Thursday
Trusts ‘drowning’ in ‘weaponised’ subject access requests
One trust alone is spending £100K a year handling a huge rise in requests for personal data, which are often fuelled by parents using AI tools
EYFS: Disadvantage gap widens for fourth straight year
Record levels of 4- and 5-year-olds meeting their development targets, annual Department for Education data also reveals
Wednesday
Antisemitism review: what schools need to know
Lucy Powell says ‘change will come’ on antisemitism in schools as she accepts all of the recommendations in Sir David Bell’s review
How school partnerships can change the odds for disadvantaged children
With the children’s commissioner sounding an alarm over the ‘childhood lottery’ of disadvantage, the Reach Foundation’s Ed Vainker shares the success of local partnerships involving schools, support services and businesses
Susan Acland-Hood to leave DfE
The permanent secretary at the Department for Education is leaving her role after six years to be replaced by a top Home Office civil servant
Experienced teachers lose right to annual pay reviews
DfE also presses ahead with allowing one-off bonuses for teachers and leaders, despite union warnings about pay inequality
Oracy has arrived - the challenge now is ensuring a clear way forward
The education secretary has said oracy should be given the same status as reading and writing – this is welcome but we have challenges ahead, says the head of oracy at Oasis School 21
Call to replace Sats tests with random sampling across Years 3-6
Proposal to remove Sats would make sure schools are not incentivised to ‘teach to the test’, says IPPR research report
Tuesday
Schools ‘not rushing’ to join MATs despite White Paper push
A record low proportion of governors and trustees want to take on the role of chair, National Governance Association survey also reveals
Mobile phones mentioned in just 2% of Ofsted reports
This year the government announced that Ofsted would inspect schools’ phone policies as part of a major crackdown on devices – but Tes analysis reveals that such policies are rarely mentioned in inspection report cards
Warning over 2-week half term ‘piecemeal revolution’
One in seven state schools in England has opted for a two-week October half term this year, prompting an academic to warn of a ‘postcode lottery for families’
