Action to protect children from online porn long overdue
Teachers and parents have made teaching five-year-olds about porn part of our national conversation; a sign that action is long overdue.
Gove faces wrath of headteachers at union conference
Michael Gove faced the wrath of headteachers over the state of the education system, just hours after they passed a vote of no confidence.
Gove appoints Chief Social Worker in profession overhaul
Education Secretary Michael Gove has taken on the teaching profession - now it is the turn of the social workers.
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Gove wants to bring education 'back to the 1950s'
Kenny Frederick, a headteacher and member of the NAHT executive, has accused the Education Secretary Michael Gove of wanting to "bring us back to 1950s".
Speaking on the BBC's Radio 5 Live, she said that Mr Gove has not listened to teachers and that his plan was destined to "fall flat on its face".
Mr Gove is expected to receive an angry reception when he speaks at the NAHT conference in Birmingham this afternoon.
Torrent of education initiatives 'resemble an octopus'
Bernadette Hunter, president of the National Association of Head Teachers is expected to tell delegates at the NAHT's annual conference in Birmingham today that many schools "have lost their sense of humour, buried under piles of data and spread sheets".
– Bernadette Hunter, president of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) iPerhaps you don't always feel strong but every day you have to deal with a torrent of initiatives and changes which rather resembles wrestling with an octopus. And you do it because of the moral imperative of school leadership - learners.
I know we are tired of constant, ideologically-driven change. We always seem to be saying that this is the worst we have ever known it but this time it is undeniably the truth.
We seem to have a secretary of state for Education who doesn't seem to be for education at all.
She warned the entire education system was "being dismantled before our eyes and fragmentation and division are everywhere".
There was a "continual denigration of our professionalism and a worrying creeping privatisation of education," she said.
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Union: Michael Gove like a 'fanatical personal trainer'
Schools are losing their sense of humour under piles of data and spreadsheets as headteachers are forced to "wrestle with an octopus" of government initiatives and reforms, a union leader will warn today.
Heads are becoming tired of constant change to the education system, and believe it is being dismantled before their eyes, according to Bernadette Hunter, president of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).
In a strongly-worded attack, Ms Hunter will say she believes that Education Secretary Michael Gove is not a champion of education, and liken the minister to a "fanatical personal trainer" urging headteachers to go "faster, faster, higher and higher".
Chief Social Worker's 'top priority should be education'
Social care expert Joanna Nicolas said Isabelle Trowler, the new Chief Social Worker's top priority should be education and the training of social workers.
She said: "We need the right people doing the right jobs within social work and also we're got to keep relationships with the media open."
Two year training programme for graduates
Josh McAllister from Frontline, who will soon be training graduates in social care, said new graduates will undertake a two year programme.
Speaking to Daybreak he said training will begin with a five week summer institute, followed by a year in a local authority, with close supervision.
He said: "People who qualify to be a social worker will have spent more time in practice than any existing route into the profession."
Union: Ofsted is having a 'paralysing effect' on schools
Russell Hobby from Headteachers Union has told Daybreak that schools are too afraid to complain to Ofsted because they are worried about the outcome.
"I think Ofsted is having a paralysing effect on the system, quality of the inspection teams is just so variable you have no idea what they are going to look at, what they are going to see", he said.
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'Frontline' social work fast-track aims at top graduates
Isabelle Trowler, the new Chief Social Worker, has helped design the curriculum for a new Frontline programme for would-be social workers, which begins recruiting this September for fast-track courses starting in 2014.
The first 100 graduates on the course will be given two years' hands-on work at a local authority, alongside further academic study and intensive leadership training, with salaries comparable to those joining the Teach First scheme to attract high-performing students into the classroom.
Mr Gove said: "Good social workers literally save lives; the bad can leave them in ruins.
"I am delighted that Isabelle Trowler has agreed to lead our reform programme; to challenge as well as to champion the profession so that vulnerable children and families are better protected.
"I am also very pleased to announce our support for Frontline, an exciting proposal and a real challenge for the brightest applicants who will have the privilege and satisfaction of helping to improve the lives of the most vulnerable children in the country."
Ofsted: Headteachers already act as Ofsted inspectors
An Ofsted spokeswoman has responded to mounting concerns about the amount of pressure put on headteachers from Ofsted.
A new programme has been launched by The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) to act as an alternative to the current Ofsted system, where inspections are carried out by headteachers.
– Ofsted spokeswomanHeadteachers and other senior leaders from good and outstanding schools are already serving as additional inspectors (AIs) on Ofsted school inspection teams.
They include National Leaders of Education who have been trained up under an initiative launched last year by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector.
More than half our inspection teams in March 2013 contained at least one current practitioner - and Sir Michael Wilshaw has said he wants this to be the case for every inspection in the future.
'Overwhelming' level of fear from Ofsted inspections
The National Association of Head Teachers said the union had decided to set up alternative school inspections carried out by head teachers due to serious concerns among members about the quality of Ofsted inspections.
General Secretary Russell Hobby warned that the current Ofsted system puts headteachers on the defensive and that the "level of fear is overwhelming".
The programme will be piloted in a number of areas from this autumn, if it is successful it is hoped that a future government will consider the scheme.
"Schools dance to Ofsted's tune but don't really learn from the experience - they are too busy defending themselves against it and then recovering," Mr Hobby said.
Alternative school inspections carried out by teachers
School inspections are to be carried out by headteachers amid mounting concerns about Ofsted, it was announced today.
A new programme has been launched by The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) to act as an alternative to the current Ofsted system.
The scheme, which has been dubbed "Instead", will see school leaders visiting other schools in their region to check how well they are performing.
Watch: Ofsted has moved from inspection to 'looking at data'
