A daily media round-up for education professionals Friday, 20th November 2015
EMPLOYMENT Half of English schools considering staff cuts
An ASCL poll of 1,300 school leaders suggests that more than half of England’s schools may be forced to cut staff numbers due to budget constraints. A quarter said cuts may come due to rising tax and pension costs and the government's freeze on school funding. Of the 55% who said they were considering staff reductions in the next year, more than 75% said teaching positions would be reduced. Six in ten said up to 5% of staff could be lost, while a quarter said the figure could be between 6% and 10%. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the ASCL, said: “Schools face rising costs without any additional money to meet them. This is effectively a significant real-terms cut in their budgets.” The DfE said of funding concerns: “This government is taking the difficult decisions necessary to ensure that the schools budget is protected and will continue to rise as pupil numbers increase.” The Guardian, Page: 16
Missed recruitment targets for third consecutive year
Targets for the number of new trainee teachers in England have been missed for the third year running, prompting concerns from headteachers and academics of an intensified recruitment crisis in schools. ASCL general secretary Brian Lightman said: "We continue to be immensely concerned about the teacher recruitment crisis which is affecting schools all over the country". Education recruitment expert and honorary research fellow at Oxford University John Howson added: "There is clearly going to be a crisis for the 2016-17 academic year in some parts of the country". Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL said the figures do not show that “even in subjects where recruitment appears to be close to target, those trainees might not be where they're most needed once they're qualified” or highlight an ever-increasing workload. Schools Minister Nick Gibb insisted that with an improving economy “we have redoubled our efforts to attract top graduates. BBC News
GOVERNANCE No place for CV-boosting governors, says Ofsted boss
"Amateurish" school governing boards in England's schools "will no longer do", the chief inspector of schools has warned. Head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw said goodwill would "only go so far" and governors signing up to boost their CVs were not welcome. Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governors' Association, said she understood the urgent need to improve governance in poorly performing schools and was already in talks with the DfE on the issue. A DfE spokesman added: "We are also creating a supply line of outstanding non-executive directors from the corporate world to sit on academy trust boards to use their experience to ensure trusts are equipped with the range of skills needed to help modern schools thrive". BBC News
CURRICULM Feminism to be dropped from politics syllabus?
Feminism is to be dropped from the A-level politics syllabus under DoE plans, angering sexual equality campaigners. June Eric-Udorie, who has started a petition against the proposals, said: “When women are underrepresented in society, the government should be working to address this problem. It has been said that you cannot be what you cannot see". A DfE spokeswoman said that feminism would still be part of the sociology A-level: “We want schools to highlight the issues faced by women from all walks of life and ages in history, including the work of key female political thinkers within the ideologies covered and in UK and global politics. We are carrying out a consultation on politics A-level, and as always we will listen carefully to the views of the sector,” she said. Times, Page: 25 Telegraph, Page: 9 Independent, P: 15 Independent I, P 19 Mail, Page: 37
SOCIAL UK schools advised against France trips
In line with advice given by the French authorities after the Paris attacks, the Foreign Office has advised British schools against trips to France. The headteacher of a school in Grimsby said he was cancelling two trips to France even though he felt it was “giving in to terrorism”. David Hampson, chief executive of Tollbar Multi-Academy Trust, which runs the school, told BBC Radio 5 live: “It was a decision we made with great regret, but it was necessary and we felt in the interests of the safety of the pupils". The Guardian, Page: 8 Daily Express, Page: 4 The Sun, Page: 6
FINANCE School calls for parent contributions
Parents at Tadcaster Grammar are being asked for "voluntary" contributions in response to "very significant rises in costs" - including teachers' pensions. A letter from head teacher Martyn Sibley said the school needed to find an extra £1,100 per year per teacher. Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "It's not about money, it's about quality of teaching. North Yorkshire County Council said it was pushing for a fairer distribution of funding to schools. BBC News
PRIMARY Parents protest over first school relocation
Parents of children at Darras Hall First School have held a protest against Northumberland County Council proposals to move their school to a greenbelt site two miles away. Northumberland County Council's business chairman Councillor Scott Dickinson said government funding restrictions meant selling land and moving schools to a collective site was "the only way" they could provide the facilities for children and offer them "the best possible education". BBC News
Headmistress scolds parents
Liz Bird, executive head of Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School in Dover, has given parents a "telling off" for smoking and swearing at the school gates, after complaints from children. "It was probably only a small number (of adults swearing and smoking) and the children have said there hasn't been an incident since," Ms Bird said. Mail Daily Star The Sun, Page: 11 BBC News
Breakfast brilliance
The breakfast club at Oakfield Primary School in Cardiff has been named the best in Wales at the Kellogg’s Breakfast Club Awards, securing a £1,500 prize. Wales Online
EARLY YEARS Children struggling to form full sentences
A poll of 500 teachers for Save the Children suggests that three quarters of pupils start primary school unable to speak in full sentences, with a third of pupils who receive free school means lacking the language skills needed to read or learn at the age of five. Two in three of those polled had encountered starters who struggled to follow simple instructions, 80% fear that pupils will struggle to catch up and may never do so, while 25% said those struggling at the age of five would be still be struggling to keep up with peers by the time they enter secondary school. Daily Mirror, Page: 31
OTHER London stabbings
A 15-year-old boy is in a critical condition after a stabbing at a school in south London. Another boy, also 15, suffered knife wounds in the attack on the grounds of Kingsdale Foundation School, Dulwich.
BBC News The Daily Telegraph, Page: 6 The Times, Page: 19 The Independent, Page: 25 Daily Mail, Page: 12 The Sun, Page: 17 Daily Mirror, Page: 4 Daily Express, Page: 9 Daily Star, Page: 11
Inspection cited in suicide
An inquest has heard that Carol Ann Woodward, who was headteacher at Plymouth’s Woodford Primary School, hanged herself after Ofsted inspectors rated the school as inadequate. Colleagues say expansion works had created a chaotic environment during the inspection, adding to pressures Mrs Woodward was under due to workload and the timing of Ofsted’s visit.
Daily Mail The Sun, Page: 35
Bargain book plea
Schools minister Nick Gibb has called on publishers to offer schools 30 copies of 100 classic books at a minimal cost. He said the DfE wants “every secondary school to have a stock of classics such as Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre so that whole classes across the country can enjoy them together.”
The Guardian