Weekly round-up: Teacher pay, behaviour and academies

Amid the fallout from the first day of national strike action in England, the education secretary came under fire this week for her defence of the government’s refusal to countenance an above-inflation pay rise for teachers.

Writing for Tes, headteacher Robin Bevan challenged Gillian Keegan over the economic sense of denying teachers an inflationary pay increase, given that pay is a significant factor in the recruitment and retention problems that the government is facing.

Meanwhile, the NEU teaching union announced that it was postponing strike action in Wales planned for 14 February in response to an improved pay offer from the Welsh government. 

Also this week, new Department for Education guidance warned schools against using part-time timetables to manage pupils’ behaviour, and a major new report highlighted key trends in the academies sector, from bigger trusts performing better financially to academy growth and “staggering” supply teacher costs. 

Catch up on all your essential Tes news and analysis from the past week right here:

• Teacher strikes: Unions to meet with Gillian Keegan next week  
  Union leaders have urged education secretary Gillian Keegan to make a “fully funded” pay proposal when they meet for talks next week to avoid the next teacher strike action going ahead.
   
• Government’s teacher pay claims ‘are economically incoherent’ 
  The education secretary has described teaching unions’ demands for an above-inflation pay rise as “economically incoherent” - but how does it make sense for her to allow teachers’ pay to keep dwindling year on year when there is a recruitment and retention crisis, asks headteacher Robin Bevan.
   
• Teacher pay: Strike action in Wales suspended
  Teacher strike action over pay in Wales has been postponed by the NEU teaching union to allow it to consult its members about an improved offer from the Welsh government.
   
• Teacher strike: Schools prioritised Years 7 and 11 
  Secondary schools prioritised keeping classes open for students in Years 11 and 7 during last week’s teacher strike, according to analysis showing different levels of attendance across the country on the first day of NEU strike action.
   
• Don’t cut timetables to manage behaviour, schools told 
  Part-time timetables “must not be used to manage a pupil’s behaviour”, according to new government guidance on attendance.
   
• Half of primary single-academy trusts went into deficit last year 
  A stark contrast between the finances of single- and multi-academy trusts has been highlighted in the latest Kreston Global Academies Benchmark Report, which gives 10 key insights into the health of the academies sector.
   
• DfE warned over mental health ‘tsunami’ in schools 
  Schools are being left to deal with a “tsunami of pressures” affecting pupils’ wellbeing, with staff struggling to “paper over the cracks” in mental health support, leaders have warned.
   
• Nearly one in three science teachers plan to leave within five years 
  High workload, stress and exhaustion are the main reasons cited by science teachers planning to leave the profession, according to new research that suggests nearly two-thirds of state secondary schools are understaffed in at least one of the three sciences.
   
• School-led tutoring: five key challenges for schools 
  Headteachers have raised concerns about the sustainability of school-led tutoring, the biggest part of the government’s flagship catch-up scheme the National Tutoring Programme.
   
• GCSE exam timetable 2023: everything you need to know 
  Tes’ guide to this summer’s GCSE exam timetables, including all the key dates, information and answers you may need leading up to the exam season.
   
• Why ITT must be flexible to attract teaching apprentices 
  Writing in National Apprenticeship Week, ITT leader Professor Geraint Jones says that giving trainees flexibility to fit training around their personal lives would make teacher training, and in particular teaching apprenticeships, more attractive.
   
• ‘20% of schools are populated by rich people’ 
  The only way to level up our education landscape is to open up private and grammar schools, and state schools in more affluent areas, to disadvantaged children, says Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl, answering Tes’ 10 questions.