Late October saw General Secretary Pepe Di’Iasio make an early morning journey to Salford to appear on BBC Breakfast’s iconic red sofa. Alongside Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt, he discussed the impact that Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check delays were having on schools hiring new staff. Recruitment and retention has remained a key topic for the media in recent months. In December, ASCL’s response to the latest initial teacher training census attracted attention in both the
national and
specialist press.
December also saw the publication of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The Bill has been fiercely debated in Parliament, including at Prime Minister’s Questions, and consequently generated plenty of column inches. ASCL’s comments about the Bill have been reported in publications such as
The Times and
The Independent. Senior Director of Strategy, Policy and Professional Development, Julie McCulloch, was among the experts invited to give evidence to the Bill Committee in January. Her remarks were picked up in
TES and
Schools Week.
February saw a huge amount of media interest in Ofsted’s new report cards. Pepe Di’Iasio discussed these with Sarah Montague on BBC Radio 4’s
World at One, while ASCL’s comments also featured in
The Guardian and
Financial Times, among others.