HEP Talks

The Education Brief: Saturday 21 September 2024 - Top stories include: Labour changes in school inspections and improvement has sparked debate about regional control. A new level 5 apprenticeship will allow teaching assistants to specialise in SEND, emotional wellbeing, or curriculum provision. One third of students are expected to resit their GCSE English or maths this year. New rules will now al...

The Education Brief: Saturday 14 September 2024 - Top stories include: Children’s commissioner orders compulsory survey of schools No quick fix to special-needs pupil failures, parents told Governors told no money for national recruitment drive This week’s deep dive: ResearchED National Conference 2024 We’ll also tell you what’s happening at HEP this week and what we’ve been watching, listening to...

The Education Brief: Saturday 7 September 2024 - Top stories include: Labour's manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers is unlikely to be fulfilled for a while. Ofsted is developing a new inclusion criterion for inspections, focusing on supporting disadvantaged pupils. GCSE English requires an urgent overhaul, according to a review by exam board OCR. From early 2025, all schools will hav...

The Education Brief: Saturday 20 July 2024 - Top stories include: Exclusions higher than pre-Covid as suspensions rise again Eight things we learned from Ofsted’s annual accounts King’s Speech 2024: what schools need to know No teacher pay decision this week, says Phillipson This week’s deep dive:  Curriculum review launched: What schools need to know We’ll also tell you what’s happening at HEP th...

The Education Brief: Saturday 13 July 2024 - Top stories include: The "alternative big listen" survey reveals deep dissatisfaction with the school inspectorate. Financial pressures and support for children with SEND are top challenges for school governors. Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as a non-executive director at the DfE. This week’s deep dive:  Key stage 2 SATs 2024 We’ll also...

The Education Brief: Saturday 6 July 2024 - Top stories include: Half of England’s most deprived schools anticipate cutting teaching assistant spending next year. NASBTT says all schools should be mandated to provide placements for trainee teachers. An EEF report found that teachers receive minimal training on writing. This week’s deep dive:  The 2024 British Election and what it means for educati...

The Education Brief: Saturday 29 June 2024 - Top stories include: TES has published an overview of the three main political parties’ education policies. The 2014 computing curriculum overhaul has led to 50% fewer girls taking the subject. Seven subject associations say the use of non-specialist teachers is now "endemic". Rural schools face the threat of extinction unless urgent action is...

The Education Brief: Saturday 22 June 2024 - Top stories include: Academy trusts are facing significant shortfalls in funding. The Education Policy Institute criticises the "lack of urgency" regarding the crisis in SEND funding. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson aims to bring education "back up the agenda." Unions claim schools could gain an average of £36,000 each...

The Education Brief: Saturday 15 June 2024 - Top stories include: Conservatives manifesto 2024: All the schools policies Labour manifesto 2024: All the schools policies Two in three special schools face real-terms cuts, unions warn Pay, workload and trust - 3 teacher retention issues to solve This week’s deep dive:  WalkThrus Conference London, 2024 We’ll also tell you what’s happening at HEP this...

Top stories include: Move to home education biggest since pandemic EYFS: How ditching our maths scheme is transforming teaching Burden of school complaints ‘significant concern’, Ofsted told Teaching workforce grows by just 259 as recruitment stalls This week’s deep dive:  How Building Knowledge Boosts Literacy and Learning We’ll also tell you what’s happening at HEP this week and what we’ve been...

The Education Brief: Saturday 1 June 2024 - Top stories include: The pre-election ‘purdah’ period begins on Saturday, limiting government announcements. Gillian Keegan has confirmed that teacher pay recommendations will come after the election. Leaders’ unions say Ofsted must undertake "far-reaching reform". The government has been urged "rebalance" funding towards schools with...

In this episode re-run, HEP's Luke Kemper talks to artist Sally Newton at South Harringay School, where she has painted two large staircase murals. They spoke about how she became an artist, what it’s like to paint a curriculum on the walls, and how students react to art, among other things. If you’d like to see more of Sally’s work, you can check out her website at ⁠www.sallynewton-mural-arti...

The Education Brief: Saturday 18 May 2024 - Top stories include: The DfE has released draft guidance updates on relationships, sex, and health education. Baroness Barran wants schools to focus on students who miss the "odd day”. £134 million in unspent NTP funds from schools will help finance the teacher pay grant. Anti-hacking measures in AQA's exam papers disrupted screen-reading softwa...

The Education Brief: Saturday 11 May 2024 - Top stories include: The DfE is investigating inclusivity in schools, with a focus on institutions with fewer EHCPs. The government announced larger music hubs across England, reducing the number to 43. An analysis of the Safety Valve programme uncovered "startling" cuts to specialist provision for SEND pupils. Matt Hood has been appointed the...

The Education Brief: Saturday 4 May 2024 - Top stories include: The government’s scrapping of the Now Teach scheme, sparks an outcry DfE ‘actively looking’ at reforms to £10k special schools place funding DFE advises all schools create a bomb threat checklist England scraps 50% rule on faith school admissions This week’s deep dive:  The future of safeguarding in schools We’ll also tell you what’s...

The Education Brief: Saturday 27 April 2024 - Top stories include: Ofsted is advancing its use of AI to enhance decision-making in school inspections. Single-phrase Ofsted judgments will remain for now because they provide clarity for parents and are crucial for actions on underperforming schools. Gillian Keegan expressed concerns over the difficulty of fully funding future teacher pay rises. Scho...

The Education Brief: Saturday 20 April 2024 - Top stories include: There will be no Progress 8 replacement for school performance measurements in the current and next academic years. 75 percent of primary schools have been forced to reduce their number of teaching assistants. DfE data indicate a rise in pupil absence rates last term compared to spring 2022-23. Ofsted's latest report criticises...

It's GCSE revision season, and if you or your students need some extra motivation to review, BBC Bitesize and BBC Sounds have you covered with free podcasts covering a range of subjects from English literature to chemistry. In this episode of HEP Talks, Luke Kemper speaks with award-winning author, journalist, and podcaster Carl Anka about the English literature resources in which he played a...

With the advent of AI and dominance of social media, it's easy for educators to worry about digital literacy and how best to integrate it into their students' learning. In this episode of HEP Talks, Luke Kemper talks with Andrew Swanson, Executive Producer for BBC Bitesize, about BBC Bitesize's news and media literacy resources collectively titled 'Other Side of the Story'. The...

The Education Brief: Saturday 30 March 2024 - Top stories include: Robert Halfon steps down as the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships, and Higher Education. Some schools are resisting admitting children with SEND. Schools will face a delay in learning their 2024/25 pupil premium funding allocations. Over a quarter of applicants to Initial Teacher Training courses are from overseas. Teachers in E...

The Education Brief: Saturday 23 March 2024 - Top stories include: NFER annual labour market report highlights declines in trends in teacher recruitment. The government has decided to terminate funding for the Inspiring Governance scheme. The government has decided to scale back the free National Professional Qualifications. There is significant demand among teachers for AI training to enhance usi...

The Education Brief: Saturday 16 March 2024 - Top stories include: The Tes Schools Wellbeing Report highlights challenges in workload, funding, and job satisfaction. The National Institute of Teaching has met its first-year recruitment target… with a little bit of help. The DfE has lowered the recruitment target for secondary teacher trainees by 9 per cent. Only two of 41 councils are adequately p...

The Education Brief: Saturday 9 March 2024 - Top stories include: The Teacher Development Trust's new report highlights the importance of funding for professional development and empowering schools with the autonomy to choose their CPD initiatives. Ofsted's newest report reveals marked improvement in reading instruction across English schools but highlights weaknesses in writing and spoken...

HEP Talks Roundtable discussions are aimed at giving our schools a voice. In this episode, James Page, Chief Executive of HEP, and Fran Hargrove, Deputy Chief Executive, host Headteachers Jade-Simone Bacon, Lucy Walker-Collins, and Stephen McNicholas, as well as Senior Improvement Partner Malcolm Willis to talk about Ofsted judgements, the latest Ofsted framework, and what a meaningful inspection...

The Education Brief: Saturday 2 March 2024 - Top stories include: Fines for unauthorised school absences will increase from £60 to £80 starting in September. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan proposes "more sustainable" teacher pay rises. Nearly 90% of large multi-academy trusts in the UK plan to expand within the next two years. FFT Education Datalab reports a significant rise in pupil...