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.
Category: News
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.
Tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation: update
Minister Jess Phillips (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office) delivered a speech on the government's plan to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation on 8 April 2025. You can read the full transcript on the Gov.uk website here.
Secondary pupils in England among the least emotionally engaged with school
A new report from UCL researchers who analysed data in the recent Trends in International Maths and Science study finds that pupils in English secondary schools have some of the lowest school engagement rates around the world, with rates dropping amongst the fastest following the pandemic. Furthermore, girls in year 9 in participating countries around … Continue reading Secondary pupils in England among the least emotionally engaged with school
Providing Safe Spaces for neurodivergent children and why it’s important.
An interesting blog article from Cheryl Warren of Hope Education, covering the principles of Vestibular – the sense of movement, Proprioception – the sense of body position, and Interoception – the internal senses, what’s going on inside. You can read it here.
What is needed from education policy to boost writing outcomes?
In January 2025, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) and Oxford University Press (OUP) brought together trust leaders, publishers, researchers, civil servants and other education stakeholders to discuss the current challenges preventing improvements in writing and how these can be overcome. The discussion touched on research gaps and a lack of political will; opportunities to reform … Continue reading What is needed from education policy to boost writing outcomes?
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