01/12/2023: More than three children are competing for every early years place, study warns
Almost half of under-fives in England live in areas where there are more than three children for every registered early year place, new research finds.
29/11/2023: School system discouraging inclusion, ADCS warns
The education system is blighted by “greater competition between individual schools” which is “coming at the expense of inclusion”, a new paper by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) is warning.
27/11/2023: DfE proposes cut to councils’ retained early years funding allowance
The Department for Education has proposed to reduce the proportion of early years funding allowed to be retained by local authorities to deliver functions like staffing, family support and the administration of the funded childcare offer.
24/11/2023: Parents more willing to challenge rules – Ofsted
Parents are increasingly willing to challenge school rules in England, the head of Ofsted has said.
Read: BBC
23/11/2023: Councils’ failings lead to lack of options for children with SEND, ombudsman warns
Parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are being denied a choice in their children’s support due to councils’ failure to “fully understand” how their personal budgets are used, a local government and social care ombudsman (LGO) report finds.
23/11/2023: School leaders in England feel lockdown ‘broke spell’ of bond with parents
Education experts agree with Ofsted chief that many parents now disregard rules previously taken for granted.
Read: Guardian
23/11/2023: Hostility between parents and schools has grown since Covid, says Ofsted head
Annual report on England’s schools highlights absenteeism, disruptive behaviour and parental challenges to rules.
Read: Guardian
22/11/2023: Guidance to allow transgender children to socially transition in English schools
Government likely to let children change names, pronouns or uniforms in guidance to be issued this year, reports say.
Read: Guardian
20/11/2023: Ofsted ‘seen as toxic’ and schools should ‘self-evaluate’ instead, says inquiry
Ofsted inspectors should not be in classrooms and the whole system needs “a big change”, an inquiry has said.
Read: BBC
20/11/2023: High court to consider whether universities owe students legal duty of care
Campaigners say move would save lives and bring England and Wales in line with other countries.
Read: Guardian
20/11/2023: Ofsted seen as ‘not fit for purpose’ and schools should self-evaluate instead, inquiry says
The inquiry was launched following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. Her family said she took her own life in the wake of an Ofsted report, which downgraded her school.
Read: Sky
19/11/2023: 700,000 pupils being taught in schools in England that need major refurbishment
A damning parliamentary inquiry has revealed hundreds of thousands of children are learning in potentially unsafe buildings.
Read: Guardian
18/11/2023: Soaring special needs school transport costs ‘unsustainable’, say councils
Local authorities fear service cuts or even bankruptcy as costs jump from £400m to £700m in five years.
Read: Guardian
17/11/2023: School for excluded pupils in Surrey facing surge in demand, bosses say
Schools educating young people permanently excluded from mainstream education say they are under pressure due to a rise in exclusions.
Read: BBC
15/11/2023: Early years settings ‘turning away one in five parents of children with SEND’
One in five parents and carers of children with special education needs or disabilities (SEND) are being turned away by early years settings due to a shortage of places and a “tsunami of need”, a charity survey has found.