Author: Sarah Linden, Legal Director in education employment at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson Background The Department for Education (“DfE”) provides an overarching framework for financial governance, management and other controls for academy trusts in England through the Academy Trust Handbook. Compliance with its requirements is a condition of the funding agreement…
With under two months until the expansion of Free School Meals eligibility in England takes effect in September 2026, new research* has found that while awareness of the changes is growing, many families remain unclear about what the changes mean for them and the steps they need to take. The survey – led by The…
Barriers that until now have prevented blind and visually impaired pupils from accessing block-based coding have been removed, thanks to new accessibility features developed by the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, Microsoft MakeCode and Blockly For the first time, 41,506 blind and visually impaired children in the UK* could benefit from a breakthrough that will make block…
New research has revealed that lost property has become one of the most persistent daily challenges in UK schools, with teachers spending significant time each week managing missing items. A third of UK teachers say that searching for lost items is a daily disruption to their school’s routine, a study conducted by My Nametags, the…
Samsung welcomed Edward Morello MP to Thomas Hardye School in Dorset last week to celebrate this year’s People’s Choice Award winner Sophie – proof of what’s possible when students are given the tools to act on an idea they believe in. Registrations for 2026/27 are now open. When Sophie pitched an app to protect the…
July is Disability Pride Month, a month dedicated to celebrating disabled people and building greater understanding around accessibility and inclusion. For schools, it’s a timely moment to reflect on how inclusive PE lessons really are for pupils with SEND, who can sometimes find this the hardest part of the day to access. Premier League Primary…
National School Sports Week (6–12 July) is just around the corner, arriving right when pupils’ energy levels – and patience for sitting still – are wearing thin before the summer break. It’s the perfect excuse to swap a chunk of classroom time for movement, games and a bit of friendly competition. This year, the timing…
Global charity Right To Play’s Save Her Seat project has supported thousands of girls to overcome barriers, learn and develop critical life skills The project is funded by the UK government through UK Aid Match, and donations from the public and LFC Foundation Girls in rural Tanzania are thriving thanks to a project that has…
With new requirements under Martyn’s Law fast approaching, education settings have less than a year to put the right procedures, training and communication systems in place to respond to serious threats. Alex Jay, CEO of Little Green Button, looks at who is ready and why early action matters. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025…
Robust UK, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of steel door solutions, launches its new fire exit door, ACTIV-DOR, suitable for use in sports halls, gymnasiums, leisure centres and multi-purpose recreational spaces. In a move away from traditional emergency exits designed with box panels and resting ledges, ACTIV-DOR features a full-length rebound panel with…
National School Sports Week (6–12 July) is around the corner, arriving right when pupils’ energy levels – and patience for sitting still – are wearing thin before the summer break. It’s the perfect excuse to swap a chunk of classroom time for movement, games and a bit of friendly competition. Premier League Primary Stars has…
July is Disability Pride Month, a month dedicated to celebrating disabled people and building greater understanding around accessibility and inclusion. For schools, it’s a timely moment to reflect on how inclusive PE lessons really are for pupils with SEND, who can sometimes find this the hardest part of the day to access. That’s where Sensory…
Reluctant readers don’t always need more books pushed at them – sometimes they need a different way in. That’s the thinking behind Go All In Together!, a free on-demand workshop from Premier League Primary Stars and the National Literacy Trust, created to mark the National Year of Reading 2026 and hosted by TV and radio…
The last week of term rarely goes to plan – reports are written, classrooms are half packed up, and attention spans are at zero. For teachers after something low-effort but meaningful to fill those final lessons, Premier League Primary Stars has three free wellbeing resources that fit the bill. Resilience, created with the Harry Kane…
It’s the classic end-of-term trap: pack up in July with good intentions, then arrive back in September already behind. Premier League Primary Stars’ free Autumn Term Planner aims to break that cycle, helping teachers map out lessons early, find curriculum-linked resources, and build key awareness dates into their timetable from day one. The planner flags…
Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner has announced £255,000 of funding drawn from seized criminal assets to help secondary schools across the region introduce secure phone storage during the day. A survey by the Commissioner’s office found that 63 per cent of secondary school leaders in the region require devices to be switched off and…
Starting July 4th, families will be able to sign up to The Reading Agency’s free 2026 Summer Reading Challenge – the UK’s biggest reading programme for children – delivered in partnership with Universal Music Group UK This year’s Read to the Beat theme blends stories, rhythm, performance and creativity, and includes free library events, celebrity readings and a nationwide creative competition with the…
Across the UK, for many schools, attendance continues to dominate the education debate. However, despite this attention, many pupils are still absent, with rates remaining above the pre-pandemic levels. Improving school attendance and tackling persistent absence is a continued priority, as evident in the changes proposed throughout the recent Schools White Paper and the revised…
Discovery Education’s DoodleLearning today announced the return of its popular challenge designed to keep children learning during the school summer holidays. The DoodleLearning Summer Challenge encourages children to spend just a few minutes each day practising maths and English using the award-winning DoodleMaths and DoodleEnglish apps. Designed to make learning fun and rewarding, the apps…
Teachers in the UK see the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) as one of the profession’s biggest strengths, especially for attracting and retaining staff. However, research from Wesleyan Financial Services highlights a growing difference between the value teachers see in the scheme and how clear they are about the benefits they’ll get. In a survey of…
Greenhouse Sports will be hosting its inaugural Schools Conference on Thursday 2 July 2026 at The Greenhouse Centre in Marylebone, London. The event will bring together educators, researchers and practitioners from across the education sector, focused on the role of Positive Youth Development in supporting young people’s wellbeing, confidence and longer-term development. Taking place…
Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, alongside its strategic partners Royal Bank of Scotland and Fortinet, has announced the return of its See It Be It conference, taking place on 2 October 2026 at the Royal Bank of Scotland Edinburgh offices. The free event will bring together female high school pupils, university and college students,…
Swiss Cottage School, Development and Research Centre named in Top 10 shortlist for World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration London’s Deputy Mayor for Children and Families, Joanne McCartney, today congratulated an exemplary Camden school on being named in the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2026. The five World’s Best School…
This summer, the National Railway Museum in York is inviting families to collect the museum passport and embark on a summer holiday in a day. This summer, the National Railway Museum in York is inviting families to collect the museum passport and embark on a summer holiday in a day. Their programme of free activities will take visitors on a journey to explore the countryside, have…
With more than 850 schools reportedly closing or shutting early during the heatwave, school kitchens and catering teams may be left managing large volumes of meals and ingredients at short notice. Estimated school meal food at risk during heatwave closures Affected schools (Lower-Higher estimate)Estimated pupils affectedEstimated school meals affectedEstimated food at risk (tonnes)Estimated meal value…
