Weekly round-up: Capita loses Sats and GCSE fears

Catch up on all your must-read Tes news and analysis here:

• Capita loses Sats contract to Pearson
  Exam board Pearson will run Sats from 2025 after winning a contract worth up to £180 million.
• GCSEs: More than a quarter of Year 11s persistently absent
  More than a quarter of students taking GCSEs this summer missed 10 per cent or more half days of schooling in the autumn and spring term, analysis shows.
• DfE: No Progress 8 replacement for next two years
  There will be no replacement for the Progress 8 performance measure for the two key stage 4 cohorts impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department for Education has confirmed.
• Trust leaders push for major funding reform
  The Confederation of School Trusts this week called for a major overhaul of the way schools, special needs places and school building projects are funded.
• Six ways MATs can tackle SEND challenges
  Multi-academy trusts can improve support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities by avoiding “fighting” with local authorities, and helping Sendcos to feel less “isolated”, according to a new report.
• Suspensions up by three-quarters since pandemic
  The number of pupil suspensions has soared since before the Covid pandemic, and permanent exclusions have increased year on year, government data shows.
• Revealed: Ofsted’s RE teaching concerns
  In a subject review on religious education, Ofsted has warned that a “significant proportion” of schools are not meeting the statutory requirement to teach the subject at all stages of a pupil’s journey.
• It’s a victory for all schools, says ‘Britain’s strictest head’
  Michaela Community School, run by Katharine Birbalsingh, has won a High Court case brought by a Muslim student over its ban on prayer rituals.
• We need a teacher ‘propaganda parade’, says Sir Andrew Carter
  The schools sector should go on a “propaganda parade” to “raise the status” of teaching to help recruitment, a former government adviser has said.
• Schools now ‘biggest source of food aid’ for families
  Schools are now the biggest supplier of food aid and household aid for struggling families, with one in five operating a food bank, a new report shows.
• Emma Hollis: ‘It’s not an insult if someone doesn’t trust you’
  In Tes’ How I Lead series, Emma Hollis, CEO of the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, talks about earning people’s trust, the loneliness of leadership and being “allergic to micromanagement”.