Daily roundup 31 October: Ofsted departure, abuse inquiry, and child suicide

Ofsted's deputy director for social care will leave the authority to become director of children's services at Bexley, it has been announced. Jacky Tiotto, who at Ofsted is responsible for the development of the current single inspection framework for local authority child protection, looked after children and care leaver services, is due to take up post in February 2015.

The head of an inquiry into historic child abuse is under fresh pressure to resign amid claims she re-drafted a letter playing down her links to former minister Leon Britten, who is under scrutiny over an alleged cover up, seven times. The Daily Mail reports that Fiona Woolf made a series of alterations to a letter she sent to Home Secretary Theresa May about possible conflicts of interest with the assistance of Home Office officials.

New figures show that the number of children admitting to having experienced suicidal thoughts has risen dramatically since 2010. ITV News reports that ChildLine held 34,517 counselling sessions over the past year with children who spoke about suicide – 117 per cent more than in 2010/11.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has questioned the “objectivity and reliability” of Ofsted following a series of inspection controversies, including the Trojan Horse scandal in Birmingham. The Independent reports that the LGA is calling for an independent review of the inspectorate in order to restore public faith in inspectors’ judgments.

Researchers have claimed that teachers who “lavish praise” on struggling pupils hinder their efforts to succeed. The BBC reports that a study by the Sutton Trust found that heaping praise on low achievers can “convey a message of low expectations”.

A group of early years experts are set to create new frameworks for a series of apprenticeships that focus on career progression. The Early Years Trailblazer Group, which recently redesigned the early years apprenticeship, has been awarded government funding to develop frameworks for assistant practitioner, nursery leader and senior practitioner apprenticeships.