In the news

Unfair influence

In a Radio 4 Today interview following the announcement of the end of Key Stage 3 tests, Ed Balls was accused of giving into "a powerful lobby of secondary heads".

Presenter Sarah Montague said: "The argument I'm putting forward is that you seem to listen to the unions of headteachers of secondary schools more than you listen to those of primary."

Ed Balls denied this, adding that the remark was unfair to the "primary school heads' association". However he reiterated that he didn't agree with the NAHT's campaign to end tests at age 11.

Compulsory PSHE

ASCL spoke out against the DCSF's decision in October to make PSHE mandatory. "Regrettably, governments have a horrible habit of making more and more things compulsory and increasing the constraints on state schools," said John Dunford in the Guardian, Independent, BBC Online, East Anglian Times, Eastern Daily Press, Western Morning News, Yorkshire Post, Western Mail and Hull Daily Mail.

Exclusions

Commenting on the latest exclusion figures in October, John Dunford said on Radio 4's Today programme that there was more support from government for heads who took a tough line on behaviour but that better provision was needed for troubled young people.

John pointed out the "moral dilemma that headteachers face between the detrimental impact that occurs to the education of others if a disruptive child is kept in the school, as against the damage that can be done to that child by being permanently excluded."

The October figures showed that temporary exclusions were up and permanent exclusions down.