ACT - The Association of Christian Teachers
for Christians working in education
Dear Angela,
Thank you for your letter to the Prime Minister about the use of statistics at Prime Minister’s Questions. The Prime Minister has asked me to respond on her behalf.
Ensuring the integrity of education statistics is very important. Any statements should be presented in a way that is both factually accurate and placed in the right context. I can confirm that the statement made by the Prime Minister at PMQs passes both of those tests.
Education secretary Damian Hinds will launch a defence of free schools and academies in a speech to academies chiefs today.
Speaking at the launch of the Confederation of School Trusts at the British Library in London this morning, Mr Hinds will say that free schools and academies have led to more than half a million children now studying in "good" or "outstanding" sponsored academies that were once typically under-performing schools
Schools which kick out unruly pupils to boost their league table position will be held to account, the Education Secretary has said.
Damian Hinds has warned that he is prepared to change the law in order to crack down on schools with high numbers of unfair expulsions.
There has been a rise in permanent exclusions in recent years, amid concerns that teachers are using them to get rid of students who they fear will drag the school's results down.
Between 2006/7 and 2012/13, the number of permanent exclusions reduced by nearly half. However, since then it has increased and over the past three years it has risen by 40 per cent.
The Labour Party has shifted to a more hard-line policy on schools, saying it would scrap the current academy system.
But dozens of its own MPs are part of a group opening academies and planning to become one of England's biggest academy providers.
There are 37 "Labour and Co-operative" MPs - but when it comes to schools policy, the Labour and Co-operative parts of their title seem to be pulling in completely different directions.
The Co-op, part of the fibre of the Labour movement and a sponsor of MPs, is itself the sponsor of its own multi-academy trust - running academies.
But Angela Rayner, Labour's shadow education secretary, has a policy to stop the creation of any academies.
EU law prevents the government from cutting VAT on all school uniforms, Schools Standards Minister Nick Gibb has said.
But that could change when the UK left the EU, he suggested to MPs.
He was responding to a call from Birkenhead MP Frank Field, who said some families were going short of food to pay for uniforms.
Some of his constituents faced bills of £300 "plus the devastating cost of games kits", he added.
- Damian Hinds speaking to National Governance Association.
- Lord Heseltine on Education.
- Councils divert monies from school budgets.
- Sam Gymiah - Universities Minister causes controversy.
- 50 "exceptional" students will get Stephen Hawking fellowships.
- Most serious chidren's services cases use half the budget.
- The Universities Minister calls for a better deal for students at the HEPI annual conference.
- Spies to tell schools about terrorism suspects.
- Change to inspection in Welsh schools.
- Ofsted to intervene on the role of the curriculum.
- University bosses pay.
- Amanda Spielman speaks at Pre-School Learning Alliance Annual Conference.
- No one nation good at everything.
- Are DfE policies helpful to education?
- Teacher recruitment crisis.