Weekly round-up: Teacher pay and absence crackdown

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

• DfE urges lower teacher pay rise next year
  Teacher pay awards must return to “a more sustainable level” next year, the Department for Education has recommended in its submission to the School Teachers’ Review Body.
• Teaching assistant pay: Unions call for 10% rise
  Three unions representing school support staff have called for a 10 per cent pay rise from April.
• Schools must share attendance data from August
  Every state school will be required to share daily attendance registers with the Department for Education, councils and trusts, under guidance set to become statutory in August, the government has announced.
• What is the outlook for single-academy trusts?
  There are nearly 1,000 single-academy trusts in England, despite a wider move towards bigger “families of schools”. Where are they concentrated, and which types are most vulnerable? Tes has the answers.
• Exclusive: Nine in 10 large MATs expect to grow by 2025 
  While the growth of multi-academy trusts has slowed overall, the vast majority of the biggest MATs are planning to expand in the next two years, according to new Tes analysis.
• Tes’ new MAT Tracker: mapping the country’s multi-academy trusts
  Where are MATs located and how many schools do they run? Use our interactive map to find out.
• MAT body calls for major changes to accountability
  The government should carry out a review of the performance data it publishes in school league tables to ensure that they are promoting an inclusive system, according to a report from the Confederation of School Trusts.
• ‘Outdated’ facilities are harming learning, warn teachers
  Rundown facilities in schools are affecting learning, say teachers, who are particularly worried about inadequate resources for science and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Digital Reception Baseline Assessment delayed by a year
  The Reception Baseline Assessment will not be going digital this September, the government has said.
• Pupils less school-ready this year, say half of teachers
  Half of primary school teachers believe this year’s Reception pupils were less ready for school than last year’s, according to a “concerning” poll.
• ‘Increase’ in pupil suspensions and exclusions last term
  There was a “large” rise in the number of suspensions and exclusions in the autumn term, new FFT Education Datalab analysis suggests.
• The pros (and cons) of being an empathetic leader
  In part five of our Leading and Learning Webinar series, Sophie Wade, author of Empathy Works, explains the benefits of empathetic leadership and the pitfalls that can come with it.