Schools will need to find savings from their budgets to deliver the pay award, according to the DfE’s pay review submission.

Leaders will need to be “proactive” about making the most of their budgets to achieve this (in case they weren’t already…)

NEW: Bridget Phillipson has delayed the schools white paper to early next year.

If leaders pitch at a level that inspectors think is too high, they’ll be worried that this will reflect badly upon them, says @pepediiasio.bsky.social

"But if they are too conservative in their evaluation, they’ll be concerned that this will become self-fulfilling."

McKinnell’s resignation letter below - no indication what role she was offered, but interesting that she chose to resign instead.

Contracts Finder looking interesting this morning

Inclusion advisor Tom Rees said that the expert advisory group on inclusion that he chairs is continuing.

The group will be looking at how the system could offer “consistent and higher quality advice” to teachers and schools.

On a curriculum and assessment panel at the Festival of Education, Big Education CEO Liz Robinson said that she doesn’t understand the govt’s aim to get high and rising standards without a universal way to measure success at the end of KS4.

Ofqual chief Sir Ian Bauckham said that people “often suspect that, because the proportions of students getting any particular grade look fairly constant from one year to the next, that there is some kind of back room fix to this.”

“Let me be absolutely clear, there isn't.”

Sir Martyn Oliver tells the Festival of Education that he would have had an EHCP had they existed when he was a child.

Instead, he had to rely upon a “few standout teachers” to support him.

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It was great to chat to ITV News London this evening about the challenges facing schools with funding pressures and falling pupil numbers.

A very relevant conversation today, as DfE data showed a decrease of more than 50,000 pupils across all schools in the past year.

Emma Hollis, CEO of the National Association of School-Based Teachers, tells the #SAAShow that there is too much pressure on teacher training to “sort out” the sector’s challenges.

“We can’t be constantly firefighting and expecting CPD to solve the problems we’re facing.”

Children’s commissioner Rachel de Souza addresses audiences at her inaugural Festival of Childhood.

“We have a crisis developing in childhood,” Dame Rachel says, which is characterised by “loneliness, anger, sadness”.

General secretary @pepediiasio.bsky.social tells #ASCL2025 that the last thing the sector needs is an inspection system that “intensifies the pressures they face”.

“And yet incredibly that’s exactly what is being proposed.”

“We support the principle of report cards - but not like this.”

A good crowd for @mmulholland.bsky.social at #ASCL2025:

“One of the challenges we have at the moment is defining inclusion as static.”

She tells delegates not to think about how to get ‘exemplary’ in a potential inclusion rating.

Ofsted chief Sir Martyn Oliver tells #ASCL2025 that he knows some of the sector have “concerns” about the inspectorate’s report card proposals.

He said the plans “will reduce the pressure” that leaders feel about inspection.