Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 September 2022.

Schools are being advised to work in partnership with councils and consider targeted family support or home visits where there are barriers to attending school.

This is part of a package of new and innovative 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.

The Department for Education is also launching a three-year 1-2-1 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.

Schools, academy trusts, local authorities and the government will also have access to a powerful new attendance data visualisation tool is also being launched 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.

With millions of pupils set to return to schools and colleges over the coming days, there will be a renewed focus on maximising pupils’ time in the classroom, as evidence shows that the students with the highest attendance throughout their time in school gain the best GCSE and A Level results.

As outlined in the Schools White Paper, the government is introducing a wide 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.

There are now over 10,000 academy schools open in England as a result of over 100 new academies converting yesterday, Thursday 1 September. This represents well over half of all students and more than four in five secondary schools.

29 local authorities have expressed an interest in setting up local authority-established multi-academy trusts as part of the trial planned for this year, driving momentum towards all schools becoming academies and receiving the support of a strong academy trust to raise standards across curriculum, attendance, and teacher development. The scheme will be carefully tested via a limited number of successful applications this year.

Education Secretary James Cleverly said:

I want to wish all pupils starting the new school year the very best of luck. From making new friends to learning from inspirational teachers, this is a really exciting time for them.

All the evidence shows that being in school is vital for helping pupils achieve their potential. That is why it is so important for them to attend every day they possibly can.

It’s also great that we can mark the new school year with a major milestone – over 10,000 academies are now open in England. The academies programme has been transforming children’s education for over a decade now and I look forward to building even more momentum so all schools can join strong academy trusts in the coming years.

Since 2010, there has been nearly a 20 percentage point rise in the number of good or outstanding schools, reaching 87 per cent of all schools in December 2021. Academy trusts played a crucial part in this, taking on poorly-performing schools and turning them around.

More than seven out of 10 sponsored academies which were found to be underperforming as an LA maintained school in their previous inspection now have a good or outstanding rating.

But there is more to do. New regulations that came into force yesterday allow the government to intervene for the first time in schools that have more than one consecutive rating of requires improvement or inadequate.

This will support the transition of these schools into strong trusts, which consistently drive school improvement.

Sylvie Newman, executive headteacher at Donisthorpe Primary School said:

Donisthorpe Primary School is a good school with many strengths and we have been exploring joining a multi academy trust for a number of years, but choosing the right one has been very important.

The primary motivator is keeping our unique identity but to also providing Donisthorpe with group strength and an opportunity for us to feel part of something ‘bigger’ and to draw knowledge and share expertise.

We will be able to provide opportunities for staff to progress their careers within the trust thereby strengthening retention.

Alongside this, schools will shortly be provided their budgets for free period products for this year, which they are strongly encouraged to use to access the wider range of products expected to be available through the scheme, to help ensure that no child feels the need to miss school as a result of their period and help end period poverty.

Finally, from this month teachers will be able to claim the government’s levelling up premium. This is for teachers of high demand STEM subjects in the country’s most disadvantaged schools and worth up to £3,000 tax-free this academic year, as well as the next two years afterwards.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 September 2022.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 November 2010.

Ahead of Anti-Bullying Week, Schools Minister Nick Gibb spoke to the News of the World about the importance of tackling bullying in schools:

Around half of all children say they’ve been bullied at school and had their lives blighted by fear. And it’s not just at school where young people encounter bullying.

It’s simply unacceptable for a child to be victimised – whether it’s in or out of school, or on their mobile phones, or on social networking sites like Facebook.

That’s why the coalition agreement that unites the government gives priority to tackling bullying and raising standards of behaviour in the classroom.

There are 3 clear principles behind the government’s position:

• we can’t allow any young person to go to school dreading the treatment they will get
• when a bullied child is brave enough to speak out, we must support them – not the bully
• when bullies are identified, we can’t just suspend them for a couple of days and then allow them to saunter back into school to torment their victims all over again

Our schools white paper later this month will put heads and teachers back in control, giving them a range of tough new powers to deal with bullies and the most disruptive pupils. Heads will be able to take a zero-tolerance approach and will have the final say – both in and outside of school.

We will also give teachers the right to remove disruptive children from the classroom without fear of legal action. They will be able to search pupils for weapons, and items like iPods and mobile phones, and confiscate them.

Schools will have revised guidance to make sure they know how to tackle bullying effectively.

We trust headteachers and teachers to use these powers. But there will be no-notice inspections for schools where behaviour, including bullying, is out of control.

As Schools Minister, I am determined to do everything I can to tackle bullying and to help schools raise standards of behaviour in the classroom.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 November 2010.

Michael Gove today announced the decision to scrap the complex and burdensome Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) with immediate effect.

Following discussions with local authorities and schools, there was an overwhelming consensus to scrap FMSiS and develop a simpler standard.

FMSiS was introduced in the early 2000s and made compulsory for all schools in 2007.

Schools were required to meet the standard every 3 years by going through a burdensome self-evaluation tool. Schools, particularly primary schools, found the system required too much documentation and was implemented in an overly bureaucratic manner. For example, it required them to submit documentation to meet more than 100 different assessment criteria ranging from providing evidence that meetings on school budgets were ‘consistent with the deadlines for important financial decisions’ to showing how the school had made staff aware of the local authority whistle-blowing policy.

Last year the Audit Commission said FMSiS focuses on processes rather than achievement of economy and efficiency, and that schools have not drawn an explicit link between its introduction and value for money.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring schools have the right arrangements in place to manage their budgets effectively and so we will now work with interested parties, including local authorities and schools, to develop a new, simpler way of doing this. It is hoped the replacement system will be introduced next year.

Michael Gove said:

We are committed to reducing the administrative burden on teachers and school governing bodies and have already cut the burdensome self-evaluation forms for school inspections. Today we are ending the overly bureaucratic Financial Management Standard in Schools, and we will continue to work with schools and local authorities to reduce the bureaucratic burden further.

Today’s announcement was welcomed by headteachers. John King, Headteacher of Gable Hall School in Essex, said:

This marks the end of a hugely time consuming, burdensome bureaucratic and, in parts, senseless system of checking financial competency.

Claire Axten, Headteacher of Brookside Community Primary School in Somerset, said:

Our experience is that FMSiS was a very lengthy and burdensome process. The aim of FMSiS was to achieve value for money but the process was so time consuming this defeated the aim at the beginning! I am very pleased the government has decided to end the current system and replace it with a much simpler, national standard.

Pippa Dodgshon, Headteacher at Hall Cross School in Doncaster, said:

The system was unwieldy and the process was expensive – a massive burden to schools.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 10 November 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced a pioneering new partnership with China to train 1000 more Mandarin teachers for secondary schools in England.

During a visit to China to build stronger education partnerships with the Chinese, Mr Gove launched the joint programme between the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and Hanban (the Confucius Institute Headquarters). It is to run over the next five years.

Mandarin is an increasingly popular subject choice for young people at GCSE but in England there are currently only around 100 qualified Mandarin teachers, and only 16 per cent of secondary schools offered Chinese language teaching in 2009.

This new partnership will increase the quality and quantity of Mandarin teaching in schools and allow more young people than ever before the chance to study this important language. Increasing the number of Mandarin speakers will help equip Britain’s future workforce with the skills we need to compete in a globalised economy.

Speaking from Beijing, Michael Gove said:

I am delighted to be building a stronger education partnership with the Chinese. There is a lot our countries can learn from each other and we want to work together to deliver world-class standards in schools through the greater sharing of knowledge and experience.

This is not just about fostering a better understanding of China among our young people. Offering every young person the chance to learn Mandarin will help to encourage mobility between the two countries, equip the next generation with the skills they need to succeed, and ensure the long-term success of our economy and society.

Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, said:

China is at the centre of the global economy, and the next generation will need to understand its culture and be able to work in its language – which is why we are delighted to be signing a memorandum of understanding with Hanban to train 1000 teachers of Mandarin Chinese over the next five years to meet the growing demand in England.

This new five-year programme will be co-financed by the two organisations and will begin in July 2011. The programme is aimed at dealing with the immediate shortage of Mandarin teachers and enabling schools to meet the rapidly rising demand for Mandarin teaching. In five years, the supply of qualified Mandarin teachers should have increased sufficiently to match demand, but the situation will be kept under review.

 Notes to editors

1. Hanban is the Confucius Institute Headquarters / Office of Chinese Language Council International.
2. Mandarin GCSE entries across the UK increased by more than five per cent between 2009 and 2010 and by nearly 40 per cent since 2002.
3. Currently there are approximately 100 qualified Mandarin teachers in the UK.
4. In a CBI survey in 2010, UK employers mentioned Mandarin and Cantonese as second only to French as language skills they would be looking for in future employees.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 11 November 2010.

Commenting on statistics showing Key Stage 1 attainment by pupil characteristics, Schools Minister Nick Gibb today stressed the need for a greater focus and emphasis on the teaching of reading and writing in primary schools.

The results are available via the Department’s Research and statistics gateway.

Nick Gibb said:

Though there is a slight increase in the proportion of seven-year-olds reaching the expected level in reading, it is a real concern that almost a third of all Key Stage 1 children receiving free school meals are failing to achieve the standard in reading and writing. Additionally, over a third of boys receiving free school meals fail to make the grade in reading and writing.

Getting the fundamentals right is crucial to a child’s success in secondary education and throughout their adult life, and the Government is committed to getting all children reading and writing to a high standard.

That is why we are promoting the use of systematic synthetic phonics in primary schools and why we are introducing a short reading test for six-year-olds, so we can identify those who need extra help. We will also support the most disadvantaged children by introducing a pupil premium which will provide extra funding for those schools with the most challenging intakes.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 November 2010.

Lord Bew will lead a small review panel consisting of two education experts, a number of primary headteachers and one secondary school head. The panel is due to launch a 12-week call for evidence, following which it will publish a progress report summarising the evidence gathered. The panel will publish its final report by June 2011.

The review will look at a number of issues, including

• how best to ensure schools are properly accountable to pupils, parents and the taxpayer for the achievement and progress of every child, on the basis of objective and accurate assessments
• how to ensure parents have good-quality information on the progress of their children and the success of schools
• how to avoid, as far as possible, the risk of perverse incentives, over-rehearsal and reduced focus on productive learning
• how to ensure performance information is used and interpreted appropriately within the accountability system by other agencies, increasing transparency and preserving accountability to parents, pupils and the taxpayer while avoiding the risk of crude and narrow judgements being made.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has acknowledged the current system can be improved to ensure concerns – such as children being ‘drilled’ at the expense of broad learning – are overcome while the information parents want is still provided.

Michael Gove said:

We know parents support clear, rigorous and transparent testing at the end of primary school, and the OECD has concluded that external accountability is a key driver of improvement in education and particularly important for the least advantaged. So we must continue to allow parents to know how their local primary schools are performing.

Raising standards and narrowing gaps are the central goals of the Government’s education policy. It is not our intention that the accountability system should be punitive or unfair to schools working in difficult circumstances but it must be able to identify and tackle cases of sustained underperformance.

Equally, I recognise concerns from heads and teachers about the current system. That is why I have ordered a review – to see whether there is a better way to give parents the information they want and hold schools to account, while overcoming the concerns.

I am delighted that Lord Bew, a hugely experienced, cross-bench peer, has agreed to lead the review, and I look forward to considering the panel’s findings next year.

The Education Secretary also announced today new arrangements for delivering National Curriculum tests and assessments following the abolition of the QCDA. Working within the Department, an executive agency will oversee statutory tests and assessments for children up to age 14. Its exact remit will be confirmed following consideration of the recommendations of Lord Bew’s review.

Michael Gove said:

It is essential that the statutory assessment arrangements put in place following our review are delivered in a timely and effective way. It is right that accountability for ensuring this rests with ministers, and that is why I am establishing an executive agency within my department that will be accountable to me for the secure delivery of its functions.

As the independent regulator, Ofqual will continue to have an important role, as it does now, in keeping under review the agency’s functions relating to National Curriculum tests and assessments.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 November 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today appointed the cross-bench peer, Lord Bew, to chair the external review into Key Stage 2 testing, assessment and accountability.

Lord Bew will lead a small review panel consisting of two education experts, a number of primary headteachers and one secondary school head. The panel is due to launch a 12-week call for evidence, following which it will publish a progress report summarising the evidence gathered. The panel will publish its final report by June 2011.

The review will look at a number of issues, including:

• how best to ensure schools are properly accountable to pupils, parents and the taxpayer for the achievement and progress of every child, on the basis of objective and accurate assessments
• how to ensure parents have good-quality information on the progress of their children and the success of schools
• how to avoid, as far as possible, the risk of perverse incentives, over-rehearsal and reduced focus on productive learning
• how to ensure performance information is used and interpreted appropriately within the accountability system by other agencies, increasing transparency and preserving accountability to parents, pupils and the taxpayer while avoiding the risk of crude and narrow judgements being made.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has acknowledged the current system can be improved to ensure concerns – such as children being ‘drilled’ at the expense of broad learning – are overcome while the information parents want is still provided.

Michael Gove said:

We know parents support clear, rigorous and transparent testing at the end of primary school, and the OECD has concluded that external accountability is a key driver of improvement in education and particularly important for the least advantaged. So we must continue to allow parents to know how their local primary schools are performing.

Raising standards and narrowing gaps are the central goals of the Government’s education policy. It is not our intention that the accountability system should be punitive or unfair to schools working in difficult circumstances but it must be able to identify and tackle cases of sustained underperformance.

Equally, I recognise concerns from heads and teachers about the current system. That is why I have ordered a review – to see whether there is a better way to give parents the information they want and hold schools to account, while overcoming the concerns.

I am delighted that Lord Bew, a hugely experienced, cross-bench peer, has agreed to lead the review, and I look forward to considering the panel’s findings next year.

The Education Secretary also announced today new arrangements for delivering National Curriculum tests and assessments following the abolition of the QCDA. Working within the Department, an executive agency will oversee statutory tests and assessments for children up to age 14. Its exact remit will be confirmed following consideration of the recommendations of Lord Bew’s review.

Michael Gove said:

It is essential that the statutory assessment arrangements put in place following our review are delivered in a timely and effective way. It is right that accountability for ensuring this rests with ministers, and that is why I am establishing an executive agency within my department that will be accountable to me for the secure delivery of its functions.

As the independent regulator, Ofqual will continue to have an important role, as it does now, in keeping under review the agency’s functions relating to National Curriculum tests and assessments.

Further information

Lord Bew is a cross-bench peer, Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University in Belfast, and a Member of Royal Irish Academy (MRIA). He was a historical adviser to the Saville Inquiry from 1998 to 2001.

Membership of the panel in full is:

• Lord Bew – Chairman
• Miriam Rosen – Former Executive Director, Ofsted
• Ruth Miskin – Founder, Read-Write Inc. and former primary headteacher
• Greg Wallace – Headteacher, Woodberry Down Community Primary School in Hackney
• Helen Clegg – Headteacher, Shiremoor Primary School in North Tyneside
• Kate Dethridge – Headteacher, Churchend Primary School in Reading
• Lubna Khan – Headteacher, Berrymede Junior School in Ealing
• Tim Sherriff – Headteacher, Westfield Community School in Wigan
• Sally Coates – Principal, Burlington Danes Academy in West London

Representatives of Ofsted and Ofqual will act as observers.