September has come around again.
As memories of sandcastles, deck chairs and the Bank Holiday traffic fade into the distant past, here is a recap of some of the big education stories you may have missed over the summer.
Teacher pay
The government finally announced its long-delayed 2018-19 pay award for teachers on the day Parliament rose for the recess - and after many schools had already broken up for the summer.
It confirmed the demise of the 1 per cent public sector pay cap, but the announcement was still one of the most controversial decisions yet made by education secretary Damian Hinds.
The School Teachers’ Review Body recommended a 3.5 per cent rise for all teachers, but the DfE restricted this to those on the unqualified and main pay ranges. Senior teachers will get 2 per cent, and leaders 1.5 per cent.
Anger over the award simmered over the summer, with members of the NEU teaching union’s executive pushing for industrial action.
There are suggestions it may be difficult to win a strike ballot, but it is an issue that is sure to be at the centre of debate for weeks and months to come.
Ofsted inspections
Details of the changes Ofsted wants to make to the way it inspects schools started to emerge over the summer.
Proposals for the new inspection framework, which is due to take effect in September 2019, include marking down schools that act as “exam factories”, and scrapping the current teaching and learning grade.
However, Tes lifted the lid on tensions between the DfE and Ofsted over chief inspector Amanda Spielman’s plans, mainly related to fears in the department that the proposed changes could increase workload in schools.
Keep an eye on how this potential power struggle plays out over the next few months.
A levels
This year students sat reformed, linear A levels in a second tranche of subjects, including geography, French, German and music.
The proportion of A-level entries receiving an A* grade fell to its lowest level for five years, but those receiving an A/A* rose slightly, and the Joint Council for Qualifications said the national picture was one of stability.
One of the biggest concerns surrounded the dramatic rise in the number of unconditional offers made by universities, which one school blamed for the collapse of A*-E grades achieved by its students.
GCSEs
This was another year of transition for the GCSE system, with a large range of subjects moving to the new 9-1 grades and tougher content.
The reforms saw increased concerns about pupils’ mental health, with head teachers reporting a rise in stress, anxiety and depression.
On results day itself, we found that the proportion of UK GCSE entries getting the top grades increased for the first time in seven years, boys narrowed the gap with girls, language entries rose, and science grades dropped.
Exams regulator Ofqual had to step in to prevent thousands of pupils who it believed had been wrongly entered for a higher tier science paper from being left with a U grade.
Exclusions
The rising number of children being excluded from school came under intense scrutiny with a highly critical report from the Commons Education Select Committee.
The MPs raised concerns about a “lack of moral accountability” among many schools which have little incentive to keep on students that are seen as “difficult or challenging”.
The report also put the effect of zero tolerance behaviour policies in the spotlight.
The ed tech evangelist
Education secretary Damian Hinds set out his stall as a true believer in the role of technology to address some of the challenges in England’s school system.
He kept his focus on practical matters, rather than what some have seen as the pie-in-the-sky promises of ed tech evangelists in years gone by, highlighting its role in training, assessment, workload and inclusion.
Damian Hinds on the spot
The education secretary sat down with Tes for his first major interview for the new school year.
He offered little hope that schools will get more funding but highlighted help to reduce their costs, said any changes to Ofsted’s inspection regime had to be balanced against the impact on workload and insisted there was evidence that grammar schools are good for social mobility.
Someone from the DfE will bake some cakes
Yay.
