Weekly Education Round-Up: Innovation, Inclusion, and AI in the UK Classroom
Published: 1st July 2025
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
Welcome to your weekly deep dive into what’s been making waves across the UK education landscape. This edition includes new AI inspection guidance, reflections on SEND policy, teacher strikes, green skills for FE, and even the unexpected comeback of amateur radio in the classroom.
Let’s unpack the stories most relevant to STEM educators, framed with classroom impact in mind.
1. Ofsted's Take on AI in Education: Insight Over Intrusion
🔗 TES | How Ofsted will inspect the impact of AI use in schools (27 June)
Ofsted has now clarified that while AI use won’t be judged in isolation, inspectors will assess how tech enhances—or undermines—learning. Expect increased focus on whether AI supports pupils’ understanding, reduces workload, or simply replicates existing tasks.
🧠 Classroom impact: STEM teachers exploring AI-powered platforms or virtual labs should ensure clear alignment with curriculum goals and pupil progression evidence.
2. SEND Reform: Continuity for Settled Pupils
🔗 Schools Week | Pupils ‘settled’ in special schools won’t be moved under reforms
A senior Department for Education official confirmed that current pupils thriving in special schools won’t be disrupted by broader SEND reforms. While the ambition remains to support more pupils in mainstream settings, change will be evolutionary rather than abrupt.
📊 What this means: Inclusion remains a national goal—but ensuring staff training, especially in STEM environments where sensory and working memory challenges are pronounced, is key.
3. Supporting Teaching Assistants for Impact
🔗 EEF | Struggling Year 2 pupils benefit from teaching assistant-led maths programme (26 June)
The EEF published a report highlighting how structured, TA-led interventions in early years maths yield strong results—especially when assistants are clearly guided and trained.
📚 STEM application: Consider how your TAs can support retrieval practice, scaffolded inquiry, or small-group experiments, particularly at KS3 where foundational gaps widen.
4. Entrepreneurship in the Curriculum?
🔗 TES | Entrepreneurship should be part of the curriculum (1 July)
GEMS Education founder Sunny Varkey argues for embedding entrepreneurial thinking—risk-taking, innovation, and failure resilience—into everyday learning.
💡 STEM link: Real-world engineering and coding challenges already foster this spirit. Could you scaffold projects where students pitch inventions or apps?
5. Labour’s Policy and the Curriculum Tightrope
🔗 Schools Week | Labour is on the right path – but it’s a tightrope
With the general election looming, Schools Week analyses Labour’s curriculum stance. The party is committed to retaining knowledge-rich approaches but with more relevance to pupils' lived experiences.
🎓 For STEM: This could empower greater flexibility in weaving in climate literacy, AI ethics, and community-focused engineering solutions.
6. Strike Action: The Time Debate
🔗 Schools Week | OGAT staff set to strike for 10 more days in July
Teachers at Outwood Grange are striking over proposals to extend the school day by 30 minutes, sparking wider debate on workload, pay, and productivity.
🧪 STEM-specific stress: Practical subjects already demand out-of-hours setup and marking. More minutes don’t always mean more meaningful learning.
7. FE’s Secret Weapon: GSAP and Net-Zero Skills
🔗 FE Week | GSAP: FE’s secret weapon for net zero training
Meet Mike Blakeley, a former fisherman building a Green Skills Advisory Panel (GSAP) to align FE curriculum with the UK’s climate goals. GSAP aims to train learners in areas like sustainable energy, electric vehicles, and green construction.
🌍 STEM crossover: A brilliant opportunity for KS4/KS5 STEM teachers to partner with FE providers and guide students towards sustainable tech careers.
8. Schools and Amateur Radio: Rediscovering the Wave
🔗 TES | Why I started an amateur radio club in my school (1 July)
A teacher revives an old-school club with new-age purpose. Radio communications become a platform for physics experiments, coding practice, and global conversations.
🎙️ Reflection: Could STEM clubs serve dual roles—deepening subject understanding while fostering social capital?
9. Big Questions on GCSE Reform
🔗 TES | What’s next for English assessment? (1 July)
While not STEM-specific, the review into English GCSEs is reigniting broader curriculum reform discussions. Many are asking whether assessments reflect 21st-century skills or restrict innovation.
🧮 STEM parallels: Could this be the moment to argue for practical project-based assessment in STEM fields?
10. Data Gaps in Free School Meals Forecasting
🔗 TES | DfE doesn’t know how many pupils will lose FSM (1 July)
The DfE admitted it can't estimate how many children will lose Free School Meal eligibility under Universal Credit changes—raising alarms across equity campaigners.
🥪 Equity in STEM: Ensure FSM pupils in your setting have equitable access to materials—e.g., calculators, software licenses, science kits.
Reflections for STEM Teachers
Let’s wrap up with some thoughts and prompts for your departmental discussions:
🧠 1. How is AI influencing your teaching, and are your students critical consumers of it?
♻️ 2. Are you integrating sustainability and green careers into your curriculum?
💬 3. How can TAs be better supported to deliver high-quality, evidence-based interventions in STEM subjects?
⏱️ 4. Are longer school days the answer—or should the focus be on quality and workload?
🛠️ 5. Are you making room for play, curiosity, and risk-taking in your science or computing curriculum?
We’ll be back next week with more updates. Until then, stay curious—and if you're doing something amazing in your STEM classroom, share it with your local or national networks. You're shaping the future, one lesson at a time.
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Note: This blog post is an AI curated summary of news articles from various sources. The aim is to provide educators with a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the education sector. All hyperlinks direct readers to the original news articles for further reading.