Benefits of mental health counselling in primary schools ‘worth six times the cost’

There has been a new call for the government to fund a universal roll-out of mental health and wellbeing support in schools after the potential benefits of providing mental health counselling in primary schools have been revealed. An economic evaluation of the charity Place2Be’s school-based mental health services has found that there would be better job prospects for …

Confidence in GCSEs and A-levels has decreased, according to annual Ofqual survey

The exam regulator Ofqual has published the results of its annual survey on perceptions of A-levels, GCSEs and other qualifications in England this week. The survey, which was conducted between the 24th October and 1st December 2017, analysed the responses from almost 3,000 heads, teachers, parents, pupils, universities, employers and members of the public. It …

Northumberland County Council takes legal action against Bright Tribe

Bright Tribe was paid to convert Haydon Bridge High School in Northumberland to an academy, but abandoned it last November, blaming the school’s deficit and low pupil numbers. However, the cash was never returned. The local authority took action this week after the MAT admitted that money it received from the Department for Education to create …

National Schools Commissioner to step down

Sir David Carter, who has been in the role since 2016, will step down at the end of this academic year. Sir David announced his retirement in a video published on the 27th April, saying that he has had “the most amazing, brilliant leadership journey” in “a role that I feel incredibly privileged to have …

‘Increasing number of pupils at grammar schools won’t boost attainment’ says Durham University

New research by Professor Stephen Gorard and Dr Nadia Siddiqui suggests increasing the number of pupils attending grammar schools would cement social divisions- but wouldn’t boost attainment. The Government plans to increase the number of pupils attending state-funded selective grammar schools, with proponents claiming it would increase overall standards, reduce the poverty attainment gap and …

North East Education Links w/c 23rd April

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/council-unveils-plans-save-haydon-14568503 - Chronicle Live, Council unveils plans to SAVE Haydon Bridge High School – but one school could still close. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/it-seems-theyre-actually-listening-14569218 - Chronicle Live, ‘It seems they’re actually listening’: Joy from parent protestors as Northumberland schools saved. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/schools-leisure-development-ponteland-go-14555389 - Chronicle Live, Schools and leisure development in Ponteland will go ahead after Government gives plans green …

Governors urged to pressure Government over funding crisis

Governors in the North East have been told to expect funding, workload and recruitment pressures in their schools at the SCHOOLS NorthEast Northern Governance Conference in Newcastle today. Laura McInerney, Contributing Editor of Schools Week and Founder of Teacher Tapp, was speaking about the 'three big trends to watch out for' to the 200 delegates …

Application process for strategic school improvement fund was ‘unfit for purpose’

The first application round for the £140 million strategic school improvement fund was neither fair nor transparent according to an independent evaluation of the process. An evaluation conducted by Aldaba has criticised the government’s approach to supporting and assessing applications to the fund, which was designed to target resources at schools in need of improvement. The …

New tool breaks down KS 4 Progress 8 outcomes by feeder primary schools

A new online tool allows users to access a breakdown of Progress 8 scores by primary school. The tool, made available to FFT Aspire users, would allow secondary schools to break down the KS4 outcomes of groups of pupils by feeder school and to see the impact different groups have on Progress 8 outcomes. Writing …

Ofsted considering ‘no-notice’ school inspections

Ofsted’s chief inspector has revived the controversial idea of carrying out no notice inspections of schools. Amanda Spielman was responding to a YouGov survey, published by Ofsted last week, which found that 61% of parents supported unannounced visits to schools by the education watchdog. Ms Spielman is the third Ofsted chief in a row to consider no-notice …