- Autumn Statement criticised for 'barely mentioning' education
- Most school leaders believe Ofsted's headline grades are 'unreliable', survey suggests
- Government-funded work experience for teachers to aid pupils with career advice
- A closer look at how to meet the needs of EAL learners
Autumn Statement criticised for 'barely mentioning' education
Education policyTeaching unions have criticised the Autumn Statement for “barely mentioning” education after a year of disputes surrounding teachers' salaries and the condition of school buildings. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, warned: “Investing properly in education is an urgent and overriding economic priority, yet what we have seen today is nothing of the sort." By Alan Jones, The Independent.
The government has announced it will spend £13 million trialling a "Partnerships for Inclusion and Neurodiversity in Schools" pilot. The project will “test an innovative delivery model to improve access to specialist support in mainstream primary schools, upskilling those settings to meet a range of neurodiverse needs”. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.
Jeremy Hunt has committed to giving up to £7 million across the next three years to charities tackling antisemitism in the UK, including organisations like the Holocaust Educational Trust. The chancellor has pledged to "repeat the £3 million uplift" to the Community Security Trust to "protect schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings". By Aoife Walsh, BBC News.
Most school leaders believe Ofsted's headline grades are 'unreliable', survey suggests
InspectionMore than 85 per cent of school leaders are “unconfident” in Ofsted, a survey of NAHT members has found, with 64 per cent disagreeing with the notion that the inspectorate's headline grade for a school’s overall effectiveness is reliable. When asked how they felt about their school’s next Ofsted inspection, the top five words given by respondents were anxious, sick, stressed, terrified and dread. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent.
In her final report before leaving office as chief inspector of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman said the inspectorate is “poorly understood” and that its ability to build “school sector goodwill” is being “progressively curtailed” by a lack of funding. The annual report has been published earlier than usual, and ahead of an inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry that will commence next week. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.
Ofsted's national director for education has confirmed plans for a reform of the watchdog's complaints procedure, which will aim to speed up the process through which schools can raise concerns with an independent adjudicator. Addressing delegates at the Schools and Academies Show, Chris Russell explained that some of Ofsted’s planned changes to how it handles complaints have been “very well received” during the initial consultation period and will now be put into effect in the coming months. By John Roberts and Dan Worth, Tes.
Government-funded work experience for teachers to aid pupils with career advice
Teaching and learningMore than 1,000 teachers are to undertake work experience to help their pupils with career advice as part of a government-funded scheme called Teacher Encounters. The initiative, which includes work with companies such as Pinewood Studios and Rolls-Royce, will aim to show teachers how businesses work first-hand so they can help pupils learn more about the different career paths available. By Catherine Lough, The Telegraph.
A closer look at how to meet the needs of EAL learners
Teaching and learningTes reports on the increase in the number of students who speak English as an additional language (EAL), and explores different strategies for supporting these pupils in the classroom. By Clare Cook.