In the news: your weekly round-up

Top stories

An increasing number of children are starting school with speech and language difficulties, a new poll suggests. 89% of YouGov poll respondents reported a decline in speech and language skills since 2020, with 92% highlighting that this is making teaching more difficult [Schools Week]

Get to grips with how to monitor the EYFS and what questions you can ask, so you can confidently hold your school leaders to account.

Ofsted will “think again” if the sector opposes report card plans. Nothing is currently “set in stone” according to Ofsted’s national director, and it will run another consultation if necessary [Schools Week]

Stay up to date with all things Ofsted. Select ‘save for later’ to receive a notification when anything changes.

Headteacher gender pay gap at its worst for 13 years. The average pay gap between male and female headteachers in 2023-24 was £8,648 – up 6% from the previous year. The hardest hit group are female headteachers over 60, where the gap widens to £14,352 [Tes magazine - subscription required]

Find out whether your school/trust needs to report on the gender pay gap, and what information and figures must be reported.

This week's headlines

•  Government announces new supervised toothbrushing scheme to help prevent tooth decay [GOV.UK]
•  Term-time holidays only make up a very small percentage of absence figures, says education minister [Schools Week]
• Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs often fare the worst when seeking support, new analysis finds [Tes magazine – subscription required]
• Teachers’ pension contributions set to rise for the first time in 10 years [Schools Week]
• List of 28 ‘school readiness’ skills released [Tes magazine – subscription required]

Upcoming dates

Monday 17 March – Neurodiversity Celebration Week begins

Monday 17 March – St Patrick’s Day

Tuesday 18 March – National Child Exploitation Awareness Day

Friday 21 March – International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Friday 21 March – World Down Syndrome Day

Friday 21 March – World Poetry Day

Saturday 22 March – World Water Day

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