Every child in the United Kingdom must have the same protection from assault as adults, four Children’s Commissioners have united to say in a joint statement. The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, and her colleagues in Scotland, Nicola Killean, Wales, Rocio Cifuentes and Northern Ireland, Chris Quinn, came together on May 1st … Continue reading Children’s Commissioners unite to call for equal protection for children from assault in UK
Author: Bruce Levitan
Forthcoming governor training from Derbsyhire Services for Schools
Here are the upcoming training opportunities from Derbsyhire Services for Schools (S4S) - these are all courses that are either specifically aimed at governors, or where governors might find them useful. The Safer Recruitment courses are all in-person events and offered at different venues. AI Compliance (2 Jun 2025 15:30 - 17:00, online) School Complaints … Continue reading Forthcoming governor training from Derbsyhire Services for Schools
The Age 11 Dip
We all know that transition from primary to secondary school is a big change and challenge for young people, so it's no surprise - but very alarming - that this new report based on 80,000 children's responses, shows that more than one in four pupils begin to disengage from school during Year 7. The findings … Continue reading The Age 11 Dip
Teacher 2025 pay award
The DfE announced a 4% pay award on 22 may, but the catch is that schools will have to find 1% of this from their own resources. You can read the statement from the DfE on their website, here. The NGA's response both welcomes the early annoucement and level of award, but criticises the fact … Continue reading Teacher 2025 pay award
New trial will find out if Oak’s AI-powered lesson planning tool can reduce workload while maintaining quality
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is inviting primary schools to take part in trial of Aila, Oak National Academy’s AI-powered lesson planning assistant. Launched on 12th May, the EEF is recruiting around 450 primary school teachers to take part. Find out more here.
What is the most popular validated phonics scheme?
According to Teacher Tapp's Brand Tracker, Read Write Inc and Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised are used by more than half of schools. Rising stars were Essential Letters and Sounds and Twinkl Phonics. Find out more on the Teacher Tapp blog, here.
Education Secretary gives keynote speech at Education World Forum
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson gave the keynote speech on the use of EdTech to improve opportunity in education at the Education World Forum on 19th May. Some key points were: Inequality and injustice still exist: "opportunity still lies beyond the grasp of too many people – here in this country and around the world"; One … Continue reading Education Secretary gives keynote speech at Education World Forum
Improved PE and sport for more than 240,000 pupils with SEND
The DfE has launched its Inclusion 2028 programme which will improve access to PE and school sports for pupils with SEND. The aim is to train 10,000 teachers and practitioners in England across three years and 8,000 schools. You can read the full press release here.
Support for children and young people with special educational needs
In response to the recent Public Accounts Committee report on the Government's handling of SEND, the DfE published their intentions on 9 May. In it they respond to the 7 conclusions that the PAC had published: The SEN system is inconsistent, inequitable and not delivering in line with expectations, which inevitably undermines parents’ confidence in … Continue reading Support for children and young people with special educational needs
Animated guide to Working Together to Safeguard Children
The DfE have produced a colourful animated guide to Working Together to Safeguard Children - you can find it on YouTube here. An accompanying PDF document suitabloe for children and families is on their website, here.
DfE Sustainability and climate change strategy
The DfE's Sustainability and climate change strategy for schools is availbale from their website, here.
School estate management standards
The DfE has published updated gudiance for school estate management. The document defines four levels of compliance from baseline through to advanced. This includes: Strategic estate management; Planning and organising your estate resources; Understanding and managing your land and buildings; Maintaining your estate; Health and safety; Fire safety; Asbestos; Legionella; Sustainability (at levels 3 and … Continue reading School estate management standards
Parliamentary education committee on SEND
The most recent meeting of the Parliamentary education committee on SEND took place on 29 April. Subject specialists included: Lisa O’Connor, vice president of the Association of Educational Psychologists. She noted that cuts to council budgets and the academies movement had led local authorities to “reduce considerably their EP services, with many of them only … Continue reading Parliamentary education committee on SEND
NEU General Secretary’s speech 2025
In his recent speech to the Union, General Secretary Daniel Kebede summarised the Union's key actions and concerns. Not surprisingly these centred on teacher pay and pensions, and one of his major criticisms was directed at Academy Trusts where CEO pay was felt to be much too high, using the half-million pound salary of the … Continue reading NEU General Secretary’s speech 2025
Ofsted: We know we need to improve our inspection plans
In an article written for TES, Rory Gribbell, Oftsed's director of strategy and engagement, summarises some of the themes that have emerged from the public consultation they have been conducting and comments on Oftsed's reactions. You can find the article on the TES website, here.
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