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
Category: General
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
‘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
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