News

Funding announced for programmes to address the disadvantage gap

The Department for Education is to continue funding the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) with a new grant of £137 million, enabling the charity to continue its role as a central part of the education landscape for at least the next decade.

The EEF will continue to support the Government’s teacher training reforms, whilst expanding activity in the early years. This will include working as the evidence partner for the Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs, which are due to launch in November 2022, to share effective evidence-based practices with local settings to help boost young children’s development.

The Government is also announcing a further £66 million for the next phase of the Accelerator Fund to increase access to highquality literacy and numeracy programmes in schools over the next three academic years. This forms part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that any child who falls behind in maths or English will get the support they need to get back on track.

As part of this, the EEF will be given up to £41.5 million to continue to increase its evidence around effective programmes, scale-up existing programmes, and support schools with implementation. Up to £21 million of the funding will also support Maths and English Hubs to roll out high quality programmes to schools.

Over the past decade, the EEF has carried out over 200 evaluations to understand which interventions and approaches are most effective in closing the attainment gap, engaging 23,000 nurseries, schools, and colleges in trials and reaching over 1.8 million children, including 500,000 pupils eligible for free school meals.

This funding for the Accelerator Fund also follows a successful first year of the initiative, in which the EEF supported 20 programmes across more than 1,500 settings, including those in regions that experienced significant learning loss during the pandemic.

English Hubs and Maths Hubs programmes also helped to deliver programmes to over 5,000 schools, giving them access to phonics and numeracy programmes. These programmes have experienced strong demand and will continue to be rolled out to additional schools as part of ongoing funding announced today. Schools can contact their local hub for more information.

Areas with high proportions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds will continue to be prioritised for the schemes to help level up attainment.

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AIR QUALITY

Study shows simple measures can help combat air pollution in schools

Most UK primary schools experience levels of pollution which exceed the safe levels set out by the World Health Organization, yet simple measures can cut outdoor and indoor exposure of toxins by almost half, according to a new study from the University of Surrey.

Working with a select number of London schools, researchers from Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) investigated whether putting up a green screen along the perimeter fence of a school, installing air purifiers in classrooms, and organising school street initiatives during pick-up and drop-off hours, improved air quality of classrooms and playgrounds. These initiatives were funded by Impact on Urban Health.

The researchers found that air purifiers in classrooms reduced indoor pollution concentrations by up to 57%, and the School Streets initiative, which stops motor vehicles driving past schools at the start and end of school days, reduced particle concentrations by up to 36%. Green screens at the school boundary reduced some of the most dangerous outdoor particle levels coming from roads by up to 44%, depending on wind conditions.

Prashant Kumar, founding Director of the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) at the University of Surrey, said: “Everybody, especially our children, deserves to live and work where the air is as clean and safe as possible. Unfortunately, the reality is far from ideal, with many of our schools unwittingly exposing children to harmful pollutants. The problem is particularly bad at schools near busy roads.

“Our research offers hope to many who care about this issue, as the results show that taking reasonable action can make a positive difference.

“My simple plea to decision-makers in the UK is this: simple actions speak louder than words. By giving every school resources to implement one of the measures detailed in our research, they could make a world of difference to tens of thousands of children in this country.”

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Baroness Bull appointed as chair of the Cultural Education Plan advisory panel

Baroness Deborah Bull CBE has been appointed as chair of the Expert Advisory Panel for the Cultural Education Plan which is expected by next year.

The plan was announced in the Schools White Paper in March. The full panel will be announced later this year and will include school and cultural sector leaders, and other experts in cultural education. The plan aims to highlight the importance of high-quality cultural education in schools, outline and support career progression pathways, address skills gaps and tackle disparities in opportunity and outcomes. The Government will work closely with Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund on the project.

Baroness Bull has had extensive expertise in the arts, both as a performer in the Royal Ballet, within creative leadership at the Royal Opera House and in governance roles on the boards of the South Bank Centre and Arts Council England. Over the last decade she has also worked in higher education, developing partnerships between the university sector and arts and cultural organisations. She co-chairs the APPG on Creative Diversity.

She has also served on the boards of the South Bank Centre and Arts Council England, was a governor of the BBC, a judge for the 2010 Booker Prize and a member of the governing body of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

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Attendance mentoring pilot to commence this term

The Department for Education is launching a three-year, one-to-one attendance mentoring pilot from this term, aimed at tackling the factors behind non-attendance such as bullying or mental health issues. It is being launched in Middlesbrough this year, before expanding to other areas of the country next year. The pilot will provide tailored support to over 1,600 persistently and severely absent pupils over the three-year period.

This is part of a package of new measures to ensure that more children are in school every day, including targeted support for individuals who need it and improved data tools that will better identify and solve consistent issues.

Schools, academy trusts, local authorities and the government will also have access to a new attendance data visualisation tool to help to spot and respond to issues. This data is supporting the launch of the new, interactive national attendance dashboard alongside the publication of the first full fortnightly attendance data of the term. This is expected later in September and will provide ongoing transparency and vastly improved potential for insight and analysis of daily, weekly and termly trends.

The majority of schools are now seamlessly sharing daily register data with the department, where it is aggregated and presented back in dashboards to schools, academy trusts and local authorities. This enables teachers to analyse attendance with greater ease, allowing issues with individual pupils, or groups such as children on free school meals, for example, to be spotted more quickly.

The government is also introducing a range of tools and programmes to tackle low attendance, including new best practice guidance on improving attendance for schools, trusts and local authorities. The guidance makes clear that schools should provide individualised support to families that need it, for example through referrals to other organisations and services, including councils, and issue fines and other sanctions where absence is unauthorised.

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ENERGY

Unions call for funding increase to address energy price hike

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the National Education Union (NEU) are calling on the Government to close funding gaps and award grants to pay for the increase in energy bills.

According to i News, both unions have ruled out school closures, but it is expected that energy cost increases will lead to cuts to teaching hours and the loss of more teaching assistants.

NAHT president Dr Paul Gosling said: “There’s been rumours of schools being forced to go to a four-day week, but I don’t know a head teacher that wants to do that. Instead, they will keep the school open in the knowledge that they will be in deficit by the end of the financial year on 31 March.

“I had budgeted for a £50,000 surplus in the current year, but with energy costs at least doubling and staff costs going up – and teachers deserve a pay rise – we are now heading for a £30,000 deficit.”

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, added: “The government’s appalling handling of education funding over many years is coming home to roost. The cost-of-living crisis, as with austerity and Covid before it, reveals for all to see the serious challenges facing schools. A huge hike in energy bills will make a bad situation even worse.

“It is in the interests of the whole school community that a major funding increase reflecting the huge real-terms losses over many years is announced by the next Conservative leader – one that will benefit all schools, all staff and all pupils.”

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ESFA publishes updates to Academies Handbook

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has published the latest version of the ‘Academies Handbook’, which comes into effect on 1 September 2022.

Also known as the ‘Academies financial handbook’, the latest version of the document contains new information about financial reporting, confirming the withdrawal of the budget forecast return outturn (BFRO). Academy trusts must comply with this handbook as a condition of their funding agreement.

The foreward, by Baroness Berridge, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System, notes: “First, the handbook emphasises that trusts should reserve places in their governance structure for parents, carers or other individuals with parental responsibilities – either on the main trust board or in local governing bodies. Involving parents in trust governance helps ensure that boards stay accessible and connected to the community they serve and supports robust decision making.

“Secondly, the handbook highlights the benefit of commissioning an external review of your governance, as a stronger means of identifying potential improvements, rather than self-assessment alone. I encourage you to consider a review if your trust is undergoing significant change, but also to reflect on how it could support you more routinely. The handbook points you to resources that can help.

“The final area to emphasise is cyber security. Many of you will be aware of the increasing number of cyber-attacks involving ransomware which are affecting the education sector and others. I know that these events can have devastating effects on organisations and individuals, and the Department continues to work with crime prevention agencies to help trusts protect themselves. The handbook highlights the National Crime Agency’s advice not to pay ransoms, and to approach us if your trust finds itself in the very difficult position of contemplating such a payment.”

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New law to keep uniform costs down comes into force from September

A new law which should see the cost of school uniforms fall comes into effect from September 2022.

State schools will be made to remove unnecessary branded items from uniforms, allowing parents and guardian to shop around or hand clothes down more easily.

Currently, some schools ask that parents or guardians buy their children’s uniforms from a specific supplier which can be expensive, particularly for families with more than one child at school.

The uniform bill was first introduced into the House of Commons last year by MP Mike Amesbury, who said previously: “Families from across the country have told me how they’ve struggled to afford the cost of sending their children to school in the right uniform.”

“Children whose families can’t afford expensive uniforms can face isolation and in some cases, even exclusion for not wearing the right clothes.

“This common sense piece of legislation will now be able to help hard pressed families across England.”

Statutory guidance says that schools should also ensure that second-hand uniforms are available for parents and guardians.

The Children’s Society said it estimates the average cost of school uniform this year to be £315 per primary pupil and £337 per secondary pupil.

The Government say that the law should help families to keep down costs, adding that “school uniform must never be a burden for parents or a barrier to pupils accessing education.”

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Report recommends replacing GCSEs and a change to inspections

A report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has recommended recommended replacing GCSE’s with a new qualification which would involve multiple forms of continuous assessment between the ages of 16 and 18.

In its report Ending the Big Squeeze on Skills: How to Futureproof Education in England, the TBI calls for radical change, and suggests that a new qualification for 18-year-olds could “draw on and refine the principles that underpin the International Baccalaureate”, with a series of low-stakes assessments for pupils at the end of secondary schooling, at the age of 16, “to help inform pupil choice and hold schools to account”.

A series of recommendations include changes to Ofsted’s strategy and approach to focus on safeguarding and quality of school management instead of pedagogy and the curriculum. Replace the grading system – where already 86 per cent of schools are now good or outstanding – with a detailed one-page summary of strengths and weaknesses, identifying what they are so that parents can see a more effective analysis of school performance.

James Scales, skills policy lead at the TBI, said: “Young people in England are receiving an analogue education in a digital age and leaving school ill-prepared for the workplace.

“While pupils elsewhere are learning how to think critically, communicate and solve problems as a group, our system remains anchored firmly in the past. This is holding back our young people and the country as a whole.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the report adds to growing calls for “fresh thinking” on qualifications, the curriculum and inspection “to remove the clutter of over-burdened timetables, reduce the ridiculously high-stakes nature of the current system, and, most importantly, make sure that it works better for all children and young people”.

resources e.g. sets of tests, mind map templates, a particular structure for a worksheet, that you can use throughout the year. It is quicker and more effective to make the same style resources in one go and will also lead to more consistency.”

Meanwhile another respondent said: “Get everything up together before term starts so that you can focus completely on the pupils once they return - settling them in, establishing a happy working atmosphere in your class and building the trust of their parents.”

Over 1,000 teachers responded to the survey on tes.com, ahead of the back to school rush beginning. More than three quarters of a million UK teachers visited the Tes Resources platform every week during the back to school period last year, as educators spent their own time planning lessons. The resources platform contains over 900,000 teacher-made resources to help teachers succeed in the classroom.

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WORKLOAD

Teachers spending many hours on lesson planning during holidays

A majority of teachers are continuing to work for several hours each week during the summer holidays, a new survey from Tes has shown.

Sixty-one per cent of teachers who responded to the survey admitted spending seven hours or more per week working during the summer break, while more than one in eight said they worked more than 21 hours a week. While these figures won’t surprise teachers, they do show that the popular perception of teachers ‘on holiday’ through the summer is a myth.

By far the most common activity keeping teachers busy during the holidays is lesson planning, with 40 per cent of survey respondents saying they spent most time doing this.

But teachers do miss the day to day of the classroom: 37 per cent of respondents say the thing they missed most during the holidays is interacting with pupils.

The survey also asked respondents for a piece of advice for teachers preparing for back to school. Many of the responses encouraged teachers to get proper rest and look after their own mental health ahead of the busy first few weeks of term.

One teacher responded: “Clear the decks during the first week of the holiday so you can unwind sufficiently to enjoy your break. Remember ‘holiday’ is the wrong word to use. During the last week of the break start to prepare yourself for the return so you’re not overwhelmed.”

While another said: “Batch-make similar CLICK TO READ MORE

AIR QUALITY Almost three in four UK classrooms have ‘below standard’ air quality

Almost three in four (72%) classrooms suffer from air quality that is ‘below standard’, according to a new survey asking teachers across the UK about their school’s working conditions. Nearly three in five teachers (59%) deemed a classroom with poor air quality to be ‘not fit for purpose’ – for either teachers or pupils.

Three-quarters (77%) of teachers noticed that substandard air quality caused concentration problems in students, while 53% said performance or grades suffered.

The Air Quality in UK Classrooms Report – conducted by Airflow – asked teachers at 133 schools across the UK for their insights into working and learning conditions at UK schools.

The report found that conditions impacted student health, with three in five (61%) teachers believing classroom air quality is aggravating asthma and other lung conditions in pupils. Ill-effects on health were 55% more likely in cities, where both industrial and road pollution are more prevalent.

This comes in a summer where the UK saw record high temperatures, exacerbating pollution and its effects. Reports from scientists at the EU Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service have warned of spikes in unhealthy levels of pollution around Europe, which are likely to become more common each year. Increased pollution can irritate and inflame the lungs.

Almost two-thirds (63%) of all teachers surveyed said poor air quality is affecting teachers’ physical and mental health. While 31% of those at schools with ‘below standard’ air quality reported that despite requesting improvements, no action has been taken.

However, more than a quarter (27%) said their school is trying to improve air quality, but cannot due to a lack of funding or government support.

Faced with sub-standard air quality, teachers identified the changes they want schools to make, which included replacing old heating appliances (72%), installing air filtration or purification systems (71%), banning cars on streets with schools during school run times (38%), and relocating playgrounds and classroom windows away from roads (32%).

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PANDEMIC-RECOVERY

National Tutoring Programme needs to reform to fulfil its aims

Youth charity Impetus has published a report with a package of reforms that it says must be implemented in order for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) to reach the children who have fallen behind at school.

According Impetus, who is a founding partner of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), the quality of tuition providers varies, and the best provision is still not always available to schools, particularly those that need them most.

Recently, the government closed the loophole that meant schools could use potentially sub-standard tuition. They can now only use accredited tuition partners who have met a rigorous set of quality standards. However, schools are still struggling to find quality tuition. More high quality accredited tuition partners are needed, and it is clear that schools also need more support than the NTP is currently providing to make the scheme work.

The National Tutoring Programme was set up in Summer 2020 to make high-quality tuition available to help those whose education has been most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. These are overwhelmingly young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who were already only half as likely to pass GCSE English and Maths.

Impetus believes that for the NTP to work as it was intended, the Department of Education now needs to explore higher subsidy rates for higher quality tuition providers - to encourage the take up of the best quality tuition.

It also needs to require the new NTP contractors to include a capacity building element in their programme - to grow the availability of quality tutoring. It also needs to make NTP management information available to drive improvements in the scheme, and allow it to develop to meet more schools’ needs.

Ben Gadsby, head of policy and research at Impetus, and author of the report said: “Tutoring is one of the best-evidenced interventions for supporting young people to make accelerated progress but, two years on, quality tutoring still isn’t available to every school that needs it.

“The National Tutoring Programme has the chance to transform the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. But without better data, and the ability to attract more, higher quality tutors, there is a real risk that this potential will never be met.

“Our report outlines the steps that the new contractor, along with the Department for Education need to take to make the programme a success, so that all schools can secure the tutoring they want for their pupils.”

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DBS campaign on making education recruitment safer

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has launched the latest stage of the ‘Making Recruitment Safer’ campaign, this time aiming it at the early years and education sector. It highlights the range of free advice and training available to organisations of all sizes, such as DBS checks and eligibility, to the legal duty to make a barring referral, and how to make a referral.

DBS has teamed up with partner organisations in early years and education who have previously benefitted from DBS support, to help promote the campaign to other employers in the sector. Partners include Early Years Wales, PACEY - the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, Estio Training, and EMP. The ‘Making Recruitment Safer’ campaign initially launched in June 2022 and has previously targeted charity and faith sectors.

Eric Robinson, CEO of DBS, said: “DBS performs a vital role in helping to protect children, young people, and vulnerable adults by supporting employers to make safer recruitment decisions. We are pleased to launch our new campaign with the early years and education sector to highlight the free training and advice we can provide to organisations through our Regional Outreach service.

“This service provides organisations with a single point of contact for all DBSrelated queries and questions, as well as the opportunity to access tailored, DBS training for their staff and volunteers. The team also collates feedback to ensure future improvements can be made to DBS services and processes.”

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