Warwick Mansell Profile picture
Education journalist. Run ed news website Education Uncovered. Long-time Guardian contributor. Blogger for Prospect union, NEU. Support my work via my website.
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Mar 6 12 tweets 3 min read
New: Departing teacher delivers scathing criticisms of academy trust’s policies, in school she describes as “totalitarian”

Another teacher leaving an Astrea secondary school in Cambs lifts the lid on classroom-level problems, as she sees them.educationuncovered.co.uk/news/168766/de… Her three-page resignation letter includes criticism of “intimidating” “army-style” line-ups in the playground, with this teacher saying she felt uncomfortable asking students to lift their trouser legs so she cd check their shoes and socks+did not want to be someone they "fear".
Dec 1, 2023 8 tweets 2 min read
Another vignette about Astrea academy trust. Parents at one of its 2ndaries in Cambs were sent a message from school yesterday warning daughters not to wear black socks over black tights. Message said that students had been reminded that this was vs the rules, despite the cold... The message said: “As part of our relentless focus on raising standards…we are reminding students that they are not to be wearing black socks with tights while at school.
Nov 29, 2023 23 tweets 4 min read
New: Academy which locks gates in front of toilets during lessons tells parent that many modern workplaces restrict access to the loo
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/167511/ac… Parent whose child faced extreme distress when not managing to go to the toilet during lessons given the explanation at Astrea Academy Woodfields, Doncaster.
Nov 10, 2023 53 tweets 8 min read
New: Michaela head told inspectors the school did not teach music in year nine mainly because pupils “are not really interested in the subject”.

Long read piece on the inspection notes on Michaela Community School,which I FOI’d following its recent report.educationuncovered.co.uk/news/166381/mi… The notes, though heavily redacted, make fascinating reading, revealing multiple ways in which the school was interrogated by inspectors, with a string of conclusions not reflected in the published Ofsted report.
Oct 6, 2023 17 tweets 3 min read
New: The one-sentence dismissal of academies reform by Labour-leaning think thank – and why this is so disappointing

Non-consideration of school organisation, in otherwise radical report, is surprising and sadly I think undermines its aims fundamentally.educationuncovered.co.uk/analysis/analy… First, the logic of non-consideration of school structures, as set out here, is problematic.
Sep 20, 2023 11 tweets 2 min read
New: Teachers at Astrea secondary academy told to remove all items from the front of their classrooms – and to have all year groups reading with a ruler

Latest developments at Astrea’s St Ivo Academy, in St Ives, Cambridgeshire.educationuncovered.co.uk/news/165556/te… Staff sources are describing as excessive “micro-management” the latest directives from Sheffield-based Astrea, which have seen teachers told to remove furniture, artwork in art classrooms and even rubbish bins from front of their classrooms.
Sep 12, 2023 14 tweets 3 min read
New: DfE has no record of its regional director passing parental concerns about effects of a school's behaviour policies to Ofsted – even though complaint had mentioned suicidal thoughts among children
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/165476/df… FOI finds office of Regional Director J Duff had no correspondence with Ofsted re detailed letter and evidence sent by parents’ group at Astrea’s St Ivo school, Cambs.
May 12, 2023 24 tweets 5 min read
New: Academy trusts wasting millions of pounds on highly-paid managers
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/164366/ac…
Possibly the most extensive trawl of academy accounts ever, plus analysis of LA accounts and FOIs, finds large MATs spending 8x as much per pupil on £130k+ managers as are large LAs. Yet there is no definitive evidence that the academies sector has provided higher quality to pupils as a result.
May 11, 2023 18 tweets 3 min read
New: Consultation responses overwhelmingly reject MAT plan – but governors plough on with it
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/164351/co…
Latest on academisation move at the Leathersellers’ federation of schools in Lewisham, south London. There has been some transparency in this case, though opponents point out it has come very late, with discussions having gone on between the federation and the DfE about academisation since 2021.
Apr 28, 2023 31 tweets 4 min read
Exclusive: "Teach Like a Champion" academy trust sets out minute-by-minute expectations on how teachers should conduct lessons tinyurl.com/47jac2xu
Detailed look at teaching materials sent to staff at St Ivo school in Cambs by Astrea, the 27-school trust which controls it. These materials see the central MAT seeking to direct staff to implement very tightly policies originating in Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion books.
Apr 28, 2023 9 tweets 2 min read
New: Transparency and good conditions for teachers? Why would you want to guarantee that? says DfE
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/163816/tr… Emails between DfE and the leader of the Leathersellers’ Federation of schools in Lewisham, S London, which is proposing to academise, offer insights into the deregulatory nature of the academies policy.
Jan 20, 2023 15 tweets 3 min read
Right, have published six stories today, analysing documents and data associated with the government’s now-probably-little-talked-about-but-nevertheless-very-interesting Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund (TLIF) policy. The official evaluation report on TLIF, plus an FOI response re the amount the DfE spent on each TLIF project, and, especially, contract information on each, has provided some fascinating information and revelations for these investigations. So, here we go…
Jan 19, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Just reading recent HMCI speech on Ofsted and research... HMCI said: "Discerning strength, weakness...in research requires professional judgement. And without this, cargo cults and lethal mutations can emerge." Yes, so probably best for Ofsted not to have based statement on ppls enjoying tests on a study involving 5 children.
Nov 18, 2022 11 tweets 2 min read
Exclusive: Ofsted’s maths “research review” prompted complaints from renowned international academics that their findings had been misinterpreted
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/162056/of… This piece looks in detail at complaints from five maths ed professors, including past presidents of the American Educational Research Association and the Mathematical Assocation, about Ofsted’s use of their research.
Nov 17, 2022 5 tweets 1 min read
Re-reading Ofsted's "research review" for maths. It states: "Finland is a good eg of an education system where success in [PISA] is thought to be the result of historical approaches,"w footnote citing one paper. Really?So many factors in PISA success,+you cite 1 interpretation? Ofsted wants a "mathematics curriculum [to be] a guarantee of long-term learning". Can any curriculum do that, for all pupils? Strange phrasing, which I guess you wouldn't find in peer-reviewed research.
Nov 17, 2022 11 tweets 2 min read
Revealed: how governors at Holland Park School, under pressure from the government, turned to United Learning as its second choice for controversial takeover
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/162016/re…
I’ve had sight of governing board minutes showing how Ark Schools had been chosen to take over... ...But Ark pulled out - to governors’ “disappointment” - because it was not able to put the takeover through fast enough for the DfE. (DfE wanted takeover by this September).
Oct 19, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
New: No possible conflict of interest, DfE suggests, after man who led its review of ITE sector presides over partnership with newly-accredited provider.
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/161791/no…
Complex story asks questions. Leader of government’s “market review” of ITE was recently announced as in partnership with a new initial teacher training provider.
Oct 18, 2022 11 tweets 2 min read
New: Free school was actually operating at close to its predicted numbers in initial years, in contrast to picture painted by academy trust which took it over
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/161786/fr…
More on Avanti Hall School, Exeter. It’s been reported locally that Avanti Hall School had always struggled for pupil numbers, having opened in 2013 as Steiner Academy Exeter, Avanti Schools Trust having stated that it had been “undersubscribed for a number of years”.
Oct 5, 2022 16 tweets 3 min read
"Moments of understanding, no matter how powerful, are likely to be fleeting," Ofsted has told inspectors, in guidance on what to look for in maths teaching. Wow. To echo what @apf102 has said re Ofsted and history, entire PhDs could, and no doubt have been, written on this. Does remind me of a paper I once read about the Finnish approach to education: that it's been about helping pupils develop "insights". Quite a contrasting approach. (I loved insight moments at school; still do).
Oct 5, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
New: ResearchED “decided it did not want to be a charity,” one of its founding directors states
educationuncovered.co.uk/news/159961/re…
@samfr's twitter response appears to be first clue re why org changed constitution in 2021, after @tombennett71 said charity status being pursued as of 2018. Sam is the only director to respond to requests for comment on researchED’s constitution being changed last year, with the word charity and references to the Charity Commission no longer featuring.
Oct 4, 2022 13 tweets 2 min read
New: Pause “destructive” teacher training reforms, DfE urged, after new survey finds more than three quarters of teachers say their training was good or excellent educationuncovered.co.uk/news/159941/pa…
YouGov survey of >1,000 teachers finds 77 per cent viewed their teacher education as gd/xlent This is an open access piece on my website, so readable by all via this link. educationuncovered.co.uk/news/159941/pa…