- Strikes: 85 per cent of teachers in England and Wales expected to be walking out today
- Teachers in England 'among the highest paid for fewest hours in Europe'
- A closer look at 'harnessing the power of AI in schools'
- Children's future pay prospects could be harmed by COVID lockdown impact, watchdog warns
- Primary pupils drive rise in Scottish anti-extremism referrals
Strikes: 85 per cent of teachers in England and Wales expected to be walking out today
Strike actioniNews reports that 85 per cent of teachers are expected to be striking today in the 'biggest walkout for a decade'. By Poppy Wood. A list of the dates when teachers will be striking this month is featured in The Times. By Nicola Woolcock.
Striking teachers could reportedly still claim their pay as schools have made the decision to close without knowing who will actually be walking out. Strike laws mean union members cannot be forced to tell their headteachers, which could enable striking teachers to claim that they are working and therefore be paid. In a letter to schools, the education secretary has told headteachers that any striking staff 'must not be paid for the period they are on strike'. By Louisa Clarence-Smith and Blathnaid Corless, The Telegraph.
Writing in Tes, Yvonne Williams considers whether the strikes could have been avoided. Ms Williams says that attempts by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) to alert the Government to the dangers of failing to boost pay and reorder pay scales for teachers at all levels "went unheeded". Yvonne Williams is chair of the Post-16 and HE Working Group at the National Association for the Teaching of English.
A leading article in The Times argues that "staff must accept that inflation-matching pay rises are unaffordable", while an editorial piece in The Telegraph says the strike action taking place today 'risks damaging the education of those pupils affected'.
The universities with staff striking today are detailed in iNews alongside a report considering the reasons why lecturers in membership of the University and College Union (UCU) are walking out. By Alex Finnis.
Teachers in England 'among the highest paid for fewest hours in Europe'
Recruitment and retentionAccording to analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), teachers in England are among the best paid for the fewest hours in Europe and the developed world. However, the legal requirement for teachers in most state schools in England to be at and available for work is lower than the requirement for any other developed nation that provided statistics to the OECD, except for Luxembourg. By Louisa Clarence-Smith and Ben Butcher, The Telegraph.
A closer look at 'harnessing the power of AI in schools'
EdtechThe benefits and pitfalls of ChatGPT are explored in a feature focussing on recent comments from Jane Lunnon, head at Alleyn's School, who said the AI chatbot "is incredibly usable and straightforward, however at the moment, children are often assessed using homework essays, based on what they’ve learnt in the lesson". Dr David James, head of an independent school in south-west London, told The Telegraph that AI "has the power to be transformative in schools" and that “ChatGPT could be good news for those of us who think the best way of assessing students is via a final exam in an exam hall". By Ed Cumming.
Children's future pay prospects could be harmed by COVID lockdown impact, watchdog warns
Teaching and learningA report by the National Audit Office (NAO), the Government's spending watchdog, has suggested that children who do not catch up on education lost during the pandemic risk earning less in the future. By Blathnaid Corless and Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.
Primary pupils drive rise in Scottish anti-extremism referrals
SecurityThe Times reports that primary school children were among the individuals who drove a 65 per cent increase in Scottish anti-extremism referrals to Prevent last year, as concerns grow regarding incel and internet subcultures. By Lara Wildenber.