All posts tagged: bridget phillipson

Phillipson faces first education committee grilling

Phillipson faces first education committee grilling

Published by skeptic

Education secretary set to be questioned by MPs over SEND, wellbeing bill and private school fees Education secretary set to be questioned by MPs over SEND, wellbeing bill and private school fees More from this theme Recent articles Bridget Phillipson will face questions about SEND provision and charging VAT on private school fees during her first education committee hearing next week. The education secretary will also be grilled over aspects of the new children’s wellbeing and schools bill, including how unique identifier codes and a national register of children not in school will be developed. Susan Acland Hood Members of the committee may also examine why the legislation does not include provisions for eligible children to be auto-enrolled for free school meals. On SEND, issues like how to make mainstream settings more inclusive and what action will be taken to stop councils from declaring effective bankruptcy over high needs costs in future years will be tackled. Phillipson will also be questioned over the potential impact VAT on private school fees could have, the government’s progress …

The schools already flexing TLR payments

The schools already flexing TLR payments

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Trusts are already deviating from national pay and conditions to more “fairly” reward part-time teachers for extra leadership and management responsibilities, as the government considers a shake-up. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson this week commissioned a review of teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments, which can add up to £16,000 to teachers’ pay for taking on extra roles. She asked the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) for a recommendation on whether changes to the pro rating of TLR payments should be made to enable “greater flexibility”. The school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD), which must be followed by maintained schools and is observed by many academies, states that certain TLR payments “must be paid pro rata” for part-time staff. Unions have lobbied for that to change, warning the arrangements are “unfair, unethical and potentially unlawful”. And, while many leaders stick rigidly to TLR conditions, Schools Week has spoken to trusts that already make exceptions to correct “unhealthy flexible working arrangements” and boost retention. Saving thousands Rebecca Cramer, CEO of Reach Schools …

DfE worried about diversity over appointment

DfE worried about diversity over appointment

Published by skeptic

Unearthed emails reveal civil servants’ concerns non-exec board was ‘all white men of a similar age’ Unearthed emails reveal civil servants’ concerns non-exec board was ‘all white men of a similar age’ Freddie Whittaker Deputy editor & political editor 21 Sep 2024, 5:00 More from this theme Recent articles Department for Education officials expressed concerns about the “diversity” of its non-executive board when appointing Sir Kevan Collins as a director, noting they were “all white men of a similar age already”. Emails and text messages obtained under the freedom of information act detail how civil servants began preparing for Collins’s appointment on July 2, before Labour won the election. The appointment, which was made directly rather than through a competitive process, has been questioned by some Conservatives, including former Downing Street adviser Henry Newman. Direct appointments are allowed as long as they are cleared by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the rationale is published.  The DfE said Collins’s experience as a former head of the Education Endowment Foundation, director of children’s services and teacher …

Phillipson faces first education committee grilling

Phillipson faces first education questions from MPs

Published by skeptic

SEND and private VAT plan dominate the schools agenda during Commons exchange SEND and private VAT plan dominate the schools agenda during Commons exchange More from this theme Recent articles Education secretary Bridget Phillipson and her ministerial team took their first set of education questions from MPs today after winning July’s election. They were quizzed about SEND, funding and private schools. Here’s what we learned… 1. Phillipson urges Tory ‘reflection’ on SEND The previous government placed a “statutory override” on SEND budget deficits, allowing councils to keep them off their revenue books until 2026. Today Phillipson was quizzed by shadow education minister James Wild on whether she would extend the override. The new education secretary said she was “genuinely surprised” Wild thought the question “is a source of strength”. “It represents significant failure over 14 years that we ended up in such a desperate position facing our council[s].” She said government “will of course look closely at all of this”, but added: “what I would say to him is that after 14 years where he …

‘Aggressive’ Tory Minister Called Out On BBC Question Time For Personal Attack On Labour MP

‘Aggressive’ Tory Minister Called Out On BBC Question Time For Personal Attack On Labour MP

Published by skeptic

An “aggressive” Tory minister has been reprimanded on BBC Question Time after calling a Labour MP a “disgrace”. David TC Davies, the Welsh secretary, was called out by host Fiona Bruce for his personal attack on Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary. Davies was attempting to defend the government’s struggling Rwanda policy by suggesting a Labour alternative was an “open doors policy”. He then attempted to use the Labour-run Welsh government as an example of why Labour “can’t be trusted”. As Philipson dismissed his argument as “absolute garbage”, Davies added: “I’m going to tweet right now the reports about this on the BBC … hopefully everyone will be able to get their phones out and look at what you’ve done in Wales.” He them said: “You’re a disgrace, Bridget, and your policy is an absolute disgrace.” Phillipson responded “so much for standards in public life,” just before Bruce’s intervention. She said “Can I just say on this programme, and I feel strongly about this, and I’m not joking. I don’t think we should be calling …

All Keir Starmer’s Labour U-turns in one place – POLITICO

All Keir Starmer’s Labour U-turns in one place – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

The party’s position has since evolved. Starmer ended up joining British PM Rishi Sunak in calling for a “sustainable” cease-fire, a month on from his party’s split on the issue.  Issuing correction on previous post of mine: you do not have to hand it to Thatcher Okay, this one is a stretch. But hear us out: in a December article in the Conservative-supporting Daily Telegraph newspaper, Starmer positively gushed about the former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher — the very mention of whom sends shivers down the spines of Britain’s lefties.  In a paragraph that also praised former Labour leaders Tony Blair and Clement Atlee, he said that the iron lady set loose Britain’s “natural entrepreneurialism.” Judge his comments for yourself here. In interviews following the publication, Starmer sought to make very clear that he didn’t agree with Thatcher’s actions — a qualification, you may notice, he did not bother to include in his article itself. The u-turn was complete when Starmer, less than a week later, used a speech to Scottish Labour bigwigs in Thatcher-hating …

Phillipson invokes zeal of Gove reforms in schools vision

Phillipson invokes zeal of Gove reforms in schools vision

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Bridget Phillipson has invoked the zeal of ex-education secretary Michael Gove’s reforms as she set out the need for “urgent” changes to education in England. But the shadow education secretary’s speech – billed as her chance to set out a “long-term plan for our schools” – was light on new policy detail (see the speech in full below). Phillipson told the Centre for Social Justice think tank this morning that the “days when Michael Gove, for all our disagreements, brought a fresh eye, high expectations, new focus, are now the distant past”. Gove “Today I want to set out how in 2024, as a generation earlier, change is urgent, change is pressing, and Labour is ready to deliver the change we need,” she added, later telling journalists Gove brought “a sense of energy and drive and determination about education being central to national life”. Watched by an audience including Gove allies Sir Michael Wilshaw and Lord Nash, a former academies minister, Phillipson said in the years after 2010, there …