Diary

More DfE funding heading to Little Wandle?

10 February 2025

New phonics contract; questions over Outwood Grange conference; and a special birthday message

Free schools chain sees half of board step down, including chair, with no apparent announcement to parents

6 February 2024

An academy trust which has featured extensively on these pages in recent months has seen half of its board of directors depart, including its chair –without seemingly having told parents.

Ofsted’s Amanda Spielman to speak on “the use of research evidence in education policy and practice”. Where to start?

13 January 2023

We are quite low-profile in education, in terms of public awareness of the issues that get us going and the degree to which debate-shapers are held properly to account for their pronouncements, are we not?

Silence from current Children’s Commissioner on school exclusions speaks volumes?

4 May 2022

There was extensive coverage last week of a proposal, from a task force led by the former children’s commissioner for England, for a ban on permanent exclusions from primary schools.

Sir Dan Moynihan now on 44 of his schools’ governing bodies

22 October 2021

England’s most lavishly-remunerated schools employee has cemented his position as also the country’s busiest academy governor, with new data analysis by this website showing Sir Daniel Moynihan is now part of the governance of a remarkable 44 institutions.

Attention switches to pending Ofsted judgment on Pimlico Academy, with its former head now revealed in senior role at trust running it

9 September 2021

Pupils protesting at Pimlico Academy in March.

The academy project with the amazing sliding opening date

15 July 2021

A school featured extensively by Education Uncovered last year is now on its ninth proposed opening date as an academy, as a project which has been on the stocks for two years grinds on.

Ambitious academy trust to rebrand, as Education Uncovered reveals that fewer than half of its schools have been inspected

16 April 2021

A medium-sized academy trust, which has been covered a fair bit on this website, is to rebrand itself, with questions inevitably being raised as to whether this is the best use of taxpayers’ funds.

Hereditary principle kicking in at Harris Federation

15 March 2021

England’s second-largest academy chain has underlined its position as in the control of a single family, as the wife and a son of its “sponsor” have joined him at the highest level of its governance system.

The headteacher and the strange case of the Ofsted “ambassadors”

8 February 2021

It started with a routine request to Ofsted about a headteacher who had been in the news, and ended with a curious set of revelations.

Academy chief executive, who oversaw primary school with the highest number of permanent exclusions on record in England, put forward by government to be the next Children’s Commissioner

9 December 2020

Contacts have responded with disbelief after leading multi-academy trust chief executive Rachel de Souza was announced as the government’s preferred choice to be the new children’s commissioner for England.

Charity, overseen by some of the best-connected people in education, already advertising for staff to work on DfE-funded National Tutoring Programme

15 October 2020

A well-connected charity appears to be so confident of being funded by the government to provide “catch-up” tutoring for disadvantaged pupils that it is already advertising for people to work on the scheme.

Head arrives at under-pressure secondary academy seemingly without experience of working in state education

27 July 2020

Is state-funded education under the Conservative government being made more posh? Eyebrows are certainly likely to be raised in relation to one academy trust often featured on this website, which has just appointed a new headteacher.

Clear-out of governors at school recently taken over by Lord Nash’s Future Academies, as headteacher announces he’s leaving, too

14 July 2020

The headteacher and, I understand, most if not all of the governing body of an academy which was taken over by a high-profile chain earlier this year are standing down.

Academy trust with links to Edward Colston offers little sense of its history on its website

11 June 2020

Should a charitable foundation which was deeply involved with the slave trade in the 17th to 19th centuries, and which now oversees nine schools including eight state-funded academies, be more upfront about its history?

Headteacher boards in “opening themselves up to views of local communities –sort of” shocker

10 June 2020

It was a simple sub-heading, tacked on to the bottom of a few seemingly dry agenda papers for upcoming meetings. But it was enough to make your correspondent’s jaw drop.

The elusive Sue Baldwin, Regional Schools Commissioner, to appear in front of councillors, for live-streamed debate likely to focus on exclusions

9 March 2020

No longer the invisible woman? Sue Baldwin to appear in front of councillors next week

England’s most well-paid academy leader breaks the �450k barrier

1 February 2020

The remuneration of England’s best-paid academy superhead rose again last year, to break the �450,000 barrier for the first time.

Closure of secondary sections of two former Steiner academies confirmed

31 January 2020

The planned closure of provision for older children at two former Steiner academies in the west country has been confirmed in letters to parents at both schools.

Boris Johnson to return to compulsory mass academisation? If he remembers what happened last time, he ought to be aware it would be highly unpopular

15 January 2020

Is Boris Johnson’s government about to use its fresh electoral mandate to return to its campaign –launched but then discarded nearly four years ago –to academise all state-funded schools in England?

Academy “sponsors” Ross and Nash make total of �325,000 in pre-election donations to the Conservative Party

12 December 2019

Two high-profile academy “sponsors” donated a total of �325,000 to the Conservative Party during the run-up to today’s general election.

Should a university school of education be involved quite this closely with an academy chain?

2 December 2019

How can the head of a university school of education also be the chief executive of a multi-academy trust?

Academy chief executive, operating 19 schools in region, appointed to that region’s Headteacher Board

22 November 2019

Future meetings of one of England’s eight regional Headteacher Boards (HTBs) seem likely to run the risk of descending into farce following the latest under-the-radar appointment to the advisory bodies, whose recommendations can be crucial to schools’ futures.

Schools reformer Mark Lehain faces battle to become Tory MP, in city which has proven stony ground for free schools

15 November 2019

Will the latest attempt by a former leader of the New Schools Network (NSN) to seek election as a Conservative MP prove more successful than the last?

Why were only 12 academy trusts written to over high pay?

18 October 2019

Why were only 12 multi-academy trusts written to by the government this month, as it sought to continue to present itself as acting tough on high salaries in the sector?

Digging underneath the Ofsted-outstanding rating for one of London’s smaller new primary schools

4 October 2019

Harris Primary Academy Purley Way, on the left, just before this building opened in 2017

Long wait for Ofsted report on flagship school of one of England’s largest academy chains

12 September 2019

Why does the remuneration of education's firefighter appear not to have been disclosed?

Academy chains taking over the free schools project

24 May 2019

In the pipeline...DfE's list of upcoming free schools shows large academy chains as prominent

School run by large academy trust threatened with closure. Down the road, new free school, run by same trust, recently opened

6 March 2019

Collective Spirit free school, Oldham, which closed in 2017, with some former pupils heading to Oasis Academy Oldham

Man in the spotlight: Dr Matthew Laban

1 March 2019

The resignation of Mark Allchorn, headteacher of the forced academy Barclay School in Stevenage, was provoking a lot of controversy overnight, with parents expressing concern and in some cases fury that he was announced as leaving just a month after its takeover by Future Academies.

Another Inspiration Trust primary said to be facing Ofsted inspection pressure

24 January 2019

Schools in the academy chain founded by the minister overseeing the system, Lord Agnew, seem to be under pressure over their results. But how are Ofsted inspectors reacting?

Former free school’s posthumous league table triumph re-ignites community’s anger

21 December 2018

Last week’s publication of Sats league table results for schools across England provoked an excruciatingly bitter-sweet moment for those connected to an institution which featured heavily on this website up until its closure in the summer.

Teachers and parents at forced academy primary lambast incoming trust over plans to extend the school day

21 December 2018

The public meeting about Waltham Holy Cross, where several speakers voiced concerns about the extended day

Should working several days a week in a school office be a voluntary position?

28 November 2018

A special school in Lewisham, south London, is advertising for someone to do up to three days a week in its office, seemingly unpaid.

Possible tensions behind the departure of the Inspiration Trust’s curriculum guru

21 November 2018

Why is Christine Counsell, the influential figure who was setting in train ambitious curriculum plans at one of England’s most well-placed academy chains, leaving her post?

Investigating the bulge in catchment area of �14m primary free school

9 November 2018

The former Hampstead police station, poised to become Abacus Belsize's permanent home

Education’s new firefighter: the many roles of Angela Barry

30 October 2018

Need someone to sort out schools in the wake of the collapse of a multi-academy trust? Well, when the Department for Education finds itself in this position, as has been known, one person seems to be emerging as its choice for the crucial role of firefighter-in-chief.

Staff not being replaced, parents being asked for cash and even Gove’s curricular changes having an impact: heads detail funding pressures on their schools

28 September 2018

Heads marching in Parliament Square, central London, this morning

“You couldn’t make it up!" This is how education policy works, 2018-style

21 September 2018

Norwich,where Justine Greening spoke about social mobility this week

Board papers offer more insights into fundraising and financial challenges at Harris Federation

13 September 2018

Harris Academy Peckham, which has spare places

Who is “Mike at Brentwood”?

20 July 2018

New twist in Waltham Holy Cross saga

The major academy chain, its CEO and a handful of its schools’ struggles with super-high staff turnover

22 June 2018

England’s largest primary-only academy chain may be basking in the limelight again today, its chief executive having given a “Why I’m worth it” interview, defending his �240,000-a-year salary and boasting an Ofsted record for its schools of “towards 80 per cent” rated good or better.

Riddle of academy chain’s acquisition of free school site for �1- and the answer

8 June 2018

How did a well-connected academy chain come to be handed the site for a free school –once owned by England’s largest local authority –for the princely sum of �1?

The gossip: week of June 4th

7 June 2018

“The gossip” is a new reporting strand on Education Uncovered, and at the moment a bit of an experiment. I am getting so many interesting tip-offs, I need a format for processing and reporting on them which is perhaps less detailed/multi-sourced than you might find in a conventional news story on the site, or even in our diary column.

Secondees invited to work “pro bono” at the Department for Education

25 May 2018

The Department for Education, where secondees are being invited to apply to work "pro bono"

“National Institute of Education” changes its name

30 April 2018

The Shard, where the newly-renamed National College of Education says it will be holding courses

The gossip: week of April 23rd

26 April 2018

“The gossip” is a new reporting strand on Education Uncovered, and at the moment a bit of an experiment. I am getting so many interesting tip-offs, I need a format for processing and reporting on them which is perhaps less detailed/multi-sourced than you might find in a conventional news story on the site, or even in our diary column.

The gossip: week of April 16th

17 April 2018

“The gossip” is a new reporting strand on Education Uncovered, and at the moment a bit of an experiment. I am getting so many interesting tip-offs, I need a format for processing and reporting on them which is perhaps less detailed/multi-sourced than you might find in a conventional news story on the site, or even in our diary column.