All posts tagged: pupil

Ofsted should inspect pupil wellbeing, says EPI

Ofsted should inspect pupil wellbeing, says EPI

Published by skeptic

Education Policy Institute also updates its trust and council performance tracker tool Education Policy Institute also updates its trust and council performance tracker tool More from this theme Recent articles Pupil wellbeing should be inspected as a category in Ofsted’s new report cards to provide parents with more nuanced information, a think tank has said.  The Education Policy Institute is calling for a ‘fairer and more holistic approach’ to measuring school effectiveness.  In a report, published today, the thinktank said government should consider wellbeing as a data point for school performance and monitoring children’s mental health. It comes as the government plans to replace single-phrase Ofsted judgments with a new report card system and framework telling parents how well schools are performing. However the report states: “If school support for pupil wellbeing were to be part of the accountability system, we would need to consider whether the burden it places on schools is reasonable and whether the information it generates should be publicly available or should remain private to the school.” There are no current …

Academies haven’t raised pupil achievement – there’s no need for them to have privileges that other schools do not

Academies haven’t raised pupil achievement – there’s no need for them to have privileges that other schools do not

Published by skeptic

The UK education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, is planning to cut some of the freedoms academy schools currently enjoy in England to refocus on improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Critics say academies are hugely successful but my research has shown there are better ways to make education fairer. The academies programme was introduced in England in 2002 by the then Labour government as a way to improve failing schools. These schools were given additional initial funding, as well as recurrent, per-pupil funding. They had freedom from local council control and from the national curriculum, and more flexibility in terms of pupil places, teacher pay and contracts. From an initial three schools, the academy programme has grown rapidly and adapted in the process. Academisation was a central pillar of Conservative education policy, and over 40% of all schools are now academies, and more than 50% of pupils in England attend one. The current Labour government plans to cut back on some of the exceptions afforded to academy schools – such as their freedom from the national curriculum …

Teachers want to quit over pupil behaviour

Teachers want to quit over pupil behaviour

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More from this theme Recent articles Job and pay satisfaction among teachers and leaders has increased, but poor behaviour is making them want to quit the classroom. A major government survey shows average working hours have dropped slightly after a rise last year, but leaders are still working 11 hour weeks and teachers are more stressed. The latest wave of the national working lives of teachers and leaders survey shows an improving picture in some aspects of the job, but a worsening situation in others. The survey of more than 10,000 teachers and leaders working in English state schools was conducted between January and March of this year Here are six key findings… 1. More staff happy with pay, but most still aren’t The proportion of teachers and leaders reporting they were satisfied with their salary jumped by 10 percentage points, from 20 per cent in 2023 to 30 per cent this year. The figure was 26 per cent in 2022. However, 58 per cent remain dissatisfied with their salary. A quarter were satisfied with …

Hacked pupil records at Capita rise to more than 50k

Hacked pupil records at Capita rise to more than 50k

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A full investigation reveals more pupil records have been impacted than initially thought A full investigation reveals more pupil records have been impacted than initially thought More from this theme Recent articles Up to 20,000 more pupils’ data may have been stolen in a cyber-attack on the government outsourcer Capita. Schools Week previously revealed how 30,000 pupil personal data records were thought to have been taken when hackers targeted the company last year. Ninety organisations had reported breaches of personal data held by Capita, which runs primary school SATs for the Standards and Testing Agency (STA). However, in a freedom of information response, the Department for Education has revealed that after a full investigation, 50,780 pupil records were “affected”. This included names, dates of birth, unique pupil number, type of test taken and the schools’ DfE number.  This new figure “may have included duplicates”, the department said, so it was “unable to accurately determine the unique number of pupils that had their personal data compromised”.  The government refused to release the full investigation report as …

New commission to examine pupil engagement

New commission to examine pupil engagement

Published by skeptic

Charities, a union, councils and academy trusts have formed a “high level research commission” to look at pupil engagement in school, in the face of stubbornly low attendance rates. The commission has been set up by the ImpactEd Group and includes representatives of the ASCL leaders’ union, Confederation of School Trusts, Challenge Partners and “representatives from a number of academy trusts and local authorities from across the country”. The group will survey more than 100,000 school pupils across the country at different points throughout the year to explore the “links between engagement, attendance and academic outcomes. National data shows absence stood at 7.1 per cent last academic year, up from between 4 and 5 per cent before the Covid pandemic. One in five pupils misses the equivalent of an afternoon a week. The previous government convened an attendance action alliance, comprising ministers, education sector representatives and those from health, children’s social care and police with the aim of raising attendance. The new government has not yet said whether it will continue to function. The new …

Pupil behaviour worse and more teachers bullied

Pupil behaviour worse and more teachers bullied

Published by skeptic

Government report also reveals more teachers are working flexibly Government report also reveals more teachers are working flexibly One in five teachers and leaders believe pupil behaviour has got worse, while more school workers have reported being bullied, harassed and discriminated against. The findings were revealed today following the release of the full report on the latest wave of the working lives of teachers and leaders survey. The study – which polled more than 10,000 workers last year – showed a lower proportion of those who took part (53 per cent) rated pupil behaviour as good than in 2022 (62 per cent). “Generally, those working in schools with a lower proportion of pupils in receipt of free school meals and those working in schools with higher Ofsted ratings were more likely to rate pupil behaviour as very good or good,” the report said. Of those who took part in both the 2022 and 2023 surveys, 22 per cent “reported a more negative view on pupil behaviour” the second time around. Only one in 10 thought it …

Schools look to SEND trusts over rising pupil need

Schools look to SEND trusts over rising pupil need

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More from this theme Recent articles An explosion in the number of children with special needs is prompting mainstream schools to join multi-academy trusts that specialise in SEND. Billingborough Primary in Lincolnshire has been given the go-ahead to join a trust to work with its team of special needs experts. This will also allow it to “continue to adapt and evolve [its] mainstream provision to match the needs of all pupils”.  Leaders of multi-academy trusts with special schools are reporting a spike in the numbers wanting to join their organisations to access support.  ‘They need specialist help’ John Winter, the chief executive of the eight-school Weydon Multi-Academy Trust, three of which are special schools, said: “The profile of children coming into primary is becoming more complex… Schools are finding it very difficult to meet some youngsters’ needs. This is becoming particularly apparent in single-entry primaries. “They need very specialist help and given the nature of the increasing number of special needs children, understandably, local authorities are finding it difficult to keep pace.”  Analysis of government …

Benefit fraud squad snoops on pupil data under secret deal

Benefit fraud squad snoops on pupil data under secret deal

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More from this theme Recent articles Pupil data is being used to check for benefit fraud and pursue parents under a secret deal between the education and work and pensions departments, Schools Week has learned. Leaders have warned the move may lead to parents “withdrawing their children from schools”, amid calls for transparency over the collection of children’s data. The national pupil database holds information about everyone who has been through the school system since 2002. Sensitive data, including names and addresses, is kept for decades after students leave school. Each time the DfE comes up with a new type of use for people’s personal data, they don’t tell them Documents obtained by privacy campaigners Defend Digital Me show the Department for Education has received multiple requests for pupil data from investigators at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) since 2018. A data-sharing arrangement was formalised last autumn. It will provide the DWP “with the confidence that the right amount of benefit is being paid to the right claimant, and that children included on …

Teacher, 30, who ‘had sex with teenage pupil’ told him ‘no one better find out’ | UK | News

Teacher, 30, who ‘had sex with teenage pupil’ told him ‘no one better find out’ | UK | News

Published by skeptic

A teacher allegedly told a pupil “no one better find out” before having sex with him at her flat, a jury has heard. Rebecca Joynes, 30, is on trial accused of six counts of having sexual activity with a child, with Joynes denying all charges. The accusations involve two teenage boys she met while working as a teacher at a Greater Manchester school. The trial is underway at Manchester Crown Court, with jurors previously hearing that Joynes allegedly groomed one pupil at the Trafford Centre during a shopping trip, before having sex with him. She is also accused of falling pregnant by another teenage pupil. On Wednesday, jurors watched video footage of an interview the first boy – known as Boy A – gave to police. He told officers that after being picked up by Ms Joynes, she drove him to the Trafford Centre and took him to the Selfridges store. He said he was unsure why they had gone to the shop and asked Ms Joynes: “Why are we actually here because I’m not …