A new report from the Fairness Foundation looks at the impact of the wealth gap across a wide range of societal factors. One of the findings is that it leads to unfair inequalities in children's mental health and wellbeing. The report notes that wealthier families may be able to provide more enriching experiences, live in … Continue reading The Wealth Gap
Tag: Wellbeing
The Well Check
Youth Support Trust's Well Schools provides a free-to-access self-review tool and get a tailored development plan to help you on your journey to becoming a Well School. You can access it, and other resources, on their website, here.
Children’s Commissioners unite to call for equal protection for children from assault in UK
Every child in the United Kingdom must have the same protection from assault as adults, four Children’s Commissioners have united to say in a joint statement. The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, and her colleagues in Scotland, Nicola Killean, Wales, Rocio Cifuentes and Northern Ireland, Chris Quinn, came together on May 1st … Continue reading Children’s Commissioners unite to call for equal protection for children from assault in UK
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?
Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce and BookTrust host Reading Rights summit
On January 22nd a Reading Rights Summit was held as part of Frank's campaign to address the 'invisible privilege and inequality' within children's books and reading. Find out more on the BookTrust's website here, including links to Frank's "Reading Rights campaign"
Experts urge the Government to prioritise mental health for better school attendance
Place2bE, NGA and a number of other agencies have co-signed an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education calling for the Government to tackle the attendance crisis by prioritising inclusion, enrichment, mental health, and special educational needs support. You can read the letter in full on the Place2Be website, here
List of administrative tasks that teachers should not be expected to undertake
In the latest update of the government's School teachers' pay and conditions report (19 March 2024), a new section has been included that lists tasks that teachers should not be expected to undertake (an earlier version had existed back in 2013). This is one of the actions resulting from the initial recommendations from the government’s … Continue reading List of administrative tasks that teachers should not be expected to undertake
NGA Manifesto for Schools and Trusts
The NGA has published its new manifesto, "From Classrooms to Communities: A Manifesto for Schools and Trusts." This comprehensive document outlines key challenges faced by schools and academy trusts in the UK and presents a set of proposals aimed at addressing these issues.Included in the manifesto are the following topics: Staff Wellbeing and Recruitment Estates … Continue reading NGA Manifesto for Schools and Trusts
1970s working conditions in the 2020s
The Eduication Support Commission on Teacher Retention, supported by Public First, has published its final report on the state of the teaching profession in England’s secondary schools in 2023. Highlight results include: 78% of teachers said they would be likely to leave the profession if they were offered a job in another sector which promised … Continue reading 1970s working conditions in the 2020s
Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders
A long term research project, "Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders" is entering its second year. Initial findings have not yet been published, but Schools Week has obtrained some of the results, and reports on them here. They note that teachers’ average working week is 48.7 hours long, Senior leaders’ average week now stands at 56.8 hours.
Teachers go on strike: the challenges facing the schools sector
This article by Helena Gillespie, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Student Inclusion and Professor of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of East Anglia, analyses the underlying reasons for the teachers' pay claim and strikes, arguing that it's not just about pay, but a whole host of issues including wokrload, the impact of government policy … Continue reading Teachers go on strike: the challenges facing the schools sector
Deliveries of defibrillators to all schools begin
In July of 2022 the government promised that all state schools without a defibrillator will be provided one by government by the end of the 22/23 academic year. Roll out has begun with the award, in December 2022, of the supply contract to the company Lyreco and this announcement on January 23rd by the DfE. A guide on how to use … Continue reading Deliveries of defibrillators to all schools begin
Teacher Wellbeing Index
Education Support's annual survey of over 3,082 education staff found that in 2022 record numbers of UK teachers and education staff have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing. You can read more about it, including downloading the full report, on their website here.
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