Here are 3 of the latest UK education and edtech news stories from November 2018…

Government sets out plans to support under performing schools

Floor and coasting standards to be used to identify schools which would benefit from an offer of support. Under performing schools in England are set to receive extra support under Government plans to raise standards in classrooms across the country.

Following a pledge by the Secretary of State to simplify the school accountability system, giving teachers freedom to get on with their job without interference, Schools Minister Lord Agnew has set out how the department will support schools that are under performing and how they will be identified.

Nicola Sturgeon: 10% teacher pay rise ‘not affordable’

Scotland’s first minister says the pay rise being demanded by teachers will not happen and that current offer is ‘fair’. Teachers must be prepared to accept a “fair” and “realistic” pay deal, not the unaffordable 10 per cent rise unions are demanding, Scotland’s first minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon said she recognised the “strength of feeling” there was on the issue, after a ballot by Scotland’s largest teaching union saw 98 per cent vote to reject the wage offer. It comes as the SNP leader was told teachers were having to “buy pens, pencils, books for pupils because Scotland’s schools are starved of cash”.

Two-thirds of teachers say GCSE ‘flight path’ starts too early

Poll shows parents and teachers are concerned about exam pressure leaving schools offering a ‘bare-bones education’. Teachers are increasingly worried that exam pressure is forcing schools to offer a limited, bare-bones education, as they start prepping pupils at a younger age, a survey has found.

Two-thirds of teachers (65 per cent) say parents should be worried about students being moved on to a so-called ‘GCSE flight path’ too early, with almost as many parents (61 per cent) agreeing.

And the vast majority – 92 per cent of teachers and 76 per cent of parents – blame the pressure placed on schools to deliver good exam results.

In some cases, this means that schools are starting to teach a GCSE syllabus as soon as pupils arrive in Year 7 rather than the recommended Year 10.

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