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The inspector: Ofsted is vital – but not its culture of hitting targets at any cost

2023-03-24

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/24/the-inspector-ofsted-is-vital-but-not-its-culture-of-hitting-targets-at-any-cost

HMIs understand the pressures schools are under but the same can’t be said of Ofsted’s chief and her advisers A school leader recently asked me: “Do people in Ofsted not understand the pressures schools are under?” Coming after an academic year when Ofsted made little allowance for the impact of Covid in schools, the final straw for many was Ofsted continuing to inspect schools last year in the final week of term despite forecasts of an extreme heatwave. The school leader’s question was a cri de coeur likely to be echoed by headteachers across England. I responded that his majesty’s inspectors (HMIs) all have school experience and do understand the pressures. It is Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, and her advisers who do not, given their lack of teaching experience coupled with a culture of meeting targets at all costs. Ofsted is incredibly powerful in the state schools attended by most children. About 85% of schools are graded as at least “good”. For those schools, Ofsted may be an unnecessary burden. The problem is that without inspection, it is impossible to know whether a school is good or not. A couple of years ago I led an inspection of a secondary school that was previously graded as requiring improvement. The school’s results had improved, and pupils seemed to be getting a good deal. It was only on the second day of the two-day inspection that we uncovered evidence suggesting a less positive picture: a significant number of year 11 pupils were being taken off the school’s roll with nowhere else to go. This made the school’s GCSE results look better, and improved its climate for learning. But there were totally inadequate checks on whether the pupils taken off he roll were safe, or even alive. So an expected “good” grade instead became “inadequate”. Many people seem under the misconception that Ofsted inspections should replicate exam performance. Although I have criticisms of Ofsted’s policing of what is taught, I can see sense in the chief inspector’s view that we have two school accountability measures. One measure is exam results, while the other is Ofsted inspections. Having the second replicating the first would be pointless. The balance between results and how they are arrived at has altered significantly. It is a lack of understanding of this, in relation to quality of education judgement, that provokes allegations of Ofsted “hit squads” downgrading schools. While quality of education is the limiting judgment in assessing a school’s effectiveness, Ofsted also makes critical judgments in other areas where expectations have increased in recent years, chiefly pupil safeguarding. Schools are not generally failed on safeguarding for minor technicalities. Very occasionally, I have visited schools where systems were chaotic and I could not be sure all staff had criminal record checks, or that internal systems were rigorous enough to monitor concerns about individual pupils. Does Ofsted do enough to ensure inspectors always act professionally? No. Is Ofsted’s focus on a narrow range of subjects and a shallow interpretation of cognitive science helpful? Absolutely not. But most importantly, is inspection a vital champion for parents and especially children? Yes. That is why, despite my criticisms of Ofsted, I still believe in inspection. Adrian Lyons was an Ofsted HMI from 2005 to 2021, and is now a consultant supporting schools, academy trusts and teacher training providers.

Less than 3% of artists named in GCSE art exams are Black or south Asian, study finds

2024-03-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/05/less-than-3-per-cent-artists-named-gcse-art-exams-black-south-asian-study

Analysis across four exam boards in England reveals white artists comprise 91.6% of all mentions Less than 3% of artists named in GCSE art exam papers are from Black or south Asian backgrounds, research has found. Analysis of GCSE assessment materials from four big exam boards in England – AQA, Eduqas, OCR and Edexcel – showed only 8.4% of artists referenced across the 27 art exam papers were minority ethnic. In contrast, white artists comprised 91.6% of all exam board mentions, according to a report by the Runnymede Trust thinktank and Freelands Foundation, an arts charity. Of these named artists, only 0.74% were south Asian and 1.54% Black. The smallest group was work by artists of mixed ethnicities, which made up 0.5% of all artwork mentioned. “Art education offers something special to children and young people, but sadly there is a deficiency in our current provision, meaning that wonderful opportunities for growth and change are missed, and this impacts all students,” the report said. The lack of standardised guidance in the curriculum means the inclusion of artists from underrepresented backgrounds remains a challenge, with lesson content largely set by teachers and subject leaders, which means students often only have access to a “narrow perspective on the artistic world”, the report says. At key stage 3, the curriculum says students should learn about “great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural developments of their art forms”, but does not give an explicit definition or names. The lack of guidance continues to key stage 4, or GCSE level, where art and design is no longer a compulsory subject covered by the national curriculum. At GCSE, subject guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) still does not name artists to be included in course material. Work by minority ethnic artists is more likely to be mentioned in association with a geographical region such as African ritual sculpture or Persian rugs compared with work by white artists, at 20.1% and 0.4% respectively. This “reinforces … a problematic perception that the most important artists are white artists”, the report said. Dr Shabna Begum, the interim chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, said: “With representation comes inspiration, it is imperative that our students are able to see and appreciate diversity in their art classes, and secondary education more widely” The Runnymede Trust and Freelands Foundation are calling for exam boards to commit to a minimum target of 25% representation for minority ethnic artists in GCSE art exam papers for 2025. Pearson and Eduqas have agreed. A spokesperson for OCR said: “We are committed to making our assessments inclusive and accessible and will use the findings in our work focused on minority ethnic representation in the curriculum.” The report also proposed exam boards and policymakers establish standards for inclusion and diversity in GCSE assessment materials and improve access to teacher resources that support a diverse curriculum.

Missouri student loan provider baffled by inclusion in supreme court debt relief challenge

2023-06-17

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/17/missouri-student-loan-provider-confusion-supreme-court-debt-relief

Emails reveal staff at Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority confused at being centered by lawsuit brought by GOP-led states Newly released emails obtained by the Student Borrower Protection Center reveal employees at a student loan service provider in Missouri expressed confusion over the state’s attorney general placing the provider at the center of a lawsuit filed to block the Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. The United States supreme court is expected to issue a ruling on a legal challenge to the president’s student debt forgiveness of up to $20,000 in the coming weeks. That challenge – filed by the Missouri attorney general and five other Republican-led states – and another challenge filed by the conservative advocacy organization, Job Creators Network, made it to the supreme court. The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority – or Mohela – is at the center of the challenge by the GOP-led states, claiming the loan service provider would lose revenue and face negative impacts over its financial obligations to Missouri. Consumer advocates, meanwhile, have pointed out that Mohela stands to gain revenue from Biden’s cancellation plan. In court hearings on the challenges earlier this year, US supreme court justices questioned why Mohela did not bring its own legal challenges to Biden’s debt cancellation plan and how the Republican-led states could claim harm on their behalf. Emails released since establish that Mohela employees expressed similar confusion. “The [Missouri] state AG needed to claim that our borrowers were harmed for standing, so they’re making us look bad by filing this not only with [Missouri] on it, but especially bad because they filed it in [Missouri],” wrote a Mohela employee in September 2022. Another Mohela employee asked in an October 2022 email: “just out of curiosity, is MOHELA apart of the lawsuit going on to prevent the loan forgiveness? Are we the bad guys?” A fellow employee responded, “Mohela isn’t technically a part of that lawsuit, the Missouri AG is suing on their behalf. However, it’s all about the [Family Federal Education Loans] stuff, and since they changed the rules, that lawsuit should be ruled as lacking standing.” Ella Azoulay, a Student Borrower Protection Center research and policy analyst, argued the emails confirmed the “partisan hack job” of Missouri’s lawsuit to block student debt relief. The legal challenges have paused Biden’s student debt relief plan announced in August 2022. The relief plan would grant up to $20,000 in student debt relief for Pell grant recipients and up to $10,000 in student debt forgiveness for all other borrowers with annual incomes under $125,000. Nearly 26 million Americans had applied for relief under the plan by November 2022.

England’s ‘free speech tsar’ named in announcement to one newspaper

2023-06-01

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/01/government-free-speech-tsar-named-arif-ahmed

Government accused of paying ‘lip service’ to free speech as Arif Ahmed is given higher education role A Cambridge philosophy professor is to become the government’s first “free speech tsar” for higher education in England, it has been revealed, in an announcement made initially only to one newspaper – a move that led critics to accuse ministers of paying “lip service” to free speech. Arif Ahmed told the Times he hoped to use his role to stand up for “all views”, and that he did not seek to take part in any sort of culture war agenda. His role, news of which was released to other media a day later, was created by the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, which was first introduced to the Commons in 2021, but received royal assent only last month. Overseen by the Office for Students (OFS), Ahmed’s role is potentially controversial, given debate within the higher education sector over whether there is a notable problem of free speech being suppressed in universities. In brief comments released by the Department for Education, Ahmed said: “Free speech and academic freedom are vital to the core purpose of universities and colleges. They are not partisan values. They are also fundamental to our civilisation. As director, I will defend them using all means available.” He will oversee a new regime intended to enshrine freedom of speech that could impose fines on higher education providers and student unions if they prevent speakers appearing without good reason. Ahmed told the Times that, as well as no-platforming external speakers, other potential breaches of the new law could be institutions enforcing “ideological” anti-bias training, whether for staff or students, and disciplining academics for what they say on social media. While there is regular media coverage about people with rightwing views being barred from speaking on campuses, or academics being made uncomfortable for holding conservative views, there is limited evidence that it is a significant problem. A 2018 report by the parliamentary human rights committee found that while some worrying examples could be cited, “we did not find the wholesale censorship of debate in universities which media coverage has suggested”. From 2018 to 2022 the OFS received only 60 complaints about free speech issues. However, the regulator has said the potential scale of the problem was “not just measured through statistics”. Claire Coutinho, a junior education minister, said the new act and Ahmed’s role were about “ensuring that fear does not undermine the rights of students and academics to debate controversial ideas and securing the right to an open exchange of ideas in universities”. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The OFS said that, having talked to the Times, Ahmed would not make any further comments to the media until later in the summer. Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, said: “I’m sure we would all like to hear the government’s new ‘free speech tsar’ speaking freely – but, apparently, Conservative ministers disagree. “This is typical of a Conservative government that loves to pay lip service to free speech, while in reality doing everything they can to stop people holding them to account.”

Dame Patricia Morgan-Webb obituary

2023-09-01

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/01/dame-patricia-morgan-webb-obituary

My friend and former colleague Dame Patricia Morgan-Webb, who has died aged 79, was the principal of New College Nottingham from 1998 until 2003, and a key figure in the further education sector in Britain. In 1992, she was one of the first women to be appointed as a college principal, at Clarendon College, Nottingham, with previous experience that meant she was well placed to face the changes implicit in the shift from local education authority control to incorporation. Small colleges were unlikely to survive the rigours of the new funding regime, and Pat decided to prioritise cooperation above competition. With the support of the Further Education Funding Council for England and the local authority, she created a partnership of colleges that resulted in a four-college merger to create New College, with Pat as its principal. There was also an international dimension to her work, and she was invited by the post-apartheid South African government to help develop a modern FE system in the country. But, even as her reputation grew, Pat never lost her focus on serving the people of Nottingham – her creation in 1999 of a new campus for New College in Nottingham Lace Market, with a listed mid-Victorian lace factory, the Adams Building, at its core is one such example. She was made a dame in 2000, the first FE college principal to be so honoured. After her retirement in 2003, New College continued to thrive and is now part of Nottingham College, one of the largest FE colleges in the UK. The daughter of Evelyn (nee Osland), a shop assistant, and Hector Morgan, a miner, Pat was born in Oakdale, Monmouthshire, a “model” mining village. She attended her local grammar school before graduating from Swansea University with a degree in history and a teaching diploma. Arriving in the West Midlands in 1965, Pat spent the next few years honing her skills, teaching liberal studies and history at Wulfrun College (now City of Wolverhampton College), and Dudley College, before raising a family. She returned to full-time teaching at Wulfrun College in 1979, when the collapse of traditional industries in the West Midlands meant the time was ripe for innovative and creative leadership. Pat’s passion, commitment and skills led to a rapid progression through the FE management grades. She took on the role of staff training coordinator then principal lecturer at the Accredited Training Centre in Telford (1983-85), principal lecturer at Bilston College (1985-88), and vice-principal at Hall Green College, Birmingham (1988-92). In Birmingham, in 1988, Pat met Chris Webb, a college principal, and they married in 1992. In later years they enjoyed widespread travel together, including to a home in Florida that provided the base for further exploration of the US. Pat is survived by Chris, and by her children, David and Catherine, and granddaughter Grace, from a previous marriage which ended in divorce, and by Chris’s two children and four grandchildren.

London schools may be mothballed as student numbers fall

2024-01-29

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/29/london-schools-may-be-mothballed-as-student-numbers-fall

Capital’s councils say they are struggling to keep schools open as pupil funding dries up London’s councils are preparing to mothball schools to avoid a boom and bust cycle of closures, as the falling birthrate, high housing costs and the aftermath of Brexit and the Covid pandemic drive down the number of children living in the capital. With some areas of London projected to see the number of primary school-aged children fall by 10% or more by 2028, councils say they are struggling to support schools to stay open as pupil funding dries up. Instead, the empty schools could be used to host childcare centres or special needs facilities. London Councils, which represents the city’s boroughs, said that a wave of school closures could cause a permanent “loss of educational assets for future generations”, with closures leading to sell-offs that could not be quickly reversed when the population recovers. “London’s birth rate has historically ebbed and flowed, and London is likely to become a more popular place to raise a family at some point in the future, leading to renewed demand for school places,” the group said in a report. “To avoid the Department for Education from having to purchase land and build new schools in the future, it is vital that we are able to keep current educational assets in use for educational purposes, such as nurseries, family hubs [or] special schools, which creates more flexibility going forward.” Last month, the boroughs of Hackney and Lambeth announced substantial cuts and closures, with Lambeth losing more than 4,000 primary school places. But the shrinking numbers will soon affect secondary schools, with London Councils forecasting that the numbers entering year 7 will drop by 4%, including a 6% fall in inner London boroughs. Ian Edwards, London Councils’ executive member for children and young people, said significant reductions in the number of pupils starting primary and secondary education had major implications for the future of the city’s schools. “Unfortunately, some of our schools and local authorities are negotiating a complex balancing act. The drop in demand for places means schools face extremely difficult decisions over how to balance their budgets,” Edwards said. “London has some of the best schools in the country, with over 90% of all our schools being rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. We are working diligently to ensure that this level of high-quality education is accessible for all children entering schools in the coming years and allow our schools to thrive despite this difficult climate.” The Department for Education does have a “falling rolls fund” but it will only support schools experiencing a short-term drop in enrolment if they are likely to recover within four years. London Councils said the DfE should make the fund more flexible “in recognition of the need to protect vital education assets” in the capital, as well maintaining choices for parents. The councils said they were frustrated by their inability to influence the number of pupils enrolled in academies, which are managed by autonomous trusts that set their own admissions policies. In some cases academies could refuse to trim their intakes, “even when other local good schools are struggling and might need to close if all local schools don’t work together”, the report stated. The councils want the DfE to ensure that academies are part of local school place planning, to minimise disruption and closures.

Schools in England send police to homes of absent pupils with threats to jail their parents

2024-05-19

https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/19/schools-england-police-homes-absent-pupils

‘Heavy-handed’ crackdown ignores underlying reasons for failure to attend classes, say critics Some schools in England are sending police to the homes of children who are persistently absent, or warning them their parents may go to prison if their attendance doesn’t improve, the Observer has learned. Headteachers say they are now under intense pressure from the government to turn around the crisis in attendance, with a record 150,000 children at state schools classed as severely absent in 2022-23. From September, all state schools in England will have to share their attendance records every day with the Department for Education. But child psychologists and parent groups are warning that the push for full attendance is driving “heavy-handed” crackdowns at some schools, and ignores the issues that often lie behind school refusal, including mental health problems, unmet special educational needs, bereavement or the child being a carer. Ellie Costello, co-founder of Square Peg, a lobbying and support group for children who don’t fit into the conventional schools model, said: “Parents have told us about very strict schools actually forcing entry to their homes. Schools are turning up with community police. They are shouting up the stairs to highly anxious children, demanding they come into school now.” The group’s membership has more than doubled to 58,000 since the government published strict new guidelines on enforcing attendance for schools, including higher fines and prosecution for parents. Costello said “unprecedented” numbers of families were now “fighting against a toxic, coercive attendance drive”. Dr Naomi Fisher, a child psychologist who specialises in trauma and autism, said: “I’ve heard many times from parents about a child being told, ‘If you don’t come in your mum or dad will go to prison’.” She describes this as “the most terrible thing you can say to a child”, and argues that this level of pressure will only increase their fear about school. Fisher is in contact with many families who have described their child hiding when a school attendance officer, or a council welfare officer, or “sometimes the police” turned up and insisted on talking to the child. She said: “The children I see tell me that they are so worried about school they aren’t sleeping, or they’ve stopped eating, or they are having nightmares.” She added that if an adult were to report similar feelings about their job, she would advise them to seek support or consider moving rather than insisting they must not miss a single day. Last week, Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, criticised parents who she claimed were allowing their children to take Friday off school because they were working at home. But Fisher said the narrative that poor attendance is all about “slack parents” is wrong. She describes the parents she advises as “desperate”. “If your child isn’t at school, it is very hard to live a normal life,” she said. Oliver Conway, a child protection solicitor at London law firm Oliver Fisher, which is co-hosting a conference with Square Peg this week on the impact of prosecuting parents on attendance, said many poorer parents were unable to pay fines. He asked: “Why aren’t they giving these families proper mental health support and support from social services instead of trying to punish them?” One “deeply vulnerable” woman came to him in great distress because the local authority was taking her to court for not sending her 14-year-old daughter into school. “Her daughter wasn’t going in because she was pregnant. She was involved in county lines [drug trafficking] and she was being sexually abused by a drug dealer,” he said. He said some of his clients struggled because the council was moving them from one temporary address to another much further away, meaning they had to take two or three buses to reach school. Sign up to Observed Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers after newsletter promotion Ben Davis, headteacher of St Ambrose Barlow RC High in Salford, said: “We need to move away completely from this idea that people are swinging the lead.” He said it was wrong that the government was trying to “vilify parents” when the vast majority of severe absences involved families who were “really struggling”, often because of issues which stemmed from poverty. At Davis’s school, a therapist and safeguarding staff try to understand what is causing stress about coming to school and offer children support, as well as a place to escape to if school becomes overwhelming. Issues have included bereavement, family breakdown and criminality. He said: “We have a girl who is a young carer. At the start of each day, we make sure we say hello to her and she feels seen.” Her low attendance has now increased to over 80%. Attendance rates across the school, especially for disadvantaged students and those with special educational needs, are above the national average. Davis warned that pressure from government was making it harder for schools to take this sort of gentler approach to absence. “It is an absurd idea that we need to double down on stressed kids with greater robustness and rigour,” he said. A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “We know some children face greater barriers to attendance, like pupils with long-term medical conditions or special educational needs and disabilities. “That is why we are taking a support-first approach to tackling absence, setting clear expectations that schools and local authorities work closely with families to identify and address the underlying issues.”

The ex-headteacher: school leaders need support, not punitive Ofsted judgments

2023-03-24

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/24/the-ex-headteacher-school-leaders-need-support-not-punitive-ofsted-judgments

My colleague describes the buildup to inspection as ‘a form of prolonged torture waiting for public trial and execution’ School conversations have been dominated by one word: Ofsted. And what a range of feelings that word evokes. As a former headteacher who continues to work with school leaders, my feelings are complex. I believe it is right that anyone in a public sector position is held to account. For those of us in schools, this means proper scrutiny, not only over the standard of education provided but also how we keep young people safe in our care. We need a body such as Ofsted to do this work and to challenge us when provision is not as good as it can be. But I question whether the current inspection model ensures that happens in an appropriate way. The two days of an Ofsted inspection are fuelled by adrenaline, caffeine and only a few hours sleep. Conversations with inspectors the day before they arrive give a good indication of how the process will go: they have already done a desktop evaluation of your school, and looking up inspectors’ biographies online means you know who you are up against. The inspections can feel like a clinical process of intensive information gathering – but one in which you need your wits about you to keep making your case when you feel unfair judgments are being formed. But worse than the inspections, is the time between inspections. A colleague describes it as “a form of prolonged torture waiting for public trial and execution”. Horror stories spread like wildfire among headteachers, local authorities and trusts desperate to avoid the pitfalls that have caught out others. And why wouldn’t they? The framework by which schools are judged is far from perfect, so you would be foolish not to go into battle well armed. The result of an inspection is a detailed report but if we are honest, all that matters to the community is the summarising grade. A single judgment: outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate – all to describe something so complex. Regardless of which word is awarded, it is a burden for every headteacher. If the word is negative, you are publicly humiliated and could lose your job. There is also the devastating impact on your school community – a downward spiral of pupils and staff leaving that is difficult to reverse. If it is positive, outstanding even, that is great for now. But woe betide the grade dropping on your watch. I can understand why headteachers I know would miss funerals and ignore their own medical emergencies to be in their school on inspection day – it is not an experience to delegate. Part of your job as head is to be the shield that enables teachers to get on with theirs. That means putting on a brave public face and dismissing any worries about inspection, while working under intolerable pressure. Right now, the challenges facing school leaders are enormous. They need supportive words and they also need challenge – but not punitive judgments. Ruth Luzmore is a former headteacher of a primary school in London

Prayer rituals in schools remain a divisive issue | Letters

2024-04-22

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/22/prayer-rituals-in-schools-remain-a-divisive-issue

Readers respond to a news report and an article by Nadeine Asbali on a prayer ban at Michaela community school in London I was disappointed by the court ruling on Michaela community school’s prayer ban (High court upholds top London school’s ban on prayer rituals, 16 April), and shocked to see the jubilant reaction from several prominent politicians. Children praying in school is not disruptive or threatening, and for Kemi Badenoch to suggest that these pupils are attempting to “impose their views on an entire school community” screams of xenophobia. With this ruling, it’s the other way around. The prayer ban tells Muslim children that their religious and cultural practices are foreign and undesirable, and in doing so forces conformity to a homogeneous British identity. I attended a Catholic school in Glasgow with a large number of Muslim students. Many wore hijabs and observed Ramadan, and every Friday a lot of my friends would go to a nearby mosque for midday prayers. In a school system where religious education was taught out of a textbook by old white men, having the opportunity to learn about other cultures through discussions with my peers and exposure to their lifestyles and practices was an enriching experience. Surely this environment of diversity, acceptance and understanding is one that our educators and politicians wish to cultivate?Oliver EastwoodGlasgow Your article about the Michaela case mentions “renewed discussion about whether faith and religion should have any role in the education system”. The primary school options for my granddaughter this year were three faith schools within walking distance or alternative non-faith schools too distant to walk to. If the faith schools had been oversubscribed, they could have rejected her on the basis of her (non-)religion. Only 6% of our population are practising Christians and this figure will be boosted by those desperate for a particular school place, but over a third of primary schools are (Christian) faith schools. As these schools are almost entirely tax-funded, this is absurd.Bill BradburyBolton Re Nadeine Asbali’s article (Michaela school will keep its prayer ban – but as a Muslim teacher I know it doesn’t have to be this way, 16 April), it’s crucial to distinguish between freedom of belief and the outward practice of those beliefs in an explicitly secular institution. First, freedom of religion doesn’t equate to unlimited practice. Students can maintain their faith internally, contemplating and praying silently through the day. The school doesn’t restrict core beliefs, only the outward practice. Second, positive experiences with prayer in schools may not be universal. Prayer rituals can create social pressure or division. Third, and most importantly, the accusation of Islamophobia is serious, but unsubstantiated here. The school’s policy applies to all religions. Focusing on prayer rituals doesn’t equate to broader societal prejudice.Mo ShahdlooOxford The headteacher of Michaela has defined a strategy centred on the removal of all religious affiliations and the school has announced itself as secular. It ensures that everyone who enrols is aware of this before they sign up. The school is focused on results and views this policy as a fundamental part of this. Its educational performance has been rated outstanding and could be viewed as best practice. Even if that is not the case, by giving parents the choice whether this type of education is appropriate for them or not, it is adding to diversity of choice. It seems that Nadeine Asbali is missing the point and calls for conformity to type rather than diversity of thought. She possibly believes that teachers’ legal requirement to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of students can only be achieved though a religious forum. I think not. It can be achieved without religion, as shown by the school’s achievements. Also, to allow a student to sign up to an agreement, only to challenge it later to the point of dissent, would break the code of conduct referenced in Nadeine’s article.Andrew JenkinsNeath I support Nadeine Asbali in her views concerning the ban on Muslim prayers in Michaela school. I am a committed and practising Christian, and I am greatly concerned at the increasing secularisation pervading our society. We are all naturally spiritual beings with a hunger for something other than materialism, and to ban any expression of this is to deny what it is to be human. I believe it is policing religious freedom, and is curbing expression of deeply held beliefs that, as Nadeine says, handled correctly, can actually improve an understanding of each other. Children need to learn how to share ideas and convictions respectfully and with tolerance. How else will they learn to evaluate truth and form their own opinions? If not interrupting the normal learning routine, Muslim prayer times should not be banned. At the same time, the same freedom should be afforded to other religious expressions, such as discussion groups and Christian prayer times. Hazel ButlerEastbourne, East Sussex I felt relieved reading Nadeine Asbali’s article on the prayer ban case. When I was a teenager in a mostly white state secondary school, I asked my religious studies teacher if I could pray at the back of her classroom for five minutes at lunch. Though not Muslim, she understood me completely. Sometimes we’d have a brief chat, sometimes she would give me a reassuring nod as she ate her lunch in the office with humanities staff next door while I went in for my five minutes of devotion and peace over the years. The headteacher probably had no idea, and I can’t see why it matters. It seems that schools promoting independence, diversity and respect are behind us. Now, every moment of a young person’s day is dictated by a new, oddly dogmatic secularism. And people are feeling proud to see the cookie-cutter academic results this churns out. It is nauseating to read everywhere that this is a victory for British schools, and refreshing to see at least one article point out the contradiction in a ban on freedom being in line with liberal values.Sabiha AhmedHigh Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Nadeine Asbali refers to “young people learning how to get along with people different from themselves”. That is a sentiment I’m sure most of us would fully support. She also takes the view that “an obstinate, French-style secularism is creeping into our classrooms”. Rather than “creeping”, secularism should be actively encouraged in the education system if we are to avoid segregation of communities along religious, racial and economic lines. We learn to accept and get along with others by spending time with people who come from a background different to our own. Faith schools can discriminate against pupils and teachers who do not share the religion of the school. This at odds with to the objective of a cohesive society. The old adage “Schools are for teaching, not preaching” is more relevant today than at any time in our history.Tony HicksNottingham Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Private school funding increased twice as much as public schools’ in decade after Gonski, data shows

2023-07-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/17/gonski-review-government-funding-private-public-schools

Exclusive: government funding since landmark education review released ‘has gone to those least in need’, says national convenor of Save Our Schools Real government funding to private schools has increased almost twice as much as funding to public schools in the decade since the landmark Gonski review recommended changes designed to fund Australian schools according to need. From 2012 to 2021, per student funding to independent and Catholic schools rose by 34% and 31% respectively, while funding to public schools increased by just 17%, according to parliamentary library data provided exclusively to Guardian Australia. In Queensland, the growth in government funding to independent schools per student has been nine times greater than to public schools. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) data shows that 98% of private schools are funded above the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) recommended by Gonski and more than 98% of public schools are funded below it. “That money has gone to the wrong place,” said Trevor Cobbold, an economist and the national convenor of Save Our Schools. “It has gone to those least in need.” The Gonski review was hailed as the roadmap to reducing the impact of social disadvantage on educational outcomes. But more than decade later, government policy has had the opposite effect. Cobbold said the figures showed a “sabotaging” of the plan by successive governments, both state and federal, which has shortchanged students in the public system. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup “The Gonski model wasn’t perfect, there were some flaws,” he said. “But it offered a change in terms of where funding would be directed in terms of the most in need, and that has not happened.” The Greens education spokesperson, Penny Allman-Payne, said the gap in funding between private and public schools had created one of the most unequal and segregated school systems in the OECD. A Unicef report in 2018 ranked Australia 30th out of 38 OECD countries in providing equitable access to secondary education. “It’s clear that the implementation of Gonski has been a failure. By no measure can anyone say, a decade later, that our school funding model is working,” she said. “It’s a twisted and perverse system that is widening the gap between rich and poor kids and lowering average student performance.” One of the core recommendations of the Gonski review when it was released in 2011 was implementing the SRS, a needs-based model to provide a baseline education to students, set at $13,060 for primary students and $16,413 for secondary students. The federal education minister at the time of the Gonski review, Peter Garrett, said the aim was to ensure any student, irrespective of their background, could reach their potential. “The legislation we put in place meant Australia finally had a genuine needs-based funding system for the first time,” he said. “This required a massive effort to produce significant buy-in from most of the education sector Australia wide.” But a briefing by the education department prepared for witnesses appearing before Senate estimates and seen by Guardian Australia, estimates that schools in the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia will reach only 75% of their SRS this year, with the remaining states and territories also falling short of 100%. On its current trajectory, the Northern Territory will never reach it. Cobbold said the failure to fund schools according to need could be traced back to key decisions made by successive governments after the Gonski review. The first kick to its success, he said, was the Gillard government’s edict that “no school would lose a dollar”. A deal was struck with the Catholic system and other private schools – which were found to be overfunded at the time – to maintain their revenue from government. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Documents released in June this year through freedom of information laws revealed more than 1,000 private schools – or 40% of Australia’s non-government schools – would be overfunded by $3.2bn over the next six years. Cobbold pointed to the Abbott government’s 2014 budget, which scrapped the biggest increases in school funding agreed to under the Gonski reforms, planned for 2017 and 2018, the bulk of which would have gone to public schools. Cobbold said the funding model for public schools was further undermined in 2017, when the Turnbull government introduced an “arbitrary” commonwealth funding cap of 20% for public schools, with the remainder to be covered by state governments. For non-government schools, the caps are the reverse. The president of the Australian Education Union, Correna Haythorpe, said putting the onus on the states to implement 80% of funding failed to adhere to the Gonski review’s recommendation that the commonwealth should put in more, given its greater capacity to raise revenue. “What we know is that over the past decade, states have not been held accountable for delivering the full share,” she said. Former New South Wales National party MP and former state education minister, Prof Adrian Piccoli, said the Turnbull government did cap the funding increase for schools that had reached 100% of the SRS – most of which were in the independent sector – after the Gillard government had promised to increase funding by 3% a year for all schools. “What the Gillard government did was better than what was there before, what the Turnbull government did was a little better,” he said. “But it was far from perfect.” Cobbold said the final blow to funding schools according to need came from the Morrison government, which negotiated a $4.6bn increase in funding for Catholic schools over 10 years but no additional money for public schools. “Morrison basically said it’s up to the state governments [to fund public schools], but the state governments haven’t been delivering either,” Cobbold said. In Western Australia and the Northern Territory, state government funding in real terms has gone backwards since 2012, falling by 5.6% and 7.75% per student respectively, according to the Acara data. The overall funding disparities have not been spread equally across the country. Real government funding per student has increased by more than 16% in metro areas, more than 22% in inner regional areas, and more than 20% in outer regional areas. But in remote and very remote areas it has risen by barely 14% and 10% respectively. Garrett said the failure of federal governments to fund schools according to their need in the decade since Gonski was an outrage. “The Coalition trashed that reform and a generation of students in public schools lost the opportunity to shine,” he said. The federal government is now undertaking a review to inform the next National School Reform Agreement, with the aim to work with state governments to get schools to 100% of their SRS. The education minister, Jason Clare, agreed there was a gap that needed to be filled. “Australia has a good education system, but it can be a lot better and a lot fairer,’ he said. “If you are a child today from a poor background, from the bush or if you are an Indigenous Australian, you are three times more likely to fall behind at school. This is what we need to fix.” This story is part one of a series exploring how successive governments have failed to make Australia’s education funding fairer. Next: the parents who fled public schools – and those who stayed.

Stoxbridge? St Andrews tops Guardian UK university guide for second year

2023-09-09

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/09/stoxbridge-st-andrews-tops-guardian-university-guide-for-second-year-uk

Scottish institution once again finishes ahead of Oxford and Cambridge in the Guardian’s 2024 rankings St Andrews has cemented its lead as the best university in the country, pulling further away from Oxford and Cambridge in the latest Guardian University Guide. The Fife university came top of the table for the first time in 2022, after knocking Oxford off the second spot in 2019. This year, the gap between first place and Oxford and Cambridge in second and third place respectively has widened, while St Andrews has claimed top spot in nine of the individual subject rankings, more than ever before. Prof Dame Sally Mapstone, the St Andrews vice-chancellor, said: “I think everyone associated with St Andrews will be absolutely delighted. To be ranked top last year was very special, to do it two years in succession risks becoming habit-forming. It is a great compliment to our fantastic academic and professional services staff, the university’s longstanding commitment to a very special blend of research-led teaching, and the hard work of our remarkable students.” She added that St Andrews position at the top confirmed its strength in offering students a good experience, since this is what the Guardian rankings captured. St Andrews’ consistent success could replace the “Oxbridge” moniker as UK universities’ signifier of prestige with “Stoxbridge”. The Scottish institution is the third-oldest university in the UK after Oxford and Cambridge.Matt Hiely-Rayner, who compiled the guide, said that “St Andrews has consolidated the lead it took last year and has even extended it”. St Andrews’ improved position is because of higher grades from incoming students, a higher rate of students completing their courses, improved graduate prospects, and a slightly lower staff to student ratio. Hiely-Rayner added that overall “it has been a relatively stable year, particularly near the top of the rankings. Universities moved around nine places on average, which is comparatively low and is partly due to the methodology remaining consistent.” The London School of Economics came fourth again and Imperial took fifth place. The only changes to the top 10 were Bath claiming Durham’s sixth place and pushing Durham into seventh, and UCL taking Warwick’s eighth spot, moving Warwick down to ninth. Oxbridge shone in the subject tables this year, with Oxford increasing its haul of first places to 11, more than any other university, including in economics, politics, geography, computer science, and earth and marine sciences. St Andrews gained top spot for languages and linguistics, business and management and psychology, while Cambridge gained top spot for veterinary science. The two biggest risers in the rankings were further down the table: Portsmouth, at 33, and Soas, in 52nd place, both climbing 34 places. The university that has shown the most consistent improvement over the past five years is the University of the Arts London. The institution has progressed from 45th four years ago to 26th, 19th and now 15th, its highest ever. UAL’s vice-chancellor, James Purnell, credited its success to two factors currently maligned by the government: the creative arts and international students. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion He said that some of the recent headlines from ministers making negative comments about overseas students “were not helpful to the sector”. “We always try to say, to the public and to government, this is an unbelievable asset for our students and for the UK,” he said. He added that the government’s emphasis on Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) was a “classic false choice”. “If we’re going to invent materials for the future it’s going to be at the intersection of science, technology, fashion and design. I can’t think of any problem that doesn’t need a mixture of those skills. We’d love to persuade politicians to shift away from what is a false choice to a recognition that creativity and innovation are ways of solving some of the most intractable problems we face,” he said.

English universities warned not to over-rely on fees of students from China

2023-05-17

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/may/18/english-universities-warned-not-to-over-rely-on-fees-of-students-from-china

Higher education regulator asks 23 institutions for contingency plans in case of sudden interruption of income England’s higher education regulator has warned universities against over-reliance on tuition fees of students from China, as Rishi Sunak backtracked on his earlier pledge to close UK branches of the Beijing-sponsored Confucius Institute. The Office for Students (OfS) wrote to 23 universities with high numbers of Chinese students on Thursday, asking to see their contingency planning in case of a sudden interruption to overseas recruitment. “Such interruptions could result from, for example, a changing geopolitical environment which could cause an immediate and significant impact on income,” an OfS report said. “We have written to providers that are particularly exposed to these risks to ask them to share their plans with us.” Universities have become increasingly dependent on international students as part of their business models because of the significantly higher fees they can charge, which offset the decreasing value of domestic tuition fees that have gone up little since they were introduced in 2012. China is of particular concern because it sends more students to study in the UK than any other country. Twenty-seven per cent of all non-EU students in UK higher education institutions, or 151,690 pupils, were from China in 2021/22. University College London and Manchester University recruited the highest numbers. The OfS chief executive, Susan Lapworth, said: “International students bring enormous economic, cultural and educational benefits to higher education in England. But we continue to have concerns that some universities have become too reliant on fee income from international students, with students from one country sometimes a significant part of the financial model. “Universities must know what they would do if international recruitment fails to meet expectations. We have written to a number of institutions today to ensure they are alert to this risk, and have credible contingency plans in place to protect them from the consequences of a sudden reduction in their income.” The OfS’s concerns come as the government admitted it had backtracked on the prime minister’s pledge to shut branches of the Confucius Institute (CI), which are attached to universities across the UK. Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, used her visit to Taiwan to issue a reminder of his pledge during the Conservative party leadership race in July 2022, claiming the institutes promoted Chinese soft power. She said: “Last summer the now British prime minister described China as the biggest long-term threat to Britain and said the Confucius Institutes should be closed. He was right and we need to see those policies enacted urgently.” Number 10, however, effectively admitted on Wednesday that Sunak had changed his mind. A spokesperson said: “Like any international body operating in the UK, the CI needs to operate transparently and within the law. We’re taking action to remove all government funding from the CI in the UK, but we currently judge that it would be disproportionate to ban them.” They also said it was important to note that the government did not directly fund the institute. A UK charity that last month published a highly critical report about the role of the institutes in Britain will, however, argue on Thursday that the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act – which became law last week – empowers regulators to shut them down. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The act has a specific section on overseas funding, amending previous legislation to oblige the OfS to monitor overseas funding of higher education providers to gauge implications for freedom of speech and academic freedom. UK-China Transparency found in its report last month that Beijing vetted Chinese people applying to teach at the institutes for their political leaning, ethnicity and ability to comply with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) guidelines for foreign affairs. Those guidelines require staff to enforce CCP values, leading to claims that universities are in breach of legal responsibilities to protect their students from harassment. Universities UK (UUK), which speaks for 140 universities, said the sector was well aware of the risks of over-reliance on narrow streams of student applications and had been working to diversify their student base. Student numbers from India, Nigeria and the UAE have all gone up. UUK highlighted instead the financial risks universities face from fee freezes and increased costs. “Universities need a clear, well thought out and consistent funding model in order to safeguard their work both now and in the future,” a spokesperson said.

‘It’s an absolute mess’: building work seriously delayed on 33 new special schools in England

2024-03-09

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/09/building-work-delayed-33-new-special-schools-england-autistic

Promised provision, particularly for autistic children, was announced a year ago but few schools will open on time Plans to deliver thousands of new special school places by 2026 are falling seriously behind, with experts branding the building programme “a mess”, the Observer can reveal. The news calls into question the only announcement on schools the chancellor made in last week’s budget – a commitment of £105m towards 15 additional special schools. Last March, the Department for Education announced that 33 local authorities had been awarded funding to build a new special school, and most of these were expected to open by September 2026. However, insiders say the procurement process is already very delayed, and they are doubtful that schools will open on time. The local authorities submitted a list of possible multi-academy trusts to sponsor these schools last September and were told to expect a decision the following month. But the DfE still has not published a list of approved trusts, so in most cases no design or planning could start. Education secretary Gillian Keegan admitted on Friday that the government “haven’t built enough special educational needs places or schools”. Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders, she admitted that councils were “under pressure because families can’t get the support they need”. A senior education consultant who has been working closely with one of the local authorities on that DfE list from last year said: “It’s an absolute mess. [Getting a school ready by] September 2026 is now looking like a real push.” The consultant said that although there was a shortage of special needs school places across the country, the 33 areas had been chosen because they have “a particularly serious, pressing need”. He added: “Waiting for this announcement delays any formal design and construction process. We’ve got contractors asking if they should submit a tender for the school but we have to tell them nothing can happen yet. It’s ridiculous.” Many of the special schools announced last year will focus on autism, an area of increasing need. Tens of thousands of children are now waiting months or years for help, with referrals for autism assessment rocketing over 300% since Covid, according to a report last month by the Centre for Young Lives and the Child of the North campaign. Anne Longfield, founder of the Centre for Young Lives and a former children’s commissioner, said ministers needed to give these new autism schools “a rocket boost” to ensure they were built fast: “Every day these young people don’t have an environment in school that is supporting them to flourish is a day their life chances could diminish.” Sarah Woosey, head of education at law firm Simpson Millar, said: “We are seeing a growing number of disputes where everyone involved agrees that a child needs a special school place but there isn’t one available. “Teenagers are struggling most. But even at reception age, we are seeing non-verbal children whom everyone agrees need to be in a special school being offered only a mainstream place, which is setting them up for failure.” Rob Gasson, chief executive of Wave multi-academy trust, which runs special and alternative provision schools in the south-west, said: “I have worked in these sectors for 30 years, and right now demand is off the scale.” He said he saw children and parents in special schools who had “battled their way through a very adversarial system to secure the support they need and been marked by that battle”. But he added: “I also see many children who have been excluded from mainstream schools with exactly the same needs, but without the support networks to fight the system.” There is also a cost to such delays. When there are not enough state-run special schools, councils have to pay for a child to go to a privately run special school, which can costs tens of thousands of pounds a year. Tim Warneford, an academy funding consultant, said: “Schools of all stripes, including special schools and those with Raac, are experiencing a pattern of the DfE not meeting deadlines on building. It is causing no end of anxiety.” A DfE spokesperson said: “We have never set a September 2026 target to complete these particular special free schools. We are opening more special free schools than ever before and have opened a total of 108 since 2010. With the additional 15 schools confirmed at the budget, we have committed to opening a further 92 in the future.”

Childcare in England failing and falling behind much of world, charity says

2024-04-14

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/15/childcare-in-england-failing-and-falling-behind-much-of-world-charity-says

Fawcett Society warns sector is lacking in ambition and delivery and calls for free ‘universal’ hours England’s childcare system is failing and falling behind those of much of the rest of the world, a UK charity for gender equality and women’s rights has said. The Fawcett Society said childcare in England was failing on several fronts: affordability, quality and levels of public spending. The charity looked at early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision in Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, and Ireland – all countries that have recently completed or are undergoing government-led transformation in the sector – and found England’s childcare fell short in ambition and delivery. The findings echo numerous warnings on the state of childcare in England, with surveys finding that a third of parents with young children say they are struggling to afford childcare, nurseries warning that government plans for free childcare are undeliverable, and about a quarter of a million mothers with young children leaving their jobs because of difficulties with balancing work and childcare. The most recent change to England’s childcare system, which came into force this month, was an expansion of free hours. The Fawcett Society said that while this was welcome for some families, the narrow focus of the expansion would not help those who are disadvantaged and would not address the wider issues with the system. The charity argues in its report that the government should offer free “universal” hours of ECEC provision for all children from the end of parental leave until school age. Jemima Olchawski, the Fawcett Society’s chief executive, said: “Our childcare is some of the most expensive in the world and it isn’t working. Research shows that 85% of mothers struggle to find childcare that fits around their work and one in 10 have quit jobs due to childcare pressures. “For too long we’ve seen the cracks in our dysfunctional childcare system papered over. We’ve got a patchwork of provision that doesn’t meet the needs of children, parents or the childcare sector. But a broken system isn’t inevitable, as the countries in our research clearly show. We need politicians from all parties to work together and make genuine commitments that last beyond this election – and indeed the next – to reform childcare. “There are plenty of countries around the world who simply do childcare better and we should be learning from their ambition. As we approach a general election, all parties need to be aware that any credible vision for transforming childcare mustn’t simply offer bolt-ons to a crumbling system. We must be more ambitious, particularly when it has such an impact on both children’s life chances and women’s ability to work.” The report outlines a plan for long-term reform in England that includes building on and expanding the existing “free hours” to make the offer open to all children, not just those of working parents, with extra subsidies for the poorest to enable them to afford to supplement the universal offer, and fee freezes for everyone. The report also recommends providing funding to nurseries so they can operate in unprofitable areas, and support inclusion for all children. Alesha De-Freitas, the director of policy, research and advocacy at the Fawcett Society, said: “Affordability is clearly essential but we’ve got stuck on it. When you look at other countries, you find a richness to the conversations about what is genuinely best for children that is so different to the UK.” The Fawcett Society report warns that “designing a system which is focused narrowly on [affordability] without strengthening and resourcing the system … may ultimately be counterproductive and unable to meet the demands it has set up”.There is ample international evidence that higher-quality childcare has huge long-term economic and social benefits, it says. “The early years of a child’s life are so important – the evidence for that is growing all the time,” De-Freitas added. “It really impacts on children’s long-term outcomes and access to education. We should be aiming for so much better than just having somewhere for parents to park their children while they’re at work.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government is delivering the largest ever expansion of childcare in England’s history, set to save parents taking up the full 30 hours an average of £6,900 for the new entitlements. “Working parents on universal credit are also eligible for support with childcare costs no matter how many hours they work, up to £1,015 per month for a single child and £1,739 for two children. England has some of the highest-quality early years provision in the world, with 96% of early years settings rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding as of August 2023 – up from 74% in 2012.”

Education of children in care in England held back by ‘system failings’

2022-07-07

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jul/07/education-of-children-in-care-in-england-held-back-by-system-failings

Report by MPs calls for academies that illegally turn away looked-after children to be punished by Ofsted A report by MPs has identified “a host of indefensible system failings” behind the educational disadvantage affecting children in care, and called for academies that illegally turn them away to be punished by Ofsted. The report by the education select committee accused the government of failing to act as a “pushy parent” by placing looked-after children in the best schools available, resulting in children in care “receiving educational experiences that we certainly would not deem acceptable for our own children”. The MPs highlighted the difficulties that many looked-after children have in accessing good or outstanding schools in England, and detailed how some academies attempt to keep them out despite their high priority for places. “There must be a clear sanctions mechanism in place for schools who consistently refuse or delay admissions of looked-after children. The lever for this accountability should be the impact on the school’s Ofsted judgment,” the report concluded. Just 7% of children in care go on to obtain good passes in GCSE maths and English, compared with 40% of others. MPs noted that children in residential care homes often have lower attainment than those placed in foster care. Robert Halfon, the chair of the committee, said: “The least the system can do is its legal duty to make sure that looked-after children get prioritised for the good and outstanding schools that can cater to their needs, which are often more complex than [for] children living with their parents. “But many are abdicating even that responsibility, using children’s own circumstances against them with impunity. “Ofsted ratings should tumble if councils and schools don’t give these children the equal opportunities they deserve.” The committee supported a clause in the schools bill going through parliament that would give councils greater powers to force academies to admit looked-after children. It said the Department for Education should introduce the new power “without delay”, and collect data on schools that try to block admissions. The admissions code for England gives top priority for school places to children in care, meaning that they should be admitted before any other pupils. But while a local authority can direct maintained schools to accept looked-after children, it currently has no powers over academies other than through an appeals process that can take months to resolve. One witness told the committee: “There is no sanction for [academies] having completely refused or blocked an admission to a school when they know that they are in a legally indefensible position. They will keep doing it as long as there is no sanction against that.” Anntoinette Bramble, the chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: “We want every child in care to be able to go to the best school for their needs, which is why we continue to call for powers for councils to direct academies to take looked after children, as pledged in the schools white paper.” Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said the report’s findings matched her own concerns that care provision was “patchy and inconsistent”. “More needs to be done to support children in care, especially those in unregulated provision, those who move settings regularly, and those without access to good or outstanding schools,” de Souza said. The committee was also highly critical of the use of unregulated education providers and residential homes, and at the lack of data available to the government or local authorities about how many children receive unregulated provision. The MPs recommended that councils relying on unregulated education should also be sanctioned by Ofsted through its inspections of councils’ children’s services.

UK pupils’ science and maths scores lowest since 2006 in international tests

2023-12-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/dec/05/uk-pupils-science-and-maths-scores-lowest-since-2006-in-international-tests

Global slump means maths and reading rankings still up slightly in OECD assessment of 15-year-olds, but results vary for UK nations The UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education. The OECD’s programme for international student assessment (Pisa), which compares educational attainment among 15-year-olds around the world, showed UK schoolchildren achieved their lowest scores in mathematics and science since 2006 – the first year of comparable data. Reading results were also down, close to the previous minimum in 2009, but other participating countries had even greater declines in attainment, which meant the UK slightly improved its ranking in the global league tables for maths and reading, despite its reduced scores. About 690,000 pupils from 81 countries and economies took part in the 2022 Pisa assessment, the results of which were published on Tuesday after a year-long delay owing to the global pandemic, which inevitably shaped the latest set of results. UK maths results slumped by 13 points and reading by 10 compared with the last Pisa round in 2018, while attainment in science, which has been in long-term decline, went down a further five points. The average OECD maths performance, by comparison, dropped by almost 16 points over the same period. Previously such changes have never exceeded four points. There were marked differences between the four UK nations, with England coming out on top, having achieved a mean Pisa maths score of 492 compared with the OECD average of 472, taking England from 17th in the Pisa rankings for maths in 2018 to 11th in 2022. England also climbed from 14th to 13th position for reading, and remained in 13th for science, according to the Department for Education. The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, said the latest set of results “cemented” England as one of the top-performing countries for education in the western world. “These results are testament to our incredible teachers, the hard work of students and to the government’s unrelenting drive to raise school standards over the past 13 years,” she said. “Our teachers, head teachers and support staff should be incredibly proud of their role, day in and day out, transforming education standards in this country and giving our children the platform to build successful careers and compete for the best jobs in world.” However Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, questioned the reliability of the data as the UK’s response rate fell below the OECD’s official requirements. He said: “This should not be the occasion for a fanfare: England’s schools have been sold short by their government for more than a decade.” Wales struggled at the bottom of the domestic table with a 21-point drop in its maths score since 2018, while Scotland’s went down by 18 points – roughly equivalent to the loss of a year’s learning, the OECD said. “The last years haven’t been so great in Scotland,” said Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills at the OECD. The results follow warnings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies last month that Scotland had experienced the largest historic decline in maths performance of the UK nations; it had been the best-performing in 2006. The Pisa data showed Scotland was now the third-best in the UK behind England and Northern Ireland on maths, with a mean score of 471, leaving it 55th out of 81 countries. Scotland’s decline was also larger than the OECD average of 16 points. The OECD figures also raised significant questions about the Scottish government’s attempts to narrow the attainment gap between poor and better-off pupils. It showed that gap was at its greatest in Scotland, at 16 points, compared with 10 for England, 12 for Northern Ireland and 10 for Wales. Jenny Gilruth, the Scottish education secretary, said Scotland’s performance on reading was stronger, placing it second in the UK, but the overall findings provided the Scottish government and councils with “key learning” on the need for action. “As is well understood, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on our young people and their experience of learning and teaching,” she said. The Labour-led Welsh government said the pandemic had “derailed” progress it had been making in literacy and numeracy as it failed by a large margin to hit the Pisa targets it had set itself. In maths, Wales’s mean score for 2022 was 466 after registering the largest drop in the four nations over the four years. In reading its mean score was also 466 (against 483 in 2018) and in science 473 (488 in 2018), again the worst of the four nations in both. The Welsh education minister, Jeremy Miles, said: “Before the pandemic, we saw a strong improvement in literacy and numeracy standards in Wales. Sadly, it is clear that the pandemic has derailed some of this improvement.” As with previous Pisa cycles, the highest-performing education systems were in east Asia, with Singapore outperforming all other education systems in all subjects. Japan, Taiwan, Macau and South Korea were also near the top of the tables in all three subject areas, with Estonia the standout success in Europe once again. The OECD said there had been an “unprecedented” drop in attainment globally, with mean performance in OECD countries down 11 points in reading and almost 16 in maths – equivalent to three-quarters of a year’s worth of learning. Some countries managed to maintain and even improve their performance despite Covid, but Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland had some of the most dramatic declines, with a drop of 25 score points or more in maths between 2018 and 2022. While the pandemic, which closed schools for months at a time in countries across the world and led to remote education, was the most obvious explanation for the decline in results, the OECD said students in countries such as Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic and Sweden had scored lower marks for up to a decade or more. “This indicates that long-term issues in education systems are also to blame for the drop in performance. It is not just about Covid,” the OECD said. Natalie Perera, the chief executive of the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said: “Today’s Pisa results confirm that England, alongside many other OECD nations, has experienced considerable learning loss as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, England does remain above the OECD average in all subjects: maths, reading and science.” Perera also noted that the reported life satisfaction scores of UK students had fallen drastically between 2015 and 2022, to the extent that the UK now has the second-lowest average life satisfaction of 15-year-olds across all OECD countries. “The government must prioritise education and, in particular, address the urgent teacher recruitment and retention issues that the country is facing. But the challenges for young people span wider than just education,” she said.

All state schools in England may shut in ‘unprecedented’ coordinated strikes

2023-04-28

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/28/headteachers-could-join-new-strikes-likely-to-shut-schools-across-england

Four main teaching unions could unite after ‘months of stonewalling’ from education secretary Gillian Keegan All state schools in England could be closed by “unprecedented” coordinated strikes involving all four teaching unions, after their leaders vowed to increase pressure on the government to improve its pay offer. In a joint press conference, the leaders of the four major education unions said they wanted to send a message to the education secretary that she needed to resume negotiations over pay and school funding. “The significance of four union general secretaries being aligned in this way should not be understated. It’s a real demonstration of unity on our part and determination on the part of our members, after weeks, if not months, of stonewalling from the secretary of state [Gillian Keegan],” said Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT. Roach said Keegan had “gone to ground” and was refusing to meet unions. “Her haste to strike a deal has seriously backfired and we’re here today because it has galvanised not just us but our members, rank and file classroom teachers and school leaders who are now going to be balloted for industrial action.” Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the government was “in a parallel universe”, describing the previous pay talks as “bizarre and surreal”. “The nation’s parents are watching on and saying, why is the government not sorting this out? This is a government that wants education on the cheap. They don’t want to pay teachers,” Barton said. If the ballots held by the four unions, including the National Education Union and the National Association of Head Teachers, pass the legal threshold, then the leaders said they would coordinate action in the autumn term this year. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “I think with our four unions you would find that every state school in England would be affected by the dispute, and that would put it up to 300-400,000 teachers who would be involved in taking action.” In March, the government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment alongside an average 4.5% pay rise next year after talks. But members of the four unions rejected the pay offer by substantial margins. On Friday, the National Association of Head Teachers announced that it would again ballot members for strike action. The union held a vote last year but narrowly failed to surpass the 50% participation rate required by law, with union officials blaming the postal strike for members being unable to receive ballots. “We’ve been on this cliff-edge for too long, and enough is enough,” Paul Whiteman, the NAHT’s general secretary, said at its conference on Friday as delegates voted to endorse a ballot. “When it comes to school funding, the government has attempted to fob off the general public with massaged figures and deceptive statistics, but it doesn’t matter if you’ve been made to study maths until the age of 18 or the age of 180, its sums just don’t add up.” The NEU gave notice that it would open balloting from Monday for renewed authorisation to hold strikes until the end of the year. So far the NEU has held five days of national and regional strikes in England, with a further national strike planned for Tuesday. Dr Mary Bousted, the NEU’s joint general secretary, accused Keegan of “washing her hands” over the teachers’ pay dispute by refusing to reopen talks. “The secretary of state, who remains by some distance the biggest obstacle to getting a sensible resolution, needs to address this issue head on and come to the negotiating table with all the education unions. This wilful lack of engagement will be something that parents and teachers will not forget,” Bousted said. Keegan has refused to reopen talks, saying she will wait until she receives recommendations from the independent school teachers’ review body for the 2023-24 pay award later this summer.

Adult education and apprenticeships budget will be 25% down since 2010

2022-06-12

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jun/13/adult-education-and-apprenticeships-budget-will-have-shrunk-25-in-15-years-says-ifs

IFS says cuts and inflation far outweigh £900m promised new spending, undermining levelling up ambitions Government spending on adult education and apprenticeships in England will be 25% lower in 2025 than in 2010, despite the extra £900m promised in last year’s spending review, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS calculated that the additional funding only partially reverses the 38% fall in overall spending on adult education and apprenticeships over the decade since 2010-11, when the Conservatives entered government, due to austerity and inflation. “This will make it harder to achieve the government’s high ambitions to improve technical education and adult skills in order to level up poorer areas of the country,” the IFS said, ahead of a new report, Adult education: making it a genuine second chance, published on Monday. The report found that while there have been increases in the numbers taking more advanced qualifications, such as higher apprenticeships and degrees, the numbers of adults taking more basic qualifications has fallen steeply since 2010-11 – including a 50% fall in those taking qualifications at GCSE level and below. In November’s spending review, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, stated that “total spending on skills will increase over the parliament by £3.8bn by 2024-25”, equivalent to a 26% increase in real terms compared with five years earlier. But the IFS found that only £900m was additional spending. “Given the size of past cuts, however, this will only bring total spending on adult education and apprenticeships back to around 2015 levels,” it noted. Imran Tahir, an IFS research economist and one of the report’s authors, said the government’s plans will provide extra help to those who left schools with good GCSEs or equivalent qualifications. “Yet the main plans set out for helping adults with few qualifications – skills bootcamps and the new [numeracy] programme – are relatively untested and are unlikely to lead to formal qualifications. Providing effective support and training for this group is a significant challenge that will be key to levelling up poorer areas of the country,” Tahir said. The IFS found that in 2011-12, there were more than 3 million “low level” adult learners taking classroom-based qualifications, but by 2019-20 that number had more than halved. The biggest fall was in adults taking courses below GCSE level. There has also been a decline in the numbers of adults starting apprenticeships, especially since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy on larger firms in 2017. “As a result, there was little chance of meeting a government target of 3 million new apprenticeship starts between 2015 and 2020,” the report states. The report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, praised the new lifelong loan entitlement being introduced by the government as “a sensible move” that effectively extends the funding system used for higher education to a number of further education courses. But it warns that the four-year entitlement for loans is “substantially more restrictive” than the current system of funding, and risks “achieving precisely the opposite of the government’s stated aim by making it harder for people to retrain later in life”. Toby Perkins, Labour’s shadow minister for further education and skills, said: “The government’s neglect of further education is plain to see in shrinking opportunities and falling numbers of adults taking part in training and reskilling. “Together with the lowest level of workplace learning in over a generation, it is clear that the Conservatives do not have a plan to tackle skills shortages across our economy.”

Record numbers of teachers in England quitting profession, figures show

2023-06-08

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/08/teachers-england-schools-figures-department-education-survey

Department for Education survey finds that 40,000 – almost 9% of workforce – left state schools in 2021-22 before retirement Teachers in England are abandoning their profession in record numbers, according to official figures, with Labour claiming that “incompetent” government policies were to blame. The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) found that 40,000 teachers resigned from state schools last year – almost 9% of the teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011 – while a further 4,000 retired. The survey found that unfilled teaching vacancies were also at a record high, with more than 2,300 empty posts compared with 530 a decade earlier. A further 3,300 posts were filled by supply teachers, 1,000 more than the year before. Large numbers of teachers were missing because of illness, with more than 3m working days of sick leave taken last year, a rise of more than 50% compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2018-19. Jack Worth of the National Foundation for Educational Research said it was “hugely concerning” to see so many working-age teachers leaving. “Addressing teacher retention should be at the heart of dealing with the teacher supply challenge, with further policy action needed to reduce teacher workload and increase the competitiveness of teacher pay,” Worth said. Teaching unions blamed poor working conditions and the long-term erosion in pay for the exodus, while Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said: “This is yet more evidence that this incompetent Conservative government has created the perfect storm in recruitment and retention of teachers. “The endless merry-go-round of Conservative prime ministers and education ministers have neglected our schools and our teaching workforce – and it is children who will pay the price.” However, the DfE said almost 48,000 teachers joined the profession in 2022-23, up 2,800 from the previous year. Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said: “In today’s competitive job market, it is fantastic to see so many people choosing a rewarding teaching career, with a record number of teachers now working in our schools. “We know there is more to do, which is why we have generous bursaries to attract new trainees to teach priority subjects and focusing on supporting new teachers from the very start of their journey.” The number of teachers working in state schools in England reached 468,000, reflecting the continued rise in pupil numbers to 8.45 million this year. In secondary schools, there are now 3.6 million students, an increase of 300,000 over four years. Meanwhile, a new national survey of behaviour commissioned by the DfE found that 60% of school leaders and teachers said pupil misbehaviour had had a negative impact on their health. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion While 90% of headteachers and senior school leaders rated their school’s behaviour as good, just 64% of classroom teachers and 47% of pupils felt the same. The survey found that teachers lost six minutes of every half hour in lessons as a result of dealing with misbehaviour. Tom Bennett, the government’s behaviour adviser, said the survey showed that behaviour remained a big problem in many schools, with classroom disruption having a “huge” impact on student success. “This is a call to arms and a reminder that behaviour is fundamental to learning. And it’s good that the DfE is taking this seriously,” Bennett said. The DfE’s school census showed that more than 2 million state school pupils qualified for free school meals this year, with 24% or almost one in four pupils eligible, an increase of 122,000 from 2022. The 2 million figure was 40% higher than in the 2020 survey, as rising levels of household poverty and the government’s transition arrangements for families moving on to universal credit meant more children were eligible. Pupils are eligible for free school meals if their family is on universal credit with a household income of less than £7,400 a year after tax and any other benefits, or receive other similar benefits. More than 30% of pupils in the north-east of England were eligible for free school meals, while the figure was just 19% in the south-east and east of England. In London, 25% of pupils were eligible.

Gloria Jenkins obituary

2024-01-04

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/04/gloria-jenkins-obituary

My mother, Gloria Jenkins, who has died aged 86, embarked on a career in social work and education in the late 1950s. She first worked as a house mother in children’s homes, then as a childcare officer in Camberwell, south-east London, and Glamorgan, south Wales. In 1972 Gloria was appointed lecturer in social work at Gwent College of Higher Education and thus embarked on 25 years of social work education and latterly university administration. Just as she had been a professional, skilled and empathic social worker she became an inspirational teacher. As course director for the certificate of qualification in social work she supported hundreds of social workers in their desire to join the profession. Gloria spent time in the Netherlands, Spain and Israel sharing social work practice. In 1988-89 she was visiting professor of social work at the University of Texas. In 1990, she began the final part of her professional career, as leader of the small team working to gain university status for the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education (now Cardiff Metropolitan University), which was attained in 1996, the year before her retirement. The elder daughter of David Moulds, a miner, and his wife, Cassie (nee Morgan), Gloria was born in Blaenllechau, in the south Wales valleys, and attended Ferndale grammar school. She was one of the first to attend university from her community, graduating in 1958 with a degree in English and history from Cardiff University, and marrying a fellow student, Tony Jenkins, in 1960. She later completed the diploma in applied social studies, followed by the certificate of qualification in social work at the university. In 1981 Gloria gained a master’s in education. Gloria joined the British Association of Social Workers in 1971 and remained an active member until her retirement. She was a member of the Labour party for 60 years, took part in early CND marches and sat in the mud at Greenham Common. In 2001 Gloria founded the Welsh chapter of Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She attended the very first Pride events in Cardiff, and was one of the first co-chairs of Stonewall Cymru. In 2003 she received an achievement award from Stonewall and in 2017 was delighted to be honoured as part of Pride Cymru’s Icons and Allies exhibition. Gloria loved the arts. She was an active patron of Welsh National Opera and the Contemporary Arts Society for Wales. In 2006, she completed a degree in the history of art, graduating with first-class honours and became a popular guide for the National Museum of Wales. Her marriage to Tony ended in 1984. Gloria is survived by three children, Sian, Michael and me, and two grandchildren, Owen and Ieuan.

Organised crime may be profiting from student loan fraud worth £60m – report

2024-01-18

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/18/organised-may-be-profiting-from-student-loan-worth-60m-report

Gaps in regulation over franchise university providers leaving funding unprotected, according to National Audit Office Organised crime could be profiting from student loan fraud involving £60m in funding at unregulated colleges in England because of lax oversight, according to a report by the National Audit Office. The public spending watchdog said there has been “several instances of potential fraud and abuse” at private higher education providers, which offer courses leading to degrees awarded under franchise by mainstream universities as part of a commercial arrangement. Some providers are said to enrol students with little or no interest in completing a course but who can apply for government-backed maintenance loans worth up to £13,000. The provider can gain £9,250 in tuition fee loans, part of which is then paid as franchising fee of up to £3,000 per student to the degree-awarding university. In other cases, agents are offered lucrative commissions to sign up students. Examples of fraud detected by the Student Loans Company (SLC) – which administers the loan system for the government – included the involvement of organised crime, identity theft and false documentation. The House of Commons’ public accounts committee this week announced it would hold an inquiry into the regulation of franchise providers. Meg Hillier, the MP who chairs the committee, said in response to the NAO report: “Recent fraud has exposed significant gaps, including no clear responsibility for fraud enforcement across controls designed to protect students and taxpayers’ interests which have been exploited. “The Department for Education must clarify and strengthen these controls and promote an anti-fraud culture across government.” Robert Halfon, the higher education minister said: “Franchising can be a good way to support more people from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education, however I recognise there is more to do to strengthen oversight.” The NAO report said data analysis by the SLC in 2022 “detected instances of fraud, potentially associated with organised crime”, leading it to a wider investigation that identified “suspicious patterns of activity” involving franchised providers partnered with 10 mainstream universities. After consultation with the DfE, the SLC challenged 3,563 suspicious applications totalling nearly £60m in funding. Since 2023, the SLC has led a group within the National Crime Agency, including the Serious Fraud Office, to combat student loan fraud committed by organised crime groups. Chris Larmer, chief executive of the SLC, said his agency routinely monitors applications to detect suspicious activity, as well as requiring confirmation of student registration and attendance from providers before any payments are released. The NAO said that while franchise students composed just 6% of those receiving loans in England, they accounted for more than half of the total loan fraud uncovered last year by regulators. The numbers enrolled as full-time franchise students in England has rocketed in recent years, rising from 30,000 in 2018-19 to more than 90,000 in 2022-23, as more mainstream universities entered into franchising agreements to award degrees with commercial alternative providers, which are not regulated by the sector’s watchdog, the Office for Students (OfS). In one recent case, a university told the OfS of suspected “academic misconduct” involving a majority of the 1,389 students enrolled through one of its franchised providers. As a result the SLC recovered £6m in tuition fees. The NAO said: “Lead providers have few incentives to detect abuse of the student loans system in franchised providers since they benefit financially from increasing student numbers. Where it has identified weak governance, OfS has not yet named the lead or franchised providers.” Susan Lapworth, chief executive of the OfS, said: “It is essential that student loan funding provided by taxpayers is properly protected. Higher education institutions have obligations to comply with the rules that underpin the student loans system and to meet the OfS’s wider regulatory requirements.” A spokesperson for Universities UK, which represents university leaders, said: “While universities already have policies in place to ensure that all partnerships are undertaken responsibly, this report shows that there are significant and serious issues still to be addressed.”

Give teachers in England a deal similar to nurses to avoid strikes, says union

2023-04-09

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/09/give-teachers-englan-deal-similar-nurses-avoid-strikes-says-union

Patrick Roach of NASUWT calls on education secretary Gillian Keegan to reopen pay talks Ministers could avoid teachers’ strikes in England this summer if they make an improved pay offer as good as that made to NHS nurses, the leader of one teaching union has proposed. Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT union, called on the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, to reopen talks to allow pay negotiations to continue, saying strikes were “not inevitable” if a better deal could be reached. Speaking to journalists at the NASUWT’s annual conference in Glasgow, Roach said he would recommend a pay offer to his members if it was similar to that offered by the government to NHS nurses. “I’d be prepared to put a positive spin on it – why wouldn’t I?” Roach said. “We’re going into negotiations in good faith and with some integrity. We sit around the table, throw stuff out, and we’re not going to get everything we’re looking for, we understand that. “But frankly, if we’ve got something which looks good enough and smells good enough, why would I not put that to my members with a positive spin?” NASUWT members have voted to hold a ballot on industrial action, while the National Education Union (NEU) has announced five more strike days by its members during the summer term, with the first strike scheduled for 27 April. “The secretary of state could be facing industrial action on a significant scale before the end of the academic year. That will be regrettable,” Roach said. “Our view is that industrial action is not inevitable. While I’ve written to Gillian Keegan to put her on formal notice, it’s not inevitable. If she gets around the table and we can hammer out a deal which can command the support of our members, that’s the end of the story.” The deal offered by the government to NHS nurses last month includes bonus payments for this year between £1,655 to £3,789 depending on salary band, and a 5% pay rise in 2023-24 for most nurses. Keegan’s previous offer to teachers was for a £1,000 one-off payment this year and an average pay increase of 4.5% next year. In response, the Department for Education (DfE) noted that the average salary for a classroom teacher in England was £39,500. In comparison, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) estimates the average nurses salary was £33,400 in 2021, rising to about £35,000 last year. However, the funding of any teachers’ pay settlement could be a stumbling block given the potential impact on school budgets. The DfE has said that only the one-off payment and 0.5 percentage points of the pay rise would be covered by new funding, with the rest coming from existing budgets. Keegan’s offer was strongly rejected by NASUWT members in a consultative ballot, 87% voting against accepting it. The deal has also been rejected by the three other teaching unions, including the NEU, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders. The DfE said: “The offer was funded, including major new investment of over half a billion pounds, and helps tackle issues teachers are facing like workload. NEU, NAHT, ASCL and NASUWT’s decisions to reject this offer will simply result in more disruption for children and less money for teachers today.” In his speech to the NASUWT conference, Roach said Keegan “hasn’t yet passed her probation” period as education secretary. “And she won’t, unless she pulls her finger out and gives teachers a proper pay rise, fully funded,” Roach told delegates. Roach said Keegan’s “haste” to reach a deal after just six days of talks “resulted in a contemptuous offer that received the response that it deserved”. In a message to Keegan, Roach said: “Get back around the table while there’s still time. Negotiate a proper deal, or deal with the consequences.”

Teachers’ union leader calls for inquiry into misogyny among young men in UK

2024-04-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/05/teachers-union-leader-calls-for-inquiry-into-misogyny-among-young-men-in-uk

Daniel Kebede accuses government of failing to tackle issue of sexism and its spread online among children The leader of the UK’s largest education union has called for an independent inquiry into the rise of sexism and misogyny among boys and young men, saying it should not be left to parents and schools to police. Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said it was “a huge issue” in schools and expressed particular concern about the ease with which pupils are accessing aggressive hardcore pornography on their phones. He said the government had “completely failed” to tackle the issue, which is affecting boys’ views of women and relationships, and urged ministers to “take on big tech” to ensure that young people cannot access damaging material. Kebede, who was teaching maths in a secondary pupil referral unit up until his election as general secretary last year, said the problem was widespread. He said he had first-hand experience, having personally worked with female pupils who had been repeated victims of abuse, violence and sexual assault. Speaking before a debate on the issue on Friday at the NEU’s annual conference in Bournemouth, he said: “It’s very fair to say that there’s a real problem with sexism and misogyny within schools. “I have my own anecdotes. I’m sure at conference members will be sharing their stories. There is a real problem with what young people can access via their smartphone with real ease. “It’s not just influencers such as Andrew Tate, but aggressive hardcore pornography which is really easily accessible to young people. This stuff is having a real impact, particularly on young boys and young men and their views of women and relationships.” Kebede went on: “It’s a problem that I think that government has completely failed to intervene in. There has been no real regulation and it is causing a huge issue in our schools. There’s no doubt about that. “The problem goes well beyond just Andrew Tate in terms of what young people can access. I think this is going to be a really important debate and actually moving forward government need to take this very seriously.” Kebede welcomed Labour’s recent announcements on how it plans to help schools develop young male mentors and to teach pupils how to question the material they see on social media from people such as Tate. Under the proposals, Labour would send “regional improvement teams” into schools to train staff on introducing the peer-to-peer mentoring programme, but Kebede called on government to go further. “[The government] need to actually take on big tech if we’re being honest. Big tech have to take some responsibility and be regulated, and accept regulation, and ensure that young people can’t access these really aggressive, dangerous things on their phones. “It’s not enough to just allow schools to police it or parents. It’s just far too widespread. I think there needs to be a real inquiry into this from government which makes some recommendations on some significant reforms essentially. “I’ve worked with young girls who have been victims of really, really significant acts of misogyny on more than one occasion, who have experienced abuse, violence, sexual assault, and that is being fuelled by a culture of misogyny and sexism that is in turn being fuelled by what young boys and young men can access on their smartphones.” He said it could not be blamed on parents. “Children and young people are very good at working out technology and how to use it and how to get around any filters and restrictions that are in place. “We can’t individualise the issue and put it down to problem parenting, failure of parenting. It’s very difficult when every other child has access to a smartphone to be that parent who says no. There has to be regulation on this from government, who in turn supports families in making those decisions.” Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, has campaigned for an age limit for smartphone usage and stricter controls on access to social media apps, and earlier this year the government issued new guidance on banning mobile phones in school to improve behaviour. A government spokesperson said schools should take immediate action against sexual misconduct or harassment, adding: “Through our world-leading Online Safety Act, social media firms will be required to protect children from being exposed to harmful material online. “We are also reviewing the statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education and as a part of this, we are considering how our guidance and support to schools on this issue can be strengthened.”

Minority ethnic Britons’ educational success not reflected in pay, study finds

2022-11-14

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/nov/14/minority-ethnic-britons-educational-success-not-reflected-pay-study

‘Clear evidence’ of discrimination in terms of salary and careers despite academic progress, IFS study finds Most minority ethnic groups in the UK have made remarkable progress in educational achievement but “clear evidence” of discrimination remains in their pay and careers, according to a study published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS report found that most of the largest minority ethnic groups obtain English and maths exam results at least as good or better than those achieved by white British students in England, and are more likely than white teenagers to go on to university. But that educational success “has not yet translated into better, or even equal, success when it comes to earnings”, according to the IFS, with fewer minority ethnic students admitted into the most prestigious universities or obtaining degree results as good as their white counterparts. Prof Heidi Safia Mirza of the University College London Institute of Education, a co-author of the study, said: “The picture is neither universally positive nor universally gloomy. Most ethnic minority groups in the UK are doing better than they were, and are doing particularly well in education. “On the other hand, most continue to earn less than their white British counterparts, and all earn less on average than we would expect given their education, background and occupation. Evidence of discrimination in the labour market is clear, and wealth inequalities are likely to prove especially hard to shift. “Policymakers need to understand and acknowledge all these nuances and complexities if we are to make further progress in tackling remaining inequalities.” The study highlights the “remarkable” change in educational performance by some groups in England. Just 15 years ago Bangladeshi pupils were 10 percentage points less likely than white British pupils to obtain good maths and English GCSE results – but now they are five percentage points more likely to get good grades. But the IFS said there was “no single story of advantage or disadvantage”, so that while Black African and Pakistani pupils have closed the educational attainment gap, Black Caribbean pupils “have, if anything, fallen further behind”. And while Bangladeshi students are 27 percentage points more likely to attend higher education than white students, they still remain less likely to be admitted to universities that demand top A-level grades, although the gap has narrowed in recent years. The study notes that some minority ethnic groups gain far more in terms of improved income as graduates than others, including their white British counterparts, because of the very low earnings by non-graduates within their same ethnic group. Pakistani women and men, in particular, gain the highest financial returns from going to university, despite their average earnings being lower than any other group of graduates. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The report published on Monday is part of the IFS’s Deaton review of inequalities in the 21st century. It comes as the Trades Union Congress warns that the number of adults taking education courses has plummeted, especially among learners from poor backgrounds or living in the most deprived areas. The TUC said that since 2016 the number of adults taking courses from the most deprived parts of Britain has fallen from 705,000 to 447,000. Adult education funding has been slashed by 40% since 2010, with fees introduced for adults wanting to gain new qualifications. Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: “The government must reverse its self-defeating cuts and work with unions and other providers to upskill the nation. Rishi Sunak must put his money where his mouth is and invest properly in training and skills.”

‘Desperate neglect’: teachers washing clothes and finding beds as poverty grips England’s schools

2024-03-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/16/desperate-neglect-teachers-washing-clothes-and-finding-beds-as-poverty-grips-englands-schools

Schools risk being overwhelmed by hungry, exhausted children from freezing homes, headteachers and campaigners warn ‘If a child is hungry, it doesn’t matter if you’re a bloody good teacher’ Schools are finding beds, providing showers for pupils and washing uniforms as child poverty spirals out of control, headteachers from across England have told the Observer. School leaders said that as well as hunger they were now trying to mitigate exhaustion, with increasing numbers of children living in homes without enough beds or unable to sleep because they were cold. They warned that “desperate” poverty was driving problems with behaviour, persistent absence and mental health. The head of a primary school in a deprived area in north-west England, speaking anonymously to avoid identifying vulnerable children, said: “We have a child who we put in the shower a couple of times a week.” He described the family’s bathroom as “disgusting” and said they couldn’t afford to buy cleaning products. His school routinely washed uniforms for children whose families didn’t have a washing machine. The school recently stepped in to help after discovering a pupil begging outside a supermarket and its free breakfast club was “really needed”. But lack of sleep had become another big symptom of poverty – and a barrier to learning. “We’ve got a lot of kids in homes with not enough beds or a mum sleeping with two or three children,” the head said. Support staff would often take children out of class who weren’t coping because of exhaustion to let them sleep for an hour or two. “Some children are falling asleep in lessons, and not just the little ones,” he said. The school had many children living in “desperate neglect”. “Kids are sleeping on sofas, in homes with smashed windows, no curtains, or mice,” he said. “I come out of some of these properties and get really upset.” A report published on Friday by the Child of the North campaign, led by eight leading northern universities, and the Centre for Young Lives thinktank, warned that after decades of cuts to public services, schools were now the “frontline of the battle against child poverty”, and at risk of being “overwhelmed”. It called on the government to increase funding to help schools support the more than 4 million children now living in poverty in the UK. Anne Longfield, founder of the Centre for Young Lives and the government’s former children’s commissioner, said: “The government has dismantled public services over the past decade and schools are the last people standing. They need proper support to tackle child poverty.” Katrina Morley, chief executive of Tees Valley Education trust, which runs four primary academies and one special school, all with exceptionally high numbers of children on free school meals, described sleep as “a real issue”. “We have children without beds or they might have to share with siblings,” she said. “Some don’t have enough bedding and no heating so they can’t sleep because they are cold.” The trust works with local charities to provide families with support on issues like finding beds, and has also discreetly donated blankets over the winter. A teacher at a primary school in the south-east who works with children at risk of exclusion, 90% of whom are from working families relying on food banks, said children were vaping and buying cheap energy drinks “to suppress their hunger”. Their behaviour was “erratic” as a result. “Every child I deal with is fighting issues that would keep us off work,” he added. “We can’t just teach in a bubble and ignore that.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Jonny Uttley, chief executive of the the Education Alliance, which runs 11 schools in Hull and East Yorkshire, said hunger or an inability to replace or wash uniforms were the most overt signs of poverty they saw. Some of their schools now provided some children with PE kits and washed them between lessons. “We’ve got families who can’t afford the electricity to run a washing machine, or it’s broken and they can’t replace it,” he said. “Or parents are simply struggling to cope.” But in secondary school, where teachers didn’t see parents at the school gate and many young people felt ashamed to admit their family was suddenly on the edge, working out how to step in could be harder, he said. His trust relied on pastoral staff who keep in touch with families, but Uttley warned that although “poverty is in every school in the country now” many cash-strapped schools were being forced to cut pastoral staff just when they were needed most. Ben Davis, head of St Ambrose Barlow RC high in Salford, said: “There is this simplistic, romantic idea that education lifts people out of poverty, but you have to do something to mitigate the impacts of poverty or children can’t learn.” His school employs a full-time therapist, and she encounters many young people who feel ashamed of growing up in poverty. Davis said this made them vulnerable to criminal exploitation. “We feel if we don’t try to help, who else will?” he added. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We understand the pressures many households are under, which is why we have extended eligibility for free school meals more than any government in the past half a century – doubling the number of children receiving them since 2010.”

There are lessons to be learned on nursery schools | Letters

2023-07-07

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/07/there-are-lessons-to-be-learned-on-nursery-schools

Carolyn Meggitt, Lise Bosher and Sally Cheseldine respond to Labour’s plans for education for the under-fours I broadly welcome plans by Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, to improve education for the under-fours (Labour wants graduate-led nurseries to fight equality, p1, 3 July). However, I feel that the emphasis she places on graduate teachers in the early years is misplaced. We also need a well-trained and educated workforce to provide the holistic care and education promise. Having worked in nursery care and education for many years, and co-written textbooks for students, I believe that those entering the sector already receive a firm grounding in all aspects of early years education. The main emphasis in all these programmes is children learning through play. Reintroducing the Sure Start scheme would be a better way to commit money and resources, rather than trying to attract graduate teachers. Sure Start, launched by Labour in 1998, went a long way to ensuring that the most disadvantaged children were given opportunities to thrive. The scheme aimed to improve social development by supporting the early relationships between parents and children, and – crucially – offered the early identification and support of children with emotional, learning or behavioural difficulties.Carolyn MeggittHampton Hill, London Oh dear. Nurseries, the last bastions of whole-child education, are to be given over to teachers trained under the unimaginative, inflexible, Ofsted-type tick-box system of education. Abandon hope, humanity. Why do people not in nurseries imagine that there is no expertise within the nursery already? As a primary school teacher, I was constantly amazed at the opportunities lost for language development by other teachers who focused on national curriculum lesson planning that would satisfy Ofsted and Sats. They wasted the real-life opportunities offered by drama, making things, foreign language learning and play (there is an almost complete lack of understanding of the value of well-enabled play by those with influence in education). Of course, my fellow teachers were exhausted (or managing their energies and efforts in order not to burn out) and dancing to the tune of Ofsted, Sats and frequent observations by senior staff lacking the experience and expertise to understand the value of quality play. This is so wrong an approach for so many reasons.Lise BosherOxford Planning for early years care and nursery education is complex. Yes, the overall aim is to have happy, competent children who have equal opportunities. Children also need the warmth and love that can build confidence in the outside world. Sometimes that is best achieved by home-teaching, with the support of playgroups and other activities. Sometimes by full-time nursery education. The parents have needs too. Many models of childcare can achieve this. As someone who used wonderful childminders, I’m not sure a university degree could have enhanced the day-to-day experience. Scotland was an early provider of school-linked nursery education, but the short-term, limited hours were of little use to parents working full-time. The recent experience of our granddaughter in England, whose primary school-run, all-year nursery closed with just three weeks’ notice, suggested that proper levels of pay for staff and flexibility in their working hours might be more important than who has a degree. Has recruitment and retention of NHS nurses improved by making them all get degrees? Closer to home, we know of senior nursery staff who would leave rather than meet the expensive, time‑consuming and daunting prospect of having to acquire a degree after decades in their job. Let’s hope that Labour looks at what already works well, and builds on this.Sally CheseldineBalerno, Edinburgh Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

School summer holidays in England should be cut to four weeks, report says

2024-02-26

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/26/school-summer-holidays-half-term-england-calendar-nuffield-foundation-report

Experts to also recommend longer half-term breaks in proposed overhaul of school calendar ‘in place since Victorian times’ England should ditch its school calendar “stuck in place since Victorian times” and replace it with shorter summer holidays and longer half-term breaks to improve the lives of pupils and teachers, according to a new report. The report on tackling post-pandemic education inequalities, part of a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation to be published next month, is to recommend an overhaul of the school calendar that could see summer holidays in state schools reduced from six weeks to four, while half-term breaks in autumn and winter could each be extended from one week to two. The summary of the report says it is “time to consider reforms to a school calendar that has been stuck in place since Victorian times”. Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter and one of the report’s authors, said reforming the academic calendar in England would be an effective and low-cost way of tackling the educational divides that have grown since the pandemic. “Spreading school holidays more evenly across the year makes complete educational sense: improving the wellbeing of pupils and the working lives of teachers at no extra cost, balancing out childcare costs for parents, and potentially boosting academic results for many children,” Major said. “Reducing the summer holidays from six weeks to four weeks would still provide adequate time for teachers to recuperate, while two-week breaks during the February and October half-terms would give much-needed time off during the most gruelling parts of the academic year.” The report says that calls to reduce the length of holidays often centre around potential learning loss over the summer. Some pupils, especially those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and those with additional learning needs, find it difficult to get back to learning after long summer holidays. This results in the autumn term being devoted to revision rather than advancing learning. Teachers also report more behavioural and wellbeing issues after the summer break. The call for changes follows proposals by the Welsh government for changes to its school year starting in 2025-26, initially cutting the summer break to five weeks with a longer half-term in autumn. That could be followed by more radical measures, such as a further reduction to four weeks’ holiday in summer, and adjusting the timing of the Easter holidays. The report notes that several school trusts and local authorities in England have already introduced a two-week autumn half-term break, or have incorporated staff training days into one week instead of being spread across the year. Unity Schools Partnership, a multi-academy trust, said its experiment with a longer half-term last autumn saw absences fall sharply among pupils and teachers, but that some parents objected because of childcare difficulties. Recent polling by the Teacher Tapp app found teachers were divided over whether the summer holidays should be shortened and by how much. While 33% backed keeping the summer break at six weeks, 35% wanted it shortened to five weeks and 29% preferred a reduction to four. Calls to change the school calendar have been made repeatedly by policymakers. In 2013, the then education secretary, Michael Gove, urged changes, saying: “We can’t afford to have an education system that was essentially set in the 19th century.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Under Gove, free schools and academies were given more freedom to set their own calendars. But those adopting more radical timetables soon gave up in the face of opposition from parents and an inability to coordinate term dates with other schools. Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Changing the length of the summer holiday is an idea that has been posited for many years and inevitably there are a range of different views. “There is some evidence that suggests changes could be beneficial to pupils and parents, but other research has been far less conclusive. It’s important that the impact of any changes are properly considered and must not be rushed into. “The report identifies some very real issues, including the growing mental health crisis and the disparity between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. It’s possible that changes to the school calendar could ameliorate these problems to some extent. But it could also prove a huge energy-sapping distraction from the most pressing issues of recruitment and retention, special-needs provision and funding for education.”

Ministers confirm plan to ban use of mobile phones in schools in England

2024-02-19

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/19/ministers-confirm-plan-to-ban-use-of-mobile-phones-in-schools-in-england

Teaching unions say guidance includes practices already adopted and most schools already have policies in place Ministers have confirmed plans to ban the use of mobile phones in English schools, releasing guidance for headteachers that some unions said included practices that had already been widely adopted. However, one headteacher welcomed the Department for Education (DfE) plan, saying it would help give schools the confidence to make a change that would benefit pupils but could meet resistance from parents. The guidance is not statutory, and offers schools a variety of ways to implement the ban, ranging from an order to leave all phones at home, to handing them in on arrival or keeping them in inaccessible lockers, or allowing students to keep them on condition they are not used or heard. The proliferation of smartphones in schools – Ofcom data says 97% of children have one by the age of 12 – has brought concerns about not just distraction but the potential for bullying or other social pressure. In interviews on Monday about the plan, Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said the DfE had consulted headteachers and believed the guidance would “empower” those yet to fully ban phones, and “would send a clear message about consistency”. “You go to school, you go to learn, you go to create those friendships, you go to speak to people and socialise and you go to get educated – you don’t go to sit on your mobile phone or to send messages whilst you could actually talk to somebody,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. There is also wider concern about phone use by children and the harmful content they can access. Esther Ghey, mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, has called for tech companies to do more on this, and for under-16s to be stopped from accessing social media. Ghey has also argued for phone manufacturers to make specific products for under-16s that prevent them from accessing harmful content, after it emerged that her daughter’s killers viewed violent material before the murder. Keegan told Today that while ministers would discuss the idea with Ghey, “it’s not something that we have actually looked at or considered and those conversations will take place”. The 13-page DfE guidance says the policy on phones should be clearly communicated to pupils, with the reasons for it also explained. It adds that teachers should not be seen in schools using a phone except when necessary for work. Parents also needed to be involved in the ban, it says, with a reminder that they should contact students via the school office rather than directly. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that while the amount of time some children spend on phones was a worry, the new guidance was “a non-policy for a non-problem”. He said: “This compulsive use of these devices is not something that is happening in schools – where robust polices are already in place – but while children are out of school. Most schools already forbid the use of mobile phones during the school day or allow their use only in limited and stipulated circumstances.” Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “As most schools already have policies in place to deal with the problems of mobile phone use this guidance will make little difference and is a distraction from the many problems facing education.” However, Vic Goddard, the executive principal of two schools in Esssex, including Passmores academy in Harlow, which featured in Channel 4’s Educating Essex series, said Passmores had recently imposed a complete ban on phones, which he said had been transformative, with a positive response from parents and students. “We had very few parental issues, when we thought we would,” he said. “The students felt the social pressure had been removed from them. Without a doubt this guidance will help schools. The problem we have is that anything which might put us in conflict with parents is always going to be challenging. “We have a generation of parents who weren’t born with phones. We thought that giving children a phone was keeping them safe, when the reality was it was opening them to a world of online harm and pressure.”

Was Euan Blair’s MBE for services to education or self-enrichment? | Letters

2022-06-03

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jun/03/was-euan-blairs-mbe-for-services-to-education-or-self-enrichment

John Holford says he had always imagined that education was about service, not business Is our honours system a little wonky? Euan Blair gets an MBE for “services to education” (Euan Blair: from PM’s son to £700m business and an MBE, 1 June). Doubtless he’s a fine fellow. I’ve been doing “services to education” for more years than he’s been alive (I was at Oxford with his dad). I’ve done – if I say so myself – a few good things; I like to think that I’ve helped people make their lives better. Education, I imagined, was about service – not business. I never sought to make shedloads of money out of it; an adequate salary has been plenty. My perfectly nice house isn’t worth £22m. I didn’t endow my children with elite networks or startup capital. My dad didn’t start an illegal war. I’ve never had an honour. QED? Unworthy thoughts? Probably; but many others have equal grounds for cynicism.John HolfordNottingham Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

Some comprehensive schools ‘more socially selective than grammars’

2024-01-11

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/11/some-comprehensive-schools-more-socially-selective-than-grammars

Research by Sutton Trust finds disadvantaged students less likely to get into top performing schools in England than their peers Some comprehensive schools are more “socially selective” than grammar schools, according to new research which has called on the government to review the admissions code in England to improve access for poorer pupils. While grammars are inherently selective, as admission is based on passing an 11-plus examination, comprehensive secondary schools admit local children, regardless of academic ability or social background, based on a school’s admissions policy. However, research by the Sutton Trust, a charity that specialises in social mobility through education, has identified more than 150 state-maintained comprehensives that it says are more socially selective than the average grammar school. The trust’s Selective Comprehensives 2024 report found disadvantaged students – as measured by their eligibility for free school meals (FSM) – are less likely to get into a top performing comprehensive than their peers, even if there is one in their local area. Its research covers a three-year time period – 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. The situation has not improved since 2016 and there are some indications that it has got worse, the report says. The study looked at the top 500 comprehensives schools in England, ranked by both pupil progress (known as the Progress 8 score) and GCSE exam results (the attainment 8 measure). While the intake of the average comprehensive included 22% of students eligible for FSM, for the top 500 schools ranked by progress this was just 17.1%. Ranked by exam grades, it was even lower at just 13.3%. The research also found the FSM intake rate in comprehensives with the best progress score was 4.3 percentage points lower than the overall FSM rate in the catchment area. And in schools with the highest attainment, it was 5.8 percentage points lower. Grammar schools, meanwhile, accepted on average 9.2 percentage points fewer FSM pupils than lived in the areas they drew pupils from, though the Sutton Trust identified 155 comprehensives with gaps of 9.2 percentage points or higher, making them “less representative of their catchment areas than the average grammar school”. Levels of social selection vary widely across the country, the research found. The north east has the most socially selective top comprehensives in the country – it also has the highest proportion of FSM pupils, overtaking London in recent years, where the highest attaining schools were the least selective. The report also found that religious schools are “the most socially exclusive”. All but one of the top 20 most socially selective schools are faith schools, the Sutton Trust said, and Catholic schools are “the least representative of their catchments among top performing schools”. “This report finds little evidence to suggest that comprehensive schools are becoming less socially selective, strong evidence that things have not improved since 2017 and some clear evidence pointing to increasing levels of social selection in comprehensive admissions in some parts of the system,” it concluded. One factor may be the continuing transition from local authority maintained schools to academies, which control their own admissions. Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl said: “The levels of social segregation across the school system are unacceptable. “The government should review the school admissions code to ensure all state schools take a mix of pupils which reflects their local community, and provide disadvantaged pupils with a fair chance to access top performing schools. “Alongside this, extra funding and resources, particularly targeted at the most deprived areas, will help to raise the quality of education where it’s most needed.” Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said fairer access was not just about admissions practices. “It is also about ensuring that all schools have the support and resources they need to provide a high-quality education wherever they are and whatever their context,” he said. Paul Barber, Catholic Education Service director, said: “Catholic schools take in 50% more pupils from the most deprived backgrounds than the state sector. Just under a fifth of all pupils in Catholic statutory education meet the highest income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) criteria, compared to a 12.8% England average. Similarly, fewer pupils from the more affluent areas attend Catholic schools”. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The school admissions code requires admission arrangements to be fair, clear and objective, and no child should be unfairly disadvantaged. “Admission authorities can choose to prioritise children eligible for the pupil premium when they are over their published admission number according to the need of their local area.”

As Caversham parents, Ruth Perry’s death has opened our eyes to the realities of Ofsted inspections | Chris Cutmore

2023-03-24

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/24/caversham-primary-school-parents-ruth-perry-death-realities-ofsted-inspections

Parents don’t want a ‘summary judgment’ on schools – we just want to know teachers truly care. And it’s impossible to imagine someone more dedicated to their school than Mrs Perry was When my daughter had finished her final day at nursery in Reading last summer we strolled home through the park, my wife and I blinking through quiet tears. We were sad because we knew it was the end of our children’s most innocent infancy but as we sat and gazed over the deep valley of leaves and redbrick houses we could see a reason to be equally happy too. Down below was Caversham primary school, which was where our daughter would very soon begin the next stage of her young life, and we knew she would be entering an outstanding school. We knew it was outstanding because Ofsted had told us so. More importantly, we knew it was outstanding because our son was already attending the school, and he loves it there. He is thriving academically but more importantly he is happy and is growing into a warm, kind little person who respects others and seeks to understand the world around him. These are the values he is exposed to on a daily basis at Caversham primary. They were the values clearly expressed and driven by the headteacher, Ruth Perry. When deciding which school we would most like him to attend, Mrs Perry’s love for her school was a powerful influence. She had attended Caversham primary as a child and then dedicated her professional career to the school, and the passion in her voice when she spoke about it told us that she was totally committed to ensuring its new generation of pupils had the same wonderful start in life that she felt she had been gifted there. It seemed impossible to comprehend a teacher more dedicated to their school, more invested in its success, more caring for its children, and we were delighted to secure a place for our son and then our daughter. Five months after that bittersweet day in the park, Ruth Perry was dead. We were in utter disbelief when we heard the news. We had seen her just days before, quietly observing as she always did, while the children cheerfully drifted out of the playground despite the cold and dark of January. Just a few weeks earlier, she had applauded the end of the reception class’s nativity play, heartily congratulating the tiny shepherds and reindeers with the same mixture of pride and amusement that we parents felt. But now she was gone. Dead, at the age of just 53. How on earth was this possible? When no cause of death was announced we started to fear the worst. Rumours inevitably began. There was a date on the calendar that was surely just a coincidence but yet niggled somehow. It was only an Ofsted inspection. It was the school’s first in 13 years and we hadn’t yet had the result, which did seem strange. Perhaps it had gone badly. But surely that would not be enough to drive someone to suicide? And yet, it was. This week we learned the horrific, unimaginable truth. Ofsted had downgraded the school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”, purely on what its inspectors judged to be failures in relation to safeguarding. The report made abundantly clear that this was the responsibility, and failure, of the senior leadership. That, of course, meant Mrs Perry. This destruction of her professional reputation in one word had broken her – put her under “intolerable pressure”, according to her sister, Julia. As parents, when told by the government’s schools inspectorate that there are “serious” safeguarding concerns, we must take such a judgment seriously. Yet, as parents, our eyes have also now been opened to the realities of Ofsted inspections, and the dreadful toll they take on hardworking, dedicated, caring teachers all over the country. The outpouring of grief, and of despair and fury from teachers on social media, has been staggering. These aren’t just teachers, of course – they are people, and so many of them have suffered mental torment because of the stresses of Ofsted. And if you think that’s weak, well, you’ve clearly never had to spend much time looking after young children. These are strong, resilient people who take on the burden of one of society’s toughest and most valuable services. Most of these teachers welcome constructive inspection and scrutiny of their work, but not adversarial inspectors and inconsistent reports. How, for example, can Caversham – and Mrs Perry’s leadership – be graded “inadequate” when the majority of the report hails the high educational standards of the school? How can its children’s behaviour be widely praised yet one playground incident be used to denigrate the school’s entire reputation? How can inspectors cite a child doing the wholly innocent “floss” dance, popularised by computer games and footballers, as evidence of the sexualisation of children in the school, as allegedly was the case at Caversham? And how can a school be accurately judged based on the events of just one day in its complex life? I can’t lie: Ofsted’s inspection verdict of outstanding was an attraction for us to send our children to Caversham. As parents we must also be honest and ask ourselves whether if Mrs Perry were still here today we would be angry about the report suggesting there have been serious lapses in the school’s safeguarding procedures. The answer is almost certainly yes. No doubt some would be very vocal about it too. The emerging consensus seems to be, however, that most of these lapses are easily remedied and many have already been dealt with. Some seem to come down to just a few missing pieces of paper. Sir Michael Wilshaw, the former chief inspector of schools in England and head of Ofsted, said parents “want a summary judgment” on whether “they are sending their children to a good school”. He is wrong. What most parents want to know is this: that teachers truly care about their children and their school, that they are talented and dedicated to giving a high standard of education, that they are committed to helping children become responsible, happy members of society with bright, unlimited futures. Caversham primary had all of these things in Ruth Perry. Most parents also want to know that when there are problems, such as those flagged in this Ofsted report, they are highlighted and then resolved by constructive collaboration between the relevant authorities and talented, dedicated teachers. On the day it was announced that Mrs Perry had died, the children wandered slowly out into the playground, shock and incomprehension written on all of their faces. All instantly relayed the dreadful news to their parents and carers, but in wildly different ways. Some were solemn and quiet, some were loud and frantic. My daughter laughed out of confusion. Ruth Perry was once just like her, a little girl in that same school playground, learning how to navigate the world. We are all heartbroken. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

Professors’ union sanctions Florida college over ‘political’ DeSantis takeover

2024-02-27

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/27/professor-union-sanction-florida-new-college-desantis

Vote to sanction New College follows investigation into governor’s ‘politically, racially, and ideologically motivated attacks’ A national university professors union has voted to sanction New College of Florida, the former liberal arts school where Ron DeSantis orchestrated an unprecedented “aggressively ideological and politically motivated” takeover by a group of ultra-conservative cronies. The vote to sanction New College came after an investigation by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which has placed only 12 other universities on its sanctioned list since 1995. The AAUP created a special committee to investigate the “apparent pattern of politically, racially, and ideologically motivated attacks on public higher education” by DeSantis, the far-right Florida governor who waged war on so-called “wokeness” at schools and colleges after his resounding re-election in 2022. The investigation was launched in January 2023 after DeSantis appointed six allies to the school’s board of trustees, which at breakneck speed restructured academic courses without meaningful faculty involvement, eliminated the gender studies major, and cancelled a slew of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including canceling meals during Ramadan, the holy month of daytime fasting for Muslims. The new board imposed the sweeping reforms after ousting the president and inserting a confidant of DeSantis – at double the predecessor’s previous annual salary. AAUP sanctions have no regulatory consequence, but they are published on the union’s website “for the purpose of informing association members, the profession at large, and the public that unsatisfactory conditions of academic government exist at the institutions in question”. Sanctions can also be removed. In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, a New College spokesperson, Nathan March, said the union “lacks the authority” to issue sanctions and called the announcement “a headline grab, echoing the sensationalistic tone of their report”. DeSantis, in conjunction with Republican-controlled state legislatures, targeted K-12 and college level education in the run-up to his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination, dismantling DEI initiatives and disciplines that offended ultra Christian rights groups. According to the AAUP’s final report, the assault by the state government “reflects not only a blatant disregard for academic standards of governance and academic freedom but also a discriminatory and biased assault on the rights of racial minorities and LGBTQ communities”. “It represents a throwback to Florida’s darker past that must be repudiated,” the report said. “What we are witnessing in Florida is an intellectual reign of terror,” LeRoy Pernell, a law professor at Florida A&M Law, told the inquiry. “There is a tremendous sense of dread right now, not just among faculty; it’s tangible among students and staff as well. People are intellectually and physically scared. We are being named an enemy of the state.” Another faculty member and union leader said: “The human toll in Florida is catastrophic. We are tired of being demonized by our government. Many of us are looking to leave Florida, and if we don’t, we will leave academia, and nobody wants our jobs. Faculty are suffering. And when we leave, our communities, our students, families – they will all suffer. So, when we fight for faculty, we are also fighting for the people in our communities.” The AAUP report also found that “academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance in Florida’s public colleges and universities currently face a politically and ideologically driven assault unparalleled in US history, which, if sustained, threatens the very survival of meaningful higher education in the state, with dire implications for the entire country”.

‘A disgrace’: headteachers attack Hunt’s failure to provide money for schools in autumn statement

2023-11-25

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/25/a-disgrace-headteachers-attack-hunts-failure-to-provide-money-for-schools-in-autumn-statement

No new investment in staffing and buildings in England and Wales, despite Rishi Sunak’s funding pledge Headteachers have called the government’s failure to invest in school staff and crumbling buildings in the autumn statement “an absolute disgrace”. Unions said this weekend that the government had now lost any vestiges of credibility among teachers after the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, failed to announce any new investment for schools on Wednesday – despite Rishi Sunak’s pledge at last month’s Conservative party conference that education would be his “main funding priority”. With education unions determined to make staff shortages an election issue, parents can now search the newly relaunched School Cuts website to see whether their local school may be forced to shed teaching staff next year. The unions warn that 99 per cent of state secondary schools and 91 per cent of primaries will have to make cuts to survive in 2024. Garry Ratcliffe, chief executive of the Golden Thread Alliance, which runs nine primary academy schools in Dartford and Gravesend in Kent, told the Observer: “Especially with support staff, when someone leaves for a better paid position in a supermarket, most schools are now asking: ‘Can we afford to replace them?’” Ratcliffe’s schools are now focusing on helping struggling families with food and cheap presents for Christmas, despite fighting to cope with rising costs themselves. He added: “People in schools have given up hope that this government will suddenly start to invest in children’s education.” A primary school head in a deprived area of north-west England, who asked not to be named to avoid alarming parents, said the potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) recently discovered in his school’s roof was far from the only problem. “The list is endless: asbestos, flooding, damp, cracked windows,” the head explained. “And we need urgent safety upgrades to our school entrance and car park which have been delayed because of Raac. The fact that education spending is going to be flat is an absolute disgrace.” The head said he had had to “really fight” to get the Department for Education to approve a temporary “crash deck” to make the school usable after it joined the growing list of schools deemed unsafe due to Raac. However, the department is refusing to provide any timetable for a decision on what to do to make the school safe permanently, or whether it will need to be demolished. Tim Warneford, a consultant who advises academies on their buildings, said the autumn statement would lead to “further deterioration” of thousands of schools as they faced another winter with serious issues including Raac, leaking roofs, broken boilers and asbestos. He said: “This has to be another reason for poor attendance. Why would you want to come in if your school isn’t safe or warm or dry? What message does that send to children about how much they are valued?” A damning parliamentary inquiry into the school estate found that 700,000 pupils are learning in classrooms that need a major rebuild or refurbishment, but many schools have no hope of an overhaul because of the Raac crisis. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Teaching assistants and support staff will probably be the first roles to go as schools try to make savings, and of course that will hit the most vulnerable children who need extra support that won’t be there.” He added that after the autumn statement, the government has “completely lost the trust of the teaching profession”. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of Schools and College Leaders union, said: “On current funding levels, schools will only be able to afford a 1% pay award for staff next year – and this is in the midst of the worst recruitment and retention crisis in living memory.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our school rebuilding programme is transforming 500 schools over the next decade, with the first 400 projects selected ahead of schedule. The education secretary has already confirmed we will fully fund the removal of Raac from our schools – either through grant funding or through the school rebuilding programme.”

Teacher vacancies in England 93% higher than pre-pandemic, study finds

2023-03-23

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/23/teacher-vacancies-in-england-93-higher-than-pre-pandemic-study-finds

Headteachers forced to use non-specialists as turnover continues, education research body reports Teacher vacancies in England have virtually doubled since before Covid, with school leaders increasingly forced to use non-specialist teachers, which threatens to drive down pupil attainment, according to research. A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found that teacher vacancies posted by schools were 93% higher in the academic year up to February 2023 than at the same point in the year before the start of the pandemic. The findings indicate staff turnover is still rising, with vacancies in schools in England up 37% compared with 2021/22. “This likely indicates that teachers who may have put off the decision to leave teaching during the pandemic are leaving now that the labour market is recovering,” the report said. The NFER, which describes itself as the leading independent provider of education research, calls on the government to agree a long-term strategy on teacher pay to try to halt the growing school workforce crisis. The NFER’s annual report on the teacher labour market in England was published on Thursday, after a series of damaging teacher strikes by members of the National Education Union. They are demanding a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise, which they say will help make the profession more appealing to graduates. The government is currently in talks with unions to try to reach a settlement. “Schools are being forced to stumble from budget to budget and strike to strike without the help of a clear strategy designed to address a worsening recruitment and retention crisis,” said Jack Worth, NFER school workforce lead and co-author of the report. “School leaders are increasingly resorting to the use of non-specialist teachers to plug gaps which will ultimately affect pupil attainment outcomes.” As well as the crisis in retaining teachers, the study highlights recruitment problems into the profession, with initial teacher training numbers for 2023/4 significantly below target. Even initial teacher training recruitment to primary schools, which historically has been more secure than secondary, is expected to be 20% or more below target. The same shortfall applies to nine out of 17 secondary subjects, including physics, modern foreign languages, computing, design and technology, business studies and religious education. English, maths, chemistry and geography are also at risk of under-recruiting this year. The NFER says falling retention and “historically low” recruitment figures are linked to a lack of competitiveness in the teaching profession, compared with other occupations. On salaries, median teacher pay in 2021/2 was 12% lower in real terms than a decade earlier as a result of below-inflation pay awards and the 2021 pay freeze. Crucially, the report says teacher pay is 11 percentage points lower than for similar graduates, a gap that has widened since the pandemic. While teachers’ working hours and workload have decreased in recent years, the report says they are still higher than for similar graduates. Another possible deterrent, the report says, is the lack of opportunity to work from home as a teacher, while other professions are accommodating remote or hybrid ways of working since the pandemic. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Niamh Sweeney, NEU deputy general secretary, said: “The latest NFER report shows what many of us in the education sector have long feared about the state of teacher recruitment and retention: this crisis is entrenched, and it cuts deep and hard. Expecting teachers to teach subjects for which they are not qualified also adds to teacher and leader stress.” Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, added: “Teacher shortages have been a problem for many years, but the situation has sunk to a new low in the wake of the pandemic. It seems some existing teachers took stock of their careers and decided on jobs that were better paid, less pressured, and offered hybrid working, while graduates are less attracted to teaching for the same reasons.” The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

Universities must overcome ‘echo chamber’ and self-censorship, says Reading VC

2024-02-27

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/27/universities-must-overcome-echo-chamber-and-self-censorship-says-reading-vc

Robert Van de Noort says vice-chancellors must be bold in protecting academic freedom and promoting diversity of thought Universities risk becoming “uniformities” of rigid ideas and self-censorship, according to the vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, who accused the government and his fellow university leaders of creating echo chambers on campus. Robert Van de Noort told a seminar at the Houses of Parliament that vice-chancellors needed “to be more courageous themselves, and actively and explicitly promote a culture of diversity of thought” to overcome an “echo chamber” of academics amplifying identity politics and the government’s accountability measures which rewarded conformity over innovation. Van de Noort said the “fundamental threat” to academic freedom was not that the higher education sector “occasionally” cancelled an external speaker on campus. “Rather, it has everything to do with a broader higher education world that seems to have become one in which one increasingly encounters beliefs or opinions that coincide with one’s own, so that existing views are reinforced, and alternative ideas are not considered,” he said. “I am not the only vice-chancellor who has noted that colleagues far too often self-censor their views. Because, coming out as being the divergent voice in the echo chamber can feel like a career-limiting move.” Van de Noort also attacked the government’s use of accountability measures that punished deviation in academic approaches by cutting off access to research funding. “The desire to do well in official assessments is so important to status and funding that managers have a clear incentive to appoint and promote candidates who show a high degree of conformity and consistency with existing research paradigms, or mainstream pedagogy, rather than seeking out and appointing candidates with divergent views and opinions,” he said. He claimed that government-backed assessments of economics were renowned for favouring researchers using neo-classical economics “to the exclusion of other theoretical approaches such as feminist or development economics”. But Van de Noort, speaking at the seminar organised by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), also accused the University and College Union (UCU) of making staff uncomfortable by focusing more on political issues – such as boycotting Israel or transgender rights – than on its members’ interests. “Yes, there is a need to ensure high standards of teaching and research, give taxpayers and students value for money, and make universities welcoming for everyone. But we must guard against turning our universities into ‘uniformities’,” said Van de Noort, a professor of archaeology who has led Reading since 2018. “We need to be bold when protecting academic freedom and we need to tread lightly when entering current debates. If we do not, universities risk becoming less universal and more homogenous, and that’s a big risk to society.” Nick Hillman, Hepi’s chief executive, said it was notable that vice-chancellors had stopped denying that threats to freedom of speech on campus were a problem, and were now looking to respond. “What matters most is supporting the academic freedom of university staff and the free speech of students while avoiding the well-laid traps of those who would relish more culture wars and who want nothing more than to embarrass universities as a fraught election approaches,” he said. With universities about to face new responsibilities on freedom of speech following recent legislation, Hillman warned that some vice-chancellors “could get a shock” if they didn’t adapt quickly.

House Republicans subpoena Harvard brass in campus antisemitism inquiry

2024-02-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/16/house-republicans-subpoena-harvard-brass-campus-antisemitism-inquiry

Request comes six weeks after lawmakers grilled school president Claudine Gay, who lost her job in aftermath of contentious hearing Republicans in Congress have escalated their fight with Harvard University by issuing subpoenas to university leaders, six weeks after hearings into antisemitism on campus set in motion the resignation of Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina who heads the House education and workforce committee that held hearings into the issue last year, ordered Harvard’s trustees to produce documents related to the issue. Foxx accused the Ivy League university of failing to treat the inquiry into antisemitism with “appropriate seriousness” and of failing to satisfy previous requests for information. “I will not tolerate delay and defiance of our investigation while Harvard’s Jewish students continue to endure the firestorm of antisemitism that has engulfed its campus,” she wrote. “Given Harvard’s vast resources and the urgency with which it should be addressing the scourge of antisemitism, the evidence suggests that the school is obstructing this investigation and is willing to tolerate the proliferation of antisemitism on its campus.” According to Bloomberg, subpoenas for information were issued to Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber; board of trustees chair Penny Pritzker; and Narv Narvekar, CEO of Harvard’s $51bn endowment. In a statement, Harvard said it had already responded “extensively and in good faith” to congressional demands, including by submitting 3,500 pages of documents. Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Swain wrote that a subpoena was “unwarranted” but said Harvard “remains committed to cooperating with the Committee”. A separate inquiry by House Republicans is looking into whether failures to condemn antisemitism could affect the tax-exempt status of Harvard and other universities. The issue flared up in the aftermath of Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, when a number of student bodies at Harvard and other universities appeared to condemn Israel without acknowledging the attack. According to the Harvard Crimson, the subpoenas seek documents and communications regarding Harvard’s response to a controversial pro-Palestine letter signed by more than 30 student groups, the Harvard Palestinian Solidarity Committee’s “Israeli Apartheid Week”, and an altercation at an 18 October “die-in” at Harvard Business School. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Those led to claims that university heads were allowing free speech and protest rights on campus to become entangled with antisemitism, and triggered a subsequent revolt by some powerful Harvard donors as well as the appearance of “doxing” trucks on campus, calling out students who signed the pro-Palestinian letters. At congressional hearings in December, Gay and the University of Pennsylvania’s president, Liz Magill, were accused by some of failing to denounce antisemitism clearly enough and of equivocating over “context”. The resulting outrage led first to Magill resigning and then Gay, after a firestorm of plagiarism allegations against her. Many academics voiced resistance to the committee’s demands. Paul Reville, a professor of education policy and administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said in a January interview with the Harvard newspaper that the Republican-led requests “in the view of some people border on harassment from Congress and other sources who clearly have an agenda to undermine universities like Harvard”.

School exams: a major flaw in the UK’s education system | Letters

2022-05-01

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/01/school-exams-a-major-flaw-in-the-uks-education-system

Look to Finland for a more equitable education system, writes Chris Sinha, while Michael Symonds says regurgitating information in exams doesn’t help in life and Derrick Joad accuses the government of punishing independent thinking Full marks to George Monbiot for his critique of the English school exam system (England’s punitive exam system is only good at one thing: preserving privilege, 27 April). He asks what would a fair, rounded 21st-century education look like. One answer would be to look at Finland, where there are no exams before school leaving and no league tables. All assessment is teacher-based, geared to guiding further learning. Teachers enjoy high professional autonomy, grounded in their own education to master’s level. The Finnish system is avowedly egalitarian, with the aim of minimising social inequalities. All students receive free school meals. And guess what? Finland outperforms the UK not only in terms of wellbeing and life satisfaction of 15-year-olds, but also in their performance in the OECD Pisa tests, based on reading, mathematics and science. The English education system is based on three Cs: competition, coercion and cramming. The Finnish system rests on three different Cs: collaboration, communication and conceptualisation. Finnish education is not perfect, and it is not the only route to high Pisa performance. But the OECD is in no doubt what a 21st-century education requires: “When teachers feel a sense of ownership over their classrooms, when students feel a sense of ownership over their learning, that is when learning for the ... information age can take place.” There is an alternative, if we so choose.Chris Sinha Honorary professor, University of East Anglia Once again, George Monbiot has highlighted a major flaw in UK society and the role exams play in preserving privilege. It is, of course, possible to bypass the system, as my own experience has shown. Having left state school at age 17 without any A-levels, I then managed to re-enter higher education by gaining workplace qualifications to gain a BSc and PhD, and became a professor at the University of Nottingham. The challenge of regurgitating information in exams in no way helped me. But having a more rounded education provided me with a much more supportive attitude in teaching students, hopefully helping many to fully reach their potential, beyond the normal criteria of exam grades. Dr Michael Symonds Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire There are reasons other than those George Monbiot mentions that explain the government’s desire for introducing a Gradgrind education system. Reducing the curriculum to easily quantifiable elements makes it easy for the government to control education and to ensure educational deviancy is eliminated. Good schools are those that match up to criteria determined by the government. Margaret Thatcher’s distress at the wrong sort of people controlling our children’s education is no longer a problem. Curriculum and teaching methods are determined by ministers. Any school that doesn’t meet the imposed criteria will be deemed failing and closed. Educational deviancy, or more correctly, independent thinking, is eliminated from the system. This system also provides plenty of “red meat” to be thrown to the media. An arbitrary change in the rules makes it easy to find schools that are failing. There is nothing more likely to thrill the rightwing media than a tough minister cracking down on errant schools. Derrick Joad Leeds Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

Ofsted school inspections to restart on 22 January after mental health training

2024-01-06

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/06/ofsted-school-inspections-restart-22-january-after-mental-health-training-ruth-perry

Watchdog’s chief inspector ordered pause for extra training after death of headteacher Ruth Perry Ofsted will resume inspecting schools in England on 22 January after a pause for its staff to receive better training on the mental health challenges involved following the death of the headteacher Ruth Perry. Sir Martyn Oliver, the new chief inspector of Ofsted, had suspended inspections to allow for the extra work after Ofsted was strongly criticised for insensitivity and intimidation by a coroner investigating Perry’s death by suicide. Oliver announced the restart date after meetings with union leaders and Prof Julia Waters, Perry’s sister. Ofsted’s 3,000 inspectors working in schools, further education, social care and childcare facilities are to attend two training sessions, starting from next week, with the initial session to be led by Oliver and shared publicly. The training is expected to be completed by all inspectors by the end of March. Sessions with small groups of inspectors will also be held “to help them understand and recognise any mental health issues they may encounter on inspection”, according to Ofsted. Oliver said: “Inspection plays a vital role in making sure that children and learners are getting the education and care they need and deserve. So we need to get back to that work as quickly as we can. “But I’ve also been very clear that we must reflect on the findings of the coroner, learn from the tragic events of last year and emerge as a better and more effective inspectorate. That means being trusted by parents and respected by the education and social care professionals we work with. “This mental health awareness training is a first step – but for me a critical first step – in reassuring the sectors we work with that we are serious about change.” Oliver, a former headteacher, said he had a “constructive” meeting with Waters, and told her the training on 8 January would include a minute’s silence in memory of Perry on the first anniversary of her death. The meeting was the first between Ofsted and Perry’s family. Last month Reading’s senior coroner issued a “prevention of future deaths” report that listed a series of recommendations for Ofsted and the Department for Education. Waters said she had been “cautiously reassured” by her meeting with Oliver. “What Sir Martyn has said, and what we have been pushing for, is there needs to be really radical change, systemic change, cultural change at Ofsted – and this training is just the start,” she told the BBC. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

Maureen Hattey obituary

2023-06-26

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/26/maureen-hattey-obituary

My mother, Maureen Hattey, who has died aged 78, was an advocate and progressive educator for special needs children whose work brought the school into the community and the community into the school. Having initially worked in mainstream education as a primary school teacher, Maureen joined the child development centre at Charing Cross hospital in 1979. Working with the paediatrician Hugh Jolly, she gained first-hand experience of a new way of supporting children with disabilities. Jolly’s approach centred on listening to and working with children and their parents to provide tailored treatment and care. It was revolutionary at the time. Maureen applied this ethos to teaching at the Ridgeway community school in Farnham, Surrey, a school catering for pupils aged two to 19 with severe and profound multiple learning difficulties. She became a senior teacher specialising in the creative and performing arts in 1989, and head in 1997. There, she dedicated herself to ensuring her students had the breadth of opportunity their peers in mainstream education received. The creative and performing arts were at the heart of many of Maureen’s initiatives to integrate the school and the community, and saw students putting on performances with mainstream schools during the “creative arts week” she established. At this time, the new Labour government was pursuing a vision of collaboration between mainstream and special schools, and Maureen had inherited some serious challenges, which an Ofsted inspection highlighted. With the school in special measures, Maureen led a transformation programme, becoming a guinea pig for the government’s new approach to special needs education. Along with the construction of better facilities, she pioneered collaborations between the Ridgeway and other educational institutions in the local area; the school’s nursery was relocated to a mainstream setting and its older students were integrated into the local sixth form. The school emerged from special measures within just 18 months. Maureen was born in Oxford to Sybil (nee Benbow) and Norman Langford, who both worked in the City of London in accountancy and conveyancing. She attended Barnet secondary modern in north-west London and Hatfield Technical College (now the University of Hertfordshire), before studying teacher training at Southlands College in Wimbledon and taking a BA (1978) and a master’s (1993) in education at the Open University. She retired from Ridgeway in 2005, and spent her time travelling with her partner Will Warner, a builder, whom she had known for many years, until his death in 2015. Maureen is survived by her children, Nicola, Ross and me, from her 1968 marriage to Gus Hattey, which ended in divorce in 1983, and her grandchildren, Ella, Louis, Jools, Sophia and Noel.

Gill Stoker obituary

2024-04-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/16/gill-stoker-obituary

My friend Gill Stoker, who has died aged 69 of a brain tumour, became one of the internet’s most popular teachers of English as a second language, attracting 2 million subscribers to her YouTube channel and reaching 31m views, so far, with her most popular lesson. Her clear, uncomplicated style, allied to a deep understanding of her audience and a gentle authority, helped to make Gill’s lessons popular – and she never tried to be funny or ironic, so there were no distractions from the learning. She began to teach on the internet in 2013, having spent 20 years as a tutor at colleges in south London, at the Open University and with private clients at her home. Gill was born in Derby to Kenneth Watson, a local council clerk of works, and his wife, Martha (nee Davey). After leaving Homelands grammar school for girls at 18, she spent two years at secretarial college in Derby before moving to London in 1974. She had auditioned unsuccessfully at the Royal College of Music but resolved nevertheless to make her home in the capital. After a year as a secretary at the quartz manufacturer Roditi International, she became office manager at the computer firm Sperry Univac, where she worked for a decade. In 1985 she took up a post as office manager at the Royal Opera House, until in 1988 she moved to become project administrator at the Essential Drugs Project, a charitable initiative to support better use of medicines across the developing world. While working full-time she gained a degree in English (1982-86) followed by a master’s in English and American literature (1986-88) and a PhD in English and art history (1988-94), all at Birkbeck, University of London. She then moved into part-time lecturing in adult education, teaching at Greenwich Community College and Lewisham College of Further Education throughout the 1990s. In 1999 she also became part-time data manager at the Mary Evans Picture Library, where she and I met, and where she came up with the idea of commissioning poets to submit poems inspired by images from its collection of 3m pictures. It became the most popular section on the library’s website. Gill was also then a part-time associate lecturer at the Open University, and in 2006 she moved into teaching English as a foreign language. In 2013 she hooked up with Joshua Kostka of the teaching website engvid.com, and he launched her YouTube channel in 2015. She was a member of the choir of All Souls, Langham Place, enjoyed creative writing, and appeared as a bit-part actor in a number of films. In 2004 she wrote a one-woman play, Essentially Ethel, about the composer Ethel Smyth, which she performed herself at venues around England. Gill’s first marriage, to Timothy Cox, ended in divorce in 1983. Her second husband, the composer Richard Stoker, whom she married in 1986, died in 2021, and she established the Richard Stoker Trust in his memory, to support young musicians. She is survived by her sister Vivien and three nieces, Caroline, Lynne and Beverley.

Government to fund school ‘attendance mentors’ in worst-hit areas of England

2024-01-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/05/government-fund-school-attendance-mentors-worst-hit-areas-england

Latest attempt to tackle pupil absences criticised as failing to tackle the magnitude of the problem The government is to make a new effort to repair sagging school attendance figures in England, with the education secretary to announce funding for “attendance mentors” in some of the worst-affected areas. Pupil absences remain stubbornly higher than before the Covid pandemic, and during a visit to Liverpool on Monday Gillian Keegan is expected to announce plans for caseworkers to offer one-to-one support for pupils in 10 areas including Blackpool and Walsall, where rates of unauthorised absences remain far above national levels. But critics said the government was failing to tackle the magnitude of the problem after an estimated 1.5 million pupils missed 10% or more of their scheduled classes in autumn and spring last year. A pilot involving attendance mentors is already being run in five areas by the children’s charity Barnardo’s, including in Middlesbrough, Stoke-on-Trent and Knowsley, with Keegan’s announcement expanding the programme to groups of schools in 15 “priority education investment areas”. A £15m tender by the Department for Education (DfE) last year estimated that the recruited mentors would work with 3,600 children for one year initially, in addition to the 1,600 children to be mentored in the pilots run by Barnardo’s over three years. A Labour source said: “This is a laughably poor response to the biggest challenge facing schools today. One in five kids are regularly missing school – Gillian Keegan’s answer is akin to putting out a raging inferno with a water pistol. “It’s another crushing reminder that the conveyor belt of useless Tory education secretaries have nothing to offer when it comes to improving children’s life chances. “Only Bridget Phillipson [the shadow education secretary] and Labour have a long-term plan to tackle absence – that starts with mental health counsellors in every secondary school, mental health hubs for young people in every community and breakfast clubs for every primary school pupil to boost attendance.” Phillipson is expected to announce her own plans to improve attendance next week. Jessica Prestidge, the deputy policy director for the Centre for Social Justice thinktank, said: “We have been saying that the government should make the attendance mentor programme a national one as soon as possible, because the problem is of a different scale to the solution the government is putting forward. “We’re talking here about 140,000 children who are missing [from school] at least 50% of the time, according to the latest data, and the government’s programme is only going to reach a tiny fraction of them. This is a real problem with lasting consequences and we don’t think the government is doing enough about it.” A spokesperson for Barnardo’s said its mentors were able to do valuable work by making connections with individual children and overcoming barriers that were stopping them from attending school regularly. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion In one case, a mentor found a girl was not attending school because she had to share her only pair of shoes with her mother – meaning she could not go to school if her mother needed to wear shoes that day. Lynn Perry, Barnardo’s chief executive, said: “Our attendance mentoring pilot scheme shows that one of the best ways to improve attendance is working individually with children, building trust and listening to their concerns. “Our mentors encourage children to talk openly about issues such as family finances, bullying, or mental health worries – anything they feel may be preventing them from going to school. “In Middlesbrough, 82% of the children we have worked with improved their attendance through one-on-one support from an attendance mentor, with almost two-thirds of the children saying their mental health also improved.” Keegan said last year “there is still more work to be done” to improve attendance but the most recent figures published by the DfE showed unauthorised absences in secondary schools, as well as absences involving illness, were still far higher than before the pandemic.

NEU threatens huge Manchester protest during Tory conference

2023-04-06

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/06/neu-manchester-demo-during-tory-conference

National Education Union says government is ‘rattled’ after delegates vote for summer strikes in England The National Education Union’s leadership has threatened to organise a huge protest during the Conservative party conference, accusing Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, of being deluded about teachers’ pay and staff shortages. The NEU’s joint general secretary Kevin Courtney told delegates at the union’s annual conference: “If you need to, you will organise the biggest demo Manchester has seen for decades on 2 October, you’ll carry on a campaign right into the general election year. And you will win. “The government is so rattled by our campaign, so rattled that it is reacting foolishly.” The NEU’s delegates voted for five days of strikes at schools in England during the summer term, as well as holding a new members’ ballot that would authorise further industrial action until the start of 2024. Pay talks with the government are at an impasse after three teaching unions including the NEU decisively rejected the government’s pay offer, with Keegan responding that negotiations had ended for this year. Mary Bousted, the NEU’s other joint general secretary, said Keegan was “airily unconcerned” about low pay and staff shortages in schools. “When we show her the evidence of teacher flight from the profession, she dismissed it with a wave of her hand,” she said. “Gillian, I have to tell you: you are deluded. You are living in a fantasy world. Gillian, you are secretary of state for education – it’s your job to ensure that there are enough teachers and leaders and support staff in our schools. “It’s your job to make the strongest case to the Treasury that education needs funding so that our schools can recruit and retain teachers and support staff … And it’s your job to make the working lives of teachers and leaders better, so that they are willing to stay in the profession. “So I say to you, Gillian: do your job.” Bousted said teacher vacancies in England were far higher than before the start of the Covid pandemic, and a third higher than just a year ago. She said: “So many schools are running on skeleton staff, unable to recruit. When they advertise for teaching posts there are no candidates applying, losing support staff because they can earn more stacking shelves in a supermarket.” Bousted also made a plea for school leaders to refuse to work as part-time Ofsted inspectors, since what she called “the untimely and tragic death” of headteacher Ruth Perry after a punitive inspection report. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion “I ask them to stop it. Concentrate on your school. Refuse to be part of an inspection team until we have an inspectorate which commands respect, which supports schools to improve,” Bousted said. The NEU conference on Wednesday voted for a campaign to abolish Ofsted and replace school inspections and gradings with a more collaborative system. The conference in Harrogate was the last to be addressed by Bousted and Courtney, who have led the NEU since 2017 when it was formed by the merger of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. Students in higher education also face disruption to their end-of-year exams that could potentially delay graduations, after the University and College Union announced its members would boycott marking after Easter. The UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, told members: “From Thursday 20 April we are asking you to cease undertaking all summative marking and associated assessment activities/duties. The boycott also covers assessment-related work such as exam invigilation and the processing of marks.”

Tell us your experience of prayer at school

2024-04-17

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/17/tell-us-your-experience-of-prayer-at-school

We would like to hear from Muslims in the UK about theirs or their children’s experiences of prayer at school A Muslim pupil has lost their high court appeal against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, over its ban on prayer rituals. The pupil had claimed the ban was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom. We would like to hear from Muslims in the UK about their experiences of prayer when they were at school. We’re particularly interested in hearing from Muslims aged 18 or over who were able to pray at school in the UK and parents who are comfortable with sharing their children’s experiences. Were you allowed to pray at school and was it made accessible to do so? What impact did this have on your wellbeing and education? You can see the article that included respondents to this callout here. You can contribute to open Community callouts here or Share a story here.

Starmer under pressure to commit to universal free school meals in England

2023-04-18

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/18/starmer-under-pressure-to-commit-to-universal-free-school-meals-in-england

Exclusive: National Education Union includes call in submission to forum that will determine Labour’s general election manifesto Keir Starmer is facing mounting calls to extend free school meals to every child in England if Labour makes it into power, to help families struggling with the cost of living and close the educational attainment gap. The National Education Union has also called for long-term funding for the holiday activities and food programme fronted by the England footballer Marcus Rashford, offering free places to children on universal credit (UC), in its policy submission to the party. The Labour leader has come under pressure to adopt the free meals policy nationally since the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced free school meals for all primary pupils across the capital for a year from September. A number of local Labour constituency parties are understood to have made similar calls. The Scottish and Welsh governments are also introducing universal free school meals, which are currently only available for all children up to year 2 in England. There is understood to be a meeting of Labour’s policy commission that deals with public services on Tuesday, but the Guardian has been told the paper up for discussion makes no commitments on free school meals or other NEU demands. There are 3.9 million children in the UK – or eight pupils in every class of 30 – growing up in poverty, and teachers see the impact it has on pupils’ educational experience and outcomes in school first hand. An NEU source said: “While it is right that the government is coming under pressure to extend free school meals, we are also very clearly asking Labour to adopt it as part of the party’s manifesto process. “As Labour develops its policy agenda over the summer we want to see this as a plank of its programme for education, alongside other priorities of importance to educators such as workload, assessment, pay, accountability and sustainable funding for schools.” In its written submission to Labour’s national policy consultation, seen by the Guardian, the NEU calls for a clear child-poverty strategy at the next election, reforming UC by reducing punitive deductions, scrapping the benefits cap and ending the two-child limit. The union wants a Labour government to provide free household internet access for children and young people in households on UC, after the pandemic laid bare the digital divide between the wealthiest families and those struggling to get by. The NEU document raises concerns over workload, with teachers embroiled in a dispute with the government over pay and conditions. It urges Labour to immediately abolish Ofsted’s grading system and announce a review of school inspection if elected. Intense workload and poor pay has aggravated problems of recruitment and retention, highlighted this week when Rishi Sunak was forced to admit his plans for pupils to learn maths until 18 would need time for more teachers to be recruited. The government has missed its secondary school teacher recruitment target by 41% this year, with one in four leaving the profession within three years of qualification, and a third within five. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The NEU also highlights the issue of pay, after its members decisively rejected the government’s offer of a £1,000 one-off payment and a 4.3% rise for most teachers earlier this month, urging Labour to correct the real-terms decline. It also calls for a review of the curriculum and assessment in English primary and secondary schools as a priority, amid concerns they are struggling to provide the mental health support needed by pupils, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. “The emphasis placed on preparing pupils for high-stakes tests and exams has narrowed what is taught and learned,” it says. “Statutory assessment and public examinations reinforce the government’s antiquated curriculum preferences.” The NEU submission calls for a Labour pledge to scrap the ambition to move all schools into multi-academy trusts, and allow local authorities to open new schools, amid concerns that existing ones admit relatively few disadvantaged children. Councils should also be given powers over admissions and exclusions, it says. Labour’s national policy forum meets in July to thrash out plans for government, before announcing key policies at party conference this autumn and in next year’s general election manifesto.

The superiority complex of grammar schools is misplaced | Letter

2023-03-19

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/19/the-superiority-complex-of-grammar-schools-is-misplaced

Vocational and academic education should be valued equally, says Yvonne Williams Lola Okolosie makes a powerful argument for abolishing grammar schools (The Tories keep bottling their push for more grammar schools. Is it because they know they don’t work?, 16 March). But one problem with focusing on the abolition of such schools is that it requires people to subscribe to the view that everything about them is immeasurably superior; that those failing the 11-plus missed out on the greatest opportunity of their lives. Other provision is inevitably seen as second class. And if you were unsuccessful, you’re second class – which is the psychological fallout that you never quite overcome, whatever your later achievements. My experience of my secondary bilateral school was outstanding. The teaching was dynamic and the ethos was supportive and strict. It ensured that when I entered the grammar school sixth form, the transition was seamless. What needs to change is the elitist view. Yes, having more comprehensive schooling is part of the solution. But we should value equally the whole range of education – both vocational and academic. Yvonne Williams Ryde, Isle of Wight Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Relief as teachers in England settle for 6.5% – but there may be battles ahead

2023-07-31

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/31/relief-as-teachers-in-england-settle-pay-dispute-but-there-may-be-battles-ahead

While many welcome the end of strike action, the campaign for fair pay and better funding for state schools looks set to continue Ministers will have heaved a huge sigh of relief to see teachers and school leaders in England vote to accept a 6.5% pay offer and end strike action in state schools in England. After months of disruption as a result of strikes by members of the National Education Union (NEU), there were real fears in government of an escalation of the dispute, with coordinated strike action in the autumn term by four unions. That threat was averted after the government agreed to implement a 6.5% pay uplift from September, as recommended by the teachers’ independent pay review body. Union leaders, however, have been careful to avoid presenting the result as a victory for teachers, insisting that the battle for fair pay and better school funding will continue. The scale of the vote in favour of the deal was convincing in all four unions, after the offer was recommended by union leaders, but many teachers and school leaders will have accepted reluctantly after a long campaign for an above-inflation pay rise. Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, spoke for many when he said: “Whilst NASUWT members are willing to accept the School Teachers’ Review Body [STRB] pay award recommendation, they do not believe that it is sufficient redress for the impact of more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts, where the value of teachers’ pay has declined by 25%.” Negotiations between the Department for Education and the unions ended in March, with all four decisively rejecting the government’s offer of a 4.3% pay rise and £1,000 one-off payment. Teachers will see 6.5% as progress from the 3.5% the government initially recommended to the STRB. They are affected by the cost of living crisis as much as anyone else, and many will feel relieved that the threat of further strike action next term – and the resulting loss of pay – has been averted. Members of the NEU have already sacrificed pay with eight days of industrial action in England. “What teachers were definitely not keen on was an escalation of strike action in the autumn,” said one NEU member. “I’m seeing a mixture of resentment that we gave up, but perhaps relief from a silent majority of others, feeling there was no alternative and we got an improved deal.” Nevertheless there was clear opposition to the deal and a campaign within the NEU to reject it. Debs Gwynn, one of the executive members opposed to the deal, told colleagues prior to the vote: “The offer is short of what we were asking. It is not inflation proof, it does not redress the real-term losses we have suffered over the past 13 years and it does not address the chronic funding and staffing crisis in our schools.” Many will share that sentiment. On social media, teachers expressed their disappointment, with many comments aimed at Daniel Kebede, who takes over as the NEU general secretary in August after also recommending the deal to members. “How exactly can we move the campaign forward when members have been told to roll over and accept this ‘offer’? I’m so disappointed in @NEUnion right now,” one year 6 teacher tweeted. “@DanielKebedeNEU hope you have a bit more backbone going forward and actually fight for us and our students.” Kebede also said the 6.5% would never have been awarded without the eight days of action by NEU members and signalled what might lie ahead “We must go further though. We need pay restoration for all school staff (teachers, leaders, support staff). This isn’t just about fairness. It is the only way to save our schools. The crisis of recruitment & retention is so severe,” he wrote on Twitter. “We have shown we can beat the government’s anti-democratic strike thresholds. We have shown we can deliver solid and sustained strike action. In September serious discussions will take place about how we move the campaign for education forward.”

Education union criticises ‘badly flawed’ evidence behind academy drive

2022-03-30

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/mar/31/education-union-criticises-badly-flawed-evidence-behind-academy-drive

National Education Union found ‘no compelling reason’ for all schools in England to join academy trusts Union leaders have accused the government of relying on “badly flawed” evidence to justify its plans for all schools in England to join academy trusts. The National Education Union (NEU) met the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, on Wednesday to challenge him over evidence used to support the government’s drive for full academisation by 2030, announced in the schools white paper earlier this week. Describing it as a “con job”, the NEU said the evidence cited in the government’s supporting document, The case for a fully trust-led system, published alongside the white paper on Monday, was “extremely weak” and potentially “misleading”. Academies are state-funded schools with higher degrees of autonomy in governance, use of resources and curriculum. The government said it wants all schools to either have become academies or be in the process of joining a multi-academy trust (Mat) by 2030, to “help transform underperforming schools and deliver the best possible outcomes for children”. The NEU said, however, there was no evidence to support the government’s claims. On the contrary, it said its own analysis of Ofsted judgments indicated that schools that join Mats are less likely to improve and more likely to fall back. According to the union’s research, local authority-maintained primary schools previously judged outstanding by Ofsted are more likely to retain that rating when re-inspected than other types of schools – 30% compared with just 7% of primaries in Mats. “Shockingly”, if an outstanding primary school in a Mat is transferred to another Mat in a process known as re-brokering, 0% retain their outstanding status, while only 12% of good or better local authority-maintained primary schools fall to less than good at their next inspection, compared with 35% of primaries in Mats. The Department for Education (DfE) roundly rejected the NEU’s criticisms. “The claims made are incorrect and based upon selective data, misrepresenting our published evidence. “We have a decade of evidence that academy trusts can transform underperforming schools. More than seven out of 10 schools that have become academies due to underperformance now have a good or outstanding Ofsted rating, compared to about one in 10 of the local authority-maintained schools they replaced,” a spokesperson said. “We want all schools to be part of a strong academy trust so they can benefit from the trust’s support in everything from teacher training, curriculum, financial planning and inclusivity towards children with additional needs, to excellent behaviour and attendance cultures.” But Kevin Courtney, NEU joint general secretary, said the union’s analysis made a nonsense of the government’s drive towards full academisation in the name of raising standards. “It demonstrates that there is no compelling reason for a school to join a trust. It also provides strong evidence against the re-brokering of schools from one Mat to another. “Nadhim Zahawi says he wants to be driven by evidence. He must respond to this evidence and must pause this ideological drive. Teachers and parents want the government to focus their efforts on supporting schools to improve and what works and to drop their ideological obsession with marketisation.” The NEU also accused the DfE of “systematically misreporting” Ofsted ratings for many schools when building its case for academy trusts, claiming outstanding judgments for schools in Mats that were awarded when those schools were council maintained. The union accused the DfE of using small samples in order to produce higher results for schools in Mats, and of failing to report information about pupil premium – additional funding for the most disadvantaged children – for these samples in a way that was “highly misleading”. Previous research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) and others found little difference between attainment outcomes of academies and local authority-maintained schools. EPI’s head of analysis, Jon Andrews, said: “The ambition to move all schools into multi-academy trusts may be a necessary tidying up of the school landscape that has been left to fragment for over a decade, but it is not a silver bullet to improvement or equity. “If the government is going to argue that full academisation is going to lead to an improvement in standards then we need a much better understanding of what it is that the highest performing trusts are doing that sets them apart from the rest.”

Racism in English education should be seen as safeguarding issue, says author

2022-06-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jun/05/racism-england-schools-education-safeguarding-issue-jeffrey-boakye

Jeffrey Boakye argues in new book that schools are unsafe places for students marginalised by race Racism in education should be treated as a safeguarding issue, with anti-racist policies in all schools in England and training for staff, according to a new book. Jeffrey Boakye, a black English teacher, author and broadcaster, argues that schools are unsafe places for students marginalised by race, and warns that black children are attending institutions that might “actively contribute to their harm”. He says issues of social justice, including racism, should be taken as a key performance indicator in schools. “This isn’t just about making new boxes to be ticked,” Boakye told the Guardian. “This is about highlighting social justice as an area that teachers and schools must have a specific position on. “Racism is something that needs to be seen and acknowledged before it is understood,” he said. “And once understood, it can be tackled. In this country, too many people don’t even know what it looks like.” A secondary schoolteacher with 15 years’ experience, Boakye sets out in I Heard What You Said to expose structural racism in schools and the failure of the English education system to address racial inequality, and draws on his own experience, first as a pupil and then as a teacher. The book, which will be published this month by Picador, comes months after the case of Child Q – a black 15-year-old girl who was strip-searched by police officers while at school in London after teachers claimed they smelled cannabis – sparked widespread outrage. “What happened to Child Q is a culmination of various toxic legacies: the adultification of black girls, the demonisation of black people, the abuse of black bodies, the fear of blackness among our institutions,” said Boakye. “It also speaks to a profound failure of care among professionals across sectors, whereby suspicion of criminal misdemeanour completely overshot basic empathy.” “I would argue that racism is a safeguarding issue,” he writes in his book. “And in the same way that you can’t get hired as a teacher until you know the basics of how to keep children safe, perhaps you shouldn’t be allowed to teach in a modern, multicultural society unless you know the basics of racist abuse and how it can harm all children.” In the book, Boakye cites a Guardian investigation last year that revealed more than 60,000 racist incidents were recorded in UK schools over a five-year period. The true figure is likely to be considerably higher as many incidents are either not reported or not recorded, and since 2012, schools have been under no legal duty to report racist incidents to local authorities. “For schools, treating racism as a safeguarding concern would be transformational,” he writes. “There are some fundamental questions that can be asked of an institution to this end. Who is trained to deal with it? What is the school’s anti-racist policy? “What training is required for all staff? What processes are in place to tackle racist incidents, at every level? Until these questions are answered and acted upon, schools must accept they are unsafe places for students who are marginalised by race.” Boakye, who now delivers training, talks and consultancy on issues around race, anti-racism and curriculum design to schools, as well as co-presenting BBC Radio 4’s Add to Playlist with Cerys Matthews, also addresses recent moves to decolonise the curriculum in England. “Decolonisation is not simply a case of better representation and increased diversity,” he writes. “Those things are a start, absolutely, but to decolonise the curriculum is to recognise that it exists as part of a system that is rooted in racist soil. Only then can we begin to uproot, and plant something better.” On the issue of white privilege, which the government has said should not be treated “as fact” in England’s schools, Boakye says: “White privilege is part of a wider ideology of white supremacy, constructed long before any of us were born. “Acknowledging this is as important as acknowledging male privilege or ‘straight’ privilege, or class privilege, or ‘able-bodied’ privilege and so on. The key is to think not about how the teaching of white privilege threatens white insecurity, but more how it seeks to undo a legacy of racism that holds us all back.” Boakye no longer works in the classroom, but was one of very few black male English teachers in the UK, and his book details some of the questions his presence in the classroom prompted from pupils. “Are you really a teacher?” asked one. “Can you rap?” asked another, and: “Have you ever been to prison?” The book concludes: “I’ve lived in education for over 30 years. I’ve witnessed the quiet tragedy of wasted human potential that comes from systemic racism. I’ve tried to shift the needle by challenging the curriculum and being an ambassador for blackness in a white system. Now, I dare to hope that change will come and that all voices will be heard, whether they’re shouting with rage or whispering with fear.” I Heard What You Said by Jeffrey Boakye is published by Picador (£16.99); to support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

When Mum made me a class celebrity | Brief letters

2023-03-08

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/08/when-mum-made-me-a-class-celebrity

Sex education | Quarter-zipper, all style | Older slogan wear | Stale pasties | Knight rider I sympathise with Zoe Williams’s daughter (An old video of me is on the school curriculum! Unfortunately, I am shocked by my own arguments, 7 March). My mother, an eminent and pioneering Cambridge don, gave the first ever sex education lessons in my convent school, in the 1960s, to my class. Heaps of embarrassment – followed by a sudden popularity, as I must have been the fount of all sexual knowledge, surely? Thanks, Mum.Louise WallaceCropredy, Oxfordshire Reading about quarter-zippers (Quarter-zipper becomes the new status symbol for men of a certain position, 4 March) at breakfast, I find it hard to believe that mine, moth-eaten in parts and unravelling with old age, is a status symbol. I shall have to reconsider my decision to restrict it to home wear only.Ron JacobLondon Your report on Gen Z’s adoption of slogan wear (‘No problemo’: what Gen Z are really saying with their T-shirts, 6 March) led me to ponder what, as an older person, I might have on my tee. “Retro”? “Analogue”? I finally settled on “Don’t start me”. Might others have suggestions?Pete Bibby Sheffield Undoubtedly delicious as Cornish pasties are, the sign reading “No pasties left in this van overnight” (Letters, 7 March) begs the question, if they’re so good, why would there be any left? You wouldn’t want a stale one. Linda Marriott North Hykeham, Lincolnshire Could Gary Lineker be given the knighthood intended for Stanley Johnson (Report, 8 March)? Geoff McQuillan Cults, Aberdeen Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Labour vows to tackle school absences and ‘broken relationship’ with families

2024-01-08

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/07/labour-vows-tackle-school-absences-broken-relationship-families

Bridget Phillipson to set out ‘generational challenges’ also including child mental health crisis Labour has vowed to reset the “broken relationship between schools and families” by tackling the crisis in pupil absences and child mental health, ahead of rival policy announcements from the party and the government this week. Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, is to set out the “generational challenges” facing England’s schools and pupils in a keynote speech on Tuesday. It will come a day after the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, announces the government’s latest efforts to repair school attendance rates since the Covid pandemic. Phillipson told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “The challenge that we’re seeing at the moment around persistent absenteeism means that one in five children are regularly out of school. That figure is set to rise to one in four. “That is a staggering number of children. It’s damaging their life chances and it’s damaging the life chances of all of the children within the school community too.” In her speech, Phillipson will state: “The Conservatives have nothing to say about the broken relationship between schools and families that has provoked the crisis we’re seeing in attendance – these measures are only tinkering around the edges of a generational challenge. “Persistent absence has reached historic levels under the Conservatives, beginning even before the pandemic, and they cannot be trusted to fix a problem that they have caused.” Labour’s plans include more mental health counsellors for secondary schools, and universal free breakfast clubs for every primary school pupil. The plans will only apply to England, with education policy devolved to national governments. Phillipson said parents would be expected to play their part, telling the BBC: “Those parents that choose to take their children out of school, for holidays or for trips or where it’s not necessary, should reflect seriously because that damages children’s life chances. They only get one chance at school. They only get one childhood.” The Centre for Social Justice thinktank released a survey that found 28% of UK parents agreed that “the pandemic has shown it is not essential for children to attend school every day”, while 58% disagreed. But in response to a further question, 88% of parents agreed “it is vital children attend school as much as possible”, with only 8% disagreeing. On Monday, the Department for Education (DfE) is to announce its own measures, which expand existing efforts to improve attendance. Last week the Guardian revealed that the centrepiece of Keegan’s announcement included £15m funding for “attendance mentors” in 10 of the worst-hit areas, providing one-to-one support for about 3,600 persistently absent children a year. A pilot of the attendance mentor scheme, run by the children’s charity Barnardo’s, is already running in five areas. Barnardo’s said that in Middlesbrough the mentors had improved the attendance of more than 80% of the children involved. The DfE’s most recent figures show unauthorised absences in secondary schools, as well as absences involving illness, are still well above levels seen before the pandemic in 2020. The DfE will this week also begin a national campaign on the importance of attendance, using the strapline “moments matter, attendance counts”. The DfE did not disclose how much it would spend on the campaign. Keegan said: “Tackling attendance is my number one priority.”

Spending on university students in England ‘back to 2011 low point’, says IFS

2023-12-11

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/dec/11/spending-on-university-students-in-england-back-to-2011-low-point-says-ifs

Government’s underestimation of inflation has eroded teaching resources, according to thinktank University students in England are seeing less spent on their education than at any time since their tuition fees were tripled in 2012, according to new analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. According to the IFS, students are receiving even less than they were in 1990 as the government badly underestimated the effect of high inflation since it decided to freeze domestic undergraduate tuition fees at £9,250 – leading to a steep erosion in university teaching resources. “This does not seem a sensible way to set policy,” the thinktank’s annual report concluded. By next year, the real-terms value of spending per student will have fallen back to the levels of 2011, when tuition fees were just £3,375 a year and the government contributed much more in teaching grants. In 2012-13, each undergraduate from England had the equivalent of £11,800 spent annually on teaching resources. But undergraduates in 2024-25 will get just £9,600, according to the IFS. “This will take it back to the same level as its low point in 2011, just before the increase in fees to £9,000 in 2012 – and, remarkably, 3% lower than in 1990,” the IFS said. Kate Ogden, a senior research economist at the IFS, said universities in England were “definitely getting less for teaching home students than they used to”, thanks to inflation outstripping the government’s forecasts since the tuition freeze was applied. The government’s forecasts in 2021 – when it extended the freeze for three years – implied that rising inflation would in effect cut spending on teaching by 6.5%. But the latest forecasts suggest that spending will be hit by twice as much: down by 13% between 2021-22 and 2024-25, equivalent to £1,370 less for each student. The IFS’s calculations explain why universities in England are seeing a further wave of staff cuts and retrenchments, including department closures. Oxford Brookes University is among the latest to announce it is shutting maths and music courses, and applying cuts to other subjects. Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, which represents university leaders, said: “Universities currently incur an annual £1bn loss in teaching domestic students and an annual £5bn loss in their delivery of research. “The trend of declining resource means that the current group of UK students has significantly less public resource devoted to their higher education than earlier generations, and risks compromising the quality of our teaching and research. “We must reverse the long-term decline in funding for teaching, through increased government grants and index-linking the fee cap from 2025 onwards in England. To further support future students to have the same opportunities as those of the last decade, there must also be enhanced maintenance support, including reinstating maintenance grants for those who need them the most.” Higher than expected inflation has also shrunk the value of maintenance support available for students. Students from England enrolling in 2024-25 will be entitled to borrow 11% less towards their living costs than they were in 2020–21, a cut equivalent to £107 a month for students from the poorest backgrounds. In response, the Department for Education said: “Decisions on student finance have had to be taken to ensure the system remains financially sustainable.” The IFS’s annual report on education spending in England found that the purchasing power of school budgets would be about 4% lower in 2024 than in 2010 once cost increases such as salary rises are taken into account. Further education colleges and sixth forms are among the hardest hit, with spending per student in colleges in 2024 about 10% below 2010 levels, and 23% lower in school sixth forms. The IFS also found that secondary schools in the most disadvantaged areas saw spending per pupil fall by 12% in real terms between 2010 and 2021, compared with a fall of 5% for schools in the most affluent areas. Luke Sibieta, an author of the IFS report, said: “Rising inflation and costs are eroding the real-terms value of budgets across the early years, schools, colleges and universities alike. At the recent autumn statement, the government chose not to top up education spending plans, but instead focus on reducing taxes.” A spokesperson for the DfE said: “This doesn’t tell the whole story. The IFS’s analysis on school spending patterns stops at 2021-22. “We are taking the long-term decisions to improve our education system for generations to come by investing record funding into schools. Overall school funding is rising to its highest level in history, in real terms, next year – totalling £59.6bn.”

Wales wants to shorten summer school holidays – but are they really too long?

2023-11-21

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/21/wales-wants-shorten-summer-school-holidays-really-too-long

Ministers hope to eventually cut break to four weeks but a teaching union says there is no evidence it will help schools Wales is making the latest attempt to detach school holidays from the agricultural needs and religious events that have influenced dates for 150 years, arguing it helps parents and disadvantaged children to have fixed breaks spread out more evenly through the year. Citing research that parents struggle to find childcare over the long summer holiday, Wales’s minority Labour administration wants to shrink the summer holidays from six weeks to five and eventually four, and use the time to double half-term breaks in October and May to two weeks. The proposals would also equalise the length of terms and break the connection with Easter by fixing the timing of spring holidays regardless of the religious calendar, to give parents and schools greater certainty. Research by the Welsh government found that organising and paying for childcare over the summer was a common complaint among parents, particularly for women running smaller businesses whose childcare costs outweighed their potential earnings. Siân Gwenllian, the designated member for Plaid Cymru, which supports the proposals, said: “The current school calendar was designed a long time ago, under very different circumstances and we are suggesting changes that could work better for everyone, but most importantly for pupils of all ages. “Many children and young people, especially those with additional learning needs and those from lower-income families find the break very long, impacting negatively on their wellbeing and education.” Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “Reforms to the current school calendar created during Victorian times are long overdue – and would be good for children, parents and teachers alike. “Terms of almost equal length would make for better educational planning. After summer exams, teachers could dedicate time to extracurricular activities – the sports, music and art work that often fall by the wayside in a test-obsessed world.” But the evidence on whether long school holidays harm learning among children is unclear, according to experts. Much of the evidence for the “summer slide” comes from the US, where summer holidays are far longer, up to 12 weeks compared with the existing six or seven in England and Wales. John Hattie, a professor of education at the University of Melbourne and an influential researcher and author, said: “The effects from school holiday are very small on students, and there is little reason to believe that the length of the school year has much effect at all.” Research in UK schools tends to support Hattie’s comment. A study from 2019 that looked at pupils from primary schools in an area of high deprivation in Scotland and England found no effect on reading skills and only “stagnation” in spelling ability. Meanwhile, schools in Northern Ireland typically have eight weeks off over summer yet generally have better exam results than schools in England or Wales. And research published last year, testing a wider group of UK children and age groups before and after the summer, found “no evidence that inequalities in verbal cognitive ability widened over the school summer holidays”. But the 2022 study did find evidence of “worsening mental health and mental health inequalities” in some age groups. That concern was echoed in focus groups conducted on behalf of the Welsh government. According to one teacher in Wales: “The six weeks can be a really long time if they’ve got issues at home, and they’ve got no support staff to talk to. They’re out on a limb in that respect. Some of the kids dread having the six weeks off.” Surveys done in Wales found 60% of parents said they were “quite happy with the school year as it is”. But when asked about the potential changes, most also agreed the current summer was too long and would support a shorter summer break and equal terms. “When we think about it, these holidays are archaic, they were set up with a sort of long summer harvest, which doesn’t suit the needs of children or adults today,” one parent said. So why have a longer summer holiday at all? According to Hattie, students and teachers do need time to “recharge their batteries doing other activities”, while school leaders remain firmly in favour of an extended summer break. Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, says there is no evidence that changing holidays would address any of the fundamental problems facing schools in Wales such as teacher recruitment. “The Welsh government are flogging a dead horse,” Roach said. In England, the former education secretary Michael Gove was among those who have tried to reshape the school year. In 2013 Gove complained that “the structure of the school term and the school day was designed at a time when we had an agricultural economy”, and gave schools in England the power to choose the timing of their holidays. One school that took up Gove’s offer was the Boulevard academy in Hull, which attempted to cut its summer holiday to four weeks. But it proved unpopular while other schools maintained the traditional dates, and the school now has a six-week summer holiday.

More than half of British girls lack confidence learning maths, poll finds

2024-02-08

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/08/more-than-half-of-british-girls-lack-confidence-learning-maths-poll-finds

Teach First highlights gender gap in maths and science and calls for higher pay for trainee teachers in Stem subjects More than half of British girls do not feel confident learning maths while two-fifths feel insecure about science, according to a report which highlights an “alarming” gender confidence gap in schools. Research by the education charity Teach First found that 54% of girls lacked confidence in maths, compared with 41% of boys, but the gap was even wider in science, where 43% of girls lacked confidence compared with 26% of boys. The findings were based on the results of a YouGov poll of 1,000 young people aged 11 to 16 ahead of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Sunday. Despite feeling less confident, girls often outperform boys in Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects at GCSE, with a higher percentage achieving top grades – though fewer girls then take these subjects at A-level and go on into Stem careers. The results have prompted warnings that poor gender diversity will exacerbate the skills shortage currently facing the Stem sector, and Teach First is calling for more high-quality, specialist teachers to help inspire the next generation into these fields. In 2020, women made up less than 30% of the UK Stem workforce, while the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has warned of a shortfall of more than 173,000 workers – the equivalent of 10 unfilled roles per business, on average. Teach First, which trains high-quality graduates to teach in schools in challenging areas, is calling for an increase in pay for trainee teachers to incentivise Stem professionals into teaching in order to alleviate some of the shortages. Many schools are struggling to recruit teachers, particularly for maths, computing and physics. Teach First’s chief impact officer, Amy Mitchell, said: “It’s deeply troubling that too few children feel confident studying science and maths, with too many girls in particular left behind. “Girls are just as capable as boys when it comes to maths and science, but this confidence gap poses a huge threat to the UK’s future, with Stem skills desperately needed to boost economic growth and to help tackle the major problems we face such as climate change.” She said an uplift in pay for trainee teachers was needed urgently to incentivise more people to become Stem teachers, particularly in low-income areas where it is even harder to recruit specialist teachers. Sylvia Jolly, a Teach First-trained science teacher at Robert Clack school in Dagenham, Essex, said: “Empowering more girls to take up Stem and shine in the field will significantly benefit all Stem scientists. It will ensure that the workforce is empowered to work together.” A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said bursaries worth up to £30,000 were offered to attract the brightest and best Stem teachers. “We are continuing to promote Stem subjects and drive up participation, especially among girls,” they said. “This includes investing £100m to improve computing teaching and participation at GCSE and A-level, alongside targeted initiatives to boost uptake of maths, physics, digital and technical education by girls and among under-represented groups. “On top of this, we’re introducing the new Advanced British Standard (ABS) which will see every student in England study some form of maths and English to age 18.”

More children than ever are being home-schooled in England, data shows

2023-05-18

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/may/18/more-children-than-ever-are-being-home-schooled-in-england-data-shows

Ministers want to identify those at risk of missing out on education, especially if they are of compulsory school age More children than ever are being home-schooled in England, according to new figures, prompting ministers to launch an investigation into how many are missing out on education. The Department for Education said it wanted local authorities and schools to identify children who may be at risk of missing out on education, especially those of compulsory school age who were not registered at a school and may not be receiving a suitable education. Figures published by the DfE for the first time suggested that 86,000 children in England were home schooled on one day this year, while 116,300 were in elective home education for a period over the 2021-22 school year. Both figures are steep increases on estimates by councils before the Covid pandemic. A previous survey by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) estimated that 55,000 children were home-schooled on one day in 2018-19, which suggested a rise of 50% compared with the DfE’s 2023 figure. Local authorities said there was a compelling case for a national home school register, and urged the government to revive plans that had been included in the now-abandoned schools bill. Heather Sandy, the chair of the ADCS education policy committee, said: “The number of children who are known to be electively home-educated has been increasing significantly, year on year, even before the pandemic struck. “We need more than just an estimate of how many children are being educated in this way to keep them safe and to ensure they receive the education they deserve.” Sandy added that while parents had a right to educate their children at home, councils lacked the powers to ensure that children were safe and taught effectively. “While a register in and of itself will not keep children safe, it will help to establish exactly how many children are being educated other than at school and to identify which children are vulnerable to harm,” Sandy said. The DfE also published official attendance figures for autumn 2022, confirming that school absences remained higher than before the pandemic. Between September and December last year, 24% of pupils were persistently absent – meaning that they missed at least 10% of sessions, the equivalent of seven school days. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The majority of absences were because of illness, with a sharp spike in December due to seasonal infections as well as the continued spread of Covid. More than 12% of pupils were classed as persistently missing due to illness alone. In-depth research into unauthorised persistent absence, where no reason for absence was given, found that the proportion of pupils affected has been rising for more than a decade. In 2006-7, 1.4% of pupils were persistently absent for no reason, rising to 2.2% in 2018-19 before the pandemic, and more steeply to 3.8% of pupils in 2021-22. The research published by the DfE recommended that schools use multiple risk factors to identify pupils in need of support, such as disadvantage, previously having been suspended, or attending alternative provision.

Rachel Foakes obituary

2023-03-06

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/06/rachel-foakes-obituary

My friend Rachel Foakes, who has died unexpectedly aged 53, was a writer of education books, a committed activist and a Labour town councillor. Over the course of her 30-year career, Rachel wrote more than 80 books, reaching tens of thousands of students of English worldwide. Her graded readers ranged across all age groups and covered non-fiction as well as retellings of modern and classic works, and included White Fang (2008), Mulan (2017) and The Life and Diaries of Anne Frank (2018), all winners of the ERF (Extensive Reading Foundation) Language Learner Literature award. In 2014, she became the series editor of the Oxford Bookworms Library. In a recent article, she wrote of the pleasures of educational books – of having a job that she felt had real “value”. She in turn was valued by her readers: she was guest speaker at the City of Westminster’s Libraries Six Book Challenge in 2015. Born in Radlett, Hertfordshire, to Jennetta (nee Kiddle), a secretary in the Foreign Office, and Stuart Bladon, a motoring journalist, Rachel attended North London Collegiate school and then Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied modern history (1987-90). There she developed her passion for the written word as news editor of Cherwell, the student newspaper. She was sporty as well as cerebral, playing lacrosse for the Swifts, the university’s second team. Fluent in French, Rachel headed to Grenoble after Oxford to teach English, before returning to the UK to start a career in book publishing at Usborne Books and then at Heinemann in their English Language Teaching (ELT) Division. Rachel married Andrew Foakes in 1996 and they spent three years in Hong Kong, where he taught and she established herself as a freelance commissioning and managing editor, and together they travelled extensively in south-east Asia. In 2016, the family, including their three children, Grace, Anna and Frank, moved to Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. Rachel believed deeply in being active in her community, as she demonstrated when Covid-19 hit by setting up a “help your neighbour” scheme and volunteering as a vaccinator. In 2021, she was elected to the town council and a year later became its deputy mayor. She combined these duties – producing the council newsletter and setting up Saturday surgeries for residents – with volunteering as a teacher to Ukrainian families and the busy demands of family life and a full-time career. Throughout her life, she combined practical action with a deep, caring intelligence. She is survived by Andrew and their children, and by her mother. Rachel’s father died shortly after her.

Inquest to examine Ofsted’s role in lead-up to death of headteacher Ruth Perry

2023-07-11

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/11/inquest-to-examine-ofsteds-role-in-lead-up-to-death-of-headteacher-ruth-perry

Berkshire coroner names schools inspectorate for England as ‘interested persons’ in inquiry Ofsted’s role in the events leading up to the death of the Berkshire headteacher Ruth Perry will be examined during an inquest later this year, a coroner has ruled. Heidi Connor, the senior coroner for Berkshire, named the schools inspectorate for England as “interested persons” as part of her inquiry into the death of the primary school leader, whose family say killed herself after a “devastating” Ofsted inspection. The decision means Ofsted officials will appear at the inquest in person, to be questioned by the coroner and barristers for Perry’s family. At a pre-inquest review at Berkshire coroner’s court, Connor said she was also considering whether to conduct an article 2 enhanced inquest into the wider circumstances surrounding Perry’s death in January. An article 2 inquest can be invoked when government agencies “failed to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk,” according to the Crown Prosecution Service. The inquest is investigating Perry’s death, which occurred shortly after an Ofsted inspection downgraded her school, Caversham primary, in Reading, from “outstanding” to “inadequate” over errors in safeguarding training and procedures. Perry’s family have said she was “devastated” by the decision affecting the school that she had attended as a child. As a maintained school, an inadequate grade would have meant its management was taken over by an academy trust. A subsequent Ofsted inspection carried out last month upgraded the school to “good”. Connor said questions of whether an inadequate rating was appropriate would be a matter for the inquiry to be held by MPs on the education select committee. “What I am interested in is the nexus between the inspection and the impact on Ruth,” Connor said, adding that “the workings of Ofsted” were a matter for the parliamentary inquiry. Perry’s sister Julia Waters said her family welcomed the forthcoming inquest. “We trust that the scope of the inquest, as established today, will be both broad and deep enough to provide us, in due course, with satisfactory answers to the many questions we still have. “We hope that, at the inquest itself later this year, the coroner will make recommendations to Ofsted to prevent further avoidable deaths like Ruth’s from occurring, so saving other families from experiencing the excruciating pain that we have experienced and that will never leave us,” Waters said. “We miss Ruth every day and know that her many friends, colleagues and former pupils do, too.” A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “Our sympathies remain with Ruth Perry’s family and colleagues. We are continuing to assist the coroner in her investigations.” The coroner set preliminary dates for the inquest to begin on 28 November, with a decision provisionally scheduled for 7 December. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Support positive masculinity in England and Wales schools, union conference told

2024-04-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/05/positive-masculinity-schools-england-wales-neu-conference-manosphere

Boys and young men need guidance – not punishment – to avoid ‘manosphere’, teacher tells NEU Teachers should promote positive masculinity in schools in England and Wales in order to support boys who might otherwise feel demonised and end up turning to “the manosphere” for hope, a union conference has been told. Charlotte Keogh, a secondary school English teacher from Worcestershire, said boys and young men needed support and guidance as they grappled with ideas about masculinity, rather than being punished and silenced. She was speaking as a delegate during a debate at the National Education Union’s (NEU) annual conference in Bournemouth about the rise in misogyny and how to combat sexism in schools, which has become a significant concern for many in the sector and wider society. Keogh told the conference the status of men and boys had suffered “giant crushing blows” owing to the collapse of traditional industry such as steel, mining and construction, which had had a devastating impact on the job opportunities and ambitions available to working-class boys. “We still have boys in our classrooms that orient more closely around their masculinity. They cherish their physical excellence and they are proud of the things that they think will make them a man,” she said. “What a confusing state of being it must be for our education system to contradict that, to not be proud of them, to not offer them any support and guidance for these needs. This holds the door open for online misogyny. It’s left boys feeling demonised and inadequate and they will seek out an Andrew Tate or a Milo Yiannopoulos who is ready to exploit that disillusionment and alienation. The manosphere is a place that provides hope for lots of our boys.” The motion, which was carried, advocated for the wider use of the NEU’s “It’s Not OK” toolkit to tackle the problem in schools. Keogh opposed the amendment, however, “on the basis that the toolkit needs to address positive masculinity and seek to better support this culture in our schools and wider society rather than punish and silence our young boys’ cries for purpose, ambition and responsibility”. She concluded: “Online misogyny is a product of capitalist, conservative, neoliberal culture destruction that is hurting the livelihoods of our boys. Let’s punish the perpetrators and not the victims.” Lucy Coleman from Oxfordshire, who proposed the motion, said: “You would think times have moved on since I was young, but actually things are worse now than they were. The internet and access to social media and online bullying has made it easier for sexist views to be shared and normalised. It is hard enough growing up as a female in a male-dominated world, but the added pressures of social media make it unbearable for young girls.” Earlier, the NEU general secretary, Daniel Kebede, called for an inquiry into the problem, which he said was widespread and should not be left to parents and schools to police. After the debate, he said: “The rise of sexist and violent ideas online is problematic and young people are very influenced by their peers and the content driven by algorithms. Greater regulation of tech companies and quicker action on removing harmful content is needed.” The conference also carried a motion that called on members to support and protect transgender and non-binary students, and campaign against key proposals in the government’s draft guidance that says there is no general duty to allow pupils to socially transition in school. Delegates also opposed any compulsory “outing” of pupils to parents or carers.

Ofsted’s ‘simplistic judgments’ no longer fit for purpose, schools experts warn

2023-11-04

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/04/ofsteds-simplistic-judgments-no-longer-fit-for-purpose-schools-experts-warn

Former ministers and leaders agree that inspections in England resulting in one-word summaries need to be reviewed Parents in England can no longer rely on Ofsted inspections as a trustworthy guide to school quality, former education secretaries and leaders have warned. Justine Greening, a former Conservative education secretary, said ministers should consult with parents over what they needed to know about individual schools, while former education secretaries David Blunkett and Kenneth Baker said the inspection regime needed an overhaul to provide better insights into how pupils are benefiting from their education. The criticisms follow damning comments by Sir Michael Wilshaw, a former headteacher who led Ofsted until 2016, who told MPs that inspection judgments “are not giving parents an accurate picture of what’s happening in schools. It’s providing parents with false comfort.” Wilshaw said he no longer supported the use of single-phrase summary judgments such as “good”, “outstanding” or “inadequate”, which both Ofsted and the government have defended as useful yardsticks for parents choosing schools for their children. Lord Blunkett, who served as education secretary in Tony Blair’s administration, said: “I agree with the previous head of Ofsted, Michael Wilshaw, that simplistic judgments turned into one or two-word outcome measures are no longer meaningful in a post-Covid world of complex elements building a meaningful picture of how a school is performing. “It is crucial that those undertaking inspections have history and hands-on experience within the age range, type of school and specific challenges, and that a critique of performance should be turned into positive proposals which would help with the process of change.” Lord Baker, who was education secretary under Margaret Thatcher and remains heavily involved in college leadership, said that while inspection of school was essential, changes that have streamlined and shortened the inspection process have removed the depth of information they once provided. “I think it’s unlikely that as many as 80% or 90% [of schools] are good or outstanding, quite frankly. I’d be suspicious of that figure,” Baker said. Instead, Baker proposed that Ofsted and schools should provide detailed “destination data” about where pupils go after leaving, recording which pupils take up apprenticeships, enrol in higher or further education or employment. “All schools should record what the destination data of their students is, when they leave at 18, and I would do that rather than fundamentally reform Ofsted. “Destination data is a key judgment for a school because, at the end of the day, it’s important to know what happens to them after leaving state education,” Baker said. Baker has spearheaded the growth of university technical colleges, concentrating on vocational and technical education for 14- to 18-year-olds, and said his experience was that parents found it “enormously helpful” to know what careers previous students had followed. Greening, who served as education secretary between 2016 and 2018, said it had been 30 years since Ofsted began regular inspections of schools and much had changed in that time. “My point is that when Ofsted was set up, using one-word summaries, it was in an era where there was no internet. There was no ability for parents to get reliable information on the schools their children may want to go to,” Greening said. “We are now even in an age when there is a huge amount of information available, so we need to be asking parents what they actually want, and I don’t believe that the Department for Education has done that in a systematic way recently. “If you talk to teachers and listen to well-regarded experts such as Sir Michael Wilshaw, there’s a genuine concern about the way that inspections are carried out – their ability to give reliable information and their ability to drive school improvement. “That all adds up to the need for a reassessment of Ofsted’s role and its objectives, and as: what is it really achieving?” Sir David Bell, Ofsted’s chief inspector between 2002 and 2006 and currently vice-chancellor of the University of Sunderland, said he was a firm advocate of school inspections but that it was “timely and sensible” to review the use of judgments, as Labour has pledged to do if it wins the next general election. “Public and professional confidence is vital, as inspection – and the improvement actions it should trigger – will be much less effective if there is no trust in the process,” Bell said. The format of Ofsted inspections has been heavily criticised by teaching unions since the death of headteacher Ruth Perry earlier this year, whose family said killed herself after a “devastating” Ofsted inspection that downgraded her primary school from outstanding to inadequate. Other organisations have been critical of the focus of school inspections. The children’s charity Barnardo’s has told MPs that Ofsted’s framework “does not currently reflect schools’ challenges in responding to mental health and wellbeing needs”. An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Inspections are carefully designed to get under the bonnet of a school to really understand how well it works, providing a unique insight to parents. We look at all the things that are important to parents, including the quality of the education, behaviour and how safely and well the school is run. “Our reports provide a rounded picture of a school with its strengths and areas for improvement, and ensure that schools across the country aim for the highest standards for children.” Ofsted highlighted that its reports “were created in consultation with parents and the wider schools sector” when it developed its education inspection framework in 2019.

‘Act out of love not anger’: green trailblazer calls for unity in movement

2023-12-29

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/dec/29/satish-kumar-green-trailblazer-calls-for-unity-in-movement

Satish Kumar, founder of ecological college in Devon, says a brighter future requires compassion and long-term thinking For more than 50 years, Satish Kumar has been a prominent figure in the environmental movement. Last month, he and the Dartington-based educational institution he founded, Schumacher College, were awarded the RSA bicentenary medal and commended by the judges for “trailblazing ecological learning” and “quietly setting the global agenda”. He calls for more unity, compassion and long-term thinking in the green movement to address the nature and climate crises. Born in India, you became a Jain monk at nine years old, made an 8,000-mile (13,000km) peace pilgrimage at 26, and later settled in Devon where you edited Resurgence magazine. Can you explain your intellectual journey from anti-nuclear campaigner to environmental activist? I think we must be at peace with nature. But the way we are destroying rainforests, the way we treat animals in factory farms, and the way we degrade the soil are acts of war. After walking around the world for two and a half years, I realised that peace between people and peace with nature go together. Right now, I feel the movement is not sufficiently united. There are many organisations – Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, WWF, the Green party, Dark Mountain and so on – each focused on separate aspects and trying to build up their own memberships. We need to come together quickly because the climate and nature situation is catastrophic. We would have more impact as one united front, like the independence movement in India under Mahatma Gandhi, or the anti-segregation movement in the United States under Martin Luther King. Hasn’t there also been progress? Yes. Fifty years ago, when Resurgence was advocating renewable energy, people said we were naive idealistic fools in cloud cuckoo land. At that time, there was not one windmill or solar panel. Today, the UK gets more than 35% of its energy from renewables. The Green party needs to be more successful; one MP is not enough. But the environmental movement has changed the awareness of people and governments. Many scientists are now addressing global warming, but this is a symptom not a cause. The cause of climate change is the blind pursuit of economic growth. I want to challenge that. We need to shift from economic growth to the growth of human wellbeing and planetary wellbeing. We should not be pessimists. Pessimists can be journalists but not activists. To be an activist you need to be an optimist. I want us to remain actively hopeful. Is there an alternative to economic growth? What is your experience with Gross National Happiness? I was an adviser to the Gross National Happiness centre in Bhutan. I think Bhutan is pioneering something very important. One of the smallest countries in the world is teaching us that economic growth should be in the service of human and natural wellbeing rather than humans in the service of the economy. That idea is spreading. There have been wellbeing summits in Paris and Bilbao, but it is not enough. Mainstream governments have not woken up to this idea. Rishi Sunak [the UK prime minister] is still asleep and thinking economic growth can save the country, but the saviour has to be wellbeing. We had economic growth for 40 or 50 years. But have the benefits reached the majority of people? Has it helped the environment? No. The environmental movement has been white and middle class for a long time. Do you see more inclusivity in the newer climate justice movement? Social justice and environmental justice are two sides of the same coin. As an Indian non-white involved in the green movement and Schumacher College, I am a symbol of inclusivity and there are more women than before and people from other ethnic groups. But there is a long way to go. I don’t think we have done enough to bring social justice into the environment movement. We need to make it more inclusive and broad based. Should it also be more radical? I am a Gandhian. I would say to Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion that they should act out of love and compassion not out of anger and anxiety. Without love and compassion you will quickly feel burnt out. We must feel that we love even those in the oil industry because climate change is also hurting them and their children. I am all in favour of protest, but as a Gandhian, I feel we should take suffering upon ourselves. Don’t cause inconvenience and suffering on others. Non-violent action is not to make opponents suffer but to show we are willing to suffer. Mahatma Gandhi said: “I go to prison like a groom to a wedding chamber.” That is my position. I would like the environment movement in Britain to learn from the Gandhian movement so it is more positive. Not just no, no, no. But also yes, yes, yes. Your focus is on education. Is that a quick enough response to urgent crises? We need to work both in the long term and short term. In the short term, we need to reduce fossil fuels to close to zero and replace them with renewables within five years. We can’t wait until 2050. Our house is on fire. In the long term, we need ecological education and nature-centred universities. Most of problems of the world today – global warming, biodiversity loss, plastic waste, wars and pollution – are created by leaders from universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale. Why are highly educated people behaving so irrationally? It is because they are educated to think nature is only a resource, a means to and end, and that this end is economic growth. They treat people the same way – as a human resource to be used for economic growth. If we continue educating people this way, then no matter how many Cops the United Nations has, we won’t solve any problems. We need to change our worldview. We need to educate a new generation that nature is not just a resource for the economy, nature is life itself. Second, we need education to remind us that humans and nature are not separate. At the moment we think of nature as something else – forests, mountains, birds and so on. But humans are nature. Third, education should teach us to see nature, not as an inanimate machine, but as a living organism. James Lovelock called this Gaia – a self maintaining, self-correcting organism. Fourth, the economy of nature is cyclical. But today we have a linear industrial economy – use it and throw it away. That is why we have oceans full of plastic, rivers full of sewage and an atmosphere full of greenhouse gases. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion How do you put these ideas in to practice at Schumacher College? Our first teacher was James Lovelock, who taught the first Gaia course in February 1991. Schumacher College is the first to take Gaia as a serious science. The UK education system treats young people as if they have no body, no heart, no hands, only a brain. In fact only half a brain. Most teaching aims at the left side of the brain – science, technology, management, bureaucracy, extraction. Our education system hardly addresses the right side – creativity and intuition. Ecological education is about putting things in practice. All our students participate in gardening, cooking and making things. They are taught respect for nature and each other. How is the school organised? We have about 100 students in any one year. Short courses last one or two weeks. Long courses take from six months to two years. We teach regenerative economics, regenerative education and regenerative agriculture, with an MA accredited by Plymouth University. In future, we would like to become independent. How about younger age groups? We are campaigning for nature-centred education in primary and secondary schools alongside history, geography, maths. We would like it to be part of O-levels [GCSEs]. I would like to see every school in Britain have a garden in the same way they all have sports fields. If you can’t experience nature, you can’t understand nature. But people hardly touch the soil these days. Schools need a place to touch the soil, plant seeds, see how fruits and vegetables ripen, how they are harvested and how they are cooked. Students learn by doing. Not just by data from a computer screen. Schumacher College is based in Dartington, which has a reputation for new age thinking. Has that helped or hindered you? There were some new age things, but that is not the whole story. Dartington has been an incubator of many good new ideas, some of which have gone mainstream. For example, the idea for the Open University came from Michael Young, who was a product of Dartington School and served as a Dartington trustee. Dartington is also known as a hothouse of environmental thinking. Is that still the case? Yes, many of the pioneers of the green movement – Maurice Ash, John Lane, Michael Young – were based here. The Schumacher lectures were also supported by Dartington. Some have attracted audiences of 500 to 700 people with pioneering environmental speakers such as Jonathon Porritt, Caroline Lucas, James Lovelock, Vandana Shiva, Ben Goldsmith, Amory Lovins. What do you say to those who say you are too idealistic? It’s time to give idealism a chance – renewable energy, nature-centre education, organic farming. Realists say they are practical, but they are bringing havoc. We inherited such a beautiful world. Our creative ancestors passed on art, religion and culture. But what are today’s realists leaving for future generations? Climate change, nature extinction, war in Ukraine, war in Gaza and other catastrophes. The time for realists is over. I am very happy to be idealistic.

Bristol University loses appeal over suicide of disabled student on exam day

2024-02-14

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/14/bristol-university-contributed-to-death-of-student-who-killed-herself-court-finds

Parents of Natasha Abrahart hope high court ruling will result in statutory duty of care for students The family of a disabled undergraduate who killed herself on the day of a “truly terrifying” oral exam have won the latest stage of a legal battle to compel universities to take more care of students struggling with their mental health. Natasha Abrahart’s parents and supporters say a ruling by a high court judge against the University of Bristol has implications for the whole higher education sector and hope it will prompt politicians to think again about bringing in a statutory duty of care for students. Outside court, Natasha’s family strongly criticised the university for not apologising to them over the way it responded to their “exceptional” daughter’s difficulties. Natasha, a 20-year-old physics student who had chronic social anxiety disorder, took her own life in April 2018 on the day she was due to give a presentation to fellow students and staff in a 329-seat lecture theatre. In May 2022 a senior county court judge found there had been breaches of the Equality Act 2010 by the university amounting to disability discrimination. The university was ordered to pay more than £50,000 in damages, which included the costs of Natasha’s funeral. The university appealed against the decision and the case was heard by Mr Justice Linden in Bristol in December last year. On Wednesday his judgment was published rejecting the appeal. Speaking outside the high court in Bristol, standing alongside parents whose children have killed themselves at other universities, Natasha’s father, Robert Abrahart, said: “The judgment means there is now a legally binding precedent setting out how and when higher education institutions should adjust their methods of assessment to avoid discriminating against disabled students.” Abrahart, a retired university lecturer, said expecting Natasha to be able to do the oral exam was like expecting somebody who is afraid of spiders to willingly enter a room full of huge, poisonous ones. He said: “We blame the university for not training its staff properly in its duties towards disabled students.” Addressing the university directly, Natasha’s mother, Margaret Abrahart, a retired psychological wellbeing practitioner, said: “Finally, five years and nine months after Natasha’s death, say sorry to us. We’re waiting.” The family had asked the judge to rule on whether the university owed Natasha a duty of care under the law of negligence. He declined to do so as the “issue is one of potentially wide application and significance”. Margaret Abrahart said: “We have been able to get some measure of justice for Natasha because she was disabled and covered by the Equality Act. But what about students who aren’t disabled? They need a statutory duty of care.” She called on the party leaders to put a statutory duty of care for universities in their manifestos. Prof Evelyn Welch, the university’s vice-chancellor and president, said: “Natasha’s death is a tragedy – I am deeply sorry for the Abrahart family’s loss. “At Bristol, we care profoundly for all our students and their mental health and wellbeing is a priority and is at the heart of everything we do. We continue to develop and improve our services and safeguards to support our students who need help. “In appealing, we were seeking clarity for the higher education sector around the application of the Equality Act when staff do not know a student has a disability, or when it has yet to be diagnosed. We will work with colleagues across the sector as we consider the judgment.” In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

School leaders welcome proposal to tackle harassment of teachers

2024-03-26

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/25/teachers-facing-threats-and-harassment-at-work-offered-a-lifeline-in-official-report

Creation of a ‘cohesion and conflict unit’ in England is among recommendations in government-commissioned review School leaders have welcomed proposals for the creation of “a cohesion and conflict unit” to support teachers who face “freedom-restricting” threats and harassment during the course of their work. It is one of a number of recommendations in a government-commissioned review into threats to social cohesion in England, which highlights the case of a religious studies teacher at a school in West Yorkshire who was forced into hiding after accusations of blasphemy. Published on Monday, the review said the teacher at Batley grammar school was left feeling suicidal and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being targeted in an online and offline campaign of intimidation and abuse. The teacher was suspended in March 2021 for showing pupils a drawing taken from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a religious studies classes, provoking complaints from parents and protests outside the school’s gates. He was subsequently cleared of causing deliberate offence and was told he could have his job back, but the review criticised the handling of his case, claiming that “appeasing the protesters to secure the end of the protests – at the expense of the religious studies teacher” appeared to have been the priority. The review, conducted by Dame Sara Khan, the government’s independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience, also argued there was a “disproportionate concern for not causing offence to the religious sensibilities of those who, unaware of the facts, chose to engage in intimidation and harassment”. The review said a cohesion and conflict unit would not only support affected teachers, it would provide guidance, training materials and resources and collect cohesion data. It also called for legislation to enforce 150-metre buffer zones around schools in England to prevent protests immediately outside school gates. “While demonstrations should always be peaceful, local authorities and police already have powers to restrict protests that are intended to be intimidatory,” said Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union. Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, added: “The idea of a cohesion and conflict unit to provide schools with guidance, training materials and resources, along with support and care for schools and teachers who find themselves threatened and harassed, sounds helpful. “However, this would … require further thought about how this would complement and work alongside existing advice and support systems.” Batley Multi Academy Trust, which is responsible for the school at the centre of the protests three years ago, defended its actions. “We remain clear that we delivered on our responsibilities and that we followed due process. This included immediately establishing an independent investigation, accepting its findings and acting on them. “We are therefore disappointed by today’s report. We do not recognise much of what is in it, its description of the events, nor the characterisation of our school and community.” Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said Kahn was right about the threat posed by freedom-restricting harassment. “She is also right about the need for new government architecture to protect our democracy and tackle threats to cohesion. Rapid work is currently under way that will do just that.” The review identified higher education as another area affected by “freedom-restricting harassment” and described how one university was forced to cancel a proposed academic research centre after threatening harassment to staff. The government has appointed a university free speech tsar to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom and new legislation will impose a duty on English universities to take “reasonable steps” to promote free speech, or face sanctions including possible fines. A consultation on guidance about the new duty, published on Tuesday, warned that universities in England could be ordered to terminate agreements with overseas countries if they are found to have undermined free speech and academic freedom. One of the examples included in the guidance, published by the regulator of higher education in England, the Office for Students, described the case of a university that accepts international students on visiting scholarships funded by an overseas country. If students are required to accept the principles of the ruling party of that country, that could undermine free speech and academic freedom and the university may have to end or amend the agreement, the guidance says. The warning comes amid mounting concern about English universities’ growing dependence on fees from international students to stay afloat. The Sunday Times reported that many of the UK’s most prestigious universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, now get only a minority of their fee income from British students, with some getting more than three-quarters of their fees from abroad. Prof Arif Ahmed, director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the OfS, was asked at a briefing whether there were fears that universities were putting the financial benefits of international students over preserving free speech for academics and students. He said the OfS would look at individual complaints, adding: “If we find a case where, for instance, a university thinks because it’s financially expedient that it can breach its free speech duties and it doesn’t have to take practical steps to secure freedom of speech, or it thinks that it can compromise on those things simply because it’s financially expedient, that could very well be a case where they are in fact breaching their duties and we might find against them if a complaint comes to us.”

Headteachers demand end to ‘inhumane’ school ratings in England

2024-05-04

https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/04/headteachers-demand-end-to-inhumane-school-ratings-in-england-ofsted

Union to campaign against single-phrase Ofsted judgments, threatening possible strike action Headteachers in England are to launch a campaign for the abolition of “inhumane and unreliable” single-phrase school inspection judgments, threatening legal challenges and possible strike action if the government refuses reforms. Delegates to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) annual conference committed the union “to explore all campaign, legal and industrial routes to secure necessary changes to inspection to safeguard leaders’ lives,” after the suicide last year of the headteacher Ruth Perry. The NAHT accused the government of ignoring the recommendations of the coroner’s report into Perry’s death as well as MPs on the education committee, after responses by the Department for Education (DfE) defended the use of single judgments by Ofsted inspectors to label schools. Paul Whiteman, the NAHT’s general secretary, said: “We’ve had the response from government, which basically says: ‘We hear what you say but we don’t care.’ That simply isn’t good enough.” The motion passed unanimously by delegates said the government’s response “poses a real and present danger to the mental health, wellbeing and lives of school leaders and teachers”. It added: “Should another tragedy happen in the future, it will be ministers who need to answer for their decisions.” Perry, a primary school head in Reading, killed herself after an Ofsted inspection reduced her school’s headline judgment from outstanding to inadequate. A “prevention of futures deaths” report by the coroner highlighted the use of single-phrase judgments as a concern for “the impact on school leader welfare”. Asked about the union’s next steps, Whiteman said: “I think engagement and negotiation [with the DfE] is always the first step. If that doesn’t work for us, in really quick order, then exploring our legal routes are next, and part of that will be exploring what our industrial routes are as well.” Julia Waters, the sister of Ruth Perry, said: “My family and I are pleased to hear that the NAHT is focused on pushing for all the necessary changes to school inspections, of which single-word judgments are just a part.” But Waters said she was concerned by the motion’s wording that ministers would “need to answer for their decisions” in the event of any future tragedies. “This is dangerous and wrong. Every headteacher should know that they can play the best possible role by continuing to work for their pupils and their schools, and to make the case to reform Ofsted by joining together and speaking out,” Waters said. The NAHT conference also heard from Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief inspector of Ofsted, who said the “elephant in the room” was that decisions on the use of single-phrase judgments was out of his hands. “So much of the government’s school improvement system rests on our grades, that any changes would need to align with a bigger, wider remodelling of the whole accountability system,” Oliver said. Oliver later added: “We’re one small cog in a big machine, and if the government relies upon our grades for much of its regulatory work in schools, its interventions, that is the government’s decision. I’m not the democratically elected person, that’s the job of the MPs and then ministers.” Oliver told the conference that Ofsted would no longer conduct “deep dive” subject inspections as part of its one-day inspections of good or outstanding schools, to reduce the burden on school leaders. But the chief inspector – who took over the role in January – also appealed to teachers to present their profession in a more positive light. “I’m not diminishing the very real issues in schools or sticking my head in the sand. But I do worry that, if a narrative of negativity becomes all-encompassing, then we may lose some of the best potential teachers in the next generation,” Oliver said. “If we only talk about the negatives, the stresses, the things that make us want to give up, well then we risk putting off a generation of brilliant and inspiring teachers.” Whiteman responded: “We are in the middle of a crisis and the only way to solve that crisis is to talk about it. And if it’s inconvenient for politicians or others, well hard luck.”

Teachers in England and Wales facing ‘unmanageable’ workload, survey finds

2023-04-02

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/03/teachers-stress-workload-survey-national-education-union

National Education Union reports findings before result of vote that could trigger further strikes and school closures Teachers have said they are facing “unmanageable” levels of stress and workload, before the result of a crucial vote that could trigger further strikes and school closures in England in the coming weeks. Some teachers surveyed by the National Education Union (NEU) reported turning to antidepressants to cope, while 48% said their workload was unmanageable all or most of the time. In contrast, just 1% of teachers said their workload was always manageable. The findings come as the NEU’s annual conference on Monday will learn if its members have voted to reject the government’s pay offer, which would lead to strikes on Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May. NEU members in England have been balloted on whether to accept the government’s offer last month of a one-off £1,000 payment for this year and a 4.3% pay rise for most teachers from September, with the government also offering a new taskforce to explore cutting teachers’ workloads. Members of the NASUWT teaching union as well as the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders are also being consulted on the offer. The almost 18,000 teachers and support staff in England and Wales who responded to the NEU’s survey said workload and stress were major issues that appeared to be getting worse compared with previous surveys. Nearly two-thirds of teachers in England said they “very often” worried about their wellbeing, a significant rise compared with the results of a similar NEU survey two years ago when fewer than half said they were very often worried. The NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted said: “We have known for a number of years that workload is the number one reason teachers decide to leave the profession, and it remains a major concern for support staff also. It is a key driver of the recruitment and retention crisis, where talented graduates suffer burnout within just a few years of qualifying.” The NEU’s results echo the findings of an unpublished survey for the Department for Education (DfE), revealed by Schools Week. The DfE’s survey found that one in four teachers in England were considering leaving the state sector in the next year, with almost all blaming high workload. The pressure of Ofsted inspections and government policy changes were also blamed by large numbers, followed by pay. The DfE’s survey also found that more than one in five teachers were working 60 hours or more each week during term time. Three-quarters of the 11,000 teachers and school leaders surveyed said they had “unacceptable” workloads and spent too much time on administration. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said the results would “alarm parents across this country and could be disastrous for children’s education”. The NEU’s delegates to the annual conference in Harrogate will also meet the union’s new general secretary, Daniel Kebede, after his victory in the members’ ballot. Kebede, a primary school teacher, won in a landslide among the 9% of members who voted in the first leadership contest since the NEU was formed in 2017, after the merger of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

Closure of primary school in Hackney highlights struggle of London families

2023-12-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/dec/16/closure-of-primary-school-in-hackney-highlights-struggle-of-london-families

Residents ‘absolutely fuming’ about council’s decision to shut Colvestone primary and transfer its pupils Helen Davis could not believe her children’s luck when Hackney council announced the borough’s first “21st-century street” was going to be built on the doorstep of their local school. “It still makes me tingle just to think about it,” she said. “Colvestone primary school was going to be at the heart of this new, pedestrianised, green space. Pupils were going to be able to grow their own vegetables, run conservation projects and have outside play activities. They were even planning an outdoor classroom.” But that was before the council decided to shut down Colvestone as part of a programme of closures that will result in the elimination of four – or 10% of – local authority primary schools in the borough. At least 12 more local schools will be scrutinised by the council in the near future. “Now this 21st-century street is going to be a family area with no families, no children and an empty, boarded-up school at its centre,” said Davis, who leads the Save Colvestone primary school campaigning group. They are not alone: the community group Hackney Families is also working hard to persuade the council to change their mind. The council calls the closure of Colvestone a “merger” with another primary school but, Davis said, the government’s “free-school presumption” means councils cannot merge schools. “They can only close schools – or protect them,” she said. Colvestone’s closure, she said, will be a disaster for the pupils and the community. “Everyone is devastated: Colvestone is the only one-form, non-faith school in the area. Because of this unique position, it has a higher-than average proportion of children with special needs who will find a transition to a larger school incredibly hard.” Davis refuses to use the word “sad” when describing local passion. “I would say we’re absolutely fuming,” she said, pointing to the large, weatherproof posters hung outside the school walls, the countless smaller posters inside the windows of local homes and shops, and the “Save Colvestone” T-shirts her group has had printed. Davis’s group has been working hard: gathering two to three times a week, attending public meetings, demanding information from the cabinet and pressing for scrutiny of the council’s decision from the borough’s children and young people scrutiny panel. Hackney council’s own independent review of the consultation found the proposals universally unpopular, with 89% of respondents saying they disagreed and just 8% agreeing. Davis said her group’s own research found that fewer than 10% of parents had put the school to which children are going to be transferred on their school applications list. “It should not be understated how fundamental a change in Hackney’s education provision it is that these proposals represent,” she said. “But throughout this consultation, no alternatives have been offered or consulted on.” When councils close a school, it cannot ever be reopened. To emphasise what she said was the council’s lack of medium- and long-term planning, Davis pointed to the Dalston plan, a regeneration scheme under which hundreds of new homes will be built a stone’s throw from Colvestone. “In the next five years, there will be 100 new children living in an area with an empty school right at the heart of it,” she said. The council’s only choice then will be to give the building to a private company, which would use it to open an academy, on a long lease without generating any rental income along with oversight on how it would be managed and what it would teach. Davis said Hackney was a bellwether for the capital as a whole. “London is becoming a city that parents want to take their children out of,” she said. “Schools are being shut, maternity services cut. London without children: discuss.” Hackney is planning to close four primary schools, with two shutting outright and two more disappearing in mergers with other schools. Anntoinette Bramble, Hackney’s deputy mayor and cabinet member for education, said it was “an incredibly difficult decision” to close schools treasured by parents. “This is the only way to ensure that we can minimise the long-term negative impact on Hackney education and more widely on the council’s budget, at a time of extreme financial pressure. None of this is due to any fault of our schools, their leadership teams or staff,” Bramble said. This article was amended on 19 December 2023 to add a response from Hackney council that was initially published only as part of a companion news article.

Compensate teachers in England for inability to work from home, report says

2024-03-20

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/20/compensate-teachers-in-england-for-inability-to-work-from-home-report-says

Research recommends bonus to help retain staff and make up for lack of hybrid working opportunities Teachers should be given a pay bonus to compensate for their inability to work from home and stop the rising numbers attracted away from the classroom for better working conditions elsewhere, according to a report. The research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found that very few teachers in England were able to work remotely, putting them at a disadvantage compared with the nearly 50% of their peers in other graduate-level professions who say they regularly do. The report said politicians should introduce a “frontline workers pay premium” to compensate teachers and other public sector workers for what it called “the lack of remote and hybrid working opportunities in their jobs compared to the wider graduate labour market”. For teachers, the NFER estimated that the premium should be equivalent to a 1.8% pay rise. Jack Worth, the NFER’s lead researcher on school workforce, said: “Teacher supply is in a critical state that risks the quality of education that children and young people receive. We urge the current government to take action to improve teacher recruitment and retention, and the political parties to develop long-term plans for after the election.” The recommendation came as the NFER’s review of the school workforce found that teachers were working longer hours because of pupil behaviour and lack of specialist support. Last year 57% of teachers said they spent “too much time on behaviour incident follow-up”, compared with 50% the year before. The report also sounded the alarm over the continuing failure to recruit more new teachers into the profession, with the NFER forecasting that the government will miss its own teacher recruitment targets in 10 out of 17 subject areas, in particular business studies, physics, music and computing. Worth said teachers in England should get a 3.1% rise in the current pay round to keep pace with pay in other professions and improve recruitment and retention. “This needs to be accompanied by a long-term strategy to improve the competitiveness of teacher pay while crucially ensuring schools have the funds to pay for it,” Worth said. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, described the NFER’s report as “bleak”, showing teachers working longer hours for lower pay than graduates in other jobs. “Society cannot function without teachers and we currently have a critical shortage in our schools and colleges. It is high time the government gave this crisis the attention it warrants,” Barton said. A spokesperson for the Department for Education said there were now more teachers working in state schools in England than ever before, and that last year’s pay rise of 6.5% was the largest for 30 years. The spokesperson added: “We are taking steps to support [teachers] wellbeing and ease workload pressures, which includes plans to support schools to reduce working hours for teachers and leaders by five hours per week.”

Going to private school makes you twice as likely to vote Tory, study finds

2023-04-08

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/08/going-to-private-school-makes-you-twice-as-likely-to-vote-tory-study-finds

Research reveals a private education is directly linked to holding rightwing views and voting Conservative in midlife Having a private school education means a person is twice as likely to become a loyal Conservative voter as someone with a state education, regardless of their wealth or class background, a new study has found. Researchers from University College London used data that tracked the lives of 6,917 British people born in the same week in 1970 to quantify how a private education affected their voting and attitudes. The team, led by Prof Richard Wiggins, established that being educated privately also made men and women 50% more likely to hold rightwing opinions. In an article in the British Sociological Association journal Sociology, the researchers say: “Our key conclusion is that, among males and females, there is a notable direct association between private schooling in the mid-1980s and later voting Conservative, and the expression of rightwing attitudes in midlife, which cannot be explained by family background and related factors.” They said the findings were significant because “a disproportionate number of private school alumni have reached positions of substantive influence in public and commercial life”. Although only 7% of the general population are privately educated, 41% of Conservative MPs, 44% of newspaper columnists and a third of the British chairs of FTSE 100 companies went to independent schools, according to the Sutton Trust, a charity which aims to improve social mobility. Last year, it highlighted that 19 out of the 31 members of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet were privately schooled, a similar ratio to the cabinets of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. Although there is a clear association between private education and voting Conservative, the UCL researchers set out to establish whether this might simply be a reflection of what Wiggins called a “constellation” of possible influences, such as person’s class background, family income or their parents’ taste in newspapers. “No one is claiming that it’s an explicit object of teaching in private schools to inculcate students with conservative political attitudes,” Wiggins said. “Is it something to do with your peers, the kind of people you meet when you’re there? Or are there implicit assumptions in the way teachers talk about society?” The team found that 64% of privately educated people in the study voted Conservative at least once, and 30% voted for them at three or four elections. That compares with 39.9% of state-school educated people voting Conservative at least once, and 15.5% voted three or four times. By using a statistical method called path analysis, they found several factors influencing people’s decision to vote Conservative. Some factors had only an indirect path to voting behaviour, according to the model. Having parents who read a right-leaning newspaper was a pathway to the expression of rightwing attitudes at the age of 16, which in turn had a direct path to voting Conservative. Other factors, including a private education, had a direct path to Conservative voting. Having a university degree made people in the British Cohort Study less likely to vote Tory but did not make them any more or less likely to hold rightwing views. Private education had more effect on men’s tendency to vote Conservative, they found, yet women were more likely to hold rightwing views after going to private school than men. Wiggins said that despite their findings there were still very large differences in patterns of voting behaviour in the groups. “I was quite surprised to see there were not that many diehard Conservative voters even in people in their 40s,” he said. “We’re only seeing a fifth of these private school attendees voting solidly Conservative over the four elections. It’s not a landslide.”

Prospect of more teachers’ strikes in England as union ‘insulted’ by pay offer

2023-03-27

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/27/prospect-of-more-teachers-strikes-in-england-as-union-insulted-by-pay-offer

National Education Union to recommend members reject offer of 4.3% rise and £1,000 one-off payment A major teaching union has criticised ministers’ “insulting” new pay offer, raising the prospect of further walkouts in schools this spring. The National Education Union said the offer of a 4.3% rise for most teachers plus a £1,000 one-off payment for the 2023-24 year was not enough and it will recommend that its members reject the deal. Talks between the government and four teaching unions ended on Monday with the unions considering the offer from the Department for Education. However, the NEU said the government was only offering to fund half a percentage point of the pay increase, with the rest expected to come out of existing school budgets. Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, said it does not match the offer in Scotland and Wales or address the crisis in teacher recruitment. “This is an insulting offer from a government which simply does not value teachers,” they said. “Not only is the offer on pay entirely out of step with the rest of the UK, it is also not fully funded. NEU analysis shows that between two in five (42%) and three in five (58%) of schools would have to make cuts to afford staff pay rises. Schools will continue to be stretched financially, and it is students who will suffer. “It is now crystal clear that we have an education secretary and a government that is ignoring the crisis in our schools and colleges. “By refusing to address the legitimate and reasonable request to bring to an end more than a decade of below-inflation unfunded teacher pay increases, the government is driving teaching and recruitment retention in schools in England to breaking point.” They said the loss of talented teachers “should be a point of shame for this government” and said they will be “considering our next steps in our campaign to stand up for the education of children and the teaching profession” when members have had their verdict on the deal. The ballot opens on Monday and closes on Sunday 2 April. The stalemate over pay could see further strikes this spring and summer from the NEU and other teaching unions such as the NASUWT if they decide to ballot members on industrial action. The DfE made the fresh pay offer in an effort to resolve strikes that have seen walkouts in schools across England, after progress with new pay offers in the health and transport sectors. The offer was first revealed by Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), who made a statement saying: “Formal talks between education unions and the government have now concluded, and an offer has been made. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion “NAHT’s national executive committee will be considering the details of this offer this evening. They will then decide on our next steps. We will be making no further comment this evening but will issue a further statement tomorrow.” The offer has also been made to the other unions involved – the Association of School and College Leaders and the NASUWT. Talks between the union leaders and Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, started on Friday in an apparent sign of the government’s willingness to end the dispute. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The government and the education unions – NAHT, ASCL, NEU and NASUWT – have engaged in intensive discussions over the last 10 days. “The government has put forward a fair and reasonable offer, backed with funding for schools. The offer provides an average 4.5% pay rise for next year, puts £1,000 into the pockets of teachers as a one-off payment for this year, and commits to reducing workload by five hours each week. “This is a good deal for teachers that acknowledges their hard work and dedication.”

Opposition grows among teachers to 6.5% pay offer in England

2023-07-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/16/opposition-grows-among-teachers-to-65-pay-offer-in-england

Union members are concerned about funding for the below-inflation increase and the lack of a long-term agreement Concerns over how the rise promised to teachers in England will be funded, and dismay at the lack of a long-term agreement on pay, has stirred opposition to the government’s offer among union members. The deal announced between the government and England’s four school teaching and leadership unions would mean an across-the-board 6.5% pay rise from September, with a slightly higher increase for new teachers to bring their starting salary up to £30,000 a year. Mid-career teachers would get a rise of between £2,500 and £3,000 in their annual pay. But Rishi Sunak’s rhetoric that public sector pay increases will not be funded by higher taxes or borrowing, and his comments that the government will “find this money” through higher visa fees and surcharges on migrants, risks alienating teachers already angry at the below-inflation increase. Teachers on WhatsApp groups and social media have expressed concerns that their pay rises are being funded on the backs of immigrants, and whether it comes at the expense of existing school budgets. Groups within the National Education Union (NEU) have begun organising to oppose to the deal, with national executive members allied to the Socialist party campaigning for members to reject the pay offer in a union-wide ballot to be held later this month. The NEU’s executive has scheduled an emergency online meeting on Monday evening to explain the details of the offer and funding to members. Kevin Courtney, the NEU’s joint general secretary, stressed that the deal did mean more new money for schools, despite efforts to disguise it by Sunak and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. The deal assumes schools have budgeted for a 3.5% pay rise, with the extra 3% to come from the Department for Education’s central budgets. The DfE has won permission from the Treasury to use its departmental budget underspends to part-fund the £900m required in 2024-25. The remainder will come from what the DfE described as “reprioritisation” of future spending. Courtney said: “We’ve been given guarantees by the government that none of the £900m will come from schools, it’s not going to come from frontline services, with explicit guarantees that it’s not coming from special education needs, early years, 16-19 [years], or school capital budgets.” Daniel Kebede, the incoming NEU general secretary, also sought to reassure teachers: “Members have achieved so much. They have moved the government from 3.5% to 6.5%. They have won extra funding for schools. The deal is NOT perfect or ideal… Whichever way the vote goes, the fight for pay restoration is NOT over.” But Debs Gwynn, one of the executive members opposed to the deal, told colleagues: “The offer is short of what we were asking. It is not inflation proof, it does not redress the real-term losses we have suffered over the past 13 years and it does not address the chronic funding and staffing crisis in our schools.” All four unions are to ballot their members over the offer, with the National Association of Head Teachers, the Association of School and College Leaders, NASUWT and the NEU all recommending that their members accept it. The unions are continuing to hold strike ballots alongside the vote on the offer. The NASUWT announced last week that it received enough votes to pass the legal threshold for strike action, while the remaining ballots close at the end of this month.

DfE failing to resource changes at troubled Kent school, says charity head

2023-11-28

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/28/dfe-failed-to-resource-changes-at-troubled-kent-school-says-charity-head-oasis-isle-of-sheppey

Staff at Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey strike over threatening pupil behaviour as Steve Chalke says no government promises being met The founder of the academy trust in charge of a troubled secondary school on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent has defended his record in education and accused the government of failing to deliver the resources needed to turn the school around. Staff at the Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey were out on strike for a second day on Tuesday in protest over threatening behaviour by pupils. However, according to the Oasis founder, Steve Chalke, the school has struggled for years against a backdrop of high deprivation, often associated with coastal locations. The Oasis Charitable Trust, which runs more than 50 schools in some of the most deprived areas of England, was asked by the Department for Education (DfE) to take over the Sheppey school in 2014, after leading private school Dulwich College was forced to pull out as lead sponsor, admitting its staff were not equipped for the job. Chalke said Oasis only agreed to take over the beleaguered school on the basis of promises made by the Department for Education, but “none of that has ever really come through”, he told the Guardian. The school, which finds itself at the centre of a national debate about deteriorating pupil behaviour, was judged inadequate by the schools inspectorate, Ofsted, in June 2022. It is now being taken away from Oasis and the plan is to create two new schools and transfer them in September 2024 to separate trusts, the Leigh and EKC Schools academy trusts. “We were asked to step into the ring,” said Chalke. “We asked for a whole number of things that have not been supplied, in particular special educational needs provision and alternative provision.” That lack has made it difficult to support and remove children with challenging behaviour from the school, he said. “The only schools Oasis has ever taken on, as the DfE will tell you, are in the toughest, hardest communities,” Chalke continued. “It’s our raison d’être. It’s our mission. But you get on frontline, and then the resourcing is not there for you. We went into it with our eyes open, but it was with the understanding that some of these things that you could broadly call levelling up would happen, which haven’t.” A further problem particular to the area is Kent’s grammar school system which sees the highest achieving students travelling to grammar schools on the mainland after passing their 11-plus, while hundreds more travel to non-selective schools in Sittingbourne. Now, Chalke says plans to set up new schools and bring in new trusts are creating further uncertainty for children and exacerbating problems. Members of the National Education Union (NEU) who work at the school have been calling for fixed exclusion tariffs of 10 days for assaults or threats of assaults against staff and pupils, but Chalke says the trust cannot agree to that. His view is that there are complex reasons why a child misbehaves. “Every child who behaves badly, who is antisocial, who can’t self-regulate, do we send every one of those home? An easy thing to do is to exclude – the problem is off our hands. But if we exclude, that’s no good for the child. It flies in the face of Oasis values and ethos.” NEU members will be out on strike again on Wednesday, and three further days next week if no agreement can be reached. Maria Fawcett, NEU regional secretary in the south east, called on Chalke to visit the school to talk to members. “Talks are ongoing,” she said. “We hope we can get a resolution before next week. That’s what we want.” The 2022 Ofsted report’s findings make sobering reading. “Too many pupils feel unsafe at this school,” it says. “Leaders and staff do too little to challenge the foul, homophobic, racist and sexist language which is commonplace across both sites. Pupils have little confidence in leaders’ ability to deal with any concerns about bullying or discrimination.” More than half of pupils do not come to school regularly, it says, and classes are frequently disrupted by unruly behaviour. Meanwhile, recruitment problems mean too many lessons are delivered by supply teachers. “Pupils have no trust in, or respect for their school. Vandalism, including offensive graffiti, poor behaviour and bad language are rife. Pupils feel that leaders spend too much time checking that their uniform is smart rather than keeping them safe.” A monitoring visit by Ofsted inspectors in July said progress had been made to improve the school, but it was still deemed “inadequate” and in need of special measures. A report earlier this year by the Commission for Young Lives, chaired by former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield and supported by Oasis, highlighted high levels of disadvantage and vulnerability experienced by many children, young people and families on the Isle of Sheppey. It concluded: “Inequalities run deep and they impact everyday life for thousands of families. Outcomes for children and young people here are very often poor and life chances are often diminished. There are communities on the island who have been truly left behind and ignored. Life is an ongoing struggle for some families and the journey towards a positive future barely ever starts and often feels unobtainable.” A DfE spokesperson said: “Councils are responsible for making sure there is appropriate education for all children in their area. “The government’s Send and AP improvement plan outlines how the government plans to ensure children with special needs and disabilities receive the support they need, with earlier intervention, consistent high standards and less bureaucracy. “A new Send free school will open on the Isle of Sheppey next year, and there’s an ongoing consultation to expand Leigh Academies Trust’s Snowfields Academy (for Send pupils) on to the Isle of Sheppey from September 2024.”

‘Daylight robbery’: two in five UK teachers work 26 hours for free each week

2024-02-23

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/23/daylight-robbery-two-in-five-uk-teachers-work-26-hours-for-free-each-week

TUC survey finds teaching staff perform the most unpaid overtime of any profession, losing out on £15,000 a year each Teaching unions have accused ministers of “daylight robbery” after a new survey by the Trades Union Congress revealed that teachers perform the most unpaid overtime of any profession. The TUC survey – published to mark its Work Your Proper Hours Day on Friday – found that two out of five teaching staff in the UK worked 26 hours for free each week, for a combined 5.5m hours a year. Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said it was “shameful evidence” that the government was relying on free labour rather than investing in schools and colleges. “The fact that teachers are losing out on average by £15,000 a year in unpaid overtime is nothing less than daylight robbery,” Roach said. “Teachers are seeing their workloads piled higher and higher, and with cuts to support staff and cuts to other children’s services, teachers are now working around the clock. “Our latest research found that more than half of teachers polled worked over 50 hours a week, with some working more than 70 hours. This is unsustainable and unacceptable. “World-class education cannot be built off the backs of overworked and underpaid teachers and headteachers.” The figures come as the Department for Education in England will miss its deadline for making its submission to the annual pay round, leading to protests by school leaders over the potential delays in reaching a settlement. The TUC survey placed teachers ahead of chief executives, managers and directors for the number of hours they worked. Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said: “Most workers don’t mind putting in extra hours from time to time. But unpaid overtime is out of control for teachers. And nobody should be expected to work without pay for all the hours they do.” Overall, 3.8 million workers in the UK worked unpaid overtime last year, according to the survey, doing more than seven unpaid hours each week. The TUC estimated that was equivalent to £7,200 a year of wages going unpaid. Despite the concerns of the Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, public sector staff were more likely to put in unpaid overtime than their peers in the private sector. The survey found that one in six public sector workers did unpaid overtime in 2023, amounting to £11bn, compared with one in nine in the private sector. The TUC’s campaign aims to encourage workers to take all the breaks they are entitled to, and finish their shifts on time.

Pay talks with teachers in England could start next week after latest strikes

2023-03-15

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/15/pay-talks-with-teachers-in-england-could-start-next-week-after-latest-strikes

National Education Union going ahead with two more days of industrial action that will disrupt schools Pay negotiations between teachers and the government could start in earnest as early as next week, after strikes that are expected to disrupt schools across England on Wednesday and Thursday. The National Education Union (NEU) is going ahead with its final planned two days of strikes in England, which will mean many pupils missing school or working from home, despite an offer by Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, to open talks if it called them off. The NEU argued that previous governments held talks while industrial action was taking place, most recently in 2011, and accused Keegan of creating “a stumbling block with which to play politics” rather than negotiate. The Department for Education (DfE) has refused to start negotiations while strikes have been scheduled, but the end of the NEU’s current round of industrial action briefly opens a window for talks to begin. Keegan has held separate discussions with the leaders of other unions, including the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders, with the DfE hinting that teachers risk missing out on a pay deal similar to that being negotiated with nurses. Dr Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers union, said Keegan accepted that detailed negotiations should proceed “without delay”, after meeting her this week. “There is nothing that should now stand in the way of detailed negotiations and getting a deal on to the table,” Roach said. In a “letter to parents” published on Tuesday, Keegan said the latest strikes were unnecessary. “My only condition [for talks] was that strike action is paused so those discussions can take place in good faith and without disruption,” she wrote. “This was the same offer, and the same condition, made to unions representing nurses, ambulance workers and physiotherapists. Those unions accepted that offer, paused their strikes and are now negotiating on behalf of their members in private.” But in a letter responding to Keegan, the NEU’s leaders said: “Teachers in Scotland have been able to consider an offer. In Wales, a serious offer has led to the pausing of NEU strike action on two occasions in the past month. No preconditions were thought necessary by the Scottish and Welsh governments, and the sky did not fall in.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The NEU’s plans for Wednesday include a national demonstration in London, culminating in a rally at Trafalgar Square. Meanwhile, the University and College Union restarts its industrial action after a pause to hold talks with employers on pay and pensions. After no resolution, UCU members at 150 UK universities will go ahead with six days of strikes from Wednesday until 22 March.

State-educated students driving up competition and diversity at Oxford, says outgoing VC

2022-11-26

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/nov/26/louise-richardson-oxford-university-state-educted-students-competition-diversity

Louise Richardson is proud that state entrants are up to 68% – and that she is succeeded by a woman The rising number of state school pupils winning places at Oxford is thanks to their own effort and greater ambition rather than the university’s policies, according to Oxford’s outgoing vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson. Dismissing claims that Oxbridge is biased against applications from privately educated students, Richardson said more “smart students” are applying from the state sector and creating greater competition – causing those “who might historically have expected to get in” to publicly complain when they miss out. “We were being attacked for not taking enough deprived kids, and now we’re being criticised for not taking enough privately educated kids. So no, we’re not discriminating,” Richardson said. “The reality is we’ve become a much more competitive place, we have far more people applying. So as a result, more students are disappointed. And perhaps the students who might historically have expected to get in who are disappointed are more vocal about that. “But it’s simply a matter of numbers: we turn down more people because we have more people applying and the number of places hasn’t changed.” As she prepares to leave office at the end of the year, Richardson said she was proud of the sharp increase in state-educated UK students that Oxford now admits, as well as the smaller but significant increases in the numbers from ethnic minority or disadvantaged backgrounds. “There has been a change. We’ve gone from 56% state school entrants to 68%. We’ve gone from 10% of kids from the most deprived backgrounds to 23%, with a commitment to hit 25% next year. The number of Black British students was at a low base but we’ve more than doubled it. And our [black and minority ethnic] students are now at 25%. “So that’s a very significant change. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. And, I hasten to add, that is all without compromising our standards,” Richardson said. When Richardson took office in January 2016 the university was regularly criticised for overlooking talented state school pupils, while surveys of teachers found that a high proportion wouldn’t advise their students to apply because of perceived bias. But things have changed to such an extent that Oxford now finds itself accused on some newspaper front pages of discriminating against those from independent schools. “I think smart students have become more eager to apply. And I think we’ve made a big effort with teachers, to encourage them to encourage their smart kids to apply, and not to accept the shibboleth that we’re not for them. “We put a lot of effort into trying to persuade kids and their teachers that we want every smart kid who is passionate about their education to aspire to come to Oxford,” she said. Richardson is adamant that Oxford’s admissions offers are made on the basis of ability. “We’re making decisions on the individual, not on a category, whether it’s schools or any other category. We want the smart, interesting kids with the greatest potential.” Richardson was the first woman to be vice-chancellor of Oxford, after having been the first woman to be principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews – and she will be succeeded at Oxford by another woman, Prof Irene Tracey, fulfilling one of Richardson’s personal goals. “I’ve been the first woman, I think, in just about every job I’ve had other than as an academic. And one of my goals is to be succeeded by a woman. And the reason for that is that if a woman is not successful in a role, there is no chance in the world that she will be succeeded by a woman. “If a man is a success or a failure in a role, I think his gender is considered irrelevant to his success or failure. I think if a woman isn’t a success, her gender is often blamed, and it makes it much less likely that she will be succeeded by another woman. So that’s one of the goals I set myself,” Richardson said. Richardson has other reasons to look back on her time as VC with pride – having weathered a pandemic that brought the university further international renown for its medical and social science research, most famously in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine led by the university’s Jenner Institute. Richardson notes that Oxford had plenty of historical experience dealing with plagues and pandemics going back hundreds of years, while its “fairly byzantine system really came into its own during the pandemic”, with its more than 30 autonomous colleges looking out for their students, leaving the central university to make strategic decisions. In Richardson’s first year the Brexit referendum that led to the UK leaving the EU was a source of potential turmoil. But Richardson – who was born and grew up in County Waterford, Ireland – said she overestimated the immediate effect Brexit would have on the university: “If I were to be completely honest, I’d have to say that the impact has been less acute than I predicted or would have thought.” The most severe impact has been a steep fall in students from Europe. Richardson notes that before Brexit about 8% of undergraduates came from elsewhere in the EU, and that has now fallen to just 3%. But warnings of an exodus by academics or difficulties in recruiting researchers from Europe have not come to pass – although Richardson notes “we will never know who doesn’t apply to come because of Brexit”. Richardson now fears a slow-motion decay in links with the EU: “I suspect that, rather than the kind of immediate impact we anticipated, I think it’s just a very gradual erosion of the depth of connection with the rest of Europe, so that in 20 or 30 years time we’ll turn around and say: ‘How did we get here?’” British politics has been a great source of disruption, with Richardson saying she has had nine education secretaries and five prime ministers in her time as vice-chancellor. And despite all five prime ministers having been Oxford graduates, Richardson said they don’t give their old university any favours. But what explains Oxford’s remarkable track record in producing prime ministers? Since the second world war all but one British prime ministers who graduated from university went to Oxford. Richardson says it’s because of self-selection by students attracted to Oxford because they are smart and ambitious. “When they come here, they hone their skills because of the tutorial system … they learn about marshalling arguments, critical thinking, debate, all of the skills that are helpful in public life. “And so a tiny, tiny subset of them choose to move on to public life and they’re smart and successful. So it shouldn’t perhaps be that strange,” Richardson said. The cavalcade of education secretaries and ministers has caused its own problems, with those wanting to make their mark adding to the “mind-numbing” pile of regulation and bureaucracy that Richardson said universities now face. Richardson is highly critical of the Office for Students, the higher education regulator for England set up in 2018: “I cannot point to a single area in which they’ve actually improved the quality of what we do. “They are constantly evaluating us but nobody’s evaluating the impact of all this regulation. And I think the impact is primarily to waste funds that I’d much rather be spending giving scholarships to students or hiring more teachers than people to fill out the next mind-numbing set of consultations,” she said. The government also remains in the way of a controversy that has been running throughout Richardson’s tenure: the statue of Cecil Rhodes, the infamous imperialist, that overlooks Oxford’s High Street from its enclave in Oriel College. The statue of Rhodes was a source of contention even before the Black Lives Matter campaign. Richardson says there is little that can be done: “We have a situation in which Oriel has said they’d like it to come down, the government won’t allow them, so there it stays.”

School heads in England prepare for new strike ballot as pay talks stall

2023-03-12

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/12/school-heads-in-england-prepare-for-new-strike-ballot-as-pay-talks-stall

NAHT blames education secretary Gillian Keegan’s refusal to negotiate until teacher stoppages are called off Headteachers may soon be reballoted for strike action to escalate pressure on the government, as their union described the chances of talks over pay as a “false hope”. All four education unions expressed disbelief and exasperation after education secretary Gillian Keegan turned down their request for negotiations mediated by the official conciliation service Acas to end the current impasse. In a letter last March 8, Keegan continued to insist no talks could happen unless the National Education Union (NEU) paused the national walk-outs scheduled for the following Wednesday and Thursday . While the NEU voted for strike action, in January the National Association for Headteachers’s vote fell just short of the threshold. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, told the Observer: “We are fast running out of tarmac before we have to go back to reballot. When do we decide talks are just a false hope? We aren’t there yet, but we are not very far away.” He described Keegan’s refusal to consider mediation as “extraordinary”. “I’ve never been turned down on using Acas to try and break a deadlock in any industry I’ve worked in,” he added. “Does this government have no experience of industrial relations?” Members of Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, have voted to accept a pay deal, ending its long-running school strikes, it confirmed on Friday. Ninety per cent of members backed the sixth offer made to them, which will result in a 7% pay rise backdated to April 2022, a further 5% next month and another 2% in January. Whiteman said unions were still having “really successful” talks in Wales, where the NEU paused strikes last week in response to an increased government pay offer. “It’s only in England that we can’t even seem to find a way to sit down in the same room with the government,” he said. He insisted that bringing in a mediator was an attempt to “create a space beyond the public posturing”. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the NEU, said of Keegan’s letter this week: “We were gobsmacked by their lack of nous. She has said the strikes are a distraction. But they shouldn’t distract her. They should focus her.” Keegan said: “Over two weeks have now passed since I made a serious offer to the National Education Union to start intensive talks on all areas of their dispute, including pay – on the single and reasonable condition that they pause their planned strikes which are damaging to children and disruptive to parents.” She stressed that unions representing nurses, ambulance workers and physiotherapists had all agreed to pause strikes and were now in talks with the government. But Bousted said: “The fact is that teachers’ pay has declined more than those working in health, and teachers have seen their workloads rise exponentially.” Accusing the government of constantly denigrating hardworking teachers, she added: “I think it is hard for people to understand just how unpopular this government is with teachers. The profession doesn’t trust them and it doesn’t believe ministers will negotiate in good faith.” The NEU is the only education union so far to achieve the new threshold for strike action, and 50,000 teachers joined the union after it announced that its walk-outs would go ahead. “They joined because they wanted to take action to demand change,” she said. “Teachers feel we need to do this to really shift the dial.”

Pressure mounts on Ofsted amid outcry after death of headteacher

2023-03-21

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/21/ruth-perry-ofsted-regime-fatally-flawed-says-family-of-headteacher-who-killed-herself

Ruth Perry’s death a ‘direct result of pressure’ from report by England’s education watchdog, says family Pressure is mounting on Ofsted after the death of the Berkshire headteacher Ruth Perry, whose family have called for an urgent review of the schools watchdog, describing its inspection regime as “punitive” and “fatally flawed”. The family intervention came as teachers and parents took part in a protest outside another Berkshire school that was expecting Ofsted inspectors on Tuesday morning, despite pleas from teaching unions to pause inspections amid the growing outcry. Perry’s sister, Julia Waters, said her family were in no doubt she had taken her own life in January as a “direct result” of the pressure put on her by the process and outcome of the Ofsted inspection, which downgraded her school from outstanding to inadequate. She added: “In our opinion, the findings of Ofsted were disproportionate, unfair and, as has tragically been proven, deeply harmful in their implied focus on one individual.” School leaders elsewhere are also considering taking collective action in response to Ofsted inspections as a mark of solidarity. The Suffolk Primary Headteachers’ Association (SPHA) is discussing displaying a photograph of the late headteacher, wearing black armbands and starting inspections with a minute’s silence. Rebecca Leek, SPHA executive director, told PA: “I think that Ruth’s death, that tragedy, has given people courage to speak out about things that they have been concerned about for a very long time.” The death of Perry, 53, a headteacher at Caversham primary school in Reading, has prompted anger among teachers and headteachers, many of whom are highly critical of Ofsted and would like to see radical reform. Flora Cooper, the executive headteacher at the John Rankin federation of nursery, infant and junior schools in Newbury, had said on Twitter on Monday that she planned to refuse Ofsted inspectors entry to her school in light of Perry’s death. She later withdrew a request for outside support, but a small number of people gathered outside the school nonetheless and all the teachers – many of whom had been crying – emerged to hold a two-minute silence. As the inspection went ahead, one parent of a year 6 pupil said: “Surely Ofsted could have been more sensitive and delayed coming for a few weeks to allow teachers to grieve and take stock? The headteacher showed remarkable courage in taking a stand and I hope that the school governors support her fully.” Liz, a former teacher from Caversham, where Perry was head, said: “Flora showed the courage of her convictions and that if we don’t speak out nothing would ever change.” On Ofsted, she said: “There needs to be a change in the system. It’s just like a spreadsheet they put data in and the data comes out, but actually we’re talking about children, families, teachers.” There is particular concern about headline judgments used by Ofsted in inspection reports – outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate – which Labour has promised to scrap, in favour of a report card system. The inspection report at Perry’s school found it to be good in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be inadequate, taking the overall judgment down to the lowest category. A petition calling for an inquiry into the inspection has gathered more than 100,000 signatures. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the former chief inspector of schools, in England, Sir Michael Wilshaw, defended the inspectorate and the current grading system that he said helped raise standards and inform parents about the quality of a school. “At the end of the day parents want to know, is this a school that’s good enough for my child to go to?” he said. “Ofsted has helped to raise standards over the last 30 years. We should be really proud of what has been achieved.” In a statement issued on behalf of Perry’s family, Waters, who is professor of contemporary French literature at Reading University, paid tribute to her sister. “Ruth was a kind, dedicated, highly regarded headteacher of a happy, successful, popular primary school. “Teaching had been her passion and vocation for 32 years. Under intolerable pressure from external scrutiny, she took her own life on 8 January 2023, leaving her family devastated.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion She acknowledged that the reasons behind someone’s taking their own life were never simple. “Nevertheless, we are in no doubt that Ruth’s death was a direct result of the pressure put on her by the process and outcome of an Ofsted inspection at her school. “We do not for an instant recognise Ofsted’s ‘inadequate’ judgment as a true reflection of Ruth’s exemplary leadership or of the wonderful school she led selflessly for 12 years.” Waters added: “We think some of the conclusions drawn by Ofsted inspectors were sensationalist and drawn from scant evidence, such as gaps in record-keeping and typical childish behaviour. “No doubt the Ofsted inspectors did not mean to cause any harm. We are sure they were only doing their job as best they could under the appalling system that is in place. It is this fatally flawed system which is at fault. Our only hope is that Ruth’s sudden, appalling death will be the last to occur as a result of the intolerable pressures caused by the Ofsted system. “It is the firm view of Ruth’s family, friends and colleagues that the entire Ofsted system must urgently be reviewed and changed, to place the welfare of teaching staff, as well as of schoolchildren, at its heart.” Waters said that following the inquest the family hoped that recommendations would be made to prevent further tragedies from occurring. “In the meantime, we support anyone who cares about education in this country and wishes to drive forward rapid, far-reaching change to Ofsted’s punitive regime. School inspections should be a welcome and positive contribution to improve standards in education. But for this to happen, they need massive reform.” Liz, the former Caversham teacher, echoed the family’s rejection of the use of the word inadequate in the Ofsted report at Perry’s school. “This one word that Ruth has been reduced to is entirely unfair, because the teachers wouldn’t stay in that school if she was inadequate. The parents wouldn’t keep sending the children to that school if she was inadequate. The teaching was good and the children felt welcome and safe there … so this Ofsted report is a farce really.” Ellen, a former primary teacher, who now teaches yoga to children with special needs, was also outside John Rankin. “When our school went into special measures, Ruth came and mentored me. I know so many people who loved her so much. She always went above and beyond. It’s just so sad.” Katherine, a former parent and art teacher, was also outside the school to show support. On Ofsted, she said: “It’s not about the kids, it’s about people who know how to tick the right boxes, rather than look after kids.” Matthew Purves, Ofsted’s regional director for the south-east, said: “We were deeply saddened by Ruth Perry’s tragic death. Our thoughts remain with Mrs Perry’s family, friends and everyone in the Caversham primary school community.” In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Jenny Baynes obituary

2024-02-14

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/14/jenny-baynes-obituary

My friend Jenny Baynes, who has died aged 73 after a stroke, once made me laugh so much that I had to lie down in the street. Six foot tall, and quite a dresser, she made people laugh all her life. Her school performance of the title role in Toad of Toad Hall is still remembered; much later, her comic verse sent up middle-class parental aspirations. She played the flute, sang in choirs, was a gifted watercolourist and travelled widely. But the centre of her life lay in her love for her husband, the theatre and radio producer Jonathan James-Moore, and their daughter, Kate; and in her inspirational work as a teacher. Jenny was born in Radlett, Hertfordshire, to Donald Baynes, a businessman, and Marjorie (nee Stephens), a model. Educated at Queenswood, an independent girls’ boarding school, she was living in Conservative heartland, but soon said goodbye to all that. She took an external degree in English from London University, and in 1973 plunged into teaching at Kidbrooke school, an early comprehensive in what was then a deprived area of south-east London. She was passionate about education, particularly for inner-city children, and her later career in further education encouraged disaffected teenagers to engage with Shakespeare, poetry and drama. Often up against management, in 1997 she was sacked from Southgate College in north London for refusing to sign a new contract, unhappy at the working conditions it proposed. Her chosen epithets for managerial thinking generally were “risible”, “ludicrous” and “outrageous”. Jenny’s final teaching post was at the City Lit in Holborn: from 1998 she taught adult students for more than 20 years: they enrolled in her classes year after year. Always given “excellent” in her end-of-term reviews, she was outraged by one “very good”. She continued to work through the Covid-19 pandemic on Zoom, which she hated, and thereafter back at the college until her health declined. In 1994 she and Jonathan bought and restored a holiday house in Umbria, where they welcomed many friends. After his early death in 2005, she hated living alone, but took herself off on travels and painting courses; returning from one at Tate St Ives, she stopped at a country hotel. Still in bespattered old clothes, she was looked up and down by the staff until she told them she was from Michelin, and looked forward to sampling their menu. She is survived by Kate.

The parents fleeing Australia’s public school system – and those choosing to stay

2023-07-17

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/18/the-parents-fleeing-australias-public-school-system-and-those-choosing-to-stay

Experts say the shift towards private schooling is part of a broader crisis in the education sector that is creating a growing divide between the haves and have-nots Michael Dukes wanted his children to have a public school education. But the Coffs Harbour dad opted to move them to a private school – even though he has to work two jobs to afford it. For Alice Springs parent Elliat Rich, public school has only ever been the plan for her 13-year-old son. The cost was one part of it, but mainly she sees public education aligning with her values of schooling as a holistic pursuit of creating “well-rounded humans”. Their contrasting choices mirror the decisions made by thousands of parents around Australia each year. Different factors influence each family, but a school’s resources are one big consideration – and the decade-long failure to fully implement the changes recommended by the Gonski review mean a relative lack of funding for public schools is pushing more people in the direction of Dukes’s thinking. Last year, 64.5% of students went to public school – a fall from 69% two decades ago. That makes Australia an outlier in the OECD, where 80% of students on average attend public schools. The trend away from public schools continued after the Gonski review was released in 2011, before starting to reverse in 2016. The shift away public schools picked up again in 2020, with the sharpest increase since the review of students opting for private schools. Experts say the shift is part of a broader crisis in the sector that is further segregating the public and private school system between the haves and have-nots. It’s exacerbated by a funding model that benefits the private sector. “If we want to understand the drift to private schools, follow the money,” says Tom Greenwell, co-author of Waiting for Gonski: How Australia Failed its Schools. “Governments have chosen to help non-government schools have a resource advantage to attract students away from the public system.” Dukes’s son needs additional learning support, and says his son and daughter faced problems with bullying at the public primary school they attended. When Dukes toured the local private school, he only found more reasons to make the switch. The school had new Apple computers and a music, swimming and drama program. Their old school had just cancelled its swimming carnival. “Because they do have such a large influx of money, you get to have the top-rated everything,” he says. “When you come from a public school where they’re struggling to provide even books and pencils, it’s just such a huge disparity,” Dukes says. In 2017, the Turnbull government scrapped its funding to public school infrastructure, leaving it up to the states. This came after the Gonski review highlighted that poor public school facilities were leading to an increase in private school enrolments. At the public school Dukes’s children previously attended, teachers were doing their best to cater to students, he says. But they were stretched thin, and Dukes saw his son, now nine, start “to fall through the cracks”. When the current funding model of public and private schools was conceived, its aim was to give parents more choice. But Dukes felt forced into his decision to send his children to private school, even though it meant taking on a second job to afford the $16,160 in annual fees. Most of the other parents at his sons’ new school are like himself, scrimping and saving to afford the fees, he says. “The difference with how the kids are now is night and day,” he says. “There’s also been more resources for them to do art and drama programs which [was] really important to us. “[We] shouldn’t be faced with a two-tier education system that’s based on how much you can afford and how privileged you are, but that seems to be the case.” Chris Bonnor, a former school principal and co-author of Waiting for Gonski: How Australia Failed its Schools, says some parents are drawn to private schools for better resources, worried their children could be missing out. But that’s not the whole story, he says. There’s a broader phenomenon of parents scrambling to get their children into schools with a higher proportion of students from more affluent economic backgrounds. This manifests as a drift from public to private schools, Bonnor says. But a similar trend can be seen within the government system in some states, especially New South Wales, with high-performing students often enrolling in state-funded selective schools. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion At Keira high school in Wollongong, 40% of students are in the bottom quarter of socioeconomic (SES) advantage and 13% are in the top, according to My Schools data. Over the fence is the selective school, Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts, where 15% of students are in the bottom quarter of socioeconomic advantage and 31% in the top. Bonnor says these trends are exacerbating the high concentration of disadvantaged students in the public system, leading to poorer educational outcomes for those students. The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) data shows students from a high socioeconomic background tend to perform just as well at a public school as they do at a private school. But the same is not true for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Bonnor says this is due to the “peer impact of schooling achievement”. “The sad reality is that a kid with a low SES family background will on average do better in a school where other enrolled kids are from a more advantaged background,” he says. “It’s not the parents’ fault, nor does it point fingers at individual schools – it’s the way the system works.” Elliat Rich says the depth and breadth of learning at her son’s public school is “extraordinary”. “For a young person to be exposed to these fantastic passionate educators, and also be friends and peers with really resilient and resourceful young people who fit outside the mould … that’s an incredible opportunity.” She says she’s aware of parents choosing the private education system out of a stereotype that children are subject to bad influences at public schools. But she says parents need to have more faith in the schools – and in themselves as parents. “I understand the desire to protect your young person, but that’s the learning that they have to do,” she says. “It’s almost like we are so outcome-orientated that we’ve forgotten about the process.” Still, from her child’s first six months at public high school, she can tell teachers are stretched. RMIT professor David Armstrong says the failure to fund schools according to their needs is putting teachers under great strain to cater to students with complex needs and from low socioeconomic backgrounds. More than three-quarters of people with a disability who went to school attend, or have attended, government schools. “Schools under pressure to deliver curriculum are less likely to support vulnerable students, leading to a decline in the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms,” Armstrong says. At the same time, public schools are grappling with a crisis in teaching recruitment and retention. Armstrong says it becomes a self-fulling cycle as parents lose faith in public education and the government doubles down on regulation. Students leave and funding declines because funding is tied to enrolment numbers. “You’ve got a rising workload for teachers, a collapse in morale and high workplace stress – it’s a sinking ship.” Even with the challenges, Rich says, she can see the positive impact of having her child in the public education system. “We were driving home the other night and our young person was in the back of the car and they said, out of the blue, ‘Maybe I’d like to be a teacher when I grow up,’” she recalls. “It just goes to show the level of inspiration that those teachers are imparting.” But Dukes, too, feels happy with his decision. He wants to believe in public schools, but he doesn’t want to risk his children not meeting their potential. “We never had any intention of sending them to private schools,” he says. “But that’s the choice we feel we were left with.” This is part two of a series exploring how successive governments have failed to make Australia’s education funding fairer. Next: how the system short-changes Indigenous children.

All children should have access to the arts, not just the middle class | Letter

2023-06-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/16/all-children-should-have-access-to-the-arts-not-just-the-middle-class

Crispin Woodhead extols the benefits a universal and ambitious arts education policy could have for the UK’s children and young people The suggestion that Labour, or any potential party of government, should seek to focus on the arts to “make state schools more attractive to middle-class parents priced out of private education” (Private school officials called Bridget Phillipson ‘chippy’ in emails, 15 June) overlooks the profound benefits that a truly universal and ambitious arts education policy could have for the UK’s children and young people. In 2020 the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment became the first orchestra in the UK to move its permanent base and offices to a state school when it moved into Acland Burghley school in north London. It is a school in an area of high economic inequalities that faces considerable challenges (32% of students are eligible for free school meals) with positive leadership. Our programmes provide curricular and extracurricular enrichment, professional skills training, impactful therapies for students with special educational needs and disabilities, and have contributed to improvements in GCSE pass rates. All of this has been achieved without spending an extra penny of public money. Access to culture should be a normal part of growing up in the UK for every child, not a sales hook for the “middle class”. A future government willing to commit to facilitating and investing in similar initiatives could harness the arts to transform the lives and opportunities of millions of young people across the country.Crispin WoodheadCEO, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.

Schools in England affected by Raac: the full government list

2023-09-06

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/06/schools-in-england-affected-by-raac-the-full-government-list

Details of the 147 schools whose buildings are known to contain reinforced autoclave aerated concrete The government has published a list of 147 schools and education settings in England known to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) and the measures put in place for the more than 100,000 students who attend those schools. Essex is the local authority with the highest number of schools affected, with 53 settings on the list, accounting for more than 30,000 students – close to a third of all affected pupils. Here is the full list, including the school name, local authority, school level, number of pupils and the measures in place as of 30 August 2023: Myatt Garden school (Lewisham). Primary level. 425 pupils (2022-23 academic year). All pupils in face-to-face education. Seven Mills school (Tower Hamlets). Primary. 233 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Ellen Wilkinson school for girls (Ealing). Secondary. 1,305 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Ignatius’ college (Enfield). Secondary. 1,107 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Welbourne school (Haringey). Primary. 485 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St John Vianney RC school (Haringey). Primary. 225 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Hornsey school for girls (Haringey). Secondary. 754 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Brandhall school (Sandwell). Primary. 476 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St William of York Catholic school (Bolton). Primary. 241 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. St Andrew’s CofE school, Over Hulton (Bolton). Primary. 205 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. All Saints C of E school (Manchester). Primary. 222 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Abbey Lane school (Sheffield). Primary. 545 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Pippins school (Slough). Primary. 200 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Stanway Fiveways school (Essex). Primary. 542 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Baynards school (Essex). Primary. 103 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Great Leighs school (Essex). Primary. 225 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Henham and Ugley school (Essex). Primary. 211 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Bentfield school and nursery (Essex). Primary. 214 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. White Court school (Essex). Primary. 569 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Beehive Lane community school (Essex). Primary. 212 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Eversley school (Essex). Primary. 415 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Holy Trinity CofE school, Eight Ash Green and Aldham (Essex). Primary. 84 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Lawrence Church of England school, Rowhedge (Essex). Primary. 225 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Great Tey Church of England voluntary controlled school (Essex). Primary. 75 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Hatfield Peverel St Andrew’s junior school (Essex). Primary. 203 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Broomfield school (Essex). Primary. 379 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Mersea Island school (Essex). Primary. 402 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Cranbourne (Hampshire). Secondary. 671 pupils (2022-23 academic year). All pupils in face-to-face education. Markyate village school and nursery (Hertfordshire). Primary. 218 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Widford school (Hertfordshire). Primary. 48 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Palmarsh school (Kent). Primary. 191 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Birchington Church of England school (Kent). Primary. 475 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St James’ Church of England voluntary aided school (Kent). Primary. 631 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Bartholomew’s Catholic school, Swanley (Kent). Primary. 324 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Bispham Endowed Church of England school (Blackpool). Primary. 364 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Our Lady’s Catholic high school (Lancashire). Secondary. 900 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Mayflower school (Leicester). Primary. 459 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Parks school (Leicester). Primary. 455 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Donnington Wood infant school and nursery centre (Telford and Wrekin). Primary. 163 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Thurston community college (Suffolk). Secondary. 1,570 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Shawfield school (Surrey). Primary. 206 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Paul’s Catholic school, Thames Ditton (Surrey). Primary. 326 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Park View school (Haringey). Secondary. 1,192 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Springfield school (Essex). Primary. 476 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Outwoods school (Warwickshire). Primary. 420 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Denbigh school (Milton Keynes). Secondary. 1774 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Sale grammar school (Trafford). Secondary. 1331 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. The Appleton school (Essex). Secondary. 1607 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. King Ethelbert school (Kent). Secondary. 757 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Holcombe grammar school (Medway). Secondary. 1067 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. The Coopers’ Company and Coborn school (Havering). Secondary. 1543 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Wood Green academy (Sandwell). Secondary. 1533 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. The Honywood community science school (Essex). Secondary. 789 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. The Billericay school (Essex). Secondary. 1,693 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Aston Manor academy (Birmingham). Secondary. 978 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Hadleigh high school (Suffolk). Secondary. 763 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. The Palmer Catholic academy (Redbridge). Secondary. 1,163 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. The London Oratory school (Hammersmith and Fulham). Secondary. 1,374 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Tendring technology college (Essex). Secondary. 1706 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. East Bergholt high school (Suffolk). Secondary. 900 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Hounsdown school (Hampshire). Secondary. 1,296 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Thurstable school sports college and sixth form centre (Essex). Secondary. 1,201 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Corpus Christi Catholic school (Lambeth). Primary. 408 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Waddesdon Church of England school (Buckinghamshire). Secondary. 1,002 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Wallingford school (Oxfordshire). Secondary. 1348 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Woodkirk academy (Leeds). Secondary. 1847 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Batley girls high school (Kirklees). Secondary. 1375 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Clere’s school (Thurrock). Secondary. 1,347 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Sandbach school (Cheshire East). Secondary. 1,504 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Carmel college (Darlington). Secondary. 1,359 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Anglo European school (Essex). Secondary. 1,495 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Thomas More Catholic school, Blaydon (Gateshead). Secondary. 1,467 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Gilberd school (Essex). Secondary. 1,556 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Thomas Lord Audley school (Essex). Secondary. 876 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. St Helena school (Essex). Secondary. 994 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. East Tilbury school (Thurrock). Primary. 698 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Clacton County high school (Essex). Secondary. 1,744 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. White Hall academy and nursery (Essex). Primary. 736 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Altrincham college (Trafford). Secondary. 1,007 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Cleeve Park school (Bexley). Secondary. 1,007 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Joyce Frankland academy, Newport (Essex). Secondary. 1,022 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Danetree school (Surrey). Primary. 932 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Bromfords school (Essex). Secondary. 1,160 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. The Ramsey academy, Halstead (Essex). Secondary. 783 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Redhill school (Dudley). Secondary. 1,219 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Ark Boulton academy (Birmingham). Secondary. 910 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Woodville school (Essex). Primary. 416 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary academy (Essex). Primary. 299 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Thomas Bullock Church of England academy (Norfolk). Primary. 218 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Water Lane academy (Essex). Primary. 194 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Katherine Semar junior school (Essex). Primary. 259 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Katherine Semar infant school (Essex). Primary. 181 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Mistley Norman Church of England school (Essex). Primary. 76 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Hatfield Heath school (Essex). Primary. 207 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Thomas More Catholic comprehensive school (Greenwich). Secondary. 636 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Godinton school (Kent). Primary. 419 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Francis Catholic school, South Ascot (Windsor and Maidenhead). Primary. 207 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. The FitzWimarc school (Essex). Secondary. 1772 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Winter Gardens academy (Essex). Primary. 419 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Cherry Tree academy (Essex). Primary. 141 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Prince Albert junior and infant school (Birmingham). Primary. 691 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Cockermouth school (Cumbria). Secondary. 1322 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Northampton International academy (West Northamptonshire). All-through level. 2,056 pupils (2022-23 academic year). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Gregory’s Catholic science college (Brent). Secondary. 1,168 pupils (2022-23). Fully remote learning. Bishop Douglass school Finchley (Barnet). Secondary. 1,020 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Lubbins Park academy (Essex). Primary. 201 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Scalby school (North Yorkshire). Secondary. 981 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Arthur Bugler school (Thurrock). Primary. 417 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. St Leonard’s Catholic school (County Durham). Secondary. 1,408 pupils (2022-23). Fully remote learning. Canon Slade school (Bolton). Secondary. 1,759 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Claydon high school (Suffolk). Secondary. 774 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Harlowbury school (Essex). Primary. 201 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Kingsdown school (Southend-on-Sea). Level not applicable. 124 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Katherines academy and nursery (Essex). Primary. 294 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Sir Thomas Boughey academy (Staffordshire). Secondary. 492 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Harwich and Dovercourt high school (Essex). Secondary. 1133 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Ferryhill school (County Durham). Secondary. 785 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Wyburns school (Essex). Primary. 192 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Jerounds school (Essex). Primary. 359 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Roding Valley high school (Essex). Secondary. 1439 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Lambourne school (Essex). Primary. 215 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Hillhouse CofE school (Essex). Primary. 307 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Barnes Farm junior school (Essex). Primary. 362 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Elizabeth’s Catholic voluntary academy (Derbyshire). Primary. 197 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Hockley school (Essex). Primary. 339 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Chipping Ongar school (Essex). Primary. 205 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Langney academy (East Sussex). Primary. 501 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Teresa’s Catholic school (Darlington). Primary. 340 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. St Mary and St John junior and infant school (Birmingham). Primary. 441 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St John Catholic school (Hertfordshire). Primary. 188 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Anne’s Catholic school, Harlow Green (Gateshead). Primary. 137 pupils (2022-23). Fully remote learning. St Francis’ Catholic school (Newham). Primary. 334 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Buckhurst Hill community school (Essex). Primary. 380 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. Sunny Bank school (Kent). Primary. 194 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St Benet’s Catholic school, Ouston (County Durham). Primary. 247 pupils (2022-23). Fully remote learning. St Bede’s Catholic school and Byron sixth form college (County Durham). Secondary. 918 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. St Joseph’s Catholic school (Buckinghamshire). Primary. 428 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. Wells Park school (Essex). Primary level. 55 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St James’ Catholic school, Hebburn (South Tyneside). Primary. 201 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. St John Bosco Catholic school, Town End Farm (Sunderland). Primary. 205 pupils (2022-23). Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. St Columba’s Catholic school, Wallsend (North Tyneside). Primary. 209 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. St John Vianney Catholic school, West Denton (Newcastle upon Tyne). Primary. 459 pupils (2022-23). All pupils in face-to-face education. The Holy Family Catholic school (Bradford). Secondary. 862 pupils (2022-23). Start of term delayed. St Michael’s Catholic school (Buckinghamshire). All-through. Pupil numbers unknown. All pupils in face-to-face education. Elmstead school (Essex). Primary. Pupil numbers unknown. All pupils in face-to-face education. Petroc (Devon). 16-plus. Pupil numbers unknown. All pupils in face-to-face education.

Post-18 education review: the changes and the effects they may have

2022-02-24

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/feb/24/post-18-education-funding-changes-effects-tuition-fees-student-loans-england

Almost three years after Agur review, government unveils plans for tuition fees and student loans in England The repayment term for student loans will be extended from 30 years after graduation to 40 years – meaning that many students will still be making repayments into their 60s – and the income threshold at which repayments begin will be lowered from more than £27,000 to £25,000. The tuition fee for full-time undergraduates will be frozen at £9,250 a year until the end of the current parliament. Only students enrolling in 2023-24 will have to sign up for the terms including the 40-year repayment period. They will also be charged a lower interest rate on their outstanding loans. Graduates since 2012 have paid interest based on the retail price index, rising by up to 3% depending on income. But the extra 3% will be scrapped, and RPI used solely. Yes. The freeze on tuition fees will be extended to those students from England studying full-time, so their institutions will see real-terms cuts in incomes. The undergraduate tuition fee was set at £9,000 in 2012 and was supposed to rise with inflation. However, the government has frozen it at £9,250 since 2016. Current students and graduates with student loans since 2012 will also see their repayment thresholds frozen at £27,000 – that too was meant to rise with inflation, but instead graduates will have to repay more than they otherwise would. Potentially, yes: the government has begun a consultation over minimum eligibility requirements to receive loans immediately after leaving school. The Department for Education’s consultation suggests achieving two grade Es at A-level or equivalents as one possibility. Another is achieving grade 4 passes in GCSE maths and English. But strong opposition and a wide range of exemptions may effectively make the policy too difficult to implement. The eligibility rules are unlikely to apply to mature or part-time students, although the prolonged and faster repayments may put off some students. The DfE says the changes to student finance will have a “neutral impact” and thinks the changes are unlikely to “significantly” change the minds of those aiming to study at university. The universities minister, Michelle Donelan, said the effect on students with special needs would need to be carefully considered. The biggest winner is the Treasury, which is estimated to gain an additional £600m in loan repayments, substantially reducing the amount of unpaid loans that would expire after 30 years. Other winners are the very well-paid, who will see their maximum loan repayments fall by more than 25%. The losers are young women, disadvantaged students, and those students coming from the north of England, Yorkshire and the Humber and the Midlands, who will see their repayments rise in some cases by 150%.

Labour pledges to overhaul England’s school ratings with ‘report card’

2023-03-11

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/11/labour-school-ratings-ofsted-education-policy

Shadow education secretary to announce policy aimed at giving parents more information than Ofsted’s current system School ratings such as outstanding and inadequate would be scrapped in England under a Labour government and replaced with a “report card” aimed at helping parents, the shadow education secretary is to announce. Bridget Phillipson will tell a headteachers’ conference in Birmingham on Saturday that Ofsted’s current system of ratings “is high stakes for staff but low information for parents” because it fails to convey important details about a school’s strengths and weaknesses. “I am determined that under Labour the focus will again return to how we deliver a better future for every child, through high and rising standards in every school,” Phillipson will tell the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conference. Under the current system Ofsted inspectors award one of four overall effectiveness grades: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. A rating of inadequate is usually the trigger for a change of management or leadership. Phillipson will tell the headteachers that the new report card would help parents understand where a school is performing well and where it can do better, as well as highlighting areas where a school is improving. The overall grade descriptions, such as outstanding, would be replaced by a new system after consultation with teachers and parents. The report cards would retain the areas currently given individual grades by Ofsted – such as behaviour, management and quality of education – but their grade descriptions would also be replaced. Labour said it would introduce annual reviews of school safeguarding as part of its Ofsted changes, to avoid potentially long gaps between inspections. School leaders greeted the proposals with enthusiasm. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: “The current grading system is at the heart of many of the problems with how Ofsted currently works, and we welcome the proposals to end this overly simplistic approach that does more harm than good.” Geoff Barton, the ASCL general secretary, said Ofsted’s ratings system was “too blunt”, leading to some schools being perceived by parents as stigmatised. Barton also welcomed the promise of annual safeguarding reviews, saying: “Safeguarding is the number one priority of everyone in education and this proposed approach reflects that.” Gillian Keegan, the education secretary for England, was invited to address the ASCL conference on Friday but declined to take part, saying she hoped “to be in intensive talks at that time over the pay dispute” involving teachers. However, no talks have been scheduled, with Keegan refusing to open negotiations unless the National Education Union (NEU) cancels its planned strikes. The NEU is to hold strikes in England next week, on Wednesday 15 and Thursday16 March. Keegan said her offer was “the same offer that was accepted by unions representing nurses, ambulance workers and physiotherapists who all agreed to call off their strikes and are now representing their members in talks with the government”. Barton told ASCL members that Keegan needed to start negotiating in earnest. “To be frank, talks are pretty meaningless if there is no prospect of an offer, no genuine commitment to negotiate, no realistic endgame. We can’t go on trading fatuous soundbites,” Barton said. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Earlier this week Keegan rejected the unions’ offer to hold talks through the Acas industrial arbitration service. “It seems that those constructive proposals have been rejected by the government, for reasons we cannot explain,” Barton said, speaking in the conference slot that had been reserved for Keegan. “This cannot go on. Teachers, leaders, families, communities, and especially the nation’s children and young people – you all need this matter settled. We need to be able to recruit and retain great teachers and leaders in a way that isn’t happening.” On Friday the major teaching unions made a joint plea to the government’s independent pay advisers, the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), over its advice for the 2023-24 pay round. “The STRB cannot continue to wring its hands in the face of the government’s continued ideological attacks on the education service, which are damaging children’s education and life chances,” said Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union. Pressure on Keegan to start talks could intensify after Scottish teachers voted to accept the latest pay offer by their government, ending months of strikes. Most teachers will receive a 12.3% increase, rising to 14.6% in January. Shirley-Anne Somerville, Scotland’s education secretary, hailed it on Friday as “the most generous offer to teachers in more than 20 years”. In Wales the NEU called off strikes scheduled for next week to consider a “constructive” offer from the Welsh government, of an extra 3% immediately and a fully-funded 5% pay rise from September.

‘Cultural and social vandalism’: job cut plans at Goldsmiths attacked

2024-03-27

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/27/goldsmiths-university-of-london-redundancy-plans

Union claims up to a quarter of all academic roles at financially pressed London institution face the axe Plans for mass redundancies at Goldsmiths, University of London, have been called a “horrifying act of cultural and social vandalism” and the “biggest assault on jobs at any UK university in recent years”. The job cuts, which are now subject to a consultation, are the latest in a series of redundancies at Goldsmiths and elsewhere in the higher education sector, as universities struggle with financial pressures. The number of Goldsmiths staff likely to be affected is disputed, with the University and College Union (UCU) warning that up to a quarter of all academic roles at the south London institution could be axed under a major new restructuring programme, while management said one in six academic roles could be made redundant. The UCU says the scale, speed and intensity of the cuts at Goldsmiths are unprecedented, with entire modules and degree programmes being “deleted”, and cuts affecting 11 of the 19 departments due to be implemented by September 2024. Departments affected include anthropology, English and creative writing, history, music, psychology, sociology, theatre and performance and visual cultures, with some losing half of their staff, according to the UCU. The union said the number of roles and full-time equivalents kept changing, but according to Goldsmiths 132 academic roles could be made redundant out of a total of 769, subject to consultation. “You can imagine people are scared,” said Catherine Rottenberg, professor of media, communications and cultural studies, who is on the executive committee of Goldsmiths UCU. “These are people’s livelihoods, people’s families. It’s huge.” Goldsmiths alumni include the film director Steve McQueen, the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, the writer Bernardine Evaristo, the poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, the musician Damon Albarn and the artist Antony Gormley. The union is now balloting its members on industrial action to fight the cuts. A UCU statement said it was the second restructure at Goldsmiths in as many years, adding: “This is the biggest assault on jobs at any UK university in recent years.” Michael Rosen, the broadcaster, former children’s poet laureate and professor of children’s literature, has worked at Goldsmiths for 10 years. He said: “It’s been a great working environment and my department has reached out into the world of education, libraries, literature and scholarship. “We’ve challenged ourselves to keep up to date with both tradition and the latest ideas circulating in these worlds and to share these with our students. These practices and traditions go back a long way at Goldsmiths and it’s unbearable to think that any of this is under threat from yet more mass redundancies.” Angela McRobbie, the cultural theorist and emeritus professor at Goldsmiths, said: “Goldsmiths is unique. It’s an institution that has trained young people who go on to do socially and culturally valuable jobs across the world. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion “The possible redundancies on this scale is unprecedented and it is a terrible outcome in a national scenario that has pitched universities against each other.” Priyamvada Gopal, a professor of postcolonial studies at the University of Cambridge, added: “The redundancies announced by Goldsmiths management is a horrifying act of cultural and social vandalism, one which will devastate the study and teaching of the humanities not just in this institution, but Britain more generally.” Prof Frances Corner, warden of Goldsmiths, said management were having to make difficult decisions – like other universities – because of a funding model that is widely acknowledged to be unfit for purpose. “We are fully committed to retaining the arts, humanities and social sciences as core elements of our educational offer,” she said. “Our plan will secure a positive and progressive future for Goldsmiths and ensure that we continue to deliver a creative, collaborative and unique learning and working environment.” This article was amended on 29 March 2024 because an earlier version incorrectly included Tracey Emin among alumni of Goldsmiths.

Schools across England face unprecedented struggle to hire English teachers as recruitment crisis grows

2023-06-17

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jun/17/schools-across-england-face-unprecedented-struggle-to-hire-english-teachers-as-recruitment-crisis-grows

Headteachers say situation is critical as they try to fill vacancies for September Schools in England are struggling to recruit English teachers, with hundreds still trying to fill vacancies in time for September, as headteachers warn they have reached crisis point. Secondary heads say they have become used to adverts for maths, science, computer science and design technology teachers failing to attract any suitable applicants. But many have been shocked to find that it is now a similar battle to find teachers for English – traditionally a subject that buoyed recruitment numbers. They warn that if the government does not tackle low pay, overwork and the pressure of inspections by Ofsted, growing teacher shortages will mean spiralling class sizes and children falling behind because they do not have the right specialist subject knowledge. The national executive of the National Education Union agreed this weekend to stage two further days of strike action over conditions and pay. These will take place on 5 and 7 July. The action will affect state schools and sixth form colleges. Members are calling for an above-inflation pay rise and assurances that money will not come from existing school budgets. Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, called on education secretary Gillian Keegan to meet the union urgently, saying it was “in her hands” to avert the action. “There have been no meetings since before Easter. It’s remarkable,” she said. “We’re always willing to come in and talk to the secretary of state but she has chosen to just not engage. It’s a terrible way to treat the profession.” Last year, almost 40,000 working-age teachers left the profession, the highest level since records began in 2010, according to new school workforce data released by the Department for Education this month. “Recruiting science and maths teachers has been bad for years, but now subjects which weren’t a problem like English have become shortage areas,” said Jonny Uttley, chief executive of the Education Alliance academy trust, which runs eight schools in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. “It is a crisis, and I don’t use that word lightly.” This weekend, more than 900 schools were advertising English teaching jobs for an immediate or September start, despite the fact that teachers who are already working in schools have to give a term’s notice, so they have missed the transfer window. A senior leader in a large multi-academy trust, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “For the first time I can remember, we are struggling to recruit English teachers as so many are leaving for other sectors and not being replaced.” This year, his trust had spent £50,000 it could not afford on recruitment fees including using agencies to help it fill important staff gaps. “You can’t find a bad teacher, let alone a good one, in some parts of the country,” he added. Like many headteachers, he was enraged to see Rishi Sunak and education secretary Gillian Keegan celebrating a “record number of teachers” in English schools last week, but neglecting to mention that the 6% rise in the number of teachers since 2010 did not keep pace with an 11% rise in the number of students over the same period. “Their boasting is such a sickening example of gaslighting that it genuinely makes me want to quit,” the trust leader said. “Vacancies have nearly doubled, and schools are having to promote staff who they would not have considered previously.” Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at Exeter University, said that the lack of qualified English teachers would hit the poorest children hardest. “English is absolutely critical not just because of the subject itself, but because reading and writing skills open up the whole rest of the curriculum,” he said. Dr Rachel Roberts, who leads the postgraduate teacher training course in English at Reading University, said: “We’re down on applications. Generally, courses training English teachers are down by about a third across the country.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Roberts, who was formerly chair of the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE), is angry at prime minister Rishi Sunak for proclaiming that all pupils should study maths until 18 – a policy which many teachers declared unworkable due to the failure to attract enough maths teachers to teach it even up to age 16. “The prime minister promoting maths hasn’t helped at all,” she said. “Maths isn’t the only subject that counts. English is just as important but the government isn’t supporting it as though it is [as important].” NATE believes the decline in recruits training to teach English is being caused in part by a slump in the number of students choosing to study English at A-level. This summer, about 54,000 students are sitting an A-level in English, down 40% from just under 90,000 in 2012. In turn, this has driven a major fall in the number of students taking a degree in English, with admissions service Ucas reporting a downturn in applications of a third in 10 years. Bousted, who used to run a training course for English teachers herself, said: “English used to be a subject that buoyed up the rest of the figures on recruitment. Now it’s a shortage subject too.” Bousted will give evidence on Tuesday to an inquiry by the education select committee on the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention. She added that nearly 20% of children were now being taught English by someone without a relevant qualification. The department for education said: “The department offers a range of recruitment and retention initiatives to attract the best candidates into teaching, including the reintroduction of a £15,000 bursary, which will be available for prospective English teachers training this autumn.”

Anne Sanderson obituary

2023-03-17

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/17/anne-sanderson-obituary

My mother-in-law, Anne Sanderson, who has died aged 85, was an educationist in South Yorkshire and beyond who fought fiercely for the rights of all children, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, to enjoy top-class schooling. Anne had a successful career in the late 1970s as a deputy head and headteacher at schools in Sheffield. She was a senior lecturer in primary education at Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University) from 1984 to 1988, and wrote several well-received books about early years teaching, including a series called Models for Writing (with Chris Buckton), before becoming senior adviser to Barnsley schools, specialising in language development and English. Later, she was invited to help improve teaching standards in Saudi Arabia, Hungary and Hong Kong. As a long-serving Ofsted inspector she also trained others to become inspectors, but her overriding purpose was to help every child achieve his or her potential. Once, she was asked to visit a pupil who had become electively mute. While Anne waited to talk to the teacher she was drawn to a girl at an easel, painting. The pair had a happy, animated conversation. Then, when the teacher was free, Anne asked her to point out the electively mute child. It was the same girl. Anne’s belief in the importance of education was forged early. She was born in Barnsley, the elder daughter of Colin Wildsmith and Amelia (nee Atkinson). Her mother died when she was three and her sister Janet one. Their father, a miner, felt unable to raise them so they were brought up in the village of Ward Green by their mother’s sister, Auntie Dinah, sleeping three to a bed. Anne passed her 11-plus exam, but the school did not let the family know the result, assuming that they would not be able to afford the uniform, and did not want to embarrass them. Auntie Dinah was furious. She took extra work cleaning Barnsley bus station’s toilets, partly to ensure that Anne could go to grammar school at Barnsley girls’ high school and fulfil her obvious potential. Anne went on to take a higher education certificate at Sheffield University (1970), a BA in education, language development and psychology at the Open University (1977) and an MA in English language and linguistics at Sheffield University (1983). Anne met Bob at a steelworks dance in Chapeltown. They were married in 1958 and remained vigorous rock’n’roll jive dancers for the rest of their marriage. Bob survives her, as do Janet, her daughters, Jackie and (my wife) Jane, and her grandchildren.

Bereaved parents say review into student suicides in England is ‘slap in the face’

2023-10-30

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/oct/30/bereaved-parents-say-review-into-student-suicides-in-england-is-slap-in-the-face

Parents say government’s planned review has too short a timeframe and will not be sufficiently rigorous Bereaved parents whose children have killed themselves while at university have criticised the government’s planned review of student suicides in England, describing it as “a slap in the face” for families. The higher education minister, Robert Halfon, announced the national review earlier this year amid mounting concern over student mental health and a series of suicides that attracted widespread coverage in the media. However, parents say there are “significant shortcomings” in the proposed terms of reference for the student suicide review. They say the timeframe is too short, looking primarily at suicides and “near misses” – a term they describe as insensitive – in the 2023-24 academic year. They are also concerned that the review as proposed will not be sufficiently rigorous or independent, and will be limited instead to a meta-analysis of internal university reports into a student’s suicide, produced by the very institutions that many parents blame for not taking adequate care of their child. A report by ForThe100, a national group of bereaved parents campaigning for higher education students to be owed a minimum standard of legal protection enshrined in a statutory duty of care, is calling on the government to revise the planned review. “We urge the government and the taskforce to thoroughly re-evaluate their proposal and put in the necessary effort to rectify its considerable shortcomings,” the report says. “We all owe this to those students who have already been harmed or died and to current and future generations of students.” The report also calls for the focus to shift from blaming students for struggling, to addressing the underlying systems that leave them vulnerable. “Rather than merely praising resilience, there should be a concerted effort to bring about systemic changes in the higher education landscape.” Bob Abrahart, the father of Natasha, who killed herself in April 2018 aged 20 while a student at the University of Bristol, accused the government of ignoring the evidence parents had gathered and said it was “a slap in the face” for bereaved families. “Their actions, if unchanged, will result in more lives being lost,” he said. “They just want things to stay as they are, even though it’s risky. This is really hurtful to families who are grieving and want things to get better. Their attempt to fix a broken system is rushed and doesn’t do what’s really needed.” The government announced details of the review in June after a Westminster Hall debate during which Halfon rejected bereaved parents’ calls for a legal duty of care for students in higher education. New data from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), based on a survey of 3,000 members, found that 57.6% of therapists working with students in further and higher education had reported seeing an increase in stress among their clients over the past year. BACP’s children, young people and families lead, Jo Holmes, said: “From increasing academic and rising financial pressures, the consequences of the pandemic and impact of university strikes, to loneliness and a poor work-life balance, students have faced a ‘perfect storm’ of stress that’s seriously impacting their mental health and wellbeing. “Worryingly, but not surprisingly, our survey shows that student stress is on the rise. We also know from previous data that demand for university counselling services is also on the rise too. Universities need professional counsellors working for in-house services, so students have access to the right support, at the right time.” The Department for Education said: “It is vital that higher education institutions learn lessons when a student takes their own life. That is why we have worked with bereaved families to develop this review and are commissioning an independent organisation to conduct it and share these lessons across the sector, to help prevent future tragedies. “We are also calling on all universities to sign up to the mental health charter programme to ensure that they are taking a whole-university approach to mental health and have set up the higher education mental health implementation taskforce to make a plan for driving further improvements in student mental health support.” In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Welsh schools could have shorter summer holidays in proposed shakeup

2023-11-20

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/20/welsh-schools-shorter-summer-holidays-proposed-shakeup

Ministers want to spread holidays more equally to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds The era of school summer holidays that seem to drift on for ever may be drawing to a close for the children of Wales. Welsh ministers are proposing to change the school calendar so that breaks are spread out more equally, which it believes will help children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Labour-led administration has launched a consultation on changes that could lead to a five-week break in summer 2026 and, possibly, a four-week holiday in years to come. Jeremy Miles, the minister for education and Welsh language, said: “The long summer break can be a real strain. Families struggle to find childcare over the six weeks, and others struggle with the additional costs long summers bring. We know our most disadvantaged learners suffer the most learning loss from a long summer.” The proposal is likely to be resisted by some teachers. In a briefing paper, the teachers’ union NASUWT said there was “no sustainable educational argument” for change and it could worsen working conditions. The government said the number of days in school holidays and teaching would not change. It said research suggested the autumn term was tiring and challenging for learners and staff as it was longer, with more teaching squeezed into this term than any other. Some pupils, especially those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and those with additional learning needs, find it difficult to get back to learning after long summer holidays, the government says. This results in the autumn term being devoted to going over things rather than advancing learning. Teachers also report more behavioural and wellbeing issues after the summer break. Under the proposal, a week would be taken from the start of the summer holidays and added to the October break. If the changes go ahead, schools would get a two-week break in October 2025 and a five-week summer break in 2026. Further changes could include moving a second week from the summer holidays and adding it to the Whitsun break and having GCSE and A-level results days in the same week. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Jason Elsom, the chief executive of the charity Parentkind, said: “Our recent poll of 6,800 parents in Wales revealed that the majority of parents support a move to spread school holidays more evenly across the year, with 72% of lower-income families in favour.” Across England and Scotland there is a range of lengths of summer holidays. The Welsh government is keen that schools across Wales follow one, unified pattern.

Disadvantaged parents in England and Wales rule out Stem jobs for children, charity says

2024-01-23

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/23/disadvantaged-parents-england-wales-rule-out-stem-jobs-for-children-charity-says

Pupils from lower socioeconomic background ‘don’t see it as a subject for somebody like them’, Teach First finds Disadvantaged parents rule out careers in science, technology, engineering and maths for their children because they think those jobs are “already stitched up”, according to a leading education charity. More than half of parents (51%) from a lower socioeconomic background, who took part in a survey by Teach First, said they believed their children were unlikely to go on to a career in Stem. Asked about the barriers their children faced, parents referred to a lack of confidence, few role models in the Stem field and a general feeling that their children “don’t see it as subject for somebody like them”. Russell Hobby, the chief executive of Teach First, which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales, said: “I think people look at some of these jobs, and look at who gets them and who doesn’t, and they start to rule out whether those are meant for them and people like them. “So they already think those jobs are off the table. I can’t believe that they don’t think they’re good jobs – it’s more they think they’re already stitched up.” As well as talking to 750 parents, Teach First surveyed more than 1,000 children aged 11 to 16 and found only two-fifths (41.8%) of those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds said they would consider a Stem career. One of the main issues the survey raised was the widespread shortage of specialist teachers in Stem subjects across England. Nearly nine in 10 parents (88%) said their children’s schools needed more high-quality maths and science teachers. Last year, Vic Goddard, the executive principal of Passmores academy in Essex, said trying to recruit a maths, science, computer science or DT (design and technology) teacher was like “advertising for a unicorn”. According to Teach First, the recruitment problem is particularly acute in disadvantaged areas. “Young people, particularly those from communities facing poverty, are being locked out of Stem careers due to a lack of science and maths teachers,” said Hobby. “We know that those schools who serve disadvantaged communities struggle to fill all of their vacancies, and particularly with the shortage subjects that are in high demand, like maths and physics. It’s easier for schools in more affluent areas to fill those roles.” The charity believes recruiting and retaining high-quality Stem teachers for the schools facing the biggest challenges is vital to boost the Stem workforce. “A nationwide skills shortage in science and maths will have dire consequences for our economic growth and stop us tackling urgent problems such as climate change,” said Hobby. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Teach First’s core role is to train high-quality teachers and place them in schools in some of the poorest areas of the country to give children with the fewest opportunities access to a great education. Last year there was a threefold increase in Teach First’s recruitment of physics teachers, but “our job is not done yet”, said Hobby, who is calling for a pay increase for trainee teachers in shortage subjects such as maths and science, particularly in low-income areas. “I think we need to do a lot more work to get the resources where they’re needed, but also to show people that anyone from any community can aspire to what are quite attractive careers. We want these jobs to be open to everybody.” A Department for Education spokesperson said bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 are offered for chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics teachers, alongside £3,000 tax-free for those in disadvantaged schools in the first five years of their career, doubling to £6,000 tax free over the next two years. They added: “We are boosting the teaching of Stem subjects in schools across England through our network of maths hubs, the rollout of T Levels, the ‘stimulating physics network’ and our continued work with employers to offer more apprenticeship opportunities.”

Guidance on treatment of transgender pupils poses legal risks, say unions

2024-03-13

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/13/government-guidance-treatment-transgender-pupils-england-poses-legal-risks-unions

Teachers and school leaders in England call government proposals vague, leaving them vulnerable to losing court cases Teaching unions and school leaders in England are calling for an overhaul of ministers’ proposed guidance on the treatment of transgender pupils, saying the current version is incomplete and vulnerable to legal challenges. The unions and other organisations, including the campaigning group Sex Matters, are also critical of the guidance proposals for how schools should respond to children wanting to socially transition to a different gender by changing their names or uniform. In their responses to the government’s consultation, which closed on Tuesday, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the NASUWT teachers union highlighted their concerns that the government had ignored legal advice that schools could face a “high risk” of losing court cases if they follow the new guidance. Leaked legal advice obtained by Schools Week revealed that lawyers at the Department for Education said parts of the guidance would fail to stand up to legal challenges. But the passages were still included in the published draft and approved by No 10 and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch. Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the ASCL, said: “School and college leaders have been waiting for this guidance for several years now. While its publication is helpful in many ways, we also have a number of concerns. “One of the reasons why this guidance is so necessary, along with supporting schools in taking compassionate, evidence-informed decisions which keep all their pupils safe, is to protect school and college leaders from increasingly vitriolic and threatening challenges in relation to the decisions they make. “The very least we would expect from any government guidance is that it is legally sound. “If the government cannot provide assurance that schools and colleges will not be leaving themselves open to legal challenge by following this guidance, then the government itself must commit to taking on any legal challenges that arise against schools.” Patrick Roach, the general secretary of NASUWT, said schools desperately needed new guidance, but said the current draft should be withdrawn and replaced with “sensible and credible interpretations” of schools’ legal duties. Roach said: “Teachers and headteachers need to be confident that following guidance from the government will not conflict with other legal and statutory obligations, such as the Equality Act, or Keeping Children Safe in Education safeguarding laws. “In our view, the draft guidance fails to provide effective support on practical issues that schools and colleges may face, including working with children who have already transitioned with the support of their families. “It also fails to address the issue that teachers, schools and colleges rarely have access to adequate support on these matters from external agencies.” Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Both unions said the advice that schools should adopt a policy of “watchful waiting”, in response to a pupil’s request to socially transition, was vague. NASUWT’s response said the phrase gave “little practical assistance”, adding: “Specifically, the guidance does not set out what schools and colleges should watch for, nor does it help them to determine a reasonable duration within which they should watch and wait in particular cases.” Sex Matters, while supportive of the guidance overall, also criticised the lack of detailed guidance being offered to schools regarding issues such as social transitioning. “Schools are not clinics, and teachers are not clinicians. They cannot undertake watchful waiting … or involve other children in ‘providing treatment’ for gender dysphoria,” its response to the consultation stated. Sex Matters also called for the government to provide legal analysis highlighting “which statutory requirements underpin the guidance and why it is consistent with the Equality Act”, in light of likely court challenges.

Headteachers cleaning out toilets? Luxury! | Letters

2024-05-02

https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/02/headteachers-cleaning-out-toilets-luxury

Janet Jones, Hilary Brown and Martin Wynn respond to a report of headteachers being forced to unblock toilets after losing janitors to budget cuts The report of headteachers unblocking toilets after losing school caretakers to budget cuts (28 April) reminded me of my recent research in the logbooks of St Mary’s Church of England primary school in Fownhope, Herefordshire, shortly after the passing of Forster’s 1870 Education Act. An entry in May 1878 records that, following complaints from the neighbourhood, the boys were set to work by the headmaster and “gave all the school closets a thorough clean”. Several entries by the headmaster in the same year related to broken chairs and desks, until eventually a pupil teacher (aged 14) “knocked down nails in some seats”. Janet JonesFownhope, Herefordshire When I was the headteacher of a small primary school, we only had a janitor one day every three weeks and so all jobs came to me. When a pupil let me know that there was a dead baby rabbit in an outside drain and I groaned, a grandma volunteer helper immediately said: “Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it. I’m a doctor.”Hilary BrownKincraig, Highland My father, as headteacher of a primary school in the 1960s, had to deal with blockages and freeze-ups in toilets sited outside the main building. During cold seasons, he had to keep two huge stoves fed with coke. He also had to clear snow and ice from paths, and deal with many other tasks that even heads of department would have considered well below their pay grade.Martin WynnKnaresborough, North Yorkshire Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.

Warnings of economic damage to UK as international student numbers fall by a third

2024-02-29

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/29/student-immigration-restrictions-will-damage-uk-economy-universities-say

University leaders accuse ministers of wanting to ‘diminish our success’ as figures show a plunge in visas issued to overseas students Immigration restrictions imposed on international students threaten to damage the UK economy, according to university leaders, with the number enrolling from overseas falling by a third. Universities UK (UUK), which represents mainstream universities and colleges, said the government’s new curbs, coupled with steep visa fee increases and threats to cut back on graduate work entitlements, are having a negative impact on the UK as a study destination. Data from more than 60 UK universities shows that the number of study visas issued has fallen by 33% this year compared with the same time last year. A separate survey of 70 universities by UUK found that enrolments in postgraduate taught courses were down by more than 40% since January’s immigration changes. Vivienne Stern, UUK’s chief executive, said: “I regret the fact the government appears to want to diminish our success in this area. Our new data shows that if they wanted to see a reduction in numbers, they have already achieved that through policy changes introduced earlier this year. “If they go further, they will damage the economies of towns and cities throughout the UK, as well as many universities. Given we should be doing everything we can to promote economic growth, this seems to be getting the priorities wrong.” The rules that came into force in January barred international students on taught courses such as master’s degrees from bringing family members with them. But UUK said students were also being put off by uncertainty over the UK’s post-study work offer, after the government asked the Migration Advisory Committee to review whether international students should be entitled to stay in the UK for at least two years after successfully completing a course. “We call on all political parties in the run-up to a general election to reassure prospective international students that the UK remains open, and the graduate visa is here to stay,” Stern said. “Any further kneejerk reforms could have serious consequences for jobs across the country, economic growth, and UK higher education institutions.” The data from the Enroly admissions management service shows that international students’ deposits and visas are lower than in 2023 and 2022, with their figures showing postgraduate acceptances down by 37% so far this year. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Jeff Williams, Enroly’s chief executive, said: “The downturn in January 2024 signals the impact of UK policy on recruitment volumes, underscoring the industry’s sensitivity to political and economic factors.” More than 320,000 international students account for nearly half of enrolments on taught courses at UK universities, paying tuition fees averaging about £17,000 a year. A sudden fall in enrolments would make a wide range of courses uneconomic and cause severe financial dislocation at many institutions. A new study commissioned by UUK found that the growth in international students since 2019 has delivered a £60bn boost to the entire UK’s economy. The Department for Education said: “We are fully focused on striking the right balance between acting decisively to tackle net migration, which we are clear is far too high, and attracting the brightest students to study at our universities.”

Alan Rea obituary

2023-10-02

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/oct/02/alan-rea-obituary

My friend Alan Rea, who has died aged 76 of cancer, was an educationist in north-east Scotland whose work on adult education with the Workers’ Educational Association led to the creation of a number of valuable community-based projects aimed at helping disadvantaged people. His most notable contributions to the WEA began in 1990, when he became tutor-organiser of its north Scotland district, stretching from Inverness to Dundee. Over the ensuing years his ideas and initiatives added hugely to the organisation’s development in Scotland. Among his most outstanding projects was the lottery-funded Salt of the Earth Project, which he conceived as a contemporary version of the 1930s Mass Observation programme – capturing, through interviews, workers’ experiences of living through the enormous changes of the 20th century. The project’s archive is now held by the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. Alan was born in Ruislip, Middlesex (now in the London borough of Hillingdon), to John, an engineer at Lucas Industries, and Anne (nee Carroll), a nurse who had emigrated to Britain from Ireland. He was educated at St Benedict’s school in Ealing, west London, and later studied botany at Aberdeen University. He gained his degree and remained in the city, but after abandoning a PhD did teacher training at Northern College of Education in Aberdeen. He then taught biology at Ellon Academy in Aberdeenshire, followed by a period working in schools in Greece. Highly regarded by his pupils, he employed a discursive and inquiry-based approach – something he decided would be particularly useful for adult students. On his return to Aberdeen from Greece in 1981, Alan joined the WEA as a tutor specialising in trade union courses, also becoming an effective shop steward for WEA Scotland staff. In 1984 he came up with a plan that led to the establishment of a new regional WEA in the Highlands and later, when he had become tutor-organiser, he won a £350,000 lottery grant for the Reach Out Project in Aberdeen, which worked to help with the educational needs of vulnerable people, including ex-offenders, substance misusers and those with mental health issues. In 2002 Alan retired from the WEA. His large garden at Craigievar in the Vale of Alford, cultivated over 30 years, was a source of great pride and a welcoming haven for friends and neighbours. The conviviality in that setting was occasionally sustained by smoked salmon and cured produce from his own smokehouse. He is survived by his brothers, Paul and Francis.

Lasting impressions of a boarding school education| Letters

2021-12-22

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/dec/22/lasting-impressions-of-a-boarding-school-education

Victoria Owens and Nick Barton reflect on their very different experiences of private schooling Although Henrietta Heald (Letters, 19 December) is correct in saying that girls by and large are not admitted to Eton, that is not to say that being female necessarily spares you from the trammels of the independent boarding school system. In the 1970s, I spent six years at Wycombe Abbey, a girls’ public school in Buckinghamshire. My parents thought that by buying a “good” education for me, they were acting in my best interests. Homesick, useless both at lacrosse and tennis, anarchic – “Why shouldn’t I go shopping in my free time? It’s what every normal 16-year-old does,” I once argued to my dismayed housemistress – and endlessly at war with the totalitarian regime of the place, I was an unhappy square peg in a round hole. At university, I lost my way badly – I scraped a third-class degree and seem to have spent the rest of my life trying to recover. Admittedly, only a minute percentage of the population attends residential schools. Some may even claim to enjoy the boarding experience. But for many – girls as well as boys – the boarding environment can be a source of lifelong insecurity and depression. Let us hope that Richard Beard’s Sad Little Men makes its mark, and that well-to-do parents find something less damaging on which to spend their money. Victoria OwensLong Ashton, Somerset While I agree with Henrietta Heald’s view, not everyone who was sent away to school – in my case at eight – turns out to be the Sad Little Men described in Richard Beard’s book. I do not defend the system – there is much wrong with it and I endured some very unpleasant experiences. However, contrary to expectation, I don’t find connection and real empathy a challenge. That would have severely hampered me in my work as a psychologist, a psychotherapist and an employee of a charity working for 30 years with disadvantaged people from a wide range of backgrounds. How did I manage this? Partly, I suspect, because there were some teachers prepared to provide a correcting perspective on our situation. They introduced those like me, who were interested, to analyses that challenged the establishment of which we were meant to be a part.Nick BartonTemplecombe, Somerset Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

‘There’s nothing more critical’: California makes schools teach kids to spot fake news

2023-12-05

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/dec/05/california-media-literacy-class-schools-misinformation

Experts say skills can teach critical thinking and even combat the youth mental health crisis California next year will become one of the few US states to teach students media literacy, a move experts say is imperative at a time when distrust in the media is at an all-time high and new technologies pose unprecedented challenges to identifying false information. A state bill signed into law this fall mandates public schools to instruct media literacy, a set of skills that includes recognizing falsified data, identifying fake news and generating responsible internet content. Researchers have long warned that the current digital ecosystem has had dire consequences on young people, and have argued that such instruction could make a difference. The US surgeon general has cited digital and media literacy support as one way to combat the youth mental health crisis spurred by social media. The American Psychological Association already has urged parents and schools to teach media literacy before they expose young people to social media platforms. “What happens online can have the most terrifying of real-world impacts,” the California assembly member Marc Berman, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “This instruction will help students to be more responsible digital citizens, more intentional about what they put online, and better understand online safety and privacy.” Just 18 states have enacted formal media literacy education standards or requirements so far. Those that have made it a focus – ranging from New Jersey and Delaware to Texas and Florida – cut across the political spectrum. When Assembly Bill 873 passed this fall, it was with nearly unanimous bipartisan support. Erin McNeill, the founder and CEO of advocacy group Media Literacy Now, says that shows the broad appeal of teaching young people these skills. “There is recognition from both sides that this really is essential,” McNeill said. “I can’t think of anything that’s more critical in education right now.” California has been gradually incorporating media literacy into its education legislation for more than a decade. Since 2010, media literacy has been part of its Model School Library Standards, which suggest – but do not enforce – curriculum goals. Another law passed in 2018 required that the state make instructional resources on media literacy available for educators, but did not mandate the materials to be used or the subjects to be covered. The new bill takes things a step further, said Alice Huguet, an education researcher and policy professor for kindergarten through 12th grade at the Rand Corporation. For one thing, it recognizes the sweeping applications of media literacy. “A lot of coverage focuses on media literacy as fact-checking, but it’s more complex than that,” Huguet said, explaining that a lot of the skills involve recognizing emotional manipulation, factual absence and author intent. “It’s about being a critical thinker.” It also explicitly calls for the teaching of good digital citizenship, which, Huguet explained, means interacting responsibly with others online, recognizing the importance of digital privacy and “engaging in civil dialogue” with peers. The lessons will ask students to think about their contributions to the media ecosystem. “They’re putting things out into the world. In that sense, the bill is more well-rounded,” Huguet said. Rather than having media literacy as a standalone course, the bill requires that schools incorporate media and digital literacy lessons into existing core subjects, from language arts and history to science and mathematics. That should not only make the integration more feasible for teachers and friendly for budgets, experts and advocates say, but will also convey how media literacy is a fundamental life skill. What classes ultimately look like will be up to individual districts and educators. “It’s just guidance,” said Mike Torres, the director of the California department of education’s curriculum frameworks and instructional resources division. Because schools receive untethered funding, Torres explained, they can use as much or as little of it as they’d like on media literacy education, and may choose to use any materials to do so, as long as they’ve been evaluated. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion For Torres, the true value of the bill is in the attention it draws to media literacy as an issue. “It’s important to get the word out,” he said. By that measure, the legislation has already been successful. “We’ve gotten dozens and dozens of inquiries about media literacy. It’s bringing that conversation to the forefront,” Torres said. Others worry that its vague language may limit the bill’s effectiveness. “Getting the bill passed is just half the battle,” said Huguet. “There needs to be effective communication and collaboration with stakeholders, as well as ongoing monitoring if they’re serious about it.” Jessica Lee, the district library coordinator at the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD), on the other hand, is concerned that unequal resources across the state will make it hard for implementation to be uniform. In Berkeley, for instance, local measures pull from property taxes to fund libraries and other services. Districts without such measures, or where property values are lower, don’t have the same luxury. “We can do this because our district has the funding,” Lee said. Despite those operational challenges, research points to the effectiveness of teaching media literacy early and often. According to Sam Wineburg, a psychologist and professor of education at Stanford University, skills like digital fact-checking can’t just be presumed, especially in a media environment that encourages speed over accuracy – they need to be explicitly instructed. What’s more, students like learning media literacy skills, he said: “They really enjoy anything where you’re looking behind the screen and lifting the curtain on how things work.” For Chris Albeck, the director of curriculum and instruction at the BUSD, teaching media literacy is about meeting the current moment. “Students have a lot more access now than they have before,” he said. “Kids will be kids. Kids will do things. But kids can also be taught the right ways to interface with the digital world, [including] outside of school, when their teachers aren’t looking.” Huguet said she has heard a greater sense of urgency surrounding the topic in the lead-up to the next election cycle. “The vast majority of high school students don’t vote, but they will,” she said.

Students find Erasmus replacement scheme inadequate, analysis finds

2024-01-03

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/03/students-find-erasmus-replacement-scheme-inadequate-analysis-finds

Some UK applicants forced to quit Turing scheme when places not confirmed or they failed to receive funds in time Students taking part in the government’s post-Brexit replacement for the EU’s Erasmus+ student exchange scheme were forced to drop out because places were confirmed too late, while others failed to receive funding until after their return, according to analysis. The first official analysis of the Turing scheme, which was announced by the then prime minister Boris Johnson and launched in 2021, found that four out of five universities (79%) had difficulties with the application process, which was overly complex, repetitive and “tedious”. They also complained that the window for applications was too short and even after efforts were made to streamline the process, few thought there was any real improvement. The number of participants in the first year of the scheme fell short of the government target – just over 20,000, compared with the original aim of 35,000, partly because of the impact of Covid at the time. The analysis by IFF Research, which focused on the first year of the programme, also found that inadequate funding and problems with delivery had a disproportionate impact on students with fewer resources to fall back on, potentially creating barriers to participation. It said: “There was a general view that some delivery issues raised had a greater impact on participants from a disadvantaged background and may have created barriers to many participating. “Providers said that the timing of when application outcomes were confirmed [ie after many participants would have had to commit to their placement] meant some who could not afford the upfront cost or the risk of funding not being available down the line dropped out. “Likewise, from the participant perspective, many described receiving the funds while already on placement, or even after they had returned.” One of the government’s key claims for the Turing scheme was that it would enable more students from lower-income backgrounds – in schools, vocational training (VT), further education (FE) and university – to take up international study placements, compared with the Erasmus intake. It is also global, rather than being confined to Europe. Schools, FE and VT settings were more positive about the scheme: nine out of 10 (89%) agreed the Turing scheme was “satisfactory” in providing placement opportunities. Fewer than half (45%) of higher education (HE) providers said it was satisfactory, and nearly a third (31%) said it was unsatisfactory. Providers and participants said Turing scheme funding “went some way” towards covering costs, but additional funds were needed. Less than half (45%) of university students felt the funding covered at least half of their costs on placement, compared with 86% of FE-VT participants. The report said: “This was particularly challenging for participants who needed upfront costs to secure housing or for initial travel, which could be expensive. “Many described worrying a lot before funding was confirmed, and then struggling with day-to-day living costs while waiting for funding to come through.” According to the government, more than 40,000 students will benefit from the Turing scheme in the 2023-24 academic year, 60% of whom are expected to come from disadvantaged backgrounds or underrepresented groups. Robert Halfon, the minister for skills, apprenticeships and higher education, said: “The Turing scheme is a real game-changer for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering them with transformative opportunities abroad, a chance to experience other cultures and learn vital skills for life and work.” Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the benefits of studying abroad were not in doubt. “What is in question is whether the Turing scheme is offering better opportunities than the one it replaced – Erasmus+.”

£400m for UK early years sector will ‘buy time’ but isn’t enough, experts say

2023-11-29

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/29/400m-for-uk-early-years-sector-will-buy-time-but-isnt-enough-experts-say

Money comes as state-funded childcare expands from next April but providers say more is needed to stop nurseries from closing A funding injection of £400m into the early years sector will “buy time” ahead of a massive expansion of state-funded childcare in the UK, but will not be enough to keep nursery doors from closing, a body representing providers has warned. Ministers have announced that applications for the first wave of new government-funded childcare offers will open to working parents of two-year-olds on 2 January, and have increased the amount of money it gives to local authorities to pay for the care. The Department for Education said local authorities would be given £67m in new funding for the increase in the minimum wage and £57m to cover pay and pension costs for educators in school settings, in addition to the £288m funding announced at the spring budget. From April next year eligible working parents of two-year-olds will get 15 hours a week of taxpayer-funded childcare in term time; from September the 15 hours will be extended to children from 9 months old with three- and four-year-olds still getting the current 30 hours. From September 2025, all eligible parents of children under the age of five will be able to get funding for 30 hours a week of childcare in term time. On Wednesday, the government announced it will increase the hourly rate it gives to local authorities to fund the hours to £11.22 for under twos, £8.28 for two-year-olds (up from £7.95), and £5.88 for three- and four-year-olds (up from £5.62). Sarah Ronan, director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, welcomed the increase but said the rate for three- and four-year-olds fell a “long way short of what was needed”. “It’s good to see that the increases have recognised the pressures that providers are facing as a result of inflation, it will buy time,” she said. “But they don’t account for the ongoing shortfall in funding that has existed for the three- and four-year-olds for far too long. The rate has increased slightly but is still a long way short of where it needs to be to match the true cost of provision.” Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said nurseries and childminders were still in the dark as to what they would actually receive, as today’s announcement covered the funding provided to local authorities who then decide the local rate. “This makes it impossible for them to prepare for – never mind deliver – the expanded offer, at a time when many will be receiving a deluge of inquiries from parents eager to secure their funded places,” he said. “The policy is a perfect example of the ‘announce first, think later’ approach that government continues to take when it comes to early years. With the start of the expansion, it remains to be seen whether there is any hope of this policy actually working in practice.” The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, said the childcare offer would “make sure parents no longer have to choose between a career and a family”. She said: “I know the delivery of this transformation is no easy task, which is why I am pushing ahead with increased funding rates across the country and up to £1,200 for new childminders, knocking down barriers to recruiting and retaining the talented staff that provide such wonderful care for our children.”

English schools could lose £1bn by 2030 as pupil numbers fall

2024-04-10

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/11/english-schools-could-lose-1bn-by-2030-as-pupil-numbers-fall

School rolls swelled because of fertility surge in 2000s but birthrate and migration patterns have brought decline Schools in England could lose up to £1bn in funding by 2030, researchers warn, with exceptional falls in pupil numbers prompting a wave of closures as some establishments cease to be financially viable. Mergers and closures are already under way in parts of London, where pupil numbers have been falling for some time. According to the Education Policy Institute (EPI), a thinktank, the north-east is projected to see the greatest decline in primary pupil numbers, down 13% by 2028/9. At secondary level, Yorkshire and the Humber, as well as the north-east and London, are projected to have the largest falls in pupil numbers, whereas in other areas, including the West Midlands, the south-east and east of England, numbers are rising. Pupil numbers had grown because of a fertility surge in the 2000s, but that cohort has moved through primary and into secondary, leaving empty seats in their wake. Looking ahead, even with real terms increases in per-pupil funding over the remainder of the decade, the EPI predicts that many schools will suffer funding cuts due to fewer pupils causing income to fall, though costs will remain high. “As pupil numbers fall, many schools will see their budgets contract as a result,” the EPI report says. “However, a school’s costs do not behave the same way. Reductions in class sizes do not bring about proportional decreases in staffing costs, school supplies, energy bills, and the other day-to-day costs of running a school.” It adds: “Faced with this challenge, some of the most severely affected schools will struggle to stay viable. As these schools feel the squeeze, they will be forced to consider alternatives: mergers with other schools, difficult cost-cutting measures, and ultimately school closures.” The pupil population in state primary and secondary schools in England is expected to fall by about 436,000 between 2022/23 and 2028/29. The Department for Education (DfE) projects that numbers will continue to fall by an additional 382,000 between 2028/29 and 2032/33. The decline is due mainly to falling birthrate, but migration patterns have also affected London in particular – with many young families moving out of the city because of high rents and living costs, post-Covid flight and Brexit. Robbie Cruikshanks, EPI researcher and author of the report, said: “The scale of change projected in the pupil population presents major policy challenges to future governments. “Policymakers must carefully consider the impacts of changes to the national funding formula on schools that are most affected by falling pupil numbers and how best to redistribute any savings created by these falls.” The EPI calculations are based on a school funding model which replicates the DfE’s national funding formula (NFF) and allows researchers to analyse the impact of potential funding policy decisions on individual schools and areas of the country. Using this model, the EPI calculated overall funding for primary and secondary state schools will fall to £41.6bn by 2029/30, down from a peak of £42.7bn in 2024/25 even if per-pupil funding is increased in real terms. “As we do not know the overall schools budget for all of the projection period, we use a central estimate of a 0.5% real terms increase in pupil-led per-pupil funding, per year,” the report says. Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said schools were already under pressure thanks to 14 years of underfunding. “Schools must not be left to manage the huge financial risk that this change in the national picture presents,” he said. “The next government must address this grave situation by using the reduction in pupil numbers as an opportunity to improve per-pupil funding – particularly for disadvantaged pupils – rather than as a saving for the Treasury.” A DfE spokesperson said the EPI’s figures were speculative and funding levels beyond 2024/25 are unconfirmed and are subject to future spending reviews. “We are increasing school funding to £60.7bn next year, the highest level ever in real terms per pupil. Every school will receive a per-pupil increase in funding, and the NFF makes sure that funding is distributed fairly based on the needs of each school and their pupils. “It is for local authorities and academy trusts to balance the supply and demand of school places, in line with changing demographics, as they have done for many years.”

UK universities to review international student admissions after recruitment controversy

2024-02-02

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/02/uk-universities-to-review-international-student-admissions-after-recruitment-controversy

Move comes after accusations of lowering entry standards to foreign applicants who pay far higher tuition fees Vice-chancellors are to review international student admissions by British universities, including how to identify “bad practice” among agents employed to attract people from overseas, after controversy over recruitment. Universities UK, which represents university leaders, announced a series of reviews into the use of recruitment agents and international foundation programmes, as well as the code of practice governing admissions. “There has been a significant focus on recruitment practices relating to international students in recent weeks. While many aspects of the reporting misrepresented the admissions process and criteria, it is vital that students, their families, and government have confidence that the system is fair, transparent, and robust,” Universities UK said. Universities have recently been accused of lowering entry standards for international students, who pay far higher tuition fees than UK students and effectively subsidise their education as well as research activities. The University of York has told staff to be “more flexible” in admitting international students with lower than expected grades, while an investigation by the Sunday Times recorded agents acting for universities such as Durham and Exeter claiming that international students with poor grades could easily gain entry via international foundation courses. Durham University described the claims as “plain wrong”. A spokesperson said: “Entry requirements for international students who have completed international foundation years are benchmarked to ensure they are equivalent to those for home students entering with A-levels.” Universities UK said it would undertake a rapid review of international foundation courses, and compare entry requirements with those for UK students. Vice-chancellors said they would work with the government to review the use of agents, and make changes to “improve resilience and identify bad practice”. Universities will also update their admissions code of practice “to clearly state its applicability to international students”. The code currently promises “fairness and transparency” and states that universities will “use the evidence they have available to make informed decisions on applicants’ potential to succeed on a course”. David Willetts, the former universities minister who piloted the introduction of tuition fee loans in England, has blamed the government’s freezing of fees since 2016 for increasing the reliance on overseas student income. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Willets said: “Universities need overseas students to cross-subsidise the domestic ones. The best way to solve this problem would be properly to fund domestic higher education funding, which would mean linking fees to inflation or some other such formula.” A spokesperson for the Russell Group of leading research universities said international students were not taking up places at the expense of UK students. “The latest Ucas data shows domestic student numbers at Russell Group universities are rising faster than international student numbers,” they said.

Ofsted single-word judgments on schools must end, say MPs

2024-01-29

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/29/ofsted-single-word-judgments-on-schools-must-end-say-mps

Committee calls on government to heed widespread concern and consider a more nuanced inspection system The government should stop the use of single-word judgments such as “inadequate” or “outstanding” in Ofsted’s headline grades of schools in England, a committee of MPs has urged. MPs on the education committee said relations between Ofsted and teachers had become “extremely strained”, with trust in the watchdog “worryingly low” in the wake of the headteacher Ruth Perry’s suicide last year after a traumatic inspection. Ofsted had downgraded Perry’s school in Reading from outstanding to inadequate, and a coroner called for changes to be made by the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted in how schools are inspected. Robin Walker, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said: “Clearly there is a need for a rigorous inspection regime. But the bulk of the evidence we received expressed widespread and deep concern about how the system works. “On the now totemic issue of single-word judgments, Ofsted and ministers should heed the widespread calls for change. We urge the new chief inspector [Martyn Oliver] and government to consider a more nuanced system that can provide value to both schools and parents.” Prof Julia Waters, Perry’s sister, described the committee’s findings as a call to action to address the “toxic impacts” of an inspection regime that had damaged many teachers and headteachers. “Ruth was totally committed to her pupils, to her fellow teachers and to her school. The world, and the lives of so many people, would be so much brighter if Ruth was still in it,” she said. “My family and I can only hope that this report and its recommendations will help to bring about the change needed to prevent other tragedies from occurring in the future.” A DfE spokesperson said the department would give careful consideration to the committee’s proposals but offered no hints that it would overhaul the use of single-phrase headline grades. Ofsted rates schools as outstanding, good, requiring improvement or inadequate, based on grades awarded under headings such as leadership and management. “Ofsted’s overall judgment succinctly summarises inspection findings, which gives parents the confidence in choosing the right school for their child and provides a clear basis for taking action to improve underperforming schools,” the spokesperson said. The committee’s report said there was only “mixed evidence” that parents found Ofsted’s inspection reports useful, and quoted surveys showing that a majority of parents dislike single-word headline judgments and that only 8% said they were the most important factor in choosing a school. The committee’s investigation found that the judgments were a key cause of stress for school leaders and recommended that the DfE and Ofsted “work together as a priority to develop an alternative to the current single-word overall judgment that better captures the complex nature of a school’s performance”. An Ofsted spokesperson said it welcomed the committee’s recommendations, and added: “We have started making changes to the way we work but we know more must be done to address the pressures faced by school leaders and staff.” Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the findings confirmed that the inspection regime had “devastating consequences” for school and college leaders in England. “We are pleased that the committee has added their voice to the calls from ASCL and many others for an alternative to single-phrase judgments, which must now be consigned to history once a new system can be agreed upon,” Barton said. Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, said the MPs still failed to grasp the scale of the problems caused by Ofsted’s inspections. “Any model of change must begin by understanding the deep crisis that schools are enduring in respect of workload, staffing, attendance and mental health. We don’t see such an understanding reflected in these recommendations,” he said. “We need Ofsted to be replaced altogether by a system of inspection which is supportive, effective and fair. The inspectorate in its current form is none of these things.” The committee said it expected Ofsted to pay close attention to the recommendations in the coroner’s report on Perry’s death, and it plans to call Oliver before it twice a year to review progress. The MPs also backed calls for a review of how school safeguarding could be inspected regularly by local authorities or by an independent body. Ofsted could then continue to inspect “how well schools respond to serious safeguarding issues and how effectively children are protected in practice”.

Tony Blair calls for drastic increase of young people in higher education

2022-04-18

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/apr/18/tony-blair-calls-for-drastic-increase-of-young-people-in-higher-education

Former prime minister says the UK should aim to catch up with high-innovation economies such as Japan and Canada Tony Blair will call for a dramatic increase in the proportion of young people progressing into higher education (HE) over the next two decades to tackle the country’s productivity crisis. In a report due to be published later this week, the former prime minister will recommend that by 2040 as many as 70% of young people should go into HE, potentially increasing economic growth by nearly 5% over the next generation. Blair’s proposal, which builds on the 50% target he set when in government, is a challenge to the current administration, which – the report notes – appears “increasingly sceptical” about the value of HE. “Far from reaching ‘peak grad’, as some in government argue, we will need many more workers with abilities acquired in HE settings,” the report will say. “We must therefore embark on a multi-parliament drive to raise educational attainment substantially with an eye on the skills our workforce will need not today, but in 20 or 30 years’ time.” Under Blair’s proposal, the aim should be for the proportion going on to HE to increase to 60% by 2030 and 70% by 2040 in line with other high-innovation economies around the world. The target refers to under 30s who progress into higher education, rather than just school leavers going to university. Universities are higher education providers, but higher education is also provided in other institutions including further education colleges. The plans have the backing of Jo Johnson, former higher education minister and brother of the prime minister. Writing in the foreword to the report, which was reported in the Times on Monday and is being published by Tony Blair Institute, he said: “We still don’t have enough highly skilled individuals to fill many vacancies today.” Lord Johnson added: “As we continue to mature as a knowledge economy, more jobs will be generated in sectors that disproportionately employ graduates. High-innovation economies, like South Korea, Japan and Canada, understand this and have boosted higher education; participation rates in these countries are already between 60% and 70%. We cannot afford for policy to remain steeped solely in today’s challenges and our ambition should be to join them.” The government is considering reintroducing student number controls in England, potentially linked to graduate earnings, as well as creating minimum entry requirements for university courses. Blair’s report will warn, however, that squeezing HE participation “will leave Britons unprepared for the economy of the future”. In 1999 Blair made a pledge for 50% of young adults to go into HE “in the next century”. That target was on track in 2017, when half of young people were likely to participate in HE for the first time by the age of 30, with Blair’s target including those studying for vocational qualifications such as higher diplomas. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, welcomed the former prime minister’s intervention. “I think Tony Blair is correct on this. We’ve already hit his old 50% target and we should clearly now go further, given we remain behind other countries and employers are crying out for highly skilled people.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our universities have an important role to play in our education system, but this route is not always in the best interests of the individual or nation. “The Education Secretary has been clear about his vision for a high-quality skills system that meets the needs of employers and our economy, while ensuring we have high quality vocational and technical options that are just as prestigious and rewarding as academic routes.”

Headteachers forced to mend desks and unblock toilets after cuts in England

2024-04-28

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/28/headteachers-schools-england-caretakers-budget-cuts

Exclusive: School leaders say they have had to take on additional role as caretaker because they can no longer afford staff Headteachers are being forced to mend desks and unblock toilets themselves after sacking school caretakers in the wake of budget cuts, the Guardian has been told. School leaders in England said they could not afford to employ caretakers, and were having to change lightbulbs and clear playgrounds of dead rats themselves. Amanda Richards, the headteacher of Sytchampton primary in Worcestershire, said her school “literally can’t afford” a permanent caretaker, leaving her and other staff to move heavy equipment and make emergency repairs to keep the school running. “I’m 53 this year; I’m not built for lifting and shifting, to be honest with you. But there isn’t anyone else to do it,” Richards said. She added: “Just before half-term, the toilets in our new building were blocked. So when that happens during the day, it’s me who puts the marigolds on and goes down to the toilets with the plunger and tries to unblock it as best as I can. That’s a fairly regular occurrence. “With regard to things like DIY or maintenance for the building, we don’t have anyone to do that. So we either do it ourselves, or we save up bigger jobs for someone to come in and do, because we just couldn’t afford somebody to be on hand regularly as a member of staff. “And because we’re a rural school we get quite a few dead animals on the playing field – dead rats, moles and voles. Obviously, we can’t have children coming across those at playtime. “So when you are up to your elbows in the toilets, cleaning up poo, you’re thinking: this isn’t what I signed up for.” A survey of 400 school leaders in England by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) found that Richards was not alone. One in six schools said they could no longer afford to employ a caretaker, while nearly half of schools that did have cut their hours. As a result, 75% of school leaders said they had to “frequently” carry out jobs that would normally have been done by a caretaker. Paul Whiteman, the NAHT’s general secretary, said: “School leaders are already working intolerably long hours, and there is no way we should be expecting them to take on other roles in the school as well. “Some of the things we are hearing school leaders are having to deal with – unblocking toilets, plumbing, moving heavy furniture – are, of course, vital tasks. But they need doing by skilled caretakers and site staff. School leaders simply do not have the time to do them, nor should they be expected to.” A survey published by the Sutton Trust last week found that 46% of all schools in England were cutting back on support staff because of financial difficulties. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are increasing school funding to £60.7bn this year, the highest level ever in real terms per pupil, to support school leaders meet their costs. “Every school will attract a per pupil increase in funding, and the national funding formula makes sure that funding is distributed fairly based on the needs of each school and their pupils.” However, caretakers have become rare in small primary schools, where budget pressures have been made worse by falling numbers of children enrolling, cutting per-pupil funding. Lesley Roberts, the head of Streatley Church of England primary school in west Berkshire, has 100 pupils and said she relied on the goodwill of volunteers and her staff for tasks such as gardening. “It used to be quite normal for most schools to have caretakers, but nowadays it seems only secondary schools can afford them, and large primaries,” Roberts said. “We just don’t have the funding for a caretaker, and while we do these tasks and make sure there is no detriment to pupils, they certainly weren’t in the job description and I’m not sure how many people would take them on.” Richards said Sytchampton school, with 88 pupils, had only herself and the school’s business manager – who is also its receptionist – to carry out safety responsibilities. “I don’t have a deputy; I don’t have assistant heads. I still have to do the same job as a head would in a large school that has all those other people they can delegate roles to, and I have to do them to the same standard,” Richards said. “Having to be dealing with operational things and caretaking duties is a big frustration when you’ve got so many other responsibilities.” Whiteman said funding would be a key issue at the union’s annual conference in Newport later this week, with headteachers highlighting how hundreds of school buildings are “slipping into disrepair”. Cindy O’Sullivan, the headteacher of Gosden House school in Surrey, for children with special educational needs, said its main building was Grade II-listed and 230 years old. “The building and grounds are picturesque, but it is also rickety, decrepit, and woefully out of date, with leaky pipes, a sky-high heating bill, blocked drains, and rotting single-pane windows. We don’t have the budget to maintain the building and ensure children continue to receive the outstanding 21st-century education they deserve,” she said.

Unions call for urgent action on England’s ‘dangerous’ school buildings

2023-02-16

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/feb/16/unions-call-for-urgent-action-on-englands-dangerous-school-buildings

RIBA weighs in as seven unions write to Department for Education over structures at risk of collapse Seven unions have written to the government demanding immediate action to address the “shocking” state of school buildings in England, some of which are in danger of collapse. It follows a call from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for full disclosure over exactly which school buildings are most at risk, and for urgent intervention to shore up those buildings most likely to structurally fail. The letter suggests, however, that the Department for Education (DfE) does not know which schools are at greatest risk, that current assessments are “not thorough enough” and underlying structural problems may go unnoticed. It points to research by the House of Commons library stating that between 2009-10 and 2021-22, overall capital spending on the school estate fell by about 37% in cash terms and 50% in real terms. As a result, ageing buildings – some containing asbestos – have become increasingly dilapidated and are now at risk of falling down. The DfE acknowledged the crisis in its annual report, published in December, which said “there is a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools which are at, or approaching, the end of their designed life expectancy, and structural integrity is impaired”. The risk predominantly exists in school buildings dating from 1945 to 1970 when “system build” light-frame construction techniques were used. DfE officials also raised the risk level of buildings collapsing from “critical” to “critical – very likely”. Labour has been asking the government to identify which buildings are worst affected. The letter says, however, that the department recently admitted that it “does not know which buildings are of concern”, as the building condition data collection exercise was only a visual inspection. “Relying on individual schools to survey and report issues is insufficient, especially given that the asbestos management assurance process (Amap) showed a significant number of schools not compliant with asbestos regulations,” the letter says. “Given the level of non-compliance with statutory regulations observed in the Amap process, it must be assumed that many schools will not be aware of the structural integrity of their buildings, as this is not a statutory requirement.” The unions want to know what measures the government is planning to ensure it has a full and accurate picture, what steps will be taken to eradicate the risk of collapse, and what additional funding will be provided to ensure all school buildings are safe and fit for the future, including asbestos removal. Simon Allford, president of the RIBA , told the Architects’ Journal: “The safety of school building users is paramount, so the government must urgently publish the buildings conditions survey and ensure any buildings with structural safety risks are immediately assessed, interim safety measures put in place, and all necessary works scheduled to an urgent programme. “With so many buildings likely to be in need of overhaul, we hope to see the government seize the opportunity to invest in good design to ensure these vital community assets are fit for future generations.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT and one of the signatories to the joint union letter, said: “This is a disaster waiting to happen, which in the worst-case scenario could end up costing lives unless the government wakes up and acts.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “It is disgraceful that over the last decade of austerity our school buildings have been allowed to deteriorate to the extent that some are at risk of collapse, and the government does not even know which buildings fall into this category. “In one of the most advanced economies in the world it is shocking that many children, young people and school staff work and learn in an environment that is dangerously unsafe.” The other unions signed up to the letter are Community, GMB, NASUWT, Unison and Unite. A DfE spokesperson said: “If the department is made aware of a building that poses an imminent risk of collapsing, immediate action is taken to ensure safety and remediate the situation. “At present, the department is not aware of any school building that remains open in this state and would expect responsible bodies to immediately approach us if this were the case.”