Education news
7 March
Teacher retention and recruitment
Teachers top the list for unpaid overtime once again
3 March was the day this year when the average person working unpaid overtime in the UK effectively stopped working for free. Teachers top the list. The TUC estimates that 38% of those working education work unpaid hours. I assume this includes people other than teachers, since pretty much every teacher ever works unpaid hours.
https://www.headteacher-update.com/content/news/teachers-top-list-for-unpaid-overtime-once-again
Teacher shortage limiting school subjects on offer
Wales’ chief inspector points to recruitment and retention problems in Wales, which weaken teaching and reduce choice for pupils.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c234g343r5jo
Special school leaders fear QTS plan could worsen recruitment crisis
There are many reasons why Special Schools have more unqualified teachers. Government needs to understand their needs.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/special-school-leaders-fear-qts-plan-could-worsen-recruitment-crisis/
Teachers consulted on 2.8% pay rise and potential strike action
NEU launches an indicative ballot on pay to judge members’ attitude to possible strike action, in the run up to Easter conference
English academy chain to improve conditions for Jamaican teachers after strike threat
Changes at Harris Federation ensure that teachers ‘feel valued as an addition to the British workforce’
Ofsted
OfstedThe Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills – a non-ministerial department responsible for inspecting and regulating services that care for children and young people, and services providing education and skills: Inspections could have shifted focus away from maths
Ofsted’s evaluation of its current framework might have shifted the focus in schools towards reading, and other interesting findings on the way inspection impacts on teachers’ actions
More than a thousand complaints made after Ofsted school visits
More than 1000 complaints were made after inspections over the last 3 years. Only 17 have been upheld (and 216 partially upheld). Do we need an independent complaints process? Er, yes!
Behaviour
Behaviour overtakes workload as a top concern for primary teachers
The top three concerns for primary teachers (from Teacher Tapp) are funding, behaviour, workload. And Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs are a big part of the behaviour worry.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/primary/behaviour-overtakes-workload-top-concern-primary-teachers
Concern as behaviour hubs ‘disband’ with no replacement
How should the government support schools to manage difficult behaviour? And does ‘behaviour tsar’ Tom Bennett’s contract end this month?
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/concern-behaviour-hubs-disband-no-replacement
Tech
Gen-Z vows to ban their children from using social media as half of 16 to 24-year-olds admit they are annoyed with their usage when they were younger
The organisations ‘More in Common’ and The New Britain Project find that young people regret the time they spent on their devices
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14471321/Gen-Z-vows-ban-children-using-social-media.html
Children report ‘growing sense of unease’ online
In a survey of 1,054 9-16 year olds, 67% report having experienced harm online. While this hasn’t changed since last year, children and their parents say their experiences are more upsetting and frightening this year.
https://www.headteacher-update.com/content/news/children-report-growing-sense-of-unease-online
Humanities teaching will have to adapt to AI
From the letters page: AI, like pocket calculators before it, will always suffer from ‘Garbage in garbage out’. Humans will always be more, well, human.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/04/humanities-teaching-will-have-to-adapt-to-ai
How are school leaders navigating the AI revolution?
School leaders ‘cautiously embrace’ AI, but there’s much to learn
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/how-are-school-leaders-navigating-the-ai-revolution/
Safer phones bill aimed at young teens watered down after minister opposition
MPs are likely to agree to new proposals calling for research into addictive social media, rather than bolder moves to exclude teenagers from algorithms or even banning the sale of smartphones to those under 16. Not everyone is happy. But it’s a step in the right direction.
Inclusion
Investigation: How EHCPs are failing our most vulnerable children
England’s £11bn budget for high needs is being spent (in part) on fidget spinners, learning stylesTheories relating to the idea that individuals learn best in different ways and teaching should be tailored to their learning styles – these have been widely debunked by research and other ineffective interventions
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/investigation-how-ehcps-are-failing-our-most-vulnerable-children/
Feature: The case for a SEND evidence ‘custodian’
Influential people call for a ‘NICE-style’ body to consider the best ways to fund SEND provision
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/feature-the-case-for-a-send-evidence-custodian/
Ministers plan major changes to Send education in England
Government is preparing a White Paper on SEND to address the crisis – available ‘in late spring’
Special schools recruit fewer teachers from training – report
More could be done to improve the flow of qualified teachers from ITTInitial teacher training - the period of academic study and time in school leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) to special schools
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/special-schools-recruit-fewer-teachers-from-training-report/
Career-limiting sterotypes start young. We must start younger
How Ark schools are tackling gender stereoptyping in careers for primary school pupils
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/career-limiting-sterotypes-start-young-we-must-start-younger/
Pupil absence
DfEDepartment for Education - a ministerial department responsible for children’s services and education in England attendance tsar urges schools to focus on occasional absentees
Rob Tarn tells school leaders they can improve attendance by focusing on those who attend ‘nearly all of the time’
Disadvantage
Migrants and refugee families in the UK denied childcare funding, report finds
Having ‘No recourse to public funds’ means that children of migrant and refugee families can’t access free early years education, and pushes them ‘deeper into poverty’.
Early years: Teachers to be trained to supervise toothbrushing
As £11m is set aside to train early years teachers in deprived areas to supervise toothbrushing, DfE is warned not to keep expecting schools to solve all society’s problems. Perhaps we should invest in NHS dentistry…
Free school meals data now ‘less useful for research’, warns EPI
Free School Meal data doesn’t reliably identify disadvantaged pupils, meaning policies based on it aren’t targeted well enough to make a difference. We need a rethink.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/free-school-meals-data-now-less-useful-for-research-warns-epi /
Snap, crackle and flop? Breakfast clubs have rocky launch
Six in seven early adopter schools already have some form of breakfast club, and worry that the new scheme will lose them money
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/snap-crackle-and-flop-breakfast-clubs-have-rocky-launch/
Curriculum & qualifications
Lower school leaving age below 16, say Scottish Tories
Should children be allowed to leave school at 14? Why aren’t schools able to cater for their needs? Or do the Tories ‘want to see working-class children leave school at 14, and leave academic pursuits to middle and upper classes’?
‘Worse than the Tories’: cultural figures question Labour plans for arts in schools
Some say Labour has ‘lost the plot’, and will sideline the arts because ‘they don’t understand them’
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty launch numeracy charity
The Richmond Project aims to tackle numeracy problems and will help children struggling at school as well as adults who never mastered basic maths.
Covid
Lots of research shows that schools’ efforts to halt transmission of Covid (including those delightful covid ‘bubbles’) were effective.
Parents
Doctors back total ban on smacking children in England
Should the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill include a ban on smacking in England? Leading doctors say so, saying there is no evidence it has any positive effect on children’s wellbeing.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q4x9d9xgpo
Bog standard? Study seeks most effective toilet training methods
The age at which children in the West are toilet trained is rising. UCL is looking to find the best methods.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/mar/04/most-effective-toilet-training-methods-study
More than 4 in 5 heads suffer abuse from parents
Abuse from parents is increasing says NAHT, including online, verbal and physical abuse
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/school-leaders-headteachers-suffer-abuse-from-parents
The dogma of ‘Britain’s Strictest Headmistress’ is a con as old as time – gentle parenting produces happier kids
‘Children are , it turns out, frustratingly individual. In this sense, one might almost compare them to human beings.’
People
Matt Wrack tipped for NASUWT general secretary
The Union’s Executive has nominated the ex-Fire Brigade Union General Secretary as its preferred candidate, even though he has no education expertise. He’s a close mate of Daniel Kebede (NEU). This isn’t the end of the story though – expect disquiet.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/matt-wrack-tipped-for-nasuwt-general-secretary/
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