Jon Severs

Last-minute updates to KCSIE guidance meant schools' safeguarding policies were out of date at the start of term, leaders say, amid warnings that schools are being ‘set up to fail’

Big change at the DfE Exclusive from @cerysturner.bsky.social

Really nuanced, evidence-informed view on screens in schools - his message? Don't panic.

Students are increasingly likely to rush reading a text and then give a wrong answer, Pisa assessment shows. So what can teachers do to get learners to read more closely? @alexjquigley.bsky.social shares research-informed advice

“I’ve been teaching 25 years and low-level behaviour is so much worse than before - part of the problem is, if you address that behaviour, you get a reaction from the parent we never used to get” Is gentle parenting to blame? @jasminenorden.bsky.social finds out. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Is Ofsted on the brink - and is there a way back? There's a lot of new data on Ofsted today, a lot of noise, but this from @johngroberts.bsky.social cuts through it all and is the thing you need to read to really understand the mess Ofsted is in. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

The problems in France causing widespread pupil protests are very similar to those in England, @jasminenorden.bsky.social has found. French pupils are standing alongside their teachers to try and force a change - but experts think unlikely English students would do the same...

Disappointing that the DfE is choosing not to have a headteacher in residence anymore - you may not have agreed on everything with @andrewoneill.bsky.social but he was a voice of a school leader at the heart of the department and that was very valuable. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

‘The challenge is not just that the sector has identified too many flaws in the new framework; it’s that Ofsted has not done enough to win the hearts of the sector either.' Editor @jonsevers.bsky.social explores dissatisfaction with the inspection regime in the latest Tes Daily. Read it here ⬇️

Government told to ‘get a grip’ after @tesmagazine.bsky.social reveals ‘appalling’ reductions to schemes helping pupils at risk of serious violence @ktorm-social1.bsky.social investigation into knife crime reduction programmes in schools www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Is a connected 'chair' a missing link for many trusts seeking growth, how one trusts is creating its own Ofsted league table and a 150k job at the DfE remains long-term unfilled... All this and more in this week's Mat Tracker newsletter! tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com/p/trustees-w...

Leaders at Ormiston Academies Trust have paid tribute to an ‘extraordinary man’ and the trust's chair, Julius Weinberg, who died this week

Tom Bennett has been the behaviour tsar for a decade - is the latest iteration of government behaviour policy a continuation or new direction of his model? He talks to @ktorm-social1.bsky.social about SEND, exclusions and "relishing" the debate on approaches

The second edition of our MAT Tracker newsletter is out, and includes an analysis of the status of the government 'in' group of trust leaders, an in-depth analysis of the north-west region picture for trusts, and a very hefty 'seen out and about' section... Have a look below!

When fully funded does not mean fully funded... "The government is treating us like idiots” Excellent deep dive on the teacher pay funding announcement ⬇️

What do Jamiroquai and England's latest Pisa results have in common? @jonsevers.bsky.social explores in his editor's briefing in today's Tes Daily newsletter ⬇

Join a trust, and say goodbye to control of your lessons... That's a narrative that has grown up over the years, but how true is it? And where if it does happen, is it about telling a teacher what to do or freeing them up to have more control? www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Schools are less likely to achieve the Ofsted inclusion standard if they have higher levels of SEND, new analyses for Tes has found. Big investigation here from @johngroberts.bsky.social and @cerysturner.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/new...

"England has done quite well, and schools, teachers and students should be thanked. However, the certainty with which many conclusions are being drawn suggests confirmation bias is more at play than anything else" @cbokhove.bsky.social on PISA www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Tes magazine has published its first Mat Tracker newsletter, with insights, trends analysis, merger and acquisition updates, job moves, insider rumours and much more. Huge amount of work from Charlotte. Please do have a look, share and subscribe (it's free!).

Every school should have an inclusion statement written and published by 1 January. Here, @jasminenorden.bsky.social asks experts what should be in it and how to make sure it makes a genuine difference. A great resource for all in schools ⬇️ www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

PISA is out this morning: a strong showing in science, but basically flatlined for reading and maths. Labour has hailed "strong" results but made case for change to avoid "standing still". Big political battle will now begin on these numbers. (And worth noting these are far from 'clean' numbers)

“I’m very much against how the government has tried to water down the [Ofsted] ratings for schools and kind of make them more opaque.” Reform education spokesperson Suella Braverman talks to @jabedahmed.bsky.social about behaviour, SEND, Ofsted and more www.tes.com/magazine/new...

If you want a daily update - for free - that gives you all the schools news, trends and research in one easy hit, sign up to the Tes Daily here! tes-magazine-daily.beehiiv.com You get the added bonus of a big briefing from me every Monday - today's is on the page tes-magazine-daily.beehiiv.com

Lucy Powell appears to want to forget the past two years has happened... that's a very problematic voluntary amnesia. "Powell may be starting anew with the sector, but the sector is not starting anew with Labour. Pretending otherwise is not just odd; it’s disingenuous."

"Amid rising child poverty, some schools are spending more than double what they have been allocated to meet the needs of disadvantaged pupils" This just isn't a funding issue, it is a wider failure of the state to acknowledge the holes in public service being filled by schools.

This is a superb analysis of where we are now with Ofsted inspection grades from @johngroberts.bsky.social “I don’t think this is any more coherent, less confusing or less stressful for people,” one school leader told him.

"I don’t think blaming anyone for not having grit, whether they’re 12 or 42, is helpful. But it is possible that there have been changes in the ability of kids to finish what they began, work hard, set goals and so forth." Some very interesting discussions in this piece

A hugely exciting new launch - a weekly update on everything related to trusts, with data, trends analysis, job moves, regional deep dives and more. Sign up here - it's free: tes-magazine-mat-tracker.beehiiv.com We look forward to your feedback!

Labour’s plan for vocational options at age 14 risks lowering expectations for many and reversing the academic progress of the past decade, argues shadow education secretary Laura Trott

Fact check: does the GCSE system really set up a third of students to fail? Detailed and very well explained piece from @jasminenorden.bsky.social here - well worth your time. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

"She was one of those teachers who was very motherly, and she took her time with each individual child the way a good mother would." Dolly Parton on her education and the teacher that shaped her.

The number of students leaving school without grade 4 in English and maths remains remarkably consistent because of the 'labyrinthine mechanics of how exams are graded', says @ascl-uk.bsky.social's @pepediiasio.bsky.social, who argues for ‘political boldness’ to break the cycle

The 10 best selling books for teens in the past 12 months... Do they tell schools and English leads anything they didn't know before about the literary tastes of pupils (or explain why non-readers still don't choose to read?) Rufus Thomas takes a look. www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Lots of people saying we have seen this technical pivot from governments before - here's a piece by someone who helped design one of those past efforts and has some points of note for designing it this time around. Great piece from Gareth.

The @tesmagazine.bsky.social team have been busy this morning taking your key questions to the gov on thr below and finding what (slim) answers there are. Key qs remain, including the future of P8.. We'll keep updating as we get more detail so bookmark it! Read here: www.tes.com/magazine/new...

BREAKING: A huge shift in secondary education has been announced by @andyburnham.bsky.social - new technical routes offered in schools for 14 year olds.... by 2028. Announcing in the holidays with very little info is not a good way of selling it to the sector. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Feels significant that Georgia Gould has been retained as schools minister. She has been leading on far reaching SEND reforms which are still very much in train. Here is a round up of what the government announced earlier this year. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Congratulations to @georgiagould.bsky.social - reappointed as a minister at the DfE, hugely respected by all who have met her and will bring some needed continuity to the Send reforms.

After a change at the top of the DfE, editor @jonsevers.bsky.social looks back at the tenure of Bridget Phillipson in a post-reshuffle special Tes Daily newsletter. Read it here ⬇️

Congratulations to @lucympowell.bsky.social - a lot of big reforms in motion, a lot of heat around those reforms. Some big delivery targets to hit. Proper discussion with the sector will be essential.

If the system for inspecting MATs isn’t designed correctly, trusts could be put off from taking on struggling schools in disadvantaged areas, warns @ngauk.bsky.social