Government White Paper

White Paper ignores poverty, funding cuts and wellbeing

ALL schools to become academies by 2030, higher English and maths targets, and a 32.5-hour school week are all part of the Government’s plans for schools in England.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi’s new schools’ White Paper, Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child, sets out his vision for education.

Central to it is a push for all schools in England to join a multi-academy trust (MAT) by 2030. Local authorities will also be allowed to establish their own MATs. Also by 2030, ministers want the average GCSE grade to rise from 4.5 to 5.

All mainstream schools will be expected to run a minimum 32.5-hour week by September 2023. And every school will be inspected by Ofsted by 2025.

“The expectation of a 32.5-hour week for pupils is a classic example of the Government trying to hit a target but missing the point,” said NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney.

Trade unions, educators and education experts say the White Paper fails to acknowledge the increase in child poverty, to address the attainment gap, the mental health and wellbeing of young people, the retention crisis, or real-terms funding cuts.

n See page 7

Latest Covid advice TUC solidarity with Ukraine

IN advance of the Government’s further relaxation of Covid safety measures on 1 April, the NEU published updated joint union advice. It covers the practical steps staff and education leaders can take to reduce the risk of Covid disruption in schools, plus guidance on how to support medically higher risk staff. Although most school and college staff have now had their double vaccination and booster, there continues to be extreme pressure in schools due to staff and pupil absences. Schools were advised by the Government that not only would they not be able to access free test kits, but that they should not hand out existing stock to staff or pupils. Mary Bousted, NEU joint general secretary, said: “Measures are being relaxed at a time when Covid cases are surging in schools and colleges. We have repeatedly urged the Government to continue with free testing across society, including in all education settings, but these calls have been ignored.” The NEU has published two guidance documents: Practical steps to reduce the risk of Covid-19 disruption in schools and other education settings, and Covid-19 joint-union guidance for medically higher risk staff. Both bring together public health advice and health and safety law. n Visit neu.org.uk/advice/ coronavirus-members

A MEETING of the TUC general council in March issued an emergency statement on Ukraine.

It said: “The TUC condemns the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation and calls for Russia to respect Ukrainian territorial integrity. We join the global union movement in calling for peace, and urge all governments to reach a negotiated solution through diplomacy.

“We send our solidarity to our Ukrainian trade union sisters and brothers and all the people of Ukraine.

“We know that working people in Europe, Ukraine and Russia want peace and we encourage solidarity between workers across borders.”

The NEU executive had met earlier in the month and agreed to express “full solidarity with the people of Ukraine” and with anti-war protesters in Russia and globally. The executive agreed to make a substantial donation to Education International, a global federation of teachers’ trade unions, which has issued an urgent appeal from Ukrainian education unions.

NEU members who wish to contribute financial assistance to help Ukrainian teachers, both those who remain in the country and those who have been forced to flee, can do so using the details below.

Kevin Courtney with TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady at the TUC PHOTO by Jess Hurd

Donations to support Ukrainian educators

n Account name & address ING Bank, 24 Avenue Marnix, 1000 Brussels, Belgium n Account number 310-1006170-75 n IBAN code BE05 3101 0061 7075 n Swift code BBRUBEBB n Reference TUESWU and VPONU

UN Anti-Racism Day (19 March) saw international protests taking place in cities around the world under the slogan World Against Racism and Fascism. In the UK, thousands of people joined rallies in London, Glasgow and Cardiff to protest against, among other things, the Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, Policing Bill, and Higher Education Bill which, they say, attack refugees and migrants, Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities, and the #BlackLivesMatter and wider anti-racist movement. PHOTO by Guy Smallman

DfE backs down over ‘unlawful’ MAT ruling

EDUCATION Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has agreed to withdraw academy orders sent to schools in the Catholic Diocese of Hallam.

The NEU, alongside sister unions NAHT, ASCL and Unison, wrote to Mr Zahawi in February, warning him that letters sent to voluntary aided schools informing them they would be forced to join a multi-academy trust (MAT) were “unlawful”. They said that unless the academy orders were withdrawn, unions would have no choice but to take legal action.

The academisation of 47 schools across Yorkshire and the north Midlands was being imposed by the Diocese of Hallam, which aimed to convert or transfer all schools in the area, including existing standalone academies and existing trusts, into two newly formed Catholic MATs. This was despite 19 of the schools’ governing bodies saying they never agreed to the process.

Kevin Courtney, NEU joint general secretary, said: “This is an important line in the sand. Schools should not be forced or coerced into becoming an academy. There was no justification for these academy orders, and it is right that they have been withdrawn.”

“Strong evidence against the re-brokering of schools from one MAT to another.”

Flawed forced MAT plan

NEU analysis shows that the Government’s evidence for forcing all schools into MATs is “badly flawed”.

To justify the Government’s White Paper policy for all schools in England to join a MAT by 2030 (see page 6), the Department for Education (DfE) published the case for a fully trust-led system. But NEU analysis of the document has shown that much of the evidence presented is incorrect or misleading.

The White Paper systematically misreported Ofsted grades for many schools – claiming certain grades were achieved while they were MATs, when in fact those grades were achieved while local authority (LA) maintained.

The DfE paper also used small samples in order to produce higher results for schools in MATs and failed to report Pupil Premium information for these small samples in a way that was highly misleading.

Kevin said: “Our analysis renders nonsensical the Government’s drive towards academisation in the name of standards. It demonstrates that there is no compelling reason for a school to join a trust and provides strong evidence against the re-brokering of schools from one MAT to another.”

It found 30 per cent of LA primary schools rated Outstanding by Ofsted managed to maintain that status, whereas only seven per cent of Outstanding MAT primary schools do so. It also showed that, if an Outstanding primary school in a MAT is moved to another MAT, zero per cent retain their status.