Absence: Parent penalty notice system under fire With the latest figures showing a rise in unauthorised school absence, school leaders have warned that the current system of parental fines ‘drives a wedge between schools and families’ when the real problem is holiday pricing. Pete Henshaw reports
From £17,88 to £5,32 per-child – low-level mental health support funding is 'postcode lottery' There is a stark postcode lottery when it comes to funding for low-level mental health support, with spending per-child ranging from a high of £17,88 to a low of £5,32.
Social media companies have 'spent too long ducking responsibility for the content they host' Social media companies have for too long “ducked their responsibilities” for the content they host online and must be more “proactive” in protecting the children whose lives are now dominated by their services.
Period poverty funding must go to all schools, campaigners say Campaigners have welcomed plans to provide free sanitary products for girls in secondary schools – although have called for the scheme to be extended to colleges and primaries as well.
School funding: Ministers must end their ‘institutional deafness’ Just days after MPs debated the school funding crisis, it is revealed that school leaders have written to millions of families to warn of the negative impact of budget cuts on school provision. Pete Henshaw reports on the growing pressure for ministers to act over school funding.
Early Career Framework: Two-year support package aims to boost retention rates The new Early Career Framework will offer a two-year induction for new teachers with trained mentors, structured support and retention bursaries to be implemented from 2020/21. Pete Henshaw takes a look
Revised guidance unveiled for Relationships and health education After a three-month consultation, the DfE has published its revised statutory guidance for relationships and health education and has pledged a £6m support fund ahead of September 2020. Pete Henshaw explains
MPs call for expanded Pupil Premium to boost social mobility A cross-party report from MPs recommends a ‘Social Mobility Premium’ to address regional attainment gaps and foster school-to-school collaboration. Pete Henshaw takes a look
Huge rise in home education sparks ‘off-rolling’ accusations A children's commissioner report sets out strong evidence of off-rolling practices, with stories of schools putting pressure on ‘harassed parents’ to home-educate challenging students or those with SEN. Pete Henshaw takes a look 3 comments
Drug gangs groom young children to run county lines Vulnerable children as young as 11, including those excluded from schools and education, continue to be targeted by “county lines” criminals whose drugs operations remain “highly adaptable”.?
Anger as education secretary demands 2% teacher pay rise cap There has been widespread anger in schools after the education secretary called for teachers’ pay rises this September be capped at two per cent.
Two-year support package to boost retention of new teachers A new Early Career Framework is to offer teachers a two-year induction, with trained mentors, structured support and tax-free retention bursaries from 2020 and 2021. Pete Henshaw takes a look 1 comment
Schools invited to take part in ethical leadership pathfinders A pathfinder project has been launched to help schools embed the new Framework for Ethical Leadership in Education into working practices.
MPs urge DfE to make academy trusts more transparent and accountable to parents Multi-academy trusts (MATs) are “not sufficiently transparent or accountable to parents and communities” and a “succession of high-profile academy failures” has damaged children’s education and been costly to the taxpayer, a cross-party group of MPs has said.
Ofsted ‘calls time’ on teaching to the test and off-rolling pupils Ofsted signals its plans to crackdown on narrow curricula and teaching to the test. However, as the consultation over the new inspection framework opens, concerns remain over how reliable inspectors’ judgements will be. Pete Henshaw reports
Ofsted’s curriculum conversations More details on Ofsted’s plans to place the curriculum at the heart of the new inspection framework are emerging after the latest update from the inspectorate’s on-going curriculum research. Pete Henshaw reports
Schools urged to eliminate single-use plastics by 2022 Schools have been asked by the education secretary to put plans in place to eliminate the use of single-use plastics by 2022.
Training of mental health support team workers begins Young people will begin receiving support later this year from new Mental Health Support Teams set up in 25 “trailblazer” areas.
Funding worth £9m allocated for summer 2019 holiday clubs Charities and community groups are being invited to bid for funding to run holiday clubs for disadvantaged pupils this summer. 2 comments
Concern after STRB is told to ensure pay rises are ‘affordable’ Despite Theresa May’s declaration that ‘austerity is over’, the education secretary's remit to the STRB seems to dash hopes of a significant rise in 2019. Pete Henshaw takes a look
One in eight students have a mental health disorder, official NHS figures confirm The true scale of the mental health crisis among young people has been revealed for the first time by official NHS statistics.
Urgent need to improve our criminal exploitation response We do not yet fully understand the scale or level of risk to children in terms of “county lines” drug-running and other criminal exploitation.
Teachers delivering RSE with inadequate training Contraception, pregnancy options, STIs, accessing sexual health services, and sexually explicit information online – these are among the topics that school staff feel the least confident teaching about.
Schools told to cut down data collection burden for teachers In a bid to crackdown on needless data workload in schools, the Department for Education and Ofsted have told headteachers to have fewer data collection points across the year and to scrap onerous behaviour logging practices. Pete Henshaw takes a look
Off-rolling adding to pressure on local children’s services Cuts to school budgets, the practice of “off-rolling” problem students, along with a decade of huge policy change within education, are among the reasons why local authority children’s services are struggling to cope with demand.
