Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ministers seek 3-year pay proposals and directed time review

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jul 23

Working out how to enable a ‘Multi Year Funding Agreement’ could be a game changer for leaders- enabling greater certainty with more secure strategic sensible longer term financial planning

schoolsweek.co.uk/ministers-as...

STRB also told to consider a salary safeguarding reduction and allow maintained schools to pay bonuses

schoolsweek.co.uk

Board named for inquiry into white, working-class pupils’ education

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jul 22

Delighted to be invited to work as part of the team aiming to bring fresh, evidence based, solution focused strategies to look at the challenges facing this underperforming group of pupils
www.tes.com/magazine/new...

The inquiry, commissioned by Star Academies, brings together leaders from across national and local government, schools, trusts and colleges

We’re lurching towards a crisis over EHCPs - this is how to avoid it

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jul 11

The government must spell out how it is going to build capacity for SEND support in mainstream schools.

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Scrapping education, health and care plans is an incendiary suggestion, warns ASCL chief Pepe Di’Iasio, who outlines what government must now do to build confidence in its plans to reform SEND support

Pepe Di'Iasio | BBC Breakfast 6 July 2025

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jul 6

Speaking ⁦‪@BBCBreakfast‬⁩ @bbcnews-uk-rss.bsky.social with ⁦‪⁦‪ @romeshranganathan.bsky.social about the challenges of navigating the difficult but important process facing parents gaining a place in their preferred school

vimeo.com/1099096525

Pepe Di'Iasio, ASCL General Secretary, speaks to BBC Breakfast regarding school admissions and appeals. www.ascl.org.uk

vimeo.com

4 barriers to inclusive practice - and how to overcome them

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jul 2

‘Good inclusive teaching is, in many ways, just good teaching’ Excellent piece here to help us move forward into what is going to be a key theme for the Autumn term
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

As the government pushes for more children with SEND to be educated in mainstream schools, Zofia Niemtus looks at what needs to happen to make genuine inclusion a reality, outlining the key issues hol...

The government cannot afford to get this wrong - SecEd

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jun 30

Why this is so potentially controversial is easy to see. If the government gets this wrong it will put itself on a collision course with parents-these are parents are used to fighting on behalf of their children against a system that many feel is stacked against them
www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/blog...

Reform is needed to the SEND system and government plans will be set out in the Schools White Paper this autumn

www.sec-ed.co.uk

Pepe Di'Iasio BBC Breakfast | 10 June 2025

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jun 23

A room full of energy and great expectations for the year ahead. @ascl-uk.bsky.social New Headteachers Conference. Brilliant to hear from @keziah70.bsky.social @carolinebarlow.bsky.social @cmckinnellmp.bsky.social

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jun 10

Much welcomed advice and guidance on the safe and effective use of AI in Schools and Colleges
@ascl-uk.bsky.social
vimeo.com/1092044870

Pepe Di'Iasio, ASCL General Secretary, speaks to BBC Breakfast regarding teachers using AI to save time on marking. www.ascl.org.uk

vimeo.com

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jun 7

The spin in the final sprint towards the Spending Review begins…..
observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Surprise extra £4.5bn for schools as Reeves goes to wire ...

More money for SEND reforms and teachers’ pay while health and defence are big winners in spending review

observer.co.uk

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Jun 1

This excellent piece reminded me of the expertise and experience that exists around our government-who, I believe, would do well to listen to-learn from and lean into when developing policy
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

We need our children to leave school ready for life in the real world | The Observer

To ensure that young people embarking on a career have the skills and mindset employers are looking for, education must be linked more closely to the workplace

observer.co.uk

Big systems are compromises. Our road network is a good example – the one I used to get here today. Some cars are safer at higher speeds. It’s more important for some people to be on time than it i…

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 27

Excellent piece👏
‘If we all made provision for children who find learning tough a priority for us then how far down the road might we go?’
I stand with Ben
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/w...

Who are schools for?

bennewmark.wordpress.com

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 24

Excellent piece from Manny Botwe @ascl-uk.bsky.social President ‘It would be a tough ask to expect inspectors to arrive at consistent and reliable judgements on a five-point grading scale across so many different areas in such a short period of time’
www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Ofsted report card inspections ‘too short for reliable judgement’

School leaders involved in trials of Ofsted’s planned new inspection system warn about the volume of work to be done in one and a half days

Child poverty: History will judge this government very harshly unless it acts now - SecEd

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 13

Reducing the shocking level of child poverty in the UK is one of the most effective things we could do to improve the wellbeing and educational outcomes of millions of children
www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/blog...

Levels of child poverty are at a record high and set to rise further during the course of this Parliament

www.sec-ed.co.uk

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 9

A wonderful day commemorating and celebrating #VEDay80 with students. Nothing better than the power of music and song to help young people learn from and connect with such important moments in our history

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 7

I love that this piece reminded me of all the delights (and downsides)of what makes Headship the ‘greatest job in the world’

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 7

Very kind of you Dan
Impressive to see so many trust leaders travelling from across the SW to join the meeting

Let’s end this sorry tale of state neglect and make childhood magical again

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 4

‘The elephant in the room is poverty.’

observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

From child poverty, to unemployment among young people, to a lack of skills or training, the trends are deeply alarming

observer.co.uk

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 2

‘To govern is to decide’
The truth is -it will have been considered-discussed-and then a decision reached to prioritise ‘something else’
Who knows if it would have made a difference-but 6 votes feels very close

Talk of schools finding ‘efficiencies’ is a fantasy

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · May 2

It is utterly self-defeating for the government to refuse to give schools the money they need to afford to pay that award to their teachers.
www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

The government says schools will need to find ‘efficiencies’ to cover next year’s teacher pay rise. The truth is that this means more cuts, writes the ASCL general secretary

A system that empowers: The future of professional development | IPPR

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Apr 29

‘We cannot raise standards without raising the expertise of our teachers and school leaders.’
Some great research promoting the power of investing in our workforce highlighting the positive impact this has particularly for our most disadvantaged

Loic Menzies @loicmnzs.bsky.social · Apr 29

Investment in professional expertise would unleash a powerful cycle of improvement, empowering teachers to provide the education our children deserve.
My new @ippr.bsky.social
report with Ambition Institute sets out a blueprint for a professional development entitlement
www.ippr.org/articles/a-s...

We need to keep improving education standards, and tackle inequalities in achievement, both for pupils from low-income families and for children with speci

www.ippr.org

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Apr 25

Policies such as free school meals and breakfast clubs can be a real lifeline to families who are struggling, but if they are going to be done on the cheap then their impact will be greatly diminished.They simply must be fully funded
schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-confirms...

DfE confirms paltry 3p UIFSM funding rise

1.2% increase is far below predicted rises in food and wage costs

schoolsweek.co.uk

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Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Apr 22

Reassuring that the profession are being heard.I guess we are all looking forward to seeing what this will actually look like in reality. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Ofsted: We know we need to improve our inspection plans

With Ofsted’s consultation on its proposed changes to school inspection coming to an end, the watchdog’s director of strategy and engagement outlines its key insights so far - and how it is adapting i...

Pepe Di’Iasio @pepediiasio.bsky.social · Apr 17

Nice touch from ⁦‪@tes‬⁩ Looking forward to judging the ‘Headteacher of the Year at the TES Awards’ this year-always a wonderful celebration of our profession