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
Autumn Budget 2023
The Autumn 2023 budget announcement (22 November 2023) was notable for the absence of any additional funding for schools. NGA's NGA’s co-chief executive, Emma Knights, stated that: Again, we find ourselves expressing profound disappointment that the Chancellor has not made additional investments in England's schools today. The Prime Minister has promised us all a world-class education … Continue reading Autumn Budget 2023
Mental Health of Children and Young People in England
This report, conducted in 2023, from the NHS presents findings from the fourth (wave 4) in a series of follow up reports to the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey. 2,370 children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey took part in the wave 4 follow up. … Continue reading Mental Health of Children and Young People in England
The condition of school buildings
The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts has released a new report on the condition of school buildings (19 November 2023). The main findings are that: it is extremely concerning that DfE does not have a good enough understanding of safety risks across school buildings for it to fully quantify and mitigate these risks and … Continue reading The condition of school buildings
England School Meals Report
This year’s England School Meals Report, created in collaboration with BlueRunner, ParentPay and LACA, is now available and has the following main conclusions: School meal uptake is high across England, with 84% of pupils having a school meal at least once a week and 59% having school meals every day. The top three factors that … Continue reading England School Meals Report
Beyond Ofsted
Beyond Ofsted is a new inquiry established to develop a set of principles for underpinning a better school inspection system and proposals for an alternative approach. It is chaired by Jim Knight, Rt Hon Lord Knight of Weymouth (former schools’ minister), and its findings have been published in a report "Beyond Ofsted. an inquiry into … Continue reading Beyond Ofsted
Improvement through empowerment
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published a new report "Improvement through empowerment: Helping our teachers and schools be the best they can be". On their website they state: We need to shift the drivers of better schooling from high stakes top-down accountability to a system which empowers schools and teachers to innovate and … Continue reading Improvement through empowerment
Local authority interactive tool (LAIT)
The Local authority interactive tool (LAIT) has recently been updated (10 November 2023). It is a useful, government produced spreadhseet with a range of useful information about children and young people across all local authorities in England. The website includes links to the tool itself plus a user guide and the Children's services statistical neighbour … Continue reading Local authority interactive tool (LAIT)
Alignment between inspection grades and headline data measures
A new data commentary from Ofsted looks at the degree of alignment between a school’s performance data and their Ofsted inspection judgement. It also explains why alignment is not always helpful and should not be an end in itself. Oftsed says its inspections are designed to get ‘under the bonnet’ of a school; to really … Continue reading Alignment between inspection grades and headline data measures
Is “traditional” schooling best?
An article in Schools Week (Has Nick Gibb won the education battle?, 10 Novemeber 2023) discusses the long debated issue of whether "traditional" style schooling is best. It highlights some recent data that seems to support this, with exemplar "traditional" schools like Michaela Community School in west London and Mercia School in Sheffield scoring very … Continue reading Is “traditional” schooling best?
Briefing on school attendance in England
The Children’s Commissioner talked to hundreds of children who are regularly absent from school. Children aren’t absent from school because they don’t want to learn. They are desperate to learn yet everyday thousands of children find themselves without the support that they need to engage in education. Last year, over 1 in 5 children were … Continue reading Briefing on school attendance in England
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