Jon Severs

Chief executive of The Education Alliance announces departure Jonny Uttley is moving on from the 12-academy trust after six years as CEO and 15 years at the MAT

The chief executive of The Education Alliance multi-academy trust has announced he is stepping down after six years in the job

Ofsted chief will ‘not downplay’ disadvantaged schools’ outcomes Analysis of the watchdog’s report card system has shown that disadvantaged schools may be ‘unfairly penalised’

Sir Martyn Oliver will not ‘downplay the disappointing outcomes’ in Ofsted’s grading of disadvantaged schools, he will tell leaders at @ascl-uk.bsky.social conference today

Deliver on SEND or lose services, ministers warn councils SEND reform plans are needed by June - and government will withdraw services from failing authorities, local officers have been warned

Exclusive: Councils have been warned they face ‘heightened scrutiny’ over SEND reforms, and that those found to be failing could have services taken off them, in a hard-hitting letter from government ministers, seen by Tes

I prob failed to get the nuance of the piece across in the tweet! Specifically looking at whether RfP, how it manifests in some schools, is actually the right way to get kids to engage with reading more... some claim not. Having been to your school, I know you do it a very specific successful way!

Thank you!

Certainly seems the view of the English leads i have spoken to, and Teresa is also very persuasive on it!

Enjoyed the thread Barbara! As always, your challenge is welcome and great for debate.

Fair point, i did have a section on it but it got very long! I should do a follow up!

Why schools should stop pushing reading for pleasure Reading for pleasure has become central to school literacy strategies, but there are increasing calls to ditch it, with research suggesting it has done little to turn pupils into avid readers

A few months back, I started looking in detail at the responsibility on schools to focus on reading for pleasure.

Despite a decade of it being pushed in schools more and more, young people are reading for pleasure less and less.

What is going on?

www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Why Uta Frith is wrong about girls and autism Don’t dismiss the female presentation in the rethinking of the autistic spectrum, argues Dr Sue Franklin

@tesmagazine.bsky.social Our recent interview with professor Uta Frith on autism has generated a lot of discussion.

Dr Sue Franklin has written a response arguing what she thinks Frith got wrong - but also where her challenge to the status quo was welcome.
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

This survey outlines the scale of the challenges around retention of teachers and what is driving increasing workload

Why Uta Frith is wrong about girls and autism Don’t dismiss the female presentation in the rethinking of the autistic spectrum, argues Dr Sue Franklin

While Dr Sue Franklin welcomes the challenge to the concept of an autism spectrum by Professor Uta Frith in a recent Tes interview, she argues that the model Frith uses is wrong and that her ideas could be harmful for autistic girls

What if... setting by ability was banned in schools? As part of our thought experiment series, David Hatchett argues that banning setting in schools would greatly enhance outcomes for students and the skillsets of teachers

"Arguably, setting only really benefits the teacher. It’s uncomfortable to say that out loud, but we should be prepared to think about it honestly."

A very interesting 'What If' for March from David Hatchett...

www.tes.com/magazine/lea...

The deadline for the Tes Schools Awards has been extended to the 13 March!

An amazing (free to enter) chance to celebrate and share your school or trust success - with loads of different categories.

Best of luck to all who enter!

www.tes.com/schools-awar...

Primary libraries pledge includes converted cloakrooms and corridors Treasury has committed to ensuring that every primary school has a library by 2029, but these facilities could include former ‘storage spaces’, Tes can reveal

Excl: Gov't pledge to build libraries in all primary schools by the end of this Parliament may include converting “storage” areas such as cloakrooms and corridors. Treasury previously committed over £10m in funding, now rising to £12.5m. @tesmagazine.bsky.social

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

£1.6bn SEND pot risks being ‘swallowed up’, leaders warn Flagship fund to improve inclusion in mainstream schools ‘won’t go very far at all’, and a clear national strategy is needed on how to use it, government is told

School leaders have warned that the government proposals for funding mainstream inclusion are “extremely unrealistic” and risk there not being enough provision to meet demand.

@jabedahmed.bsky.social with the full analysis below
www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass

Fascinating interview with @utafrith.bsky.social

www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass

Autism researcher Uta Frith no longer believes that autism is a spectrum.

"Because of various cultural factors, the spectrum has gone on being more and more accommodating," she says. "And I think now it has come to its collapse."

Really interesting interview: www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

"We’re all neurodiverse; we can accept this because all our brains are different. But it makes a medical diagnosis completely meaningless."

Blockbuster interview with Professor Frith, and hugely significant in the context of the DfE's proposed SEND 'evidence base' for interventions.

Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass

"I’ve been quite swept up by the autism spectrum idea, and it’s only in the past 10 years or so that I have felt things have gone too far, and very slowly I have come to say, 'No, this is not right'"

Autism expert professor Uta Frith talks to @helen-amass.bsky.social
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

New ‘experts at hand’ won’t arrive fast enough, DfE warned Professional bodies back bigger roles in schools for educational psychologists, occupational and speech and language therapists - but say they already struggle to meet demand

Excl: DfE warned that workforce shortages could affect delivery of its £1.8bn “experts at hand” SEND plan by 2028. Professional bodies welcome the investment, but raise doubts on timeline of delivery. @tesmagazine.bsky.social

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

‘My father was absent, but the state provided positive male role models’ In our How I Lead series, we ask education leaders to reflect on their careers, their experience and their leadership philosophy. This month we talk to John Camp, CEO of the Compass Partnership of Sch...

"I didn’t have a father at home, but I did have great male role models elsewhere. They were really important."

Really good piece for How I Lead from @john-camp.bsky.social on everything from poverty to control, and from rewards in schools to escaping to Wales
www.tes.com/magazine/lea...

SEND reform: Experts at hand service could be a game-changer Trust leader Tom Campbell says quick access to SEND experts - especially educational psychologists - could be transformative

This is an important part of the reforms, not just getting expertise where it is needed more easily, but also from the point of view of building collective responsibility, with specialist settings & mainstream working in partnership as a community of schools serving a community of children.

Haha i can see if we can hire him out

Can Labour put all schools into trusts? The government's schools White Paper sets out a goal for full academisation – but Tes analysis suggests that it would take decades to turn this into reality

"over the past five years, the average annual conversion rate was only 487. Based on this rate, full academisation would not occur until 2048"

Superb analysis here from @jabedahmed.bsky.social on Labour's all-schools-in-trusts pledge

www.tes.com/magazine/new...

A very useful White Paper timeline here from the @tesmagazine.bsky.social team and our awesome designer Nige!

SEND reform plans ‘risk overwhelming Sendcos’ Experts voice fears about the proposed new duty on schools to produce a statutory support plan for every pupil with SEND

Plans to introduce statutory ISPs for all SEND pupils have raised questions about workload pressures for SENDCOs and the potential for heightened tension between schools and families. @johngroberts.bsky.social @tesmagazine.bsky.social

Local authorities ‘actively’ exploring opening school trusts The schools White Paper said councils will get the power to form multi-academy trusts - while some have plans in the works, others have already ruled this out

At least two local authorities are already looking at establishing their own multi-academy trusts under plans set out in the government’s schools White Paper. By @cerysturner.bsky.social www.tes.com/magazine/new...

The SEND reforms are out - now the real tests begin The government has finally announced its plans for special educational needs provision. Tes’ SEND and inclusion editor John Roberts assesses the challenges to come

Few people have as much expertise and policy knowledge of SEND than @johngroberts.bsky.social -
@tesmagazine.bsky.social SEND and Inclusion Editor.

This piece on the SEND reforms is critical reading for all and the very personal final section is incredibly important

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Do banded books make for poorer readers? Schemes that match books to primary pupils’ skill level could be holding children back and making them less engaged in their reading, writes Alex Quigley

"schools need to consider whether the push for accessible levelled reading choices is exacerbating the problem every primary teacher is ultimately trying to solve: helping their struggling readers to find reading easier"

Is it time to ban banded books?
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...