🚨 Government will use AI to set minimum attendance targets for schools to meet this year in the latest bid to crackdown on absence Expectations will be used to offer support through RISE teams, rather than as another accountability measure schoolsweek.co.uk/ai-to-set-mi...

🚨 Government will use AI to set minimum attendance targets for schools to meet this year in the latest bid to crackdown on absence Expectations will be used to offer support through RISE teams, rather than as another accountability measure schoolsweek.co.uk/ai-to-set-mi...

🚨 Government will use AI to set minimum attendance targets for schools to meet this year in the latest bid to crackdown on absence Expectations will be used to offer support through RISE teams, rather than as another accountability measure schoolsweek.co.uk/ai-to-set-mi...

Government wants to raise 'school readiness' to 75% by 2028 - but experts have warned the education committee this target could leave poorer pupils further behind schoolsweek.co.uk/government-s...

'Having a complementary strategy for responding to SARs and searching for information will ensure schools don’t fall victim to the volume of requests' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/use-common-sense-to-deal-with-an-angry-ai-created-legal-request/

Experts have told the education committee government's school readiness targets are 'risky' and could leave poorer pupils further behind schoolsweek.co.uk/government-s...

'We need a shared understanding of what consistency should mean. Otherwise, we risk chasing uniformity at the expense of insight – and losing sight of what inspection is for' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/theres-a-sweet-spot-to-be-found-in-setting-inspection-consistency/

'AI-generated SARs and follow-up correspondence are often threatening in tone and request irrelevant information, going beyond what an SAR should be – a simple request for personal information held' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/use-common-sense-to-deal-with-an-angry-ai-created-legal-request/

💸 Exclusive: The government plans to 'signpost' cash-strapped schools to 'savings platforms' offering high-interest savings accounts to help ease funding worries by 'unlocking' the sector’s 'substantial reserves' Full story 🔽 schoolsweek.co.uk/savings-plat...

'Variation in judgement isn’t a flaw to be fixed – it’s an inherent feature of complex evaluation. Even with rigorous training and calibration, some degree of difference will always exist' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/theres-a-sweet-spot-to-be-found-in-setting-inspection-consistency/

🟢 ‘The best-kept secret in education’ Former Teach First CEO Russell Hobby on his new role leading one of England's biggest multi-academy trusts and the challenges awaiting him 🔽

🔍 The government has commissioned an independent investigation into rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)

📰 Schools news: The weekly round-up Check out this week's news summary. If you still need to register for our newsletter updates, you can sign-up at the below link. 🔗 mailchi.mp/mkt.educatio...

💸 Exclusive: The government plans to 'signpost' cash-strapped schools to 'savings platforms' offering high-interest savings accounts to help ease funding worries by 'unlocking' the sector’s 'substantial reserves' schoolsweek.co.uk/savings-plat...

🟢 ‘The best-kept secret in education’ Former Teach First CEO Russell Hobby on his new role leading one of England's biggest multi-academy trusts and the challenges awaiting him schoolsweek.co.uk/the-best-kep...

'It is important to separate healthy debate from conspiratorial thinking. Pupils questioning what they learn about politics, history or science is a sign of curiosity and good teaching welcomes that' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/teachers-must-call-pupils-in-not-out-on-conspiracy-theories/

'Ofsted needs to instigate a serious, open debate about what consistency really means – and be honest about what would be lost if consistency becomes the ultimate goal' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/theres-a-sweet-spot-to-be-found-in-setting-inspection-consistency/

'Young people require better support to navigate the digital world safely, but adults need guidance to know how to help the young people in their lives who are online' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/teachers-must-call-pupils-in-not-out-on-conspiracy-theories/

'Ultimately, the anti-smartphone crusade feels like a nostalgic yearning for a simpler time that never truly existed. The solution isn't a ban that relieves us of our educational duty' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/banning-phones-in-schools-is-a-lazy-opt-out/

'Ultimately, this is about protecting trust. When pupils bring half-understood claims into the classroom, they are often asking whether adults can be relied on to tell them the truth' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/teachers-must-call-pupils-in-not-out-on-conspiracy-theories/

'The notion of ‘stuck’ schools is at the top of the political agenda. But having spent pretty much my entire professional life working with schools who would likely be regarded as stuck, I find the current narrative problematic' schoolsweek.co.uk/why-weve-got...

ICYMI: Ministers plan to launch a £3 million 'education neuroscience research centre' to help inform policymaking in key reform areas such as SEND schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-plans-3m...

ICYMI: Ministers have suggested rising numbers of assistant heads could be the place to target cost-cutting as schools are forced to make savings to fund future teacher pay rises. So what’s behind the rise, and is a cut do-able?

'The real debate isn't whether to manage phones; it’s whether a blanket, national prohibition is a genuine solution or merely a symbolic surrender that distracts from the deeper work of education' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/banning-phones-in-schools-is-a-lazy-opt-out/

Ministers plan to launch a £3 million 'education neuroscience research centre' to help inform policymaking in key reform areas such as SEND, Schools Week can reveal schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-plans-3m...

'When you scratch beneath the surface of the moral panic, the whole endeavour starts to look less like a policy solution and more like a collective industry seeking to profit from parental and governmental anxiety' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/banning-phones-in-schools-is-a-lazy-opt-out/

👤 Schools have been told to appoint a point of contact for families needing support with uniform ❌ New guidance also suggests setting requirements banning 'visible logos' on PE kit to reduce costs and 'peer pressure to wear designer sportswear'

ICYMI: The education secretary has admitted more specialist teachers will be needed so schools can deliver on a new pledge to offer triple science to all GCSE pupils schoolsweek.co.uk/triple-scien...

'The notion of ‘stuck’ schools is at the top of the political agenda. But having spent pretty much my entire professional life working with schools who would likely be regarded as stuck, I find the current narrative problematic' schoolsweek.co.uk/why-weve-got...

Ministers have suggested rising numbers of assistant heads could be the place to target cost-cutting as schools are forced to make savings to fund future teacher pay rises. So what’s behind the rise, and is a cut do-able? schoolsweek.co.uk/can-schools-...

'I felt like the sector has had my back' Curriculum review chair answers your questions on her landmark report: covering languages take-up concerns, progress 8 disagreements, RE consensus and much more You can watch the webinar in full below schoolsweek.co.uk/watch-becky-...

The government's proposals would see religious studies GCSE classed as a humanities subject under progress 8 for the first time https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-ignores-francis-review-and-proposes-sweeping-progress-8-reform/

Bridget Phillipson has admitted more specialist teachers will be needed so schools can deliver on a new pledge to offer triple science to all pupils, as recommended by the Curriculum and Assessment Review schoolsweek.co.uk/triple-scien...

Exclusive: Ministers plan to launch a £3 million 'education neuroscience research centre' to help inform policymaking in key reform areas such as SEND schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-plans-3m...

🎒 Schools have been told to appoint a point of contact for families needing support with uniform ❌ New guidance also suggests setting requirements banning 'visible logos' on PE kit to reduce costs and 'peer pressure to wear designer sportswear' schoolsweek.co.uk/appoint-staf...

ICYMI: Government has accepted the Francis review recommendation to introduce RE to the national curriculum - but has said the sector must 'reach consensus on whether this is achievable'

'The notion of ‘stuck’ schools is at the top of the political agenda. But having spent pretty much my entire professional life working with schools who would likely be regarded as stuck, I find the current narrative problematic' https://schoolsweek.co.uk/why-weve-got-stuck-schools-all-wrong/

Exclusive: Ministers plan to launch a £3 million 'education neuroscience research centre' to help inform policymaking in key reform areas such as SEND, Schools Week can reveal https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-plans-3m-send-research-centre/

❌ Ministers have suggested rising numbers of assistant heads could be the place to target cost-cutting as schools are forced to make savings to fund future teacher pay rises. So what’s behind the rise, and is a cut do-able? Schools Week investigates...

RE teachers have lauded introducing the subject to the national curriculum as a 'landmark moment' after government accepted the recommendation from the Francis review

🔢 Three in four headteachers don’t believe that rating schools on how well their school supports SEND pupils in league tables would improve provision, a survey suggests schoolsweek.co.uk/heads-say-se...

❌ Exclusive: Ofqual will not publish detailed modelling that informed a key curriculum review policy to reduce the time pupils spend taking GCSE exams by around three hours schoolsweek.co.uk/ofqual-wont-...

🗣️ School leaders have criticised claims that curriculum changes such as scrapping the EBacc are 'dumbing down' schools, although some point to concerns that it could cause a dip in language take-up

The new curriculum 'will be implemented in full, for first teaching from September 2028', the government has said Now updated with a handy timeline... https://schoolsweek.co.uk/new-curriculum-to-be-introduced-in-2028-as-review-published/

Update: The DfE has clarified its new progress 8 measure would first apply to GCSEs sat in 2029, meaning any schools that run three-year GCSE courses will need to take it into account during subject choices for their current year 8s schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-ignores-...

Ministers’ response to the curriculum and assessment review ignores Professor Becky Francis’s recommendation that the subject make-up of progress 8 be left alone schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-ignores-...

The government will introduce a new national curriculum from 2028, scrap the EBacc league table measure, make citizenship compulsory in primary schools and force all secondaries to offer triple science GCSE schoolsweek.co.uk/new-curricul...

ICYMI: Schools are to be judged on new enrichment benchmarks, the government has announced, despite record numbers cutting extracurricular activities due to funding constraints

Ofsted has tweaked its inspection framework to tackle concerns raised during pilot inspections – just days before its new report cards are due to be rolled out schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsted-tweak...

📢 Join us on Friday for Under the CAR Bonnet - a free Schools Week webinar on the curriculum and assessment review We'll interview review chair Professor Becky Francis to get behind the headlines of her landmark report, followed by audience Q&A Sign up: events.zoom.us/ev/AofhjYOxI...