What Do Kids Think About School?

What students think about the services they receive has not typically attracted the attention of the education system. The decisions are made by policymakers, educators, parents, and administrators.  Asking children about the value of education, their experiences with it, or their suggestions for improving it has been criticised as being naive or tokenistic because it…

What do kids like and dislike about school?- Why it matters

  A recent study investigated potential links between students and how their schools influence the likelihood of them staying in school or leaving prematurely: teacher support, connectedness to school, and the use of detentions, suspensions and expulsions were all found to be relevant. The central question was “how can the school system improve schooling from…

Teachers Criticise New Remote Learning Government Guidelines

The recent updates to the government’s guidelines regarding remote learning have been branded as “unrealistic” and “a distraction” by heads and teaching profession leaders. The non-statutory guidance has triggered some teachers who feel as though the expectations set out by this new guidance system are unreasonable. Key expectations include: to deliver high-quality remote education when…

One in 12 Teachers Absent Due to Covid

According to the latest data, one in 12 teachers were said to be absent from schools in England during the first week of term. As a consequence, numerous schools have been unable to find temporary staff to cover the absences. Furthermore,8.9% of teaching assistants and other staff were absent in all state schools, and 3.9%…

Schools Instructed to Continue In-Class Learning despite Omicron Threat

Ofsted inspections are to be postponed for the final week of term in order to give schools time to consider measures for potentially coping with the Omicron variant of the virus in January. Furthermore, the Department for Education (DfE) have stated that face-to-face teaching should still continue alongside the usage of face masks in communal areas…

Pupils Will Receive a Choice of Topics to Make Exams Fairer

GCSE and A-Level pupils will be given a choice of topics and advance information in order to “maximise fairness”. According to the Department for Education (DfE) the decision was influenced by the learning disruption caused by Covid. After a consultation that amassed over 6,000 responses, the decision is that for GCSE English literature, history and…

Key Features Ofsted Inspectors Will Assess Schools On

New advice has been published by Ofsted with instructions on how to gather evidence on thorough investigations of individual subjects, as well as assess schools’ catch-up work. Here are some of the key features Ofsted’s inspections teams will be looking out for: Assess the Quality of Catch-up Tutoring Tutoring is a significant part of the…

Covid Catch-up Tutoring Plans for Schools

The Department for Education (DfE) plans to launch extra tutoring provision to complement the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). The government is upscaling its tutoring offer with £1 billion designated for 100 million hours worth of catch-up support over the next three years. The majority of the investment will go towards the schools themselves, which will then…

Williamson Outlines Catch-up Plans, Exams and Ofsted

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has recently outlined his plans for Ofsted, exams and catch-up funding. Here are some of his key education objectives for the near future: Accelerated Ofsted Inspections Williamson is considering accelerating the timetable of Ofsted inspections. There are some schools that have not been inspected for 14 years, and many of them…

Teachers Overloaded with GCSE Grading Work

According to a recent Tes poll, 8 in 10 teachers believe that the workload for grading GCSEs and A Levels has been too intense. Two thirds of teachers have reported that they have lost at least a week of their own time to grading work.  A Tes survey conducted of 2,800 teachers suggested that 64 percent worked…