The Week in Education: What mattered for STEM teachers

A teacher-facing long-read that pulls together the key stories (duplicates removed) and translates them into practical implications for science, maths, computing and DT. Each story has a direct link so you can dig deeper.

1) Inclusion is the headline: schools are being asked to publish an inclusion strategy (and show their working)

If last month was about the White Paper, this week was about the first wave of “OK, so what does that actually mean for schools?”. Both Schools Week and Tes summarised new expectations on inclusion, including a requirement for schools to publish an inclusion strategy from December 2026, and clearer signals about how funding should be used and evidenced.

The tricky bit, of course, is capacity. Tes ran analysis on the scale of the challenge in creating “inclusion bases” across mainstream secondaries, pointing to uneven existing provision and patchy data about what already exists. For STEM, this matters because inclusion isn’t abstract: it shows up in class composition, adult support, lesson transitions, sensory load, practical safety and how pupils evidence their understanding.

A related Schools Week story suggests central government is tightening its grip on how local authorities spend high-needs capital funding, pushing councils to prioritise mainstream specialist places (and asking for evidence if they want to spend on special/AP expansion instead). In plain terms: “mainstream inclusion” is not just encouraged; it’s being structurally incentivised.

2) Attendance and behaviour: “overall improving” can still hide a sharp edge

Attendance data is one of those things that can sound reassuring in summary and worrying in detail. Tes reported that severe absence (pupils missing at least half of sessions) reached a record high, even as overall and persistent absence improved. For STEM departments, severe absence is particularly disruptive because practical sequences build cumulatively: missed safety routines, missed skills, missed core concepts.

Schools Week added a parent-angle: polling suggesting more than a third of parents took children out of school for a holiday or family event in the last year, with regional differences in attitudes to attendance enforcement. This isn’t about judgement; it’s about planning. If the pattern is “more missed time, more regularly”, you need catch-up systems that don’t rely on heroic individual teachers.

Behaviour also cut through. Tes reported union concerns that violent pupil behaviour may be under-reported, and linked this to the “new frontier” of digital harassment (including manipulated or AI-generated content). This is relevant for STEM teams because labs, workshops and ICT rooms need predictable routines and safety-first norms; uncertainty and inconsistency amplify risk.

3) The funding reality: donations, class sizes, and what inclusion requires in practice

A cluster of Tes stories this week connected funding pressure to inclusion capacity. One reported that many schools rely on donations/fundraising to cover basics. Another warned that large class sizes are seen by teachers as a barrier to inclusive practice. Whatever your setting, these translate into the same operational question: “What level of adult support and time do we actually have to make adaptations stick?”

STEM lens: if you want inclusion to be more than a paper promise, protect the “enablers” — technician time, clear routines, predictable equipment issue, chunked instructions, and a manageable ratio for practical work. These are the boring bits that make the brilliant bits possible.

4) Screen time guidance: early years, habits, and the long tail into STEM learning

Sky’s education team flagged new guidance that encourages parents to limit screen time for under-fives (less than two hours per day). This might feel “outside school”, but early habits show up later as attention regulation, sleep, language development, and how comfortable children are with sustained, effortful tasks. For primary STEM, it’s also a reminder that hands-on play, talk and real-world exploration remain foundational.

5) Post-16 pathways: apprenticeship outcomes, care leavers, and the “missing teenagers” gap

FE Week offered three important pieces that matter for anyone teaching 14–19 or supporting careers education. First, new data suggest apprenticeship achievement rates have improved, but still sit below a government target — and the article flags continuing attention to quality, retention and intervention where programmes aren’t working.

Second, FE Week reported a three-year funding commitment for pupil premium plus post-16 support for looked-after young people, framed as helping to “push back the cliff edge” at 16. This is a practical equity story: funding stability helps councils and providers plan sustained support rather than short, stop-start projects.

Third, FE Week ran a data-led piece on the “September guarantee” and the challenge of tracking and securing suitable post-16 offers, reporting large numbers of young people falling through gaps over time and variation by area. For schools, it reinforces a simple truth: transition is not a moment, it’s a process. Careers guidance, data-sharing, and early intervention are doing a lot of hidden work.

6) Evidence focus: early years funding is valued, but access barriers remain

The EEF published a report on the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), finding high awareness and strong perceived value, but also practical barriers to claiming and planning use of the funding. The most useful “takeaway” for educators is the emphasis on spending that’s strategic and evidence-informed (not just reactive), plus a planning tool to help settings prioritise and monitor impact. Even for secondary STEM teachers, this matters: early disadvantage shapes language, executive function and confidence long before GCSE options.

7) Opportunity and enrichment: chess, place planning, and careers funding changes

Three Schools Week stories this week sat under a shared theme: “how do we widen opportunity, and who pays for it?”. One covered a new scheme aimed at widening access to chess, with an explicit focus on groups less likely to access enrichment. Another reported ministers approving three primary free schools after appeals. And a third suggested the DfE is beginning market engagement over a potential new approach to careers funding from 2027–28.

STEM angle: enrichment that builds reasoning (like chess) can complement maths and computing in meaningful ways, but access matters. Meanwhile, careers funding changes can shift the quality of employer engagement and encounters students get — so it’s worth keeping an eye on how “careers hubs” evolve locally.

8) Safeguarding capacity: Prevent support roles under pressure

Schools Week reported that reductions in Prevent funding may lead to cuts in specialist education officer posts in one local area. This is less about politics and more about capacity: safeguarding responsibilities don’t shrink when specialist support reduces. In STEM subjects where online content is regularly discussed (AI, misinformation, climate claims), staff confidence and clear routes matter.

9) Social media spillover: racism, misogyny and misinformation showing up in classrooms

Tes reported polling suggesting many teachers perceive harmful social media content influencing pupils’ attitudes and behaviour, including racist or misogynistic content and misinformation. For STEM teachers, there’s a useful “doable” response: build routines that teach evidence-handling, uncertainty, verification and respectful disagreement — not as a bolt-on, but as part of scientific and mathematical thinking.

Reflections & prompts for STEM teams

1) Inclusion strategy (real, not paper): If you had to write your department’s “inclusion strategy in practice” in one page, what would be on it? Start with routines (instructions, equipment issue, transitions, noise/sensory load, assessment formats) before interventions.

2) Practical entitlement under pressure: If capacity tightens (adult support, technician hours, budgets), what are your non-negotiables for safe, meaningful practical STEM? Decide now so you don’t lose practical learning by drift.

3) Severe absence plan: Do you have a “minimum catch-up pathway” for pupils missing 50%+ of sessions (especially in practical-heavy units)? Consider micro-assessments for key skills, not just content.

4) Evidence resilience routine: Pick one weekly routine that builds misinformation resilience: source check, mechanism check, magnitude check, or “what evidence would change your mind?”. Keep it short and consistent.

5) Behaviour and digital harm: Do staff have a shared script and route for incidents involving recording, edited clips or AI-generated content? Agree what to do in the first 10 minutes (who, what, where, preserve evidence, safeguarding route).

6) Careers and post-16 transitions: Update one slide/handout this term: the questions pupils should ask about apprenticeships and post-16 options (support, training time, assessment model, progression). Use FE Week’s “missing teenagers” story as a reminder that transition needs active support.

7) Early years matters (even in secondary): What’s one way your KS3 STEM curriculum can rebuild foundational gaps (vocabulary, talk, attention, confidence) without lowering ambition?