20 April 2022
The latest school attendance figures have been stripped of any data on Covid-related absence as ministers try to “pretend that the pandemic is over”.
5 April 2022
“We continue to hear a sense of deep frustration from school leaders as they struggle to deal with the significant and on-going disruption caused by Covid – while the government removes every measure ...
23 March 2022
School leaders have urged the government to continue to make free Covid tests available from April 1 after the recent improvement in infection rates proved to be a “false dawn”.
16 March 2022
The vast majority of school leaders are against the publication of key stage 4 league tables based on this summer’s examinations.
9 March 2022
As Covid-related pupil absence falls markedly, families are urged to continue to remain vigilant and to continue to follow government guidance on testing and isolation.
22 February 2022
Can we rely on families “doing the right thing” and keeping children off school if they have symptoms or test positive for Covid? That is the key question playing on the minds of school leaders as ...
16 February 2022
Boris Johnson’s plans to scrap all Covid restrictions, including the need to self-isolate after testing positive, risk causing chaos in schools without clear guidance.
9 February 2022
School leaders have welcomed new Ofsted advice on improving attendance, although have gently pointed out that much of what inspectors have to say on the issue is “obvious”.
8 February 2022
Slowing rates of Covid infection and absence among pupils and staff have been welcomed, but schools still face “significant operational challenges” and would like more acknowledgement of this fact ...
26 January 2022
Questions are being asked over the fairness of holding examinations this summer given the continuing and stark increases in both student and staff absence from schools.
18 January 2022
The children’s word of the year for 2021 has been revealed as “anxiety”, reflecting the mental health and wellbeing challenges caused by the pandemic.
12 January 2022
The evidence continues to stack up that schools want to be funded to deliver their own “catch-up” tutoring interventions and are shunning the struggling National Tutoring Programme (NTP).
12 January 2022
A teaching assistant looking after 90 pupils in the school hall. An untrained cover supervisor teaching a full timetable. The Covid staffing crisis is worsening significantly with schools screaming ...
1 December 2021
After having battled with Covid-related staff absence for much of the term, schools have been hit by the news that the newly re-opened workforce fund will only cover a short period before Christmas.
17 November 2021
“Last half-term there was a sense that government was simply sitting back and watching Covid numbers rise – we do not want to see that again this half-term.”
10 November 2021
Ofsted is being urged to grant deferral requests from schools that find themselves in “crisis mode” due to the sharp increases in Covid-related absence of pupils and staff.
10 November 2021
With the end of term in sight, less than half of the government’s promised 300,000-plus CO2 monitors have been delivered to schools.
3 November 2021
Remember what happened a year ago? There is a palpable sense of déjà vu as teachers and school leaders issue increasing desperate pleas for government action to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 among ...
2 November 2021
Substantial progress has been made by schools during the summer term 2021 to recover learning “lost” during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
20 October 2021
School leaders are appealing – yet again – for anti-vaxxers to stop targeting children and staff amid new reports of legal and physical threats.
20 October 2021
Increasing levels of staff absence due to Covid continue to wreak havoc in schools, with budgets at breaking point and the majority of heads warning that teaching and learning is suffering.
6 October 2021
Some schools are reporting up to 10 per cent staff absence due to confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19.
29 September 2021
“This is outrageous. Under no circumstances is it ever acceptable to target teachers or the wider school community.”
8 September 2021
Schools should take action to improve ventilation if CO2 readings are “consistently higher than 1500ppm” but should still continue to use the room in question, Department for Education guidance has ...
1 September 2021
There is a sense of trepidation, inevitability, and anger about the “highly likely exponential increases” in Covid infection rates as schools return this week and next.