Need to know: Oak plans, Sats fears and a DfE U-turn

In a week when the government did a reverse ferret on its plans to take greater control of academies, ministers struck an important deal for the future of Oak National Academy, fears were raised about the quality of Sats marking and schools were warned about a new legal duty that they must adhere to.

Catch up on your must-read Tes news and features articles from the past week right here:

News

• DfE strikes deal over Oak National Academy 
  The Department for Education has reached an agreement to pay Oak National Academy’s curriculum partners for the copyright of lesson resources, as part of the government plan for Oak to become a UK-wide curriculum resources-providing quango.
   
• Sats 2022: Call for “thorough review” over fears about marking 
  Headteachers’ leaders have called on the government to “thoroughly review” this year’s key stage 2 Sats, after markers raised concerns that the way the assessments have been managed this year will affect the accuracy of marking.
   
• DfE U-turn on academy powers 
  The government has said it will scrap parts of its Schools Bill relating to the regulation of academy trusts, after fears were raised among trust leaders about the scope of the legislation to give Whitehall greater control over how academies operate.
   
• Secondary teacher trainees nearly a fifth below pre-Covid level 
  A significant drop in the number of trainee teachers highlights the “challenging” recruitment situation for schools, experts have warned.
   
• National music plan “impossible to achieve” 
  The DfE has been warned that the ambitions set out in its National Plan for Music Education, including providing at least an hour of music each week for key stages 1-3, will be “impossible” for schools to deliver owing to “rising costs” and “poor funding”.
   
• Plan for supply teachers to cover strikes “doesn’t add up” 
  In response to reports that government officials are drawing up plans for supply staff to cover for teachers in the event of a strike, one supply teachers’ leader has warned that most will not be willing to cross picket lines.
   
• Would you support a shorter summer holiday? 
  A proposal to restructure the school year, cutting the summer break to four weeks, has won backing among teachers in Wales.

Features

• Let’s make teachers happy again 
  Teaching will struggle to find new recruits unless we cut out the high workload and accountability issues that suck the joy out of the job, writes Jon Severs.
   
• Can centralised curriculum resources make you a better teacher? 
  With the DfE moving forward with its plan to turn Oak National Academy into a UK-wide curriculum resources provider, Tes asks the experts whether having centralised resources will cut teacher workload and improve lessons.
   
• Why school governance structures must align 
  The rise of academies has led to two different kinds of school governance. We need to bring clarity and transparency to the system, according to the academics behind a new research project.
   
• Schools’ new legal duty: what is the Baker Clause? 
  New legislation means that schools are now legally required to ensure that further education and training providers have access to their students so that young people are made aware of the full range of education and career opportunities. Here, two solicitors explain what is now expected of schools.
   
• Why PE lessons are evolving 
  Schools are increasingly offering alternative sports such as rollerblading, boxercise and mountain biking - so is this the key to improving student engagement? And is it financially sustainable for schools?