John Dickens
johndickenssw.bsky.social
John Dickens
@johndickenssw.bsky.social
Schools Week editor
Pinned
Edition 410 done and dusted

Scoop: Ofsted consultation analysis row takes a new turn 👀

Solutions: teacher interns?

Investigation: thousands of teachers potentially due better pension die before outcome

Rise in pupils educated at home causes exams centre blockage
If anyone wants to do a review of the feature for us then do get in touch with me!

(All reviews are done with a critical eye - no free PR)
ChatGPT for teachers has launched. A landing page has a series of suggested tasks such as curriculum planning, reviewing work with a rubric. I'd like to see a robust study on the the following:

chatgpt.com/use-cases/hi...
ChatGPT for high school teachers
Teachers from across the U.S. shared chats they use for lesson planning, research, and administrative tasks. Tap a chat to get started.
chatgpt.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:42 AM
England should have set 300-plus there. Really disappointing batting

Oz huge favourites now, bowlers going to have to be perfect again for England to win
November 22, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Ah man 🫣 🏏
November 22, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by John Dickens
Such an interesting article by Cathie Paine from @reach2trust.bsky.social Great for the sector to hear from larger trusts on the realities of how they make and manage change.
REAch2 set out to resolve funding inequity across its schools by pooling its funding. The trust had to pause the plans – but here’s what they learnt (and why they are still doing it)

schoolsweek.co.uk/our-gag-pool...
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Well that was a good decision. What a start to the series
Woke up a bit earlier and been watching from the fourth over 😭
November 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Decamped to the living room for second session. Feels very optimistic but there we go

Also, not sure what’s worse: England’s wafty top order or these atrocious weight transfer graphic things
Woke up a bit earlier and been watching from the fourth over 😭
November 21, 2025 at 4:51 AM
!!!

Big story in the country's biggest schools PFI deal, which ended last month

The PFI firm is going into liquidation, with millions of pounds worth of school repairs still outstanding

schoolsweek.co.uk/pfi-firm-in-...
School PFI firm 'to liquidate' amid row over unfinished work
The firm overseeing England’s biggest school PFI contract is reportedly going into liquidation, with millions of pounds of building repairs work outstanding
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Edition 411 done and dusted:

Investigation: Councils don’t know how many home educated kids are under child protection enquiries

Scoop: PFI firm in multi-million pound schools repair row goes bust

Longread on new inspections

Plus: attendance awareness courses, GAG pooling, MAT mergers
November 20, 2025 at 8:20 PM
We delved into this earlier this year

SENCos will be central to any government plan to make mainstream schools more inclusive. But are their roles even sustainable now?

Great investigation from @lydiach.bsky.social

schoolsweek.co.uk/burnt-out-an...
November 18, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Those AI attendance reports have started well ...
❌ Exclusive: AI-driven reports that government said would help bring attendance 'back to – and beyond – pre-pandemic levels' have been suspended just days after they were launched

This comes after leaders noticed inaccuracies in the data provided...
schoolsweek.co.uk/embarrassing...
AI attendance reports suspended just days after launch
Government had said the reports would help bring attendance 'back to - and beyond - pre-pandemic levels'
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by John Dickens
Thank you @schoolsweek.bsky.social for highlighting this - a really thorough and well researched article.
Exclusive: A surge in home education has left many families struggling to find places for their children to sit GCSEs, with some 'reduced to begging' as overwhelmed exam centres shut their doors

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/home-education-children-forced-to-travel-miles-to-sit-exams/
November 14, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by John Dickens
Some very worrying stats here. Serious questions for government and Capita about why it is taking so long to process remedy statements stemming from the McCloud judgment. Can’t imagine the anguish of already-retired teachers and leaders waiting for missing money
Exclusive: Thousands of retired teachers and leaders potentially entitled to better pensions following the landmark McCloud ruling have died before even receiving statements outlining what they could receive

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/thousands-of-retired-teachers-die-before-pensions-row-settled/
November 14, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Edition 410 done and dusted

Scoop: Ofsted consultation analysis row takes a new turn 👀

Solutions: teacher interns?

Investigation: thousands of teachers potentially due better pension die before outcome

Rise in pupils educated at home causes exams centre blockage
November 13, 2025 at 9:39 PM
🤖 Ministers will use AI to set minimum attendance targets for every school in England

Targets will not be published, or be given to Ofsted - but failure to improve will result in a referral to RISE teams

schoolsweek.co.uk/ai-to-set-mi...
Attendance: AI-generated targets to be set for all schools
AI-generated targets will be set for all schools in England, government has announced, as it looks to crackdown on absence rates.
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Great to see wider pick up of this big story on a state school opening a fee-pay paying school abroad

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Schools Week broke the story over a year ago: schoolsweek.co.uk/warning-over...
Warning over grammar’s plan to open ‘affiliate’ schools overseas
A grammar school is looking to raise 'significant funds' by opening affiliate schools overseas, a market dominated by the independent sector
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
The latest government plan to help schools balance their budgets:

Provide support to help them get better returns on their collective £6bn of funding in reserves

schoolsweek.co.uk/savings-plat...
‘Savings platform’ plan to help schools boost reserves
Government thinks vision will ease school funding woes by 'unlocking' the sector's 'substantial reserves'
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The irony of this coming as government wonders why assistant head numbers have risen so much and suggests schools look at making savings in those teams ...
schoolsweek.co.uk/can-schools-...
November 7, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Interesting development - a lack of evidence of what works in SEND was a key finding from our investigation into the quality of EHCPs

schoolsweek.co.uk/investigatio...
November 7, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Edition 409 done and dusted:

A curriculum and assessment review SPECIAL ...

PLUS:

Government plans £3m SEND research centre

Do schools really have too many assistant heads?

Ministers scope out plan to help schools boost investment returns
November 6, 2025 at 7:45 PM
So heartening to see newish local journalism outlets doing proper reporting like this - fantastic investigation
November 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by John Dickens
The new curriculum 'will be implemented in full, for first teaching from September 2028', the government has said

Now updated with a handy timeline...

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/new-curriculum-to-be-introduced-in-2028-as-review-published/
November 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Starting to get important answers and reaction to the curriculum review

Phillipson admits triple science pledge will need more specialist teachers:

schoolsweek.co.uk/triple-scien...

RE will be put on the national curriculum only if sector can ‘reach consensus’

schoolsweek.co.uk/ministers-wi...
Triple science pledge needs more specialist teachers - Phillipson
The education secretary has said more specialist science teachers will be needed if government is to make triple science available to all GCSE pupils
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Some more big curriculum news

Ministers ignore curriculum review's call for no progress 8 changes and set out proposals for big 'breadth' subject shake-up

Full story below
Breaking: The government is proposing sweeping reforms to progress 8, the main league table measure for secondary schools, in a bid to boost arts take-up – and will ditch the EBacc from this academic year

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-ignores-francis-review-and-proposes-sweeping-progress-8-reform/
November 5, 2025 at 10:49 AM
🚨The curriculum review is out!

First: Government commits to a new national curriculum in 2028. Will also replace year 6 writing test, new oracy framework, financial literacy in primary

Our news story on the government's response to the key review findings: (1/4)

schoolsweek.co.uk/new-curricul...
New curriculum to be introduced in 2028 as review published
Government commits to scrap the EBacc and make citizenship compulsory in primary schools
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 6:15 AM
We've tried to get some clarity on all this from the Department for Education - but they've mostly ignored our questions

However I haven't noticed much difference in the education world. Lots of DfE people still speaking at events

It also apparently doesn't affect bodies like Ofsted, Ofqual etc
Some - cautious - good news on the govt’s civil service gagging rules

Nick Thomas-Symonds has written to us rowing back on the worst aspects: “it is important for civil servants to speak in public about matters for which they have responsibility”

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/welc...
A welcome clarification on the rules ‘gagging’ civil servants | Institute for Government
New guidance on civil servants speaking in public is a welcome return to common sense.
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk
October 23, 2025 at 10:30 AM