King Canute famously (and apocryphally) took his throne to a beach and commanded the incoming tide to halt. This week, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson warned parents not to pause to ‘gossip at the school gates’ when dropping off their children in order to cut the risk of passing on Covid-19. Both actions were exercises in … Read more
Secondary school pupils will have to wear masks to school when they return next week after a government U-turn last week. With just days to go before children return, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson last week said face coverings will be compulsory in the communal areas of schools covered by local lockdowns. A decision on whether … Read more
Boris Johnson fired the top civil servant at the Department for Education today saying ‘fresh official leadership’ was needed after the A-Level and GCSE exam fiasco. Jonathan Slater will step down on September 1, it was announced today, the day after Ofqual chief executive Sally Collier resigned from her post int he wake of the … Read more
Teachers have warned Boris Johnson his face masks U-turn risks creating chaos in schools amid fears pupils will bully each other over their choice of covering. The Government last night announced that face masks will be compulsory in the communal areas of secondary schools in parts of England which are subject to local lockdowns. Meanwhile, … Read more
Thousands of secondary pupils will have to wear masks at school after yet another education U-turn. With just days to go before children return, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson last night said face coverings will be compulsory in the communal areas of schools covered by local lockdowns. A decision on whether to wear masks in other schools … Read more
The chief executive of exam regulator Ofqual quit today, days after a furious row over A-Level and GCSE grades in England. Sally Collier resigned as chief regulator after four years in the role and will be replaced temporarily by her predecessor Dame Glenys Stacey. Ms Collier, a career civil servant, had come in for criticism over … Read more
Under-fire Education Secretary Gavin Williamson today broke cover to guarantee every school in England will have coronavirus home testing kits to hand out to parents when they reopen next week. Mr Williamson also insisted schools will only close following local outbreaks as an ‘absolute last resort’. The Government has stepped up its efforts to persuade … Read more
Pupils are more likely to be hit by a bus on their way to school than catch coronavirus in the classroom, the deputy chief medical officer claimed today. Dr Jenny Harries said the risk of children being involved in a traffic accident or of catching the flu are ‘probably higher than the current risk’ posed … Read more
Gavin Williamson is in the running to be named MP of the Year despite widespread demands for him to quit over this year’s exams fiasco. The Education Secretary has been nominated in the People’s Choice category of the awards run by non-partisan organisation the Patchwork Foundation. He has been nomination by the public in a … Read more
Vegans are the NEW ‘milk snatchers’: Meat-free campaigners push for dairy-free alternative to the white stuff on school menu… 49 years after Margaret Thatcher stopped benefit for over 7s Vegans and doctors pressuring government to take cow’s milk off school menus They want plant-based alternatives high in calcium to be subsidised instead Evokes Margaret Thatcher’s … Read more