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In the week Tes reported that a group of four multi-academy trusts will establish and run the new £121 million National Institute of Teaching, a report suggested that teachers “should foster vulnerable pupils” and Ofsted released its findings on the English curriculum.

Among other things, we asked what has gone wrong with catch-up - and can it catch up? We also looked at the classroom activities that boost GCSE scores and how minister for school standards, Robin Walker, is going to “make England the best place in the world to be a teacher”.

Catch up on your must-read Tes news and features articles from the past week right here:

News

• Social care review: ‘Teachers should foster vulnerable pupils’
  Children who cannot be cared for by their family network could be fostered by their teacher, a new report, published today, suggests. The report, an independent review of children’s social care, says the belief that it is “inappropriate” for a teacher and other “known adults” to become their pupil’s foster carer “needs to change”.
• 7 Ofsted findings on the English curriculum
  Ofsted has produced a new research review setting out how schools can deliver a high-quality curriculum in English literature and language. The subject research review is the latest in a series from the inspectorate since it launched the education inspection framework, which places an increased emphasis on the delivery of the curriculum. We round up its key findings.
• Give weaker students best teachers to raise grades, schools told
  The most “highly rated” teachers should be assigned to lower-achieving students to raise GCSE grades, a report suggests. Students taught by a teacher who had been rated as highly effective scored better than those taught by a teacher from the bottom quartile. The researchers found that this mattered less for “relatively higher achieving students and classes” but made a greater difference for average or below-average students.
• DfE hiring more attendance advisers to ‘challenge’ schools
  The Department for Education is looking to double the number of £500-a-day “attendance advisers” in order to “challenge” more schools and local authorities on their approaches to cutting pupil absence.
• SLDT given £121m Institute of Teaching go-ahead
  A group of four multi-academy trusts will establish and run the new £121 million National Institute of Teaching (NIoT), the government has confirmed. The School Led Development Trust (SLDT) will run the new teacher-training academy from the autumn. We explain everything you need to know about the NIoT here.

Features

• What has gone wrong with catch-up - and can it catch up?
  We dig deep into the data and the detail of “catch-up”, talking to those in key positions to chart how - and why - the “national priority” has failed, and what happens next…
• Will reducing teacher contact time prove too difficult?
  Scotland’s efforts to reduce the contact hours of its teachers have hit complexities that are stalling the process and sending a warning to other countries, finds Henry Hepburn.
• Schools can’t keep children safe alone - society needs to step up
  Following the tragic events in Texas and two new reports looking at 51����, we need to ask ourselves whether we have gone far enough to help schools help students to stay safe, says Jon Severs.
• Attendance focus shows why good ventilation in schools still matters
  While ventilation was the big topic in the pandemic to reduce infection risks, academics say that if the government wants to focus on boosting attendance to further minimise disruption to education, it’s a topic that should be on the agenda again.
• The classroom activities that boost GCSE scores, according to research
  As new research reveals which teaching practices produce better GCSE results for students in English and maths, Professor Simon Burgess explains what the findings mean for classroom teachers.
• Robin Walker: We’ll make England the best place in the world to be a teacher
  Minister for school standards Robin Walker writes for Tes to outline why the government believes a new pay offer and access to more NPQs can help drive a new perception of teaching in England.