Weekly round-up: Sats trouble and GCSE guidance

Catch up on all your must-read Tes education news and analysis from the past seven days right here:

• Sats 2023: Heads ‘very concerned’ about reading paper 
  Headteachers’ leaders have said they are “very concerned” by reports about the difficulty of the Sats reading paper this week, with some school staff saying pupils were left in tears after sitting the test.
   
• Sats: Test prep should not impact pupil wellbeing, DfE says 
  The Department for Education has said that schools’ preparation for key stage 2 Sats should not come at the expense of pupils’ wellbeing, in response to concerns about the difficulty of this year’s reading paper.
   
• Sats: Year 6 teacher stress ‘short-lived’ 
  The negative impact of Sats on Year 6 teachers’ wellbeing is “short-lived” and should not be used as a reason to abolish the controversial assessments, according to a new study.
   
• MAT CEOs in the frame for Ofsted chief inspector role 
  Three high-profile multi-academy trust bosses are among those understood to be in the running to be the next chief inspector of Ofsted.
   
• GCSEs: Only one set of mocks is needed, schools told 
  Ofqual has warned against schools over-assessing their students to gather evidence in the event that exams do not go ahead in future.
   
• Where did all the over-50s teachers go? 
  Teachers over the age of 50 are leaving the classroom and not coming back. This week Tes investigated the scale of the problem and the possible causes.
   
• MAT leaders ‘in the dark’ over DfE growth decisions
  Multi-academy trust chief executives have raised concerns over how academies are being rebrokered and said that trusts are being penalised for taking on challenging schools.
   
• ‘Dramatic’ rise in pastoral work takes ‘emotional toll’ on teachers 
  The mental health and wellbeing of teachers is being damaged as they are forced to take on more demanding pastoral and emotional challenges, according to a new report.
   
• Teacher pay: Be clearer on ‘fully funded’ definition, DfE told 
  The UK’s statistics watchdog has called for the Department for Education to be clearer about claims that the teacher pay offer was “fully funded”.
   
• Why copy-and-paste behaviour policies ignore school reality 
  Trying to impost identikit behaviour management policies ignores school context and risks alienating children and communities, writes MAT director Sufian Sadiq.
   
• Ofsted: Workload is a major barrier to teacher development 
  Mounting workload is a barrier to teachers taking part in “vital” professional development and training, and some of the training they receive is “poor quality”, Ofsted has found.
   
• Sunak given ‘wake-up call’ over maths-to-18 plan 
  The prime minister has been issued a “wake-up call” over the feasibility of his maths-to-18 ambition after new data revealed that younger pupils are still behind with numeracy skills since the pandemic.
   
• Why primary pupils still need maths catch-up support  
  The extent to which Covid learning loss is still affecting primary pupils in maths has been revealed by new research, which suggests that schools will be focused on education recovery in the subject for years to come.
   
• Oak: Resources are not ‘finished lessons’ 
  Curriculum resources quango Oak National Academy will no longer refer to its resources as “complete” or “finished” lessons, in what a school leaders’ union has branded an attempt to “deflect criticism of government centralisation of the curriculum”.
   
• AI could take ‘heavy lifting’ out of teaching, says Keegan 
  Artificial intelligence can cut the time teachers spend on marking and making lesson plans, education secretary Gillian Keegan has told the Education World Forum.