Blogs

Edition: 3rd–10th June 2025 | Estimated read time: 15 minutes
Curated by WebG – Your education insights assistant

📌 Top STEM-Linked News and Insights

1. New Guidance on Deploying Teaching Assistants

The EEF issued updated guidance to maximise the effectiveness of teaching assistants (TAs), with evidence-backed suggestions that include structuring TA interventions in small-group and one-to-one STEM activities.

2. Mathematical Manipulatives: Familiarity to Fluency

This EEF blog explores the impact of giving pupils time to compare and reason through strategies using manipulatives, encouraging a more fluent and confident maths mindset.

3. Wait Time in Maths

EEF's article outlines how adding a few extra seconds of silence after a question can boost independence and deeper thinking—particularly valuable in STEM questioning.

4. 7 Teacher Workforce Trends to Watch

TES highlights declining STEM vacancy rates and stronger retention among part-time returners. The findings show promise for staffing stability in STEM education.

5. When Adaptive Teaching Doesn’t Work

TES also reflects on the limits of adaptive teaching when pupils' learning gaps are too wide—offering strategies to refine scaffolding and formative checks, especially in maths and science.

6. Improving Overseas Teacher Recruitment

Schools Week shares key takeaways from a government evaluation highlighting that international STEM teachers often need stronger induction in UK behavioural expectations.

🏫 Wider Education Policy & School Leadership News

7. What Schools Can Expect from Spending Review 2025

A rise in school funding is expected, yet critics warn it may not cover inflation or specialist equipment needs in STEM subjects.

8. FSM Expansion Sparks Pupil Premium Debate

TES and Schools Week report growing concern that changes to FSM could distort Pupil Premium funding data. Schools are urged to monitor eligibility trends.

9. Cross-Trust SEND Strategies: A New Blueprint

From training to policy alignment, this guide helps STEM departments contribute to wider SEND inclusivity—especially vital in high-content subjects like physics and chemistry.

10. SEND Inspection Failures Trigger Calls for Reform

Joint coverage by Schools Week and FE Week revealed Ofsted is planning a “pool of inspectors” and simplified report cards to address ongoing SEND service weaknesses.

11. Academy Merger Abandoned Post-Resignation

A proposed academy trust merger was halted, highlighting how leadership shifts can abruptly alter long-term strategy—especially in resource-intense STEM subjects.

12. Burnham's Cash Boost for FE Capacity

Greater Manchester's Mayor announced extra funding for FE colleges, focusing on facilities for technical and STEM qualifications.

🔬 Skills, Careers & AI in Focus

13. West Yorkshire to Pilot Career 'Pathfinder'

A tailored careers platform is being trialled in West Yorkshire to help young people—especially those pursuing STEM pathways—navigate evolving job markets.

14. AI Framework in Colleges Offers Blueprint

FE Week shares how one college developed an AI framework to support chatbot implementation and student services—potentially scalable to STEM learning environments.

🧠 Reflections & Action Prompts for STEM Educators

Thinking Point 1: TA Effectiveness in STEM

• Are your teaching assistants empowered with clear goals and training in your subject?

• Could their role be extended to practicals or small group problem-solving?

Thinking Point 2: Rethinking SEND in Science

• Do your department’s schemes of work reflect universal design principles?

• What simple changes could make lessons more accessible for pupils with EHCPs?

Thinking Point 3: AI Integration: Are You Ready?

• What low-risk ways could your department trial AI—for revision help, modelling problems, or data feedback?

Thinking Point 4: Beyond Adaptive Teaching

• Are there gaps in your diagnostic assessment that allow pupils to “fall through the net”?

• Could peer mentoring or flipped content better bridge those divides?

Thinking Point 5: The Recruitment Pipeline

• Is your school’s approach to hiring new STEM teachers future-proof?

• What supports are in place for international or returning educators?

✅ Final Word

This week offered a blend of practical strategies and big-picture questions. Whether it’s harnessing AI, rethinking support staff, or tweaking teaching wait time, the thread across stories is intentionality. STEM education doesn’t just teach content—it teaches precision, process, and purpose. Let’s continue to model that in our practice.

🔹 Behaviour Expectations for International Recruits

• Do newly hired teachers in your department receive induction on UK-specific behaviour strategies?

🔹 Leveraging AI Ethically in STEM

• Have you explored any AI tools for lesson planning, assessment, or student feedback?

• What barriers do you see in your school to adopting these technologies?

🔹 Supporting SEND Learners in STEM

• Are there universal strategies across science and maths that support SEND learners without isolating them?

• How do we balance rigour and access in curriculum design?

📣 Final Thought

This week’s educational updates echo a broader theme: balance—between rigour and inclusion, between innovation and support, between data and real-life application. For STEM teachers, the message is clear: adapt smartly, collaborate generously, and teach with a vision wider than the lab bench or whiteboard.

See you next week for another roundup.