In December 2023 the Education Policy Institute published a report summarising the current status and some future trends for education in England. They identified eleven facts, as follows: Fact 1: England performs well against international comparators. Fact 2: Around 40 per cent of the disadvantage gap at age 16 is already evident by age 5 … Continue reading Education: the fundamentals – Eleven facts about the education system in England
Author: Bruce Levitan
Government school attendance campaign criticised by parents
A recent BBC News report highlights criticism of the government's new push to get attendance figures up, quoting the issue that for some children at least, not attending school is due to underlying issues such as OCD, ADHD and autism, where there is insufficient support for the children in school. The report quotes Ashley Fulwood, … Continue reading Government school attendance campaign criticised by parents
The RE Podcast
For those who are interested in RE, Louisa Jane Smith, an RE teacher with over 20 years' teaching expereince and a degree in theology, has an RE Podcast which she notes is "The first dedicated religious education podcast for students and teachers" offering "Bite-size weekly episodes on religion, ethics and philosophy." You can visit her … Continue reading The RE Podcast
Take Action on Climate Change
Do your pupils want to take action on climate change? Eco-Schools can help! Millions of pupils at thousands of schools around the UK are already taking action on climate change thanks to Eco-Schools' simple seven-step programme. The infographic below comes from Eco-Schools' 2022-23 Impact Report. You can sign up for their programme and read more … Continue reading Take Action on Climate Change
Performance Tracker 2023: Schools
The Institute for Government's 2023 Performance Tracker outlines some of the key trends in mainstream education last year, and points to some issues for the future. Some of the key points are: Pupil numbers have peaked since the end of the last "baby boom" in 2013, so in genetral schools will see falling rolls in … Continue reading Performance Tracker 2023: Schools
Bridget Phillipson Speech at Centre for Social Justice
Bridget Phillipson, Shadow Education Secretary outlined Labour's education vision in her speech at Centre for Social Justice on 9 Jan 2024. You can watch the recording here on YouTube.
Minimum service levels in education consultation
The DfE is seeking views on introducing regulations to implement minimum service levels in education services in Great Britain during strike action. This is obviously hugely controversial and follows similar trends for other public services. Here is your chance to respond to the government's proposals! You can find the consultation survey here.
Major national drive to improve school attendance
The DfE is focussing on driving up school attendance, partly in the face of the recent Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) report based on polling by YouGov which found that nearly three in ten parents (28%) surveyed agree that the pandemic has shown it is not essential for children to attend school every day. Less … Continue reading Major national drive to improve school attendance
Gender Questioning Children: Non-statutory guidance
The DfE has issued a consultation document on Gender Questioning Children. The Department for Education, working closely with the Government’s Equality Hub, has produce this guidance to provide clarity for schools and colleges, and reassurance for parents. Social TransitioningSchools are facing requests to take actions such as changing names, uniforms, or using different facilities to … Continue reading Gender Questioning Children: Non-statutory guidance
School Teachers’ Review Body remit letter for 2024
Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan’s letter to Dr Mike Aldred, Chair of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) is available here on the DfE website (PDF file). Although she does not provide any details, she strongly hints at a tighter view towards pay increases in the coming year. She also lists seven areas … Continue reading School Teachers’ Review Body remit letter for 2024
Ofsted: mental health awareness training and The Big Listen
Ofsted inspections have been paused until later this month as the new Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, begins his term of office. This is in response to the Ruth Perry inquest. A Big Listen will take place later this year- it will provide an opportunity for parents and professionals to reflect on the strengths and … Continue reading Ofsted: mental health awareness training and The Big Listen
Working together to safeguard children
The DfE has issued new statutory guidance and the government's consultation response. You can find links to the two main documents on our Key Documents page, and you can also visit the DfE website for these and other related documents: Working together to safeguard children Government consultation response
PISA 2022: National Report for England
The DfE has just published (December 2023) the The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report which compares results for 15-year-old pupils in England with countries around the world. In the introduction, the report notes that (for England's results): higher performing pupils may be overrepresented in the final sample and some of the PISA results … Continue reading PISA 2022: National Report for England
ParentKind Survey report 2023
Folling from the November Parental Engagement Report 2023 (reported on this site) the National Parent Survey, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Parentkind has just been published. You can download the report using the link below, and some of the main findings include: Over 2.8 million children live in households where their parents are struggling … Continue reading ParentKind Survey report 2023
Cyber security is vital
We need to continue to be vigilant and maintain appropriate systems in our schools to ensure that they are secure from cbyer threats. The DfE has issued a number of standards that schools need to meet. The issue is taken seriously by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as exemplified by this recent reprrimand issued to … Continue reading Cyber security is vital
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