News

Mrs Ania Hildrey, headteacher of Abbot’s Lea School in Woolton, has been shortlisted for the National Autistic Society's prestigious Autism Professionals Awards, in the Achievement by an Individual Education Professional category.
 
The annual awards recognise people, services and schools across the UK who are making a difference to autistic people and their families. The winners will be announced at a special ceremony on 27 February 2020 at Birmingham Town Hall, following the first day of the National Autistic Society’s Professionals Conference.
 

They may not boast millions of Instagram followers like YouTuber, Joe Suggs, and are unlikely to be as famous as the youngest member of the Kardashian clan, Kylie, but new research out today (7 October) has found that teachers are the ultimate, Original Influencers.

Two fifths (40%) of Scottish adults[1], said that, excluding family and friends, teachers have the greatest opportunity to inspire and shape future minds. With just 21% saying social media influencers and only 7% saying celebrities.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) said that between one and five teachers helped to positively influence them or inspired them to become the person they are today. While the majority (68%) said they could still remember the name of their favourite teacher.

Wilsden Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire – part of the Focus Trust – has become a Certified School Community 2019 after implementing and effectively delivering online safeguarding measures set out by National Online Safety, an independent online safety provider. 

This recognition from National Online Safety follows the school’s commitment to going above and beyond their statutory requirements in terms of online safeguarding outlined in the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), which was published in September 2018.

New digital technology for formative assessment and moderation has proven its ability to improve the quality of writing and overall attainment of students, whilst aiding Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and helping to reduce teacher workload.

Fourteen schools in Oxfordshire took part in the research project using RM Compare, a new digital assessment solution from e-assessment technology experts, RM Results. 

The Government has announced a major new review into support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Five years on from the launch of the Children and Families Act 2014, the review is designed to improve services for disabled children and young people and their families. 

The Children and Families Act, also referred to as the SEND reforms, drastically changed provision for disabled children and young people.

A new survey conducted by the charity, Rewards Project, has found that schools are offering too much sugar to children.

Four hundred and eighty-seven (487) schools and nurseries from across the UK participated in the survey which found that 66% of breakfast clubs drinks have added sugar, 94% of schools offer desserts with added sugar and 84% of schools with a tuck shop sold snacks with added sugar.

The leader of one of the UK’s most prominent outdoor education charities has urged the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to improve funding to schools as a matter of urgency.

Mark Castle, chief executive of the Field Studies Council, which operates a network of field centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, warned that children and young people were at ‘risk’ of losing out on valuable outdoor learning experiences because of current funding pressures on primary and secondary schools.

In an open letter, Mr Castle congratulated the new PM on his appointment and welcomed his vision for better education but urged him to make it a matter of ‘greater urgency’.

The UK’s leading online tutoring agency has revealed that the use of ‘Slanglish’ is now the number one reason why students are failing their English GCSE. The site surveyed more than 2,000 tutors, and discovered that students using slang terminology in exams is the most commonly cited reason for students failing the subject, a 282% increase compared to data from 2015.

Students in the UK are failing their English GCSE because they’re using slang terminology in exams, according to the UK’s leading online tutoring agency.

TutorHouse.co.uk surveyed 2,103 of its tutors and found that the number of tutors citing ‘Slanglish’ as the main reason students are failing the subject has increased by 282% since 2015.

FundStar, a not-for-personal-profit enterprise set up by serial entrepreneur David Evans MBE, has been formally launched today after successful trials to offer schools a strategic and co-ordinated approach to their fundraising activity.

As schools experience a reduction in real-terms funding and increased costs, the pressure to raise money by alternative means is growing. Whilst campaigns for more central government funding continue, schools must consider every route to pay for both the ‘bare essentials’ and the added-value opportunities which will help children to thrive in their education, and many are inviting parents to contribute to the cause.