In January 2025, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) and Oxford University Press (OUP) brought together trust leaders, publishers, researchers, civil servants and other education stakeholders to discuss the current challenges preventing improvements in writing and how these can be overcome. The discussion touched on research gaps and a lack of political will; opportunities to reform … Continue reading What is needed from education policy to boost writing outcomes?
Category: General
Education and Skills Funding Agency transfer into the Department for Education
As of 1st April 2025 the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) transferred into the Department for Education. A letter from its outgoing CEO David Withey was published on March 31st to accounting officers in academy trusts and colleges. You can read it here.
School capacity 2023-24
The latest government statistics on school pupil numbers shows that the trend of diminishing pupil numbers since 2018/19 is continuing. The total anticipated number of primary pupils forecast by local authorities in England shows a decline of around 1% per year until the end of the forecast period (2028/29). In contrast, the total number of forecast … Continue reading School capacity 2023-24
Worsening speech and language skills
A YouGov survey commissioned by assessment provider GL Assessment (a Renaissance company), shows that teachers are grappling with increasing numbers of children starting school who have poor speech and language skills. 44% of primary school teachers say up to 1 in 5 children struggle to communicate at the expected level for their age, and a … Continue reading Worsening speech and language skills
Safer smartphones and social media: What do Britons want?
A new report from The New Britain Project and More in Common for the National Education Union finds that across Britain, there are high levels of concern about the impact that social media is having on young people. For parents, social media tops the list of negative impacts on their children's mental health. Almost two … Continue reading Safer smartphones and social media: What do Britons want?
The Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards
Do you think your school does something special in terms of school meals, food education or food fitness? Then pop along to Jamie Oliver's Good School Food Awards website and nominate in one or more of the categories. Good School Food Awards
Who has been registered for free school meals and pupil premium in the National Pupil Database?
This is the title of a new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI). It explores the strengths and weaknesses of free school meals (FSM) and Pupil Premium (PP) as measures for identifying disadvantaged pupils in England. It finds significant differences between the number of children estimated to be living in poverty and those who … Continue reading Who has been registered for free school meals and pupil premium in the National Pupil Database?
Online safety
Two recent surveys highlight manyn of the safety issues around children using the Internet. A BBC Teach survey, underatken by Censuswide found that more than three-quarters (80%) of primary school teachers are aware of at least one safeguarding incident linked to online safety in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, a third (36%) of teachers reported … Continue reading Online safety
UK Poverty 2025
A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation sets out the nature of poverty in the UK in the run-up to 2024's General Election. It also sets out the scale of action necessary for the Government to deliver the change it has promised. Using their cost of living tracker, the unacceptably high levels of poverty … Continue reading UK Poverty 2025
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.
Families to receive £126 million in early years support
The recent government press release regarding additional early years support funding shows that Derbyshire is NOT included in the grants, though Derby is. There are many areas of deprivation in Derbyshire as governors are no doubt aware, so perhaps you will challenge this and campaign to have Derbyshire included, e.g. by contacting your MP. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/families-to-receive-126-million-in-early-years-support
MPs told SEND system is in crisis
The f40 campaigning group, which represents the 40 or so worst educationally funded councils in England, recently held a meeting with more than 75 MPs and their representatives at a parliamentary briefing in Westminster. Also involved were the Local Government Association (LGA), and the County Councils Network (CCN). MPs were told that the number of … Continue reading MPs told SEND system is in crisis
New anti-bullying guidance for Church of England schools published
The Church of England has published new anti-bullying guidance for use in its 4,700 Church schools. This is currently out for consultationn - closing date: 31 July 2024. The document, entitled ‘Guidance for preventing and tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying’ is the first of a new suite of resources and will come into effect … Continue reading New anti-bullying guidance for Church of England schools published
All about Oracy
Oracy as a term was coined by Andrew Wilkinson in 1965 to describe ‘general ability in the oral skills’. Schools Week are running a series of articvles about this, and you can find the first two artcles as noted below: What is oracy? The four defining traits of classroom talk (Schools Week) Why you should … Continue reading All about Oracy
GCSE results will suffer ‘well into 2030s’ due to Covid
A new study from the University of Exeter, the London School of Economics and the University of Strathclyde conducted the research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation is reported on in Schools Week. The key findings include: Covid fallout to affect GCSEs ‘well into 2030s’‘Unprecedented’ widening of attainment gapEducational damage could cost billionsUniversity-led tutoring could boost … Continue reading GCSE results will suffer ‘well into 2030s’ due to Covid
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