Weekly round-up: Strep A, the Schools Bill and Nick Gibb

News of the rising number of child deaths as a result of invasive group A strep infections caused alarm among school staff and parents this week.

To help ease some of the anxiety, Tes senior editor Dan Worth spoke with a series of experts to explore the risk of infection, the likelihood of this leading to serious illness and what schools can do to guard against the spread.

Also this week, Tes exclusively revealed that the government’s controversial Schools Bill was to be dropped in its current form. The next day, education secretary Gillian Keegan announced that it would not progress in this parliamentary session. Meanwhile, Tes editor Jon Severs sat down with schools minister Nick Gibb, who told him why he’s done what he’s done - and what he now regrets.

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

• Strep A: why cases are rising and what schools can do 
  The deaths of school pupils caused by invasive group A strep have left teachers and parents hugely worried. But how high are the risks? And what can schools do to protect children? Dan Worth asks the experts.
   
• Schools Bill “will not progress”, says Keegan
  The government’s controversial Schools Bill “will not progress” in the third session of Parliament, Gillian Keegan has said - although the Department for Education still intends to tighten rules on unregistered schools and teacher misconduct.
   
• Nick Gibb: ‘We had to blow up the concrete’
  In an exclusive interview, the schools minister tells Jon Severs about his war against “progressivism” and what underpins that ideology.
   
• Keegan’s first education committee: nine things we learned
  Gillian Keegan addressed MPs on issues ranging from plans to mitigate the impact of teacher strikes to recruitment and the SEND review.
   
• Heads and teachers urged to vote for strikes after ITT slump
  School teachers and leaders have been urged to “stand together” and vote for strike action after the publication of “disastrous” teacher training recruitment figures.
   
• Teaching lacks the “flexibility” of other jobs, says minister 
  The profession has lacked the “flexibility” now available in other graduate jobs after the pandemic, a DfE minister has said, in response to questions about the shortage of teacher trainees.
   
• Revealed: the staffing challenges in disadvantaged schools 
  Secondary schools in the most-deprived areas lose more teaching staff and have to spend much more on supply teachers than those in the most-affluent areas, new research shows.
   
• DfE: Use staff “spot checks” to curb energy use 
  Headteachers could conduct “spot checks” on energy use across their school to encourage behaviour change, according to new guidance issued by the government, which has announced £500 million of funding to make schools more energy efficient.
   
• Why children shouldn’t start school until age 6 
  With research showing that a kindergarten stage until up to age 6 would be beneficial to children, policymakers in Scotland are lending support to the idea, says early years expert Lynn McNair.
   
• “We cannot ignore the reality of Covid learning loss”
  Three prominent education experts reveal the danger of assuming that children’s learning is “back to normal” after the Covid disruption - and what schools must do to get pupils on track.
   
• Three ways to transform work experience in your school 
  Work experience can have a profound influence on young people but not all students get the same opportunities. Executive principal Nick Soar suggests ways in which school leaders can level the playing field.