Weekly round-up: Can Keegan stop teacher strikes?

As teachers were counting down to Christmas Day this week, trying to squeeze in some much-needed rest and relaxation in between last-minute trips to the shops and getting tangled up in wrapping paper and sticky tape, one person was very much focused on what the new year will bring.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan, clearly shaken by the impact of other public sector workers taking to the picket lines, urged teachers not to go on strike over pay. But with several education unions already balloting members on industrial action, will she be able to avoid teacher strikes under her watch?

Also this week, a Tes investigation revealed how the digital divide in schools around the country is affecting vulnerable pupils, and the Department for Education flagged up the growing risk of dilapidated school buildings falling down.

Catch up on your must-read Tes news and analysis right here:

• Keegan urges “top earner” teachers not to strike
  Expressing her hope that teachers will not go on strike over pay, education Gillian Keegan said that the profession is “probably in the top 10 per cent of earners in some parts of the country”.
   
• Investigation: How vulnerable pupils are still hit with digital disadvantage
  Pupils in certain parts of the country enjoy better access to technology than others - and experts believe this digital divide could be having a significant impact on learning, finds Simon Creasey.
   
• “Worsening” risk of school buildings collapsing, says DfE
  The likelihood of dilapidated school buildings collapsing has been flagged as a “worsening” risk by the Department for Education in its annual report.
   
• Teacher stress “heightened” by late exam decisions 
  Teachers’ anxiety levels were “unnecessarily heightened” by delays to decisions relating to the cancellation of exams in 2021, says new Ofqual research.
   
• Revealed: 32.5-hour week target missing from Ofsted reports
  Ofsted made no mention of schools failing to satisfy the government’s new expectation of staying open for at least 32.5 hours a week in any inspection reports published last term, new analysis shows.
   
• Investigation: What’s behind Scotland’s “behaviour emergency”?
  Teachers have taken strike action in Scotland over what one union has called a pupil “behaviour emergency” caused by the pandemic. So how big a problem is this decline in behaviour, asks Emma Seith.
   
• 5 things teachers can do when they miss out on promotion 
  A teacher seeking promotion needs luck, timing and - most of all - resilience, says Kirsten Colquhoun, as she shares tips on bouncing back from disappointment.