Schools hit with rising pension costs

Schools have been told that they must increase contributions to the Teachers' Pension Scheme by 43% from next year. Following a government review into public sector pension schemes, schools were told in an email this week that employer contributions will rise to 23.6% from September 2019. The current rate is 16.48%. The email states that …

Labour Party conference education round-up

This week the Labour Party convened in Liverpool for its annual conference. Here we look at the big education policy announcements from Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner on academies and Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn on early years. Tighter controls on academies, expanded powers for local authorities The right of councils to create new …

Jeremy Corbyn to extend Labour’s free childcare offer beyond 30 hours-a-week

Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to extend his party’s free childcare offer beyond 30 hours for low-income families. The Labour leader is already promising 30 free hours for all two, three and four year olds – but will say even more will be available if Labour wins office. Currently families in England receiving some forms of …

Call to ban Trustees guilty of MAT mismanagement

Trustees who are found responsible for mismanagement in multi-academy trusts should be banned from working again in the sector, according to the head of a network of academies. Michael Pain, the Chief Executive of Forum Strategy, will warn today that a minority of academy trust boards and leaders have risked bringing the sector into disrepute. He …

SCHOOLS NorthEast hosts Ofsted update event

Delegates at Monday’s regional Ofsted update event, organised by SCHOOLS NorthEast, heard from the Inspectorate’s Regional Director, Cathy Kirby, and senior HMIs on the new 2019 inspection framework and other matters. 2019 framework: The Senior HMIs emphasised the focus on the curriculum in the new framework, strongly discouraging “teaching to the test”. They said the …

Education Links w/c24th September 2018

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/archibald-first-school-gosforth-admission-15197143 - Chronicle Live, How a Gosforth dad lost his fight against ‘unfair’ school places rule at Archibald First School. https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/national/16900152.labour-will-end-academy-and-free-schools-programmes-angela-rayner-says/ - Darlington & Stockton Times, Labour will end academy and free schools programmes, Angela Rayner says.  https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/national/16893375.calls-for-more-guidance-for-schools-on-handling-sexual-image-sharing/ - Darlington & Stockton Times, Calls for more guidance for schools on handling sexual image sharing. https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/national/16895585.evolution-taught-wrong-way-round-in-schools/ …

SCHOOLS NorthEast holds first introductory sessions for Voice of the Pupil Project

The SCHOOLS NorthEast Healthy MindED Commission has held introductory sessions for schools interested in participating in the Voice of the Pupil project. At the events, held at Boldon School and Inspire2Learn, attendees learned more about what would be required of them and what the Commission would provide. Voice of the Pupil is designed to explore …

Labour: We’ll make schools ‘accountable’ for off-rolled pupils

The Labour Party has announced it will tackle the scandal of “off-rolling” by making sure schools remain accountable for the outcomes of pupils forced out of the system. Angela Rayner, the shadow Education Secretary, announced today that if her party wins the next election, the attainment and outcomes of pupils permanently excluded or otherwise pushed …

Head Teachers will now have more power to discipline staff

Recently updated schools guidance will make it easier for Head Teachers to discipline staff for “inappropriate” behaviour outside the school context. The Department for Education has published revised guidance for employers on staffing and employment in schools. In the main, the changes are just to update the document, but there is one important substantive change …

Teacher Pay Grant methodology released

The Department for Education (DfE) has released the methodology for the 'Teacher Pay Grant', designed to help schools cover the pay rise announced in July. Use our interactive table below to estimate your school's Teacher Pay Grant allocation for the next two years, based on the figures provided by the DfE. Select your school type …