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News from the Bespoke School Furniture team


Education Secretary speech at Global AI Safety Summit
In her speech, the Education Secretary, yesterday announced stronger safety measures to be introduced around AI in education. Hello everyone and thank you so much for coming. And thank you to those of you who have worked so hard to make today happen. I am delighted to welcome our friends from around the world here to London. And we meet today on Chancery Lane, an historic street that goes back nine centuries. It was originally built by the Knights Templar to connect the
4 days ago6 min read


Narrow synthetic phonics is not effective for teaching struggling young readers
Synthetic phonics, where children are taught to pronounce sounds in isolation before putting them together to form words, isn’t working for many struggling young readers, a study led by UCL has found. In October, the government in England raised the target for the number of pupils in England to reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check from 84 per cent to 90 per cent, despite only 80 per cent of pupils currently meeting that target. Phonics helps child
Jan 213 min read


£3bn investment to end postcode lottery for children with SEND
Around 50,000 specialist places to be created nationwide – making sure more children with SEND can thrive alongside their friends at their local school. Children with SEND will benefit from a brilliant education close to home as the government announces at least £3 billion to create tens of thousands of new specialist places in mainstream schools. The Education Secretary recently (11 December 2025) announced a transformational expansion of specialist, calm learning spaces in
Jan 84 min read


School buildings continue to improve
Scottish Government investment sees record number of pupils now in good or satisfactory schools More children and young people in...
Sep 22, 20253 min read


Government delivers thousands more school-based nursery places
Working parents will have their lives made easier as the government is opening 300 new or expanded nurseries on school grounds, helping...
Sep 15, 20254 min read


Thousands of children with SEND to benefit from assistive tech
Government launches innovative pilot with up to £1.7m available to help children with SEND achieve and thrive at their local school....
Jul 4, 20255 min read


Ofsted to strengthen inspections through new team structures
Following feedback from last year’s Big Listen and the recent consultation on inspection reform, Ofsted has today announced a new...
Jun 30, 20252 min read


Government takes leaps forwards in driving up school standards
New regional improvement teams expanded to reach more than 200 schools and 120,000 children to drive up standards across the country....
May 5, 20254 min read


New specialist places to be created in mainstream schools
Major reforms to SEND system kicked off with £740 million capital investment to create more specialist places in mainstream schools....
Dec 12, 20243 min read


Minister McKinnell speech at Schools and Academies Show 2024
Education Minister Catherine McKinnell's yesterday addressed at the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham. In the past 5 months it’s...
Nov 24, 20249 min read


Responding to bullying in schools
New guidance focuses on ‘prevention, response and inclusivity’. New guidance to support schools and organisations working with children...
Nov 17, 20242 min read


Ofsted opens registrations for new childcare provider type
Ofsted has today begun accepting applications for a new category of childcare provider, as part of a series of changes the Department for...
Nov 9, 20241 min read


A strong foundation in Reception and key stage 1 sets children up for success
Ofsted has today published a report looking at how schools support children to develop the foundational knowledge and skills they need by...
Oct 14, 20243 min read


Ofsted publishes updates to school inspection handbooks
Ofsted yesterday published updates to its state-funded school inspection handbooks as well as its deferral, pausing and gathering...
Sep 20, 20241 min read


Back to school 2024
This week is important to many children around the country, with the start of the new academic year. Whether a child is going to school...
Sep 6, 20244 min read
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