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The press release issued by the Department for Education on 7 April 2011.

This month 162 schools have become academies and a further 473 are in the pipeline. Responding to increasing demand from headteachers the government is also opening the programme up to even more schools from today.

For parents and pupils this means more schools that can focus solely on the priorities of pupils and parents, rather than those of local officials and politicians.

As of today:

• 357 schools have converted into academies since September 2010
• 473 more have applied and are waiting to convert
• 547 secondary schools are now academies – 16.5% of all secondary schools
• half a million pupils now go to academies

In total there are now 629 academies open, compared to 203 in May 2010.

Until now only schools which Ofsted judged Outstanding or Good with Outstanding features have been allowed to apply to convert in their own right. Other schools have had to apply as part of wider chains, working with strong schools.

However, many other mainstream and special schools have said they should be allowed to become stand-alone academies. Responding to this demand the government will, from today, consider applications from any school, including special schools, that can make a compelling case for academy status – looking in particular at:

• exam performance over the last 3 years
• comparison with local and national exam performance
• latest Ofsted reports with a specific focus on ‘capacity to improve’, ‘outcomes’, and ‘leadership and management’
• for special schools, in addition to the above, other success in supporting the learning of pupils with special educational needs
• any other matters that the school may rely on in order to demonstrate that it is performing well

Lord Hill, Minister for Schools, said today:

I am delighted that so many schools have decided to become academies. As academies they can decide what is best for their pupils, parents and the local community, free from red-tape and politicians.

By setting good schools free and improving performance in weak schools we will raise standards for all children no matter their background.

Heads of new academies welcomed their new freedoms:

Liz Cresswell, Headteacher, Brighouse Academy, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, said:

Brighouse High School focuses relentlessly on driving up standards for pupils of all levels of ability. As an academy we intend to continue with this mission and to take advantage of the freedoms to widen opportunity and support raising achievement even further. The freedom from bureaucracy, especially in terms of budgets, will allow us to target spending on the pupils, on reinforcing high standards of teaching and on maintaining a high quality learning environment.

It is our intention to continue to promote the excellent ethos of our school and to continue to serve the community of Brighouse. Academy freedoms will enable us to achieve our aims even more effectively.

Roy Hepplestone, Head Teacher, Whitehill Community Academy Calderdale in West Yorkshire, said:

We are delighted to become an independent state-funded primary academy and look forward to being able to innovate and make a difference within our educational community. In particular we relish the opportunity to be creative with our new freedoms with regards to funding, curriculum development and systems leadership with the added opportunity to support, develop and improve another school.

The future is a bright one for the Whitehill Community Academy.

David Hermitt, Head Teacher, Congleton High School in Cheshire, said:

The academy freedoms are already reaping benefits for the school and allowing more resources to be directed at school improvement.

Kevin Hollins, Principal of Knutsford High School in Cheshire welcomed the decision to let more schools apply:

We are delighted to hear of the government’s intention to expand the Academy programme to schools such as ours. The new arrangements enable schools such as ours to demonstrate their capacity to exploit the potential of academy status and add a great deal to the programme.

In 6 local authorities the majority of their secondary schools are now academies, representing a fundamental shift of control to schools. The six LAs are:

• Southwark
• Rutland
• Bromley
• Plymouth
• North East Lincolnshire
• Reading

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 6 April 2011.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb today announced a matched funding scheme to help primary schools teach systematic synthetic phonics and drive up reading standards.

Primary schools will be able to claim up to £3,000, if they match that funding, to spend on materials which meet the Department for Education’s criteria for an effective phonics programme.

A list of approved resources – including phonics products for teachers and pupils and training for teachers – will be published by the Department by September although some products and training will be available by the end of June. Schools will decide which of the resources will help them to deliver high-quality phonics teaching for their pupils and will be able to buy products and training with the match-funding any time up to March 2013.

The Government is introducing a new phonics-based screening check for six-year-olds so teachers can identify children not at the expected reading level and in need of extra support.

In last year’s primary school tests 15 per cent of pupils did not reach the standard expected at Key Stage 1 and 16 per cent were below the standard expected at Key Stage 2. England has slipped down the international table for reading in primary schools. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of 10-year-olds saw England fall from third out of 35 countries in 2001 to 15th out of 40 countries in 2006.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

This match-funding will mean all schools with six-year-old pupils will be able to buy approved products and training to help them teach high-quality systematic synthetic phonics.

There is more to reading than phonics. But high-quality academic evidence from across the world – from Scotland and Australia to the National Reading Panel in the US – shows that the systematic teaching of synthetic phonics is the best way to teach literacy to all children, and especially those aged five to seven.

Learning to read is a fundamental part of a child’s education and vital to their prospects in secondary school, further and higher education, and work. The new phonics check will ensure that children who need extra help are given the support they need to enable them to enjoy a lifetime’s love of reading.

The check will be piloted in a representative sample of about 300 schools in June. Evidence from the pilot and other policy advice will be considered before the assessment arrangements are finalised.

How phonics works

Phonics focuses on sounds rather than, for example, having children try to recognise whole words.

In analytic phonics, words are broken down into their beginning and end parts, such as ‘str-‘ and ‘eet’, with an emphasis on ‘seeing’ the words and analogy with other words.

In synthetic phonics, children start by sequencing the individual sounds in words – for example, ‘s-t-r-ee-t’, with an emphasis on blending them together.

Once they have learned all these, they progress to reading books.

The ‘synthetic’ part comes from the word ‘synthesise’, meaning to assemble or blend together.

Children who learn using synthetic phonics are able to have a go at new words working from sound alone, whereas those using analytic phonics are more dependent on having prior knowledge of families of words.

Research evidence

In Clackmannanshire, Scotland, a seven-year study of the teaching of synthetic phonics to 300 children found they made more progress in reading and spelling than other children their age.

A 2005 Australian report, Teaching Reading, found:

The incontrovertible finding from the extensive body of local and international evidence-based literacy research is that for children during the early years of schooling (and subsequently if needed) to be able to link their knowledge of spoken language to their knowledge of written language, they must first master the alphabetic code – the system of grapheme-phoneme correspondences that link written words to their pronunciations. Because these are both foundational and essential skills for the development of competence in reading, writing and spelling, they must be taught explicitly, systematically, early and well.

The US National Reading Panel report of 2006 said:

Systematic synthetic phonics instruction had a positive and significant effect on disabled readers’ reading skills. These children improved substantially in their ability to read words and showed significant, albeit small, gains in their ability to process text as a result of systematic synthetic phonics instruction. This type of phonics instruction benefits both students with learning disabilities and low-achieving students who are not disabled. Moreover, systematic synthetic phonics instruction was significantly more effective in improving low socio-economic status (SES) children’s alphabetic knowledge and word reading skills than instructional approaches that were less focused on these initial reading skills… Across all grade levels, systematic phonics instruction improved the ability of good readers to spell.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 4 April 2011.

• New guidance clarifies powers of teachers to search students and use force
• More than 600 pages of guidance cut down to 50
• Top headteacher given new role in Department for Education to improve discipline

Today the Department for Education announces new and clearer guidance for teachers on how they should deal with bad behaviour.

The Department is also appointing a new Expert Adviser on Behaviour – headteacher Charles Taylor – who has a track record in radically improving behaviour in some of the most troubled schools.

Behaviour in good schools is not a serious problem but overall it remains a big concern for parents. Evidence shows there is much to do. For instance:

• Nearly 1,000 children are suspended from school for abuse and assault every school day.
• Persistent disruptive behaviour accounts for nearly a third of all cases of permanent exclusions in secondary schools.
• Major assaults on staff have reached a five-year high with 44 having to be rushed to hospital with serious injuries last year.
• False allegations have been made against one-in-four school staff by a pupil. One-in-six have had an allegation made by a member of a pupil’s family.
• Two thirds of teachers say bad behaviour is driving professionals out of the classroom.

Previous behaviour and search guidance was more than 600 pages long. It left teachers confused about their powers under the law. It also made it much harder for schools to have clear and effective discipline policies.

The Government’s new guidance is 50 pages long. It clearly sets out the roles and responsibilities for governing bodies, headteachers and teachers regarding behaviour and discipline. It unequivocally restores adult authority to the classroom.

The new guidance clarifies teachers’ powers. It makes clear the following:

• Schools should not have a ‘no touch’ policy. It is often necessary or desirable for a teacher to touch a child (e.g. dealing with accidents or teaching musical instruments).
• Teachers have a legal power to use reasonable force. They can use force to remove a pupil who is disrupting a lesson or to prevent a child leaving a classroom.
• Heads can search for an extended list of items including alcohol, illegal drugs and stolen property.
• Heads have the power to discipline pupils who misbehave outside the schools premises and outside schools hours.

The guidance also protects teachers from malicious allegations and strengthens their authority in the classroom. It makes clear:

• Heads can temporarily or permanently exclude pupils who make false allegations. In extreme circumstances they may even press criminal charges against the pupil.
• The default position should be to assume the teacher has behaved reasonably unless a complainant can show that a teacher has behaved unreasonably.
• Schools should not automatically suspend teachers accused of using force unreasonably.
• All but the tiny number of the most complex cases should be resolved within three months and the vast majority should be resolved in four weeks.
• Malicious allegations should not be included in employment records.

The new Education Bill going through the Commons now will also:

• Extend powers to search pupils for any items that are banned by school rules such as mobile phones.
• Stop appeals panels sending excluded children back to the school from which they were excluded.
• Give teachers anonymity when facing allegations.
• Remove the requirement on schools to give parents 24 hours notice of detention.

Charles Taylor, the Department’s new Expert Adviser on Behaviour, is currently headteacher at the Willows School, a special school for children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties in Hillingdon, West London. As a behavioural specialist for over ten years, he has taught every age group, from nursery to 16-year-olds, working in tough inner city primary and comprehensive schools.

His job is to make sure schools put Government reforms into practice and includes:

• Working with Teaching Schools to help ensure best practice is shared both through initial teacher training and school-to-school support.
• Working with existing initial teacher training providers to ensure best practice.
• Working with the police and schools to see how investigations can be speeded up when allegations are made against teachers.
• Working with Ofsted on its new inspection framework.

There are other aspects of Government policy concerning behaviour:

• The Academies programme replaces the management of schools that have serious problems with behaviour and poor results.
• The new Ofsted framework will focus inspections on the things that matter most in schools: behaviour and safety; teaching and learning; and leadership.
• Government policies to reform Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provision will also raise standards of behaviour.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

Improving discipline is a big priority. Teachers can’t teach effectively and pupils can’t learn if schools can’t keep order. These changes will give teachers confidence that they can remove disruptive pupils and search children where necessary.

The appointment of a head of Charlie Taylor’s calibre shows how serious we are about dealing with this issue. He has an excellent track record in improving discipline in some of the most challenging schools in the country.

Charles Taylor, the new Expert Adviser on Behaviour, said:

I am passionate about improving behaviour in our schools and looking forward to my role in putting behaviour at the heart of all the work of the Department.

For far too long, teachers have been buried under guidance and reports on how to tackle bad behaviour. I am determined to make sure I help schools put policy into practice. I want teachers to be able to do their job without lessons being disrupted and schools to feel confident when they address behaviour issues.

Jerry Collins, Principal at Pimlico Academy in London, said:

Excellent behaviour must be the norm in every school if children are to learn in stimulating and challenging environments.

At Pimlico Academy every child is expected to behave in a manner that enables them to engage in an academically rigorous curriculum. All barriers to excellent behaviour are addressed through a no excuses culture and high level therapeutic support.

Other headteachers welcomed the new guidance and powers.

Peter Barnes, headteacher at Oakgrove School in Milton Keynes, said:

The proposals outlined by this Government to improve behaviour in schools show a determination to support teachers and education professionals in maintaining good discipline and order.

Reducing the bureaucracy surrounding school behaviour policies allows schools to control their own agendas and apply what works for them in their individual contexts. It is about placing decision making in the hands of those people best placed to make those decisions.

Dame Yasmin Bevan, headteacher at Denbigh High School in Luton, said:

Uncertainty and confusion create bureaucracy. We need to clear the decks because we’re currently drowning under the weight of all the guidance and regulations. If heads were able to have a clear list of what they have to do and read it would make the job much more attractive. Just hearing about the raft of things you think you need to do can be very off-putting for an inexperienced head.

Andrew Fielder, Principal at Sandy Hill Academy in St Austell, said:

I am delighted to see that the Government has responded so well to our concerns in dealing every day with complex disciplinary and behavioural issues in schools. These areas are getting harder to manage all the time.

The clarity that this document brings will help to reduce uncertainty in schools. It more clearly highlights rights and responsibilities. What we needed was concise, easily accessible support and guidance, not huge policy documents filled with copious amounts of prescriptive and largely irrelevant text. Whilst that may have ticked boxes at the centre, it provided absolutely no help to the schools grappling with some of the most extreme behaviour problems imaginable.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 4 April 2011.

Commenting on reports the cost of school lunches will rise now funding is now longer ringfenced a Department for Education spokesman said:

We make no apologies for giving heads complete freedom over every aspect of their budgets – they know what’s best for their pupils, not ministers. We have protected overall funding for schools in cash terms over the next four years, with the Pupil Premium on top targeting investment at students who need the most support.

There’s been a lasting culture change in school catering over the last few years. Heads know that investing in good, nutritious food is not a false economy – it makes pupils healthier, improves their behaviour and results.

The tough nutrition standards remain in place and we see no reason that quality will fall away. The School Food Trust will continue to give support to heads to raise take up – particularly among the poorest children eligible for free school meals.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 1 April 2011.

The trials will test out ways of making sure that enough nursery places and staff are available in the right areas so that every disadvantaged two-year-old can benefit. They will also look at how 15 hours a week of free early learning and childcare for two-, three- and four-year-olds could be offered more flexibly to help support parents juggle work and family life.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

“High quality early education is the foundation of a child’s healthy development and future success at school and beyond. It’s simply not good enough that children from poorer families are less likely to access good quality early education than their wealthier peers – even though they stand to benefit the most.

That’s why I’m pleased to announce that 15 local authorities have been provided with funding to look at how best to deliver the free entitlement for the two-year-olds that need it the most. We hope that local authorities across the country will learn from these pilots before the scheme is rolled out nationally to all disadvantaged two year olds in 2013.”

In addition, from today a new, fairer and more transparent funding system for nurseries and other early years providers will be implemented in all local authorities. The Early Years Single Funding Formula will require local authorities to fund providers by the number of children rather than places. This will mean that the funding follows the child and won’t be wasted on empty places. It will help ensure that nurseries are making the best effort to fill their places by attracting and encouraging more families to take up free nursery education for their children.

To make sure that funding is focused on supporting children from disadvantaged families who will benefit most from nursery education, every local formula must also include an amount of money to specifically target the most needy children.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 1 April 2011.

Michael Gove has appointed two leaders in social mobility to manage the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) for disadvantaged children in the poorest performing schools.

The Sutton Trust, the lead charity in a partnership with Impetus Trust, will run the fund over its ten year lifespan.

The trusts will be responsible for making sure that grants go to a variety of different projects. These projects will use bold and innovative methods to boost the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in underperforming schools. Bids will be welcomed from a range of groups including teachers, charities, local authorities and academy sponsors.

This new fund draws on President Barack Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ programme. The pioneering scheme invites American states to apply for funding to trail-blaze bold and innovative approaches in schools.

The EEF forms part of the Coalition Government’s drive to improve standards for all. It builds on the Pupil Premium for disadvantaged children, which will see schools receiving £625m in 2011-12, rising each year until 2014-15 when it will be worth £2.5bn. Ministers and the Sutton and Impetus Trusts believe that the EEF will create a lasting educational legacy for hundreds of thousands of children from poorer homes.

Acting independently of Government, the Sutton Trust, in partnership with Impetus Trust, will:

• promote the fund to potential bidders including schools below the floor standards, local authorities, charities, public sector organisations, co-ops, mutuals, and social enterprises
• receive and assess all bids for bold and innovative educational projects on whether they provide value for money, are spread around the country and are deliverable
• work with applicants to develop any promising proposals that need extra support
• attract additional funding, knowledge and expertise on how to raise attainment
• evaluate the effectiveness of the projects that have been funded.

Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, said:

I am delighted that these leaders in social mobility will take forward this pioneering new fund for our poorest children. Few have done more to challenge educational inequality in this country than the Sutton Trust.

It is unacceptable that just 40 pupils out of 80,000 on free school meals made it into Oxbridge last year. Opportunity must become more equal. This is why we must press ahead with our reforms and focus resources on improving the education of the poorest children.

This fund, combined with the Pupil Premium, the expansion of the Academy programme, funding for more Teach First graduates and tough action to improve discipline, will help improve standards for children in our most challenging schools.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and chairman of the new fund said:

The Fund is an unprecedented opportunity to create a lasting legacy to improve the life chances of the country’s most disadvantaged children and improve social mobility. In many ways this represents the culmination of the Sutton Trust’s work, and I am convinced that we will uncover highly cost-effective and innovative projects which will influence the way billions of public money is spent on supporting disadvantaged children.

Daniela Barone Soares, Chief Executive of Impetus Trust, said:

We are delighted to be one of the drivers behind an investment of this scale with such potential to make a difference for disadvantaged children. The gap in attainment between disadvantaged children and their better-off peers results in an impoverished society, and has existed for far too long. We look forward to applying our expertise to develop and scale up education projects so that many more disadvantaged students are able to get the support they need to succeed.

Selection criteria for bids from interested groups will be unveiled in the early summer when the fund will be officially launched. The first round of grants will be made later this year.