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.
Category: General
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
‘Nearly all’ schools rely on donations for classroom essentials
A new poll of its members by NAHT has found that only 1 per cent of school leaders say they get enough funding to meet all their pupils’ needs. A TES article notes that nearly all school leaders (95 per cent) in England have had to generate additional income through other sources - like charity … Continue reading ‘Nearly all’ schools rely on donations for classroom essentials
How AI is being abused to create child sexual abuse imagery
A sobering new report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) focuses on it's 2023 investigation of the first reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Initial investigations uncovered a world of text-to-image technology. In short, you type in what you want to see in online generators and the software generates … Continue reading How AI is being abused to create child sexual abuse imagery
Children’s Media Lives
A new report from Ofcom is the latest in a longitudinal study that started in 2014. It provides evidence about the motivations and the context for media use, and how media is a part of children's daily life and domestic circumstances. The project also provides rich details of how children’s media habits and attitudes change … Continue reading Children’s Media Lives
The Features of Effective School Groups
A new report from the Education Policy Institute brings together findings from their interactive benchmarking tool, which compares the performance of individual academy trusts, local authorities, federations and dioceses across four key performance indicators, along with results from their Decisions in Education in England (DEEP) survey of senior leaders working in school groups. Key findings … Continue reading The Features of Effective School Groups
School funding model: Effect of falling school rolls
This sobering new report from the Education Policy Institute finds that: Total pupil numbers in state-funded primary and secondary schools are projected to fall from a peak of 7.57 million in 2022-23, and then decrease at an average rate of 1.0 per cent each year until they reach 7.14 million in 2028-29. This means that … Continue reading School funding model: Effect of falling school rolls
Using AI to analyse 30,000 school policies
The Key's Robin AI tool has “read” just shy of 30,000 policy documents from over 1,000 schools. This blog looks at the data generated to see if anything interesting could be revealed. A huge caveat is that this is not science: no effort was made to ensure the 1,035 schools were representative. In fact, they’re … Continue reading Using AI to analyse 30,000 school policies
Schools’ Air Quality Monitoring for Health and Education (SAMHE)
The Schools' Air Quality Monitoring for Health and Education (SAMHE) is a project offering schools a free air quality monitor and learning resources. The monitor will provide evidence for national policies and practice to make schools healthier for pupils. Schools can: Get a free monitor View data on air quality in the classroom using a … Continue reading Schools’ Air Quality Monitoring for Health and Education (SAMHE)
Schools offered free cyber defence tools to help keep out attackers
UK education settings can sign up for the NCSC's Web Check and Mail Check services to protect their websites and email servers from cyber attacks. SCHOOLS can now benefit from free cyber defence tools from the nation’s leading experts to help them protect their emails and websites from online attackers. Find out more here,
Access to extra-curricular provision and the association with outcomes
This new report from The Education Policy Institute focuses on the later-in-life benefits that are gained from extra-curricular clubs at secondary school. The main conclusions are: Attending extra-curricular clubs during secondary school is associated with a range of positive outcomes Participation in extra-curricular activities varies by school type Vulnerable students were less likely to attend … Continue reading Access to extra-curricular provision and the association with outcomes
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