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Harris Federation boss’s salary reaches £420,000 after latest pay rise

The country’s best-paid academy boss has been handed another pay rise – boosting his salary to at least £420,000. It marks another salary increase for Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, who was paid at least £395,000 in 2015. New annual accounts published by the trust, which runs 40 schools, show another […]

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Over a third of parents asked for school donations, survey finds

More than a third of parents have been asked to donate money to their child’s school, according to a new survey by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Education leaders have said the findings again expose the “inadequacy of school funding”. Of 1,514 parents surveyed, 37 per cent recalled being asked to add to a school’s

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Multi-academy trusts swap data systems for Progress 8

New performance measures such as Progress 8 have led some multi-academy trusts to move away from traditional data-system providers. “Added layers of complexity” have helped to shake up the management information system (MIS) market at present dominated by Capita SIMS, which supports more than 80 per cent of schools. But a desire to access data

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Nick Gibb ‘comfortable’ with schools’ approach to cost cutting

The schools minister Nick Gibb has said he is “comfortable” with the way schools are dealing with rising cost pressures. It comes despite headteachers recently revealing how they are having to cut back on textbooks, cleaning and maintenance to balance the books, on top of making teaching and support staff redundant. The Institute for Fiscal

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Government to rebroker Manchester free schools founded by charity boss

Two free schools in Greater Manchester will be re-brokered to new multi-academy trusts after one was placed into special measures on its first inspection and the second given a financial notice to improve. The Collective Spirit free school in Oldham, which opened in September 2013, received an Ofsted judgement of “inadequate” in all categories in

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Accounts Watch: Academy trust chief gets £85,000 severance pay-out

Chief reporter John Dickens launches our new weekly column with some of the most interesting findings from academy trust accounts for the 2015-16 financial year. An academy trust chief executive who resigned after a misconduct investigation received a payout of of more than £85,000. Denise Shepherd was suspended as chief executive of the Thinking Schools

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Poor careers advice due to spending decisions by school leaders, skills minister claims

The skills and apprenticeships minster has warned there is “clearly something wrong” with schools where “not enough” good careers advice is delivered as he launched the government’s ‘comprehensive careers strategy’. But Robert Halfon dismissed that funding was the sole issue, claiming instead it was due to the way a “school chooses to spend” their money.

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John Blake appointed education chief at Policy Exchange

A former union activist and founder of the grassroots Labour Teachers website has been appointed as head of education at right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange. John Blake will leave his role as history consultant and leading practitioner at the Harris Federation to take on the new head of education and social reform position. He replaces Jonathan

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Teaching apprenticeships: the new school direct?

Ministers are drawing up plans for an apprenticeship route into teaching that could replace current on-the-job training schemes, Schools Week has learned. Jonathan Slater (pictured), the Department for Education’s permanent secretary, told MPs on Monday that his department is creating a teaching apprenticeship to begin next year. Officials are considering how they can “tweak” existing

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