Sunday
PM claim of SEND reform invitation is rejected by opponents
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats reject Sir Keir Starmer’s insistence that he invited political parties to collaborate on SEND reform
Phillipson pushes back at criticism over Year 8 reading tests
Education secretary stops short of confirming plans for mandatory reading test in Year 8, but defends the testing of students’ literacy skills
Friday
Secondary teacher recruitment still falling short despite rise in applications
NFER says teacher shortages will leave schools relying on non-specialists, timetable changes or returners to plug gaps
DfE should emphasise that Oak is ‘optional’, review finds
Government also says that Oak National Academy’s creation as an arm’s-length body has added a ‘degree of risk and uncertainty’ to domestic edtech market
The leap from GCSE to A-level Mandarin is far too hard
A lack of provision for students wanting to study Mandarin is one thing, but the current A-level exam specifications are putting many off, too, warns this school language lead
RBA technical problems prompt concerns over progress data
Teacher Tapp survey of KS1 and EYFS teachers finds 67 per cent faced technical issues when administering the Reception baseline assessment
Pupils are confiding in AI chatbots - these are the warning signs
Young people are turning to AI for comfort and reassurance – and this poses some major safeguarding risks that schools need to guard against, says this academic
What the data on knife crime suggests schools should do next
New figures show that in-school knife crime incidents have decreased in many areas of England. Ellen Peirson-Hagger hears from leaders about what they are doing to drive this reduction, and whether it’s enough
Special schools fear ‘subjective’ Ofsted judgements
Inclusion focus risks ‘danger’ for schools directed to take on pupils whose needs they cannot meet, warns leader
Ofsted can’t say how its plan is affordable
In an exclusive interview, Ofsted’s national director of education insists it will be able to fund an increase in monitoring inspections under its new system – despite not having tried to predict the likely number
Heads fear new Ofsted inspections will be worse for wellbeing
More than seven in 10 school leaders are not satisfied with Ofsted’s new inspection system, a poll of ASCL members suggests
