The DfE have updated their guidance on SEND for Governing Bodies. They state that the purpose of this guidance is intended to: support school governing boards’ understanding of their role and responsibilities in relation to children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities; empower governors and trustees to hold their schools to … Continue reading SEND: guidance for school governing boards
Category: Department for Education
Breakfast clubs early adopter guidance
The DfE has published new guidance for early adopters of the free breakfast clubs scheme (the new breakfast club offer). Benefits of the scheme should include: Free universal breakfast clubs give children a supportive start to the school day, ensuring they are ready to learn and make the most of the opportunities schools offer. Schools … Continue reading Breakfast clubs early adopter guidance
Education Committee question Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson
Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education and permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood appeared before the Education Committee on 15th January. You can watch a video of the meeting here. Amongst other things, they spoke about: National funding formula under review; Academy changes will introduce a pay ‘floor, but no ceiling’; ‘Improving Education Together’ partnership aimed … Continue reading Education Committee question Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson
Disadvantage gap: 9 things DfE told MPs
Here is a useful article from TES that summarises what happened when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) quizzed Department for Education officials on its strategy to close the disadvantage gap, as well as on how it allocates funding and ensures money is well spent. Read the article here.
Legislation breaks down barriers to opportunity for all children
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17 December 2024, The Bill sets out seven key ambitions: Making a child-centred government Keeping families together and children safe Supporting children in the care system to thrive Cracking down on excessive profit making Driving high and rising standards for every child Removing barriers … Continue reading Legislation breaks down barriers to opportunity for all children
Schools’ responses to financial pressures 2023
This newly published report from the DfE is based on last year's figures so is not entirely up to date, but it tells a story we are all familiar with, and which has not improved since then. The research and analysis was carried out by BMG Research and CooperGibson Research. Most schools felt they were … Continue reading Schools’ responses to financial pressures 2023
New specialist places to be created in mainstream schools
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a £740 million cash injection from the Government to pave the way for more pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream schools. This new funding can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, and to … Continue reading New specialist places to be created in mainstream schools
New findings from a national study of young people with Special Educational Needs
The SEND Futures Discovery Phase study is a national study carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) on behalf of the Department for Education. Across two rounds of data collection, the study has gathered information and views from around 3000 parents of young people with … Continue reading New findings from a national study of young people with Special Educational Needs
Delay to Key stage 4 performance announcement, 2024
The DfE has released a notice stating that the publication of Key stage 4 performance, 2024 is delayed due to quality issues in data submitted by an awarding organisation which were identified in the “Check Your Performance Measures Data” exercise. The information won't be available until November - December 2024, which is after the date … Continue reading Delay to Key stage 4 performance announcement, 2024
Support for children and young people with special educational needs
A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) finds that around 1.9 million children and young people aged 0 to 25 years in England (11%) were identified as having special educational needs (SEN) in January 2024, with 1.7 million at school. This won't come as a surprise to teachers. The report finds that "although … Continue reading Support for children and young people with special educational needs
School-Based Nursery Capital Grant
The School-Based Nursery Capital Grant is a one-time grant available for eligible state-funded primary-phase schools. Schools can bid for up to £150,000 of funding to use solely for capital expenditure, to convert surplus space within a school building so that it is suitable for nursery provision. Schools must submit their application, including all supporting documents, … Continue reading School-Based Nursery Capital Grant
Working lives of teachers and leaders
The working lives of teachers and leaders is an annual DfE survey of teachers and leaders in state schools in England. The survey explores teachers and leaders’: workload, wellbeing and flexible working arrangements attitudes to pay experiences of professional development future career intentions This summary presents headline findings from wave 2 of the survey, carried … Continue reading Working lives of teachers and leaders
Key stage 2 attainment
The Department for Education has published provisional attainment statistics for key stage 2 national curriculum assessments in England. This shows that the gap between disadvantaged pupils’ key stage 2 SATs results and all other pupils has fallen to 3.12, from 3.21 in 2023. However, it is still a wider gap than the 2.91 gap index … Continue reading Key stage 2 attainment
Local authority interactive tool (LAIT)
The DfE's Local authority interactive tool (LAIT) has been removed from its website as it does not comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. They are working on a new version, but in the meantime you can still get a copy of this (very useful) tool by emailing them at request.lait@education.gov.uk with the title: ‘Send me … Continue reading Local authority interactive tool (LAIT)
School suspensions in Derbyshire reach record high
Reported here in Derbyshire Times (26 July), this article notes: Department for Education figures show there were 12,344 suspensions from Derbyshire schools the 2022-23 academic year – the highest since records began for the area. It was up from 8,718 suspensions the year before, and more than double the 5,033 number in 2018-19, before the … Continue reading School suspensions in Derbyshire reach record high