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
Category: General
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.
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?
Education and Skills Funding Agency transfer into the Department for Education
As of 1st April 2025 the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) transferred into the Department for Education. A letter from its outgoing CEO David Withey was published on March 31st to accounting officers in academy trusts and colleges. You can read it here.
School capacity 2023-24
The latest government statistics on school pupil numbers shows that the trend of diminishing pupil numbers since 2018/19 is continuing. The total anticipated number of primary pupils forecast by local authorities in England shows a decline of around 1% per year until the end of the forecast period (2028/29). In contrast, the total number of forecast … Continue reading School capacity 2023-24
Worsening speech and language skills
A YouGov survey commissioned by assessment provider GL Assessment (a Renaissance company), shows that teachers are grappling with increasing numbers of children starting school who have poor speech and language skills. 44% of primary school teachers say up to 1 in 5 children struggle to communicate at the expected level for their age, and a … Continue reading Worsening speech and language skills
Safer smartphones and social media: What do Britons want?
A new report from The New Britain Project and More in Common for the National Education Union finds that across Britain, there are high levels of concern about the impact that social media is having on young people. For parents, social media tops the list of negative impacts on their children's mental health. Almost two … Continue reading Safer smartphones and social media: What do Britons want?
The Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards
Do you think your school does something special in terms of school meals, food education or food fitness? Then pop along to Jamie Oliver's Good School Food Awards website and nominate in one or more of the categories. Good School Food Awards