pensions packages for CEOs of academy trusts, just outside England’s 10 largest, approached £300,000 last year educationuncovered.co.uk/news/average...

Interesting that, with only nine days to go until 24-25 accounts must be on academy trust websites, only one of the biggest 10 chains (Outwood Grange) has yet published. Accounts will have been signed off last month, so straightforward to do. Disclosure seems quicker in some smaller trusts.

New: School confirms move to join multi-academy trust already signed off by government, but without yet any detail for parents educationuncovered.co.uk/news/school-... Latest strange developments in the case of Aylesford School Warwick.

Mergers, hostile takeovers, acquisitions… is this an episode of Succession?! No! It’s the school system in England in 2026 #edusky

Surprised to see nothing in this piece on the top pay at this academy trust - £250k even though the previous CEO left after nine months of the year. Pay would still be towards top of England's league table.Has TES decided to not ask searching questions of MAT leadership? www.tes.com/magazine/new...

New: Traditionalist academy chain pulls out of “merger” with smaller trust after local outcry educationuncovered.co.uk/news/traditi...

New: Academy trust appears to pay its former chief executive £250,000 – for nine months’ work educationuncovered.co.uk/news/academy... GLF Schools’ accounts disclose this top pay figure, even though their longer-serving CEO during 2024-25 left in May last year.

New: No sign of action by academy trust on recommendations of reviews triggered by parental concerns about its behaviour policies educationuncovered.co.uk/news/no-sign... Mossbourne Federation appears yet to have made any changes to its governors,or amend messages discouraging emails from parents.

New: Not a single parent in evidence, anywhere in governance system of controversial traditionalist academy trust educationuncovered.co.uk/news/not-a-s... The Mossbourne Federation has no parents recorded as serving either on its overarching trust board, or on its schools’ governing bodies.

Press release from NAHT flags up rise in home education numbers from 153k in 23-24 to 176k in 24-25, with "mental health remain[ing] the reason most frequently identified". Yet more data on disaffection, yet still this seems not to be front-and-centre in the education debate.

Interesting to see Sir Alan Wood, very experienced figure who carried out the recent safeguarding review of Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy, now on Ofsted board. schoolsweek.co.uk/trust-ceo-ex...

There's too many primary school places in London for not enough kids. So schools are competing to stay alive, copying private school marketing tactics with Instagram ad campaigns — and in one case offering a £50 Amazon voucher referral scheme for parents. www.londoncentric.media/i/184437718/...

Still no information, either from the school or from @departmentforedu.bsky.social, as to whether or not this school is joining this MAT, even though a formal proposal was due to have been heard by the DfE last month. Academies policy again appearing to have a problem with transparency.

New: Academy puts in bid to join 14-school chain – without telling parents educationuncovered.co.uk/news/academy... Development at Aylesford School, Warwick, shines light on lack of transparency about decisions on the future of schools, under the academies policy.

I keep referring to these recent stats from the TIMSS dataset, showing the proportion of England's pupils saying they dislike school doubled in 8 years, 2015-2023. I'm the only journalist to have picked up on it, I think,+ am now making the piece open access. educationuncovered.co.uk/news/proport...

“England’s education system is good and moving towards being great.” Really? You seem not to be giving much weight to pupil wellbeing findings then, @steverollett.bsky.social schoolsweek.co.uk/new-powers-t... www.theguardian.com/society/arti...

Academy trust whose effective “topslice” charge to its schools appears to be 24 per cent says the real figure is “closer to five per cent” educationuncovered.co.uk/news/academy... But where is the detail from the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership?

‘Contra the narrow focus of policymakers on Stem subjects or coding, now more than ever our economy rewards broad skillsets: team players, problem solvers, good communicators and creative thinkers.’ @jburnmurdoch.ft.com www.ft.com/content/5e25...

New: Future Academies still appears not to be compliant with DfE governance rules, despite its directors’ past history as government policymakers educationuncovered.co.uk/news/future-...

New (open access) post: Huge disparities in "topslice" amounts being charged to schools within different academy trusts should prompt questions about the policy: open.substack.com/pub/warwickm... A look at the topslice amounts at Arthur Terry MAT, vs one of the largest trusts, OGAT.

Strange that the BBC hasn't got NEU's perspective on this strike at the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, when the union put out press release before Xmas outlining concerns, members voting 99% vote in favour on 84% turnout. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New: Beleaguered academy trust reveals £4m in-year loss and £4.5m loans from government – as its effective 24 per cent topslice charge on school budgets is revealed by accounts educationuncovered.co.uk/news/beleagu... 24-school Arthur Terry Learning Partnership facing multi-faceted struggles.

New: Ofsted’s apparent failings on Mossbourne inspection appear part of a pattern educationuncovered.co.uk/news/ofsteds...

Just came across, again, one of the most staggering stats of the year. In 2023-24, four per cent of pupils at John Smeaton Academy in Leeds - so roughly one child per class - each spent a least 41 days in "isolation" . (This came out during the Gorse judicial review hearing in June).

New: Teachers at world-famous hospital school complain of “toxic” working environment which has seen them out on 14 days of strike educationuncovered.co.uk/news/teacher... Great Ormond Street Hospital’s school has seen four members of staff, including 3 SLT, suspended in recent weeks.

New: Former headteacher and DfE adviser Ruth Miskin sees her phonics company’s value climb to £19 million educationuncovered.co.uk/news/former-... Post-tax profits at Ruth Miskin Literacy, whose sole shareholder is Dame Ruth, have approached £10 million in total over the past four years.

"Nobody enters teaching to run an exam factory that makes children unhappy...[teachers are] often... working against the grain, without credit from an accountability system that cannot see the entirety of their efforts." V true...

"DfE's newly published pupil experience data should stop us all in our tracks... The child isn’t broken, the system around them is." schoolsweek.co.uk/pupils-told-...

New: Two-school academy trust bidding to cut teaching assistant pay by “up to £4,000 per year” – despite reserves of nearly £4 million educationuncovered.co.uk/news/two-sch... NEU members at Woodfield, a special school in Brent, north London, will reach ninth day of strike action this week.

It's all pretty depressing that there are people who don't seem to understand safeguarding properly. Academic outcomes are not the only measure. Flexibility isn't wrong.

"If the safeguarding principles of professional curiosity and challenge are lost to the white noise of such a zealot-like approach, we have truly lost our way." Hackney safeguarding chair Jim Gamble lambasts DfE's school behaviour ambassador Tom Bennett. chscp.org.uk/wp-content/u...

New: “77,000 detentions in 3.5 years – but will 'no excuses' culture at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy change?” educationuncovered.co.uk/news/77000-d... Long-read piece charting Sir Alan Wood’s safeguarding review, its striking findings and a look at its recommendations for change.