British Values: a thread through education

Instilling British Values in schools isn't a bolt-on, but an important thread that should run through everything. Senior HMI Joan Hewitt shared her insights into how schools can comply with the obligatory Prevent duty, as well as promoting British Values to their pupils, at a SCHOOLS NorthEast event on Tuesday 24 November. Head Teachers heard that …

Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015: Key points

Chancellor George Osborne delivered his spending review during the Autumn Statement 2015 on Wednesday. Here are the key points related to education, which Mr Osborne referred to as "the door to opportunity in our society": School funding will be protected in line with inflation; A fairer national funding formula for schools will be introduced in 2017; …

Training… and retaining

In 2012 our school made the decision to train teachers. A simple statement now, but a step that took plenty of courage (and associated insomnia inducing pondering) to make. Looking back now, it seems like such an obvious way forward. Easy? well not quite, but thanks to our school direct and SCITT courses, we now …

Ofqual Chair meets North East heads

Head Teachers from across the North East came together to raise concerns over the quality of exam paper marking, moderation and the appeals process, discussing the issues in an open conversation with Ofqual Chair Amanda Spielman. The volatility of English GCSE results this summer was one of the main problems brought up by the audience …

Amanda Spielman: SCHOOLS NorthEast is a catalyst for change and a forum for constructive discussion

From Amanda Spielman, Chair of exam board regulator Ofqual: Last Friday I came to Newcastle for the day, to meet the heads and senior leaders of schools in the SCHOOLS NorthEast group. This was my first visit to Newcastle for more than two decades, and it is striking how much the city has changed and …

Ouseburn Learning Trust give Children’s Hospital a fundraising boost

A Trust of Schools in the East of Newcastle has given the children’s hospital in the city a fundraising boost with a significant four figure donation. The Ouseburn Learning Trust (OLT) is a charitable company of eight schools and six partner organisations formed in October 2014. The OLT nominated the Great North Children’s Hospital (GNCH) as …

Fair national school funding formula would bring £45.6m windfall to region

GOVERNMENT plans to level the playing field on school funding were today broadly welcomed by SCHOOLS NorthEast. The Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement today that he was introducing a National Funding Formula for schools that would replace the current Dedicated School Grants payment system which sees some London schools receiving double the amount per …

Hyacinths for the soul: The challenges of protecting the arts in light of the compulsory EBacc

Let me begin by saying that when Schools Minister Nick Gibb initially set out the government’s plans to reinforce the importance of a core academic curriculum for all pupils, I did agree with some of his sentiments.  I share the belief that if we are to create a fairer, more socially mobile society, we need …

Anti-Bullying Week: Bullying in schools plummets

New research from the Department for Education reveals that approximately 30,000 fewer year 10 pupils are being bullied in 2014, compared to 2005. According to data gathered in 2005, 41% of young people in year 10 said they had been bullied in the last 12 months. The figure dropped to 36% in 2014. The types of …

Exam re-marks could get tougher, suggests Ofqual executive director

"Genuine errors" could become the main focus of exam re-marks, in what seems to be a narrowing of grounds for appeal. Ian Stockford, executive director for Ofqual, told a conference that a "misleading impression" about the number of marking errors and the quality of marking is given due to grades being changed based on differences …