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Scottish schools have tumbled from top of the class. This is what went wrong | Sonia Sodha

Sunday 10th December 2023

Pupils became unwitting guinea pigs of faddish, unproven theories – and paid a high priceThe Scottish school system was once the jewel in the British educational crown...

 

The school reports are in – and they’re not good

Sunday 10th December 2023

Far from being places of safety, fun and enlightenment, many children just don’t see the point of school any moreWhen I was very little, I excelled at school...

 

'I couldn't handle the shame': Teachers' dread at Ofsted reports

Saturday 9th December 2023

Head teachers talk frankly about the mental health impact that Ofsted inspections have had on them...

 

School complaints about bullying Ofsted inspectors soar to ‘ridiculous’ levels in England

Saturday 9th December 2023

Education consultants say headteachers approaching in record numbers, after inspection ruled a factor in Ruth Perry’s suicideThe number of schools in England filing complaints to Ofsted about bullying inspectors has risen to “ridiculous” levels, education leaders warned this weekend...

 

'The shame of being told you're inadequate by Ofsted'

Saturday 9th December 2023

Head teachers talk frankly about the mental health impact that Ofsted inspections have had on them...

 

Sister of headteacher who killed herself condemns Ofsted chief’s ‘crass’ comments

Friday 8th December 2023

Chief inspector said death was being used to ‘discredit’ body, days before coroner ruled inspection contributed to Ruth Perry’s deathThe sister of a headteacher who killed herself after an Ofsted inspection said comments by the watchdog’s chief inspector were a “kick in the guts” and accused it of failing to make the changes needed to prevent further cases...

 

Republicans tout ‘school choice’ as issue to attract parents across party divide

Friday 8th December 2023

Trump is calling for support of home schooling and tax breaks for providing scholarships for private and religious schoolsBeyond the tumult surrounding Donald Trump’s presidential bid and his threats to seek revenge against his political enemies should he win, the Republican frontrunner has seized on an issue that even some Democrats say could attract new voters in 2024...

 

Folk music stars join protests over plans to axe Gaelic at Aberdeen University

Friday 8th December 2023

‘Staggering act of cultural vandalism’ is part of proposals to cut degree courses in modern languagesMany of Scotland’s best-known folk music stars have joined protests by Gaelic scholars, lecturers and politicians over plans by the University of Aberdeen to axe its languages courses...

 

‘Will I be able to avoid swearing at the inspector?’: a headteacher on an Ofsted inspection

Friday 8th December 2023

An anonymous headteacher writes of the anxiety and long hours involved in their recent graded inspectionThe phone rings at 9...

 

Expelled pupil helps turn school around as governor

Friday 8th December 2023

Duane Williams oversees the improvement of Ofsted reports at Colton Hills Community School...

 

Ofsted comments were ‘a kick in the guts’, says sister of headteacher who killed herself

Friday 8th December 2023

Comments come after coroner said Ofsted inspection of Ruth Perry’s school contributed to her suicideThe sister of a headteacher who killed herself after an Ofsted inspection said comments by the watchdog’s chief inspector were a “kick in the guts” and accused it of failing to make the changes needed to prevent further cases...

 

Ruth Perry: Ofsted inspection 'contributed' to head teacher's death

Thursday 7th December 2023

The head teacher died two months after Ofsted inspected her school in Reading in November 2022...

 

New Raac schools list of buildings with unsafe concrete

Thursday 7th December 2023

The government has published an updated list of schools in England with crumbling concrete...

 

‘Dark thoughts’: how Ruth Perry’s resolve fell apart after Ofsted visit

Thursday 7th December 2023

Experienced Reading headteacher suffered rapid psychological decline after stressful inspectors’ visit Ruth Perry was the headteacher of one of Reading’s most popular primary schools for 13 years, the same school that she had attended as a child...

 

I.N.A.D.E.Q.U.A.T.E - Ruth Perry’s despair in handwritten notes

Thursday 7th December 2023

In the days following an inspection at her school, the head teacher wrote down her innermost thoughts...

 

US public schools took a stance on Israel-Hamas. The backlash was swift

Thursday 7th December 2023

The politicization of education has resulted in schools becoming culture-war battlegrounds, often leading to more division than solidarityOn 7 October, the day Hamas attacked Israel and the country began bombarding Gaza, the superintendent of the Los Angeles unified school district posted on social media: “We stand with Israel...

 

Ofsted inspection contributed to headteacher’s suicide, coroner rules

Thursday 7th December 2023

Inquest examined watchdog’s role in Ruth Perry’s decline after Reading primary school’s rating was downgradedA headteacher killed herself this year after an Ofsted inspection of her school downgraded it from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, a coroner has concluded...

 

Ruth Perry: Ofsted inspection 'contributed' to headteacher's death

Thursday 7th December 2023

The head teacher died two months after Ofsted inspected her school in Reading in November 2022...

 

Ruth Perry: Ofsted check 'likely contributed' to headteacher's death

Thursday 7th December 2023

The head teacher died two months after Ofsted inspected her school in Reading in November 2022...

 

Ashford school to make students lock their phones in pouches

Wednesday 6th December 2023

A school in Kent is set to make students lock their phones in a pouch during the day...

 

Pisa: Welsh curriculum not full answer to improve school tests - minister

Wednesday 6th December 2023

Minister calls Wales' performance in international tests for 15-year olds "really disappointing"...

 

New Raac schools list of buildings with unsafe concrete

Wednesday 6th December 2023

The government has published an updated list of schools in England with crumbling concrete...

 

Cuba health and education hollowed out as staff join emigration exodus

Wednesday 6th December 2023

US ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions have slashed wages for state workers leading to a brain drain hitting the Revolution’s ‘pillars’Every morning before dawn, hundreds of people line up outside the US embassy...

 

A moment that changed me: I was pregnant at 16 – and a midwife said I was good for nothing. It was a red rag to a bull

Wednesday 6th December 2023

All the odds were stacked against me, but there was no way I was going to give up...

 

Taliban causing ‘irreversible damage’ to whole education system in Afghanistan

Wednesday 6th December 2023

Human Rights Watch warns bar on women means unqualified men now teach boys, fewer subjects are taught and beatings are routineThe Taliban is causing “irreversible damage” to Afghanistan’s education system through the reintroduction of corporal punishment, curriculum changes and the use of unqualified teachers to replace women, most of whom have been barred from schools, Human Rights Watch has warned...

 

‘Accessing healthcare is not easy here’: medical challenges around the world – in pictures

Tuesday 5th December 2023

Since 2005, Brazilian photographer André François has been capturing pandemic, earthquake and other health responses in remote communities across the world Continue reading...

 

Free childcare for 30 hours a week? It sounds too good to be true – and for worse-off families, it is | Polly Toynbee

Tuesday 5th December 2023

Early-years education can determine a child’s future – which is why a Labour government must make it a priorityFree childcare! Thirty hours a week from nine months until primary school was the eye-catcher in the chancellor’s spring budget...

 

UK pupils’ science and maths scores lowest since 2006 in international tests

Tuesday 5th December 2023

Global slump means maths and reading rankings still up slightly in OECD assessment of 15-year-olds, but results vary for UK nationsThe UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education...

 

Teaching kids to spot fake news: media literacy to be required in California schools

Tuesday 5th December 2023

Experts say skills can teach critical thinking and even combat the youth mental health crisis California next year will become one of the few US states to teach students media literacy, a move experts say is imperative at a time when distrust in the media is at an all-time high and new technologies pose unprecedented challenges to identifying false information...

 

Pisa: Wales slumps to worst school test results

Tuesday 5th December 2023

Wales' scores are the UK's lowest, and the results gap has widened in reading, maths and science...

 

Taliban could be convinced to open girls’ schools, says Afghanistan ex-education minister

Tuesday 5th December 2023

Global governments should engage with the Taliban because some in the regime support reversing the ban, says Rangina HamidiThere are many Taliban officials who would support reversing the ban on schooling for girls in Afghanistan, according to the country’s last education minister before the takeover...

 

UK has high rate of teenagers missing meals due to poverty, OECD says – as it happpened

Tuesday 5th December 2023

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereThe UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education, the Guardian reports...

 

'If it wasn't for my foster carer I'd be in prison,' says Swindon man

Monday 4th December 2023

Swindon's urgent push for more local fostering placements to help at-risk children...

 

Record number of girls on Borders College farming course

Monday 4th December 2023

A record number of female students have started an agriculture course at Borders College...

 

Teachers at Kent school halt strike after deal to tackle pupil violence

Monday 4th December 2023

Staff at Oasis Academy on the Isle of Sheppey took industrial action demanding a clampdowon on unacceptable behaviourA deal has been struck between school staff and an academy where teachers have been striking over pupils’ threats and violence...

 

Misinformation expert says she was fired by Harvard under Meta pressure

Monday 4th December 2023

Joan Donovan says funding was cut off for criticizing Meta when university was receiving $500m from Mark Zuckerberg’s charityOne of the world’s leading experts on misinformation says she was fired by Harvard University for criticising Meta at a time that the school was being pledged $500m from Mark Zuckerberg’s charity...

 

Record numbers of children being home schooled

Monday 4th December 2023

A parent says a range of factors were behind their decision to home-educate...

 

Buckton Fields Primary School building to be demolished

Monday 4th December 2023

It is virtually brand new but was shut suddenly when problems were discovered with its structure...

 

Ofsted inspectors not given guidance on distressed headteachers, Ruth Perry inquest hears

Monday 4th December 2023

Berkshire coroner’s office hears there was one reference to managing stress given to inspectors before November 2022Ofsted inspectors were not given specific written guidance about what to do if a headteacher becomes distressed during an inspection, an inquest has heard...

 

Care sector fears migration changes are a step back

Monday 4th December 2023

Many in social care believe overseas staff saved the system from collapse, reports Alison Holt...

 

Ofsted accused of ‘misleading’ inquest into death of teacher Ruth Perry

Saturday 2nd December 2023

Inspectors say claims made to coroner about wellbeing training following death of Reading headteacher are ‘nonsense’School inspectors have accused their employer, Ofsted, of misleading the court during last week’s inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, the Observer can reveal...

 

Sir Frederick Gibberd College in Harlow to be demolished

Friday 1st December 2023

The school in Harlow, which opened in 2019, will be demolished and rebuilt due to construction issues...

 

Windsor prep school appoints first female head after 675 years

Friday 1st December 2023

Emma Károlyi joins the Windsor school famous for being the home of St George's Chapel's choir...

 

Ruth Perry ‘amazed’ more heads did not kill themselves, inquest hears

Friday 1st December 2023

Hearing into death of Caversham primary school head was also told she thought Ofsted inspections were ‘inhumane’Ruth Perry told an NHS clinician she was “amazed” that more headteachers did not take their own lives as a result of Ofsted inspections during a conversation a few weeks before her death, an inquest has heard...

 

‘Direct link’ between Ruth Perry’s death and Ofsted inspection, inquest told

Thursday 30th November 2023

Chair of governors and two deputy heads say ‘inadequate’ rating brought about deterioration in Perry’s mental healthThere was a “direct link” between Ruth Perry’s death and the Ofsted inspection that rated her school inadequate, the chair of the board of governors has told an inquest...

 

Stars back Andrew Lloyd Webber call for music education funding

Thursday 30th November 2023

Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa among signatories of letter to Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer calling for funds for music in disadvantaged schoolsAndrew Lloyd Webber, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Dua Lipa are among the music industry leaders who have called for public funding for music in disadvantaged schools...

 

Dining across the divide: ‘He was convinced of the worth of private schools, the finishing-school element’

Thursday 30th November 2023

With differing views on private education set in stone, would the two radicals agree on public transport?Jonathan, 62, OxfordOccupation Retired publisher and estate agent Continue reading...

 

My sister is getting opportunities I feel I missed. How do I grieve my past, but support her? | Leading questions

Thursday 30th November 2023

Beware of grass is always greener thinking, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith...

 

Childcare providers welcome £400m funding but say more support needed

Wednesday 29th November 2023

Nurseries and providers welcome a rise in funding rates but say demand could soon outstrip capacity...

 

Fancy a life of misery? We’ve just the degree for you! | Zing Tsjeng

Wednesday 29th November 2023

Studying sociology, politics or the creative arts may well make you unhappy...

 


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