developmental continuity between early childhood education and care settings and schools. See Localis (an independent, cross party, neo-localist think tank) has published its on improving the mental fitness of young people. The report claims that “In Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)… something has gone badly wrong.” The report identifies some key reasons for the failure of mental health services being that: too many inappropriate referrals are made; CAMHS is oversubscribed leading to people being kept on long waiting lists; non-specialist mental health professionals lack the confidence and knowledge needed to support young people in the early stages; there is stigma attached to mental health; and looked after children are not receiving the standard of support they are entitled to. To address these barriers, the report makes the following recommendations: the DfE introduces a mandatory module on mental health in initial teacher training (ITT) the government provides guidance on its plans to roll out free mental health training in every secondary school in England schools forums should be given the necessary powers to appoint a lead mental health co-ordinator to encourage a local strategy for services mental health is incorporated in social work training the government should improve school-based services by giving local authorities statutory powers to provide these, retaining 6.5% of pupil premium to do so and revising academy funding agreements to require them to do so NHS England to accelerate their investment in 3,000 practice-based mental health professionals, to provide support to GPs See The DfE has issued 16 to 19 study programmes: guide for providers A copy of this document can be found on the above website, Documents-latest Documents The DfE has issued an analysis of Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England: 2015 to 2016 These figures show the number of permanent exclusions from schools in England increased to 6,685 in 2015-16, up from 5,785 in the previous year. It was the equivalent of 35 pupils being expelled each day from all primary, secondary and special schools. The rate of expulsions has risen every year since 2012/13, with the most exclusions (81%) from secondaries. A breakdown of the figures show the number of primary based
measures. As a result, schools could expect a larger proportion of pupils than usual to get lower grades in that subject The government are reportedly dropping plans to weaken fire safety standards in new schools. Ministers are re-examining changes to school safety guidance and that sections weakening the language around safety requirements – including sprinklers – will be removed. The DfE has published the 2016 School Workforce Census figures. For a summary of the key points, see The number of FSM children in grammar schools has only risen by 0.1 per cent in a year – despite a growing pressure from ministers on existing selective schools to do more, new figures show. OCR has dropped GCSE Film Studies from September The government’s is planning to reintroduce a baseline assessment that would judge children’s abilities at age 4. This would be used as a starting point for measuring children’s progress between starting school and Year Six. But in infant and first schools only, which do not have a Year Six, KS1 tests could remain as accountability measures. Twice as many black and minority ethnic teachers have experienced discrimination at work compared to white counterparts, according to report by NASUWT and the Runnymede Trust DfE figures reveal that only 14 per cent of pupils were eligible for and receiving free school meals in January 2017 – the lowest proportion since 2001, when records began. A document containing the figures states: "Entitlement to free school meals is determined by the receipt of income-related benefits. As the number of benefit claimants decreases, the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals also falls." But heads say that, while fewer of their pupils' parents may be claiming benefits, they still appear to be facing similar levels of deprivation.