An awful lot has happened in the world of education this week. Catch up on all your must-read Tes content from the past seven days right here:
- Government and unions to hold ‘intensive’ pay talks
Hopes of an end to the teacher pay dispute have been raised after the government and teaching unions jointly announced that talks would be starting on Friday (17 March). The NEU teaching union will take part, having previously been excluded from talks by the education secretary because it had strikes scheduled.
- Teacher strikes this week: as they happened
All the up-to-the-minute reporting from the two days of national strike action over pay this week, including union leaders warning the government that it was “running out of excuses”, and a rallying call to striking teachers to “be strong enough to go again if your demands for a fair deal are not met”.
- NEU: ‘Distraction politics’ won’t avert strikes
On Monday, NEU leaders confirmed they were pushing ahead with this week’s two-day strike action, accusing the government of playing “distraction politics” by holding separate meetings with other education unions.
- NEU left out of latest DfE union talks
At the start of this week the NEU, which had two planned days of strikes looming, was not among the unions invited to talks with the Department for Education.
- Budget 2023: All primaries to provide ‘wraparound’ care
In his Budget announcement on Wednesday, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said primary schools would be funded to provide care for all children between 8am and 6pm.
- Revealed: the number of pupils educated off-site
More than 30,000 pupils were regularly sent to provision off school sites last term, new analysis suggests, amid government concern about the quality of education that children are receiving off-site when they are recorded with the B code for attendance.
- Workload is unmanageable, say most school staff
More than two-thirds of school staff (68 per cent) think their workload is unmanageable - a higher proportion than last year, according to an annual Tes survey.
- Sats results delay and the domino effect on schools
The delay in the return of Sats results this year will have a knock-on effect on schools, including the likelihood of some staff having to work into the summer holiday, wrote primary head Michael Tidd.
- Labour plan to replace Ofsted grades
If Labour comes to power, it will consult on replacing Ofsted inspection grades with a school scorecard, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has told headteachers.
- Oak National Academy: Ofsted to advise subject groups
Ofsted will have an expert in the subject expert groups being set up to help the government-funded curriculum resources body Oak National Academy to create online lessons.
- DfE seeks ‘outstanding’ leader to be next Ofsted chief
Applications to succeed Amanda Spielman as Ofsted chief inspector will close in just three weeks’ time, with the job advert seeking a candidate who can provide “outstanding leadership”.
- Why Ofsted should inspect the DfE, not schools
If we want to fix the teacher recruitment and retention problems then Ofsted, instead of piling pressure on teachers, should switch its focus to inspecting how the government is funding and supporting high-quality education, argues Geraint Jones.
- Gibb: Teaching about suicide could be ‘requirement’ in RSE
The forthcoming review of relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education will consider whether to add a specific requirement on teaching about suicide prevention, schools minister Nick Gibb has said.