Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 6 September 2010.

Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, has today laid a written ministerial statement informing Parliament that the first 16 Free School proposals are ready to progress to the next stage of the process and develop a full business case and plan.

The statement outlines the next steps in the process for the proposers and lists the proposals approved to go forward to business case and plan stage in full.

Innovation in Pupil Place Planning

Today I am announcing the first 16 Free School proposals to progress to the next stage of the process and develop a full business case and plan.

We need to reform our education system if we are to accelerate improvement to keep pace with the highest performing systems of the world and ensure that every pupil growing up in this country gets a better chance of achieving their potential. Free Schools form an integral part of the Government’s education policy to improve choice for parents and raise standards for all young people.

The proposals I have agreed to move forward to business case and plan stage today represent a diverse mix: there are parent-led, community-led, sponsor-led and teacher-led proposals; there are faith and non-faith proposals; there are proposals for large secondary schools and for small primary schools. All of these proposals have been driven by demand from local people for improved choice for their young people and I am delighted that so many promising proposals have come forward at such an early stage.

I hope that many of the projects progressing today will become the first Free Schools in September 2011. This is a challenging timescale, and some groups may decide that it is preferable to open at a later date for practical reasons. To support groups in meeting the robust requirements of the business case and plan stage, we will now be providing the proposers that progress to this stage with support co-ordinated by a named contact within my Department. At the next stage, proposers will need to make a fully detailed business case for the new school and set out their plans for opening and operating the proposed school. I will make an assessment based on this final business case on whether to allow a new school to be set up.

The proposals announced today are just the start of our Free Schools programme. My Department has received a number of promising proposals for 2012 and 2013 and we will be making further announcements about taking these forward in due course. New proposals are frequently being submitted to the Department. We want it to be open to a diverse range of groups to come forward with proposals which meet the needs of their local area, and for proposals to progress at the pace which is right for both proposers and for parents and young people in the local area.

The 16 proposals approved to go forward to business case and plan stage are (in alphabetical order):

Bedford and Kempston Free School, Bedford Borough
The Childcare Company, Slough
Discovery New School, West Sussex
The Free School Norwich, Norfolk
Haringey Jewish Primary School, Haringey
I-Foundation Primary School, Leicester
King’s Science Academy, Bradford
Mill Hill Jewish Primary School, Barnet
Nishkam Education Trust, Birmingham
North Westminster Free School (ARK), Westminster
Priors Marston and Priors Hardwick School, Warwickshire
Rivendale Free School, Hammersmith and Fulham
St. Luke’s School, Camden
Stour Valley Community School, Suffolk
West London Free School, Ealing or Hammersmith and Fulham
Wormholt North Hammersmith Free School (ARK), Hammersmith and Fulham (to be known as Burlington Primary Academy)
I will update the House as these projects progress further.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 1 September 2010.

Michael Gove, Education Secretary, today announced that 142 schools have accepted the Government’s offer to become an academy since the Academies Act became law just over a month ago. These schools have made a commitment to work with other schools and share their expertise. This is the first wave of converters in a rolling process that allows schools to convert at any stage.

The running total of schools that will become academies this academic year is 216 so far. The current breakdown is as follows:

• 142 schools converting to become academies: 32 are opening this week and a further 110 schools have had Academy Orders signed which means they are on track to convert to academies over the coming months.
• Of the 142, there are 7 primary schools which become the first ever primary academies to open. The Government has said that special schools will also be allowed to become academies from next year.
• 64 new academies replace failing schools this September plus a further 10 opening by April 2011.

This is record progress; it took five years for 15 city technology colleges to open, and four years for the first 27 academies to open.

Michael Gove said:

This Government believes that teachers and headteachers, not politicians and bureaucrats, should control schools and have more power over how they are run. That’s why we are spreading academy freedoms. This will give heads more power to tackle disruptive children, to protect and reward teachers better, and to give children the specialist teaching they need.

This year’s GCSE results saw academy pupils improving at nearly three times the historic rate of state school improvement.

Heads of new academies today welcomed their new freedoms:

Patricia Sowter, Head of Cuckoo Hall Primary School, Edmonton, said:

With the new academy freedoms we will continue to develop our autonomy and take the school forward in what is an area of London that faces significant challenges and disadvantage. We will now have the flexibility to adapt and extend the curriculum, target resources more effectively, deploy specialist staff and above all build sustainable capacity to ensure continued and long term outstanding educational provision, to best meet the needs of our children and wider school community.

Cuckoo Hall remains committed to supporting and working with other schools to improve children’s achievement. As an academy, Cuckoo Hall aims to build long term sustainable capacity to continue its effective work with other schools, and will seek to widen its impact on overall school improvement.

Greg Martin, Executive Head of Durand Academy, Lambeth, said:

Becoming an academy is so important for us at Durand. We are proud to deliver an outstanding education for our pupils, in an area with one of the highest levels of social deprivation in the UK. The freedom that academy status brings will allow us to deliver and develop a flexible curriculum to ensure that these children reach their full potential and achieve the very best. We look forward to using our academy freedoms to work with other schools to raise levels of attainment across the board.

David Hampson, Principal of Tollbar Business and Enterprise College, Grimbsy, said:

The benefits of becoming an academy will be enormous – less bureaucracy certainly but also more resources which we ourselves will be able to manage. We are very happy to embrace the requirement to associate ourselves with less successful schools and indeed we already have been working with a number of other schools locally and nationally, sharing our winning ways. In fact, Tollbar, as Tollbar Edge, are the sponsors of another academy which replaces a local school in special measures. We believe that we have already demonstrated our ability to run a highly successful establishment and this fantastic initiative will certainly help us to offer even more to the young people in our care.

Dr John Marincowitz Head of the Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, said:

We are delighted with our new status as an academy. Greater autonomy brings significant beneficial opportunities. For example, greater freedom to decide the curriculum will enable Queen Elizabeth’s to secure a suitably academic curriculum that is geared more accurately to the needs of our pupils. Similarly, greater autonomy means we can now ensure that the resources and services we purchase are appropriate for the school and more closely aligned to the specific requirements of our pupils. We also look forward to bolstering the support we already provide to local schools as a specialist Training School and especially Northgate Hospital School with whom we have an established relationship.

Helen Hyde, Head of Watford Grammar School for Girls, Hertfordshire, and President of Foundation, Aided Schools and Academies National Association (FASNA), said:

I am very excited by the new challenges and opportunities that are created by becoming an academy. We will use the freedoms and autonomy to improve the educational provision for our students as well as form new partnerships with schools who would like to work with us both in the UK and abroad.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 26 August 2010.

Latest statistics for spring term 2010 show a decrease in overall absence rates in both primary and secondary schools compared to spring term 2009. This follows decreases in spring 2008 and spring 2009.

Authorised absence rates decreased in both primary and secondary schools. Unauthorised absence rates increased in primary schools and decreased in secondary schools.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said:

The small fall in the overall absence rate in all schools, and in unauthorised absence in secondary schools, in spring term 2010 is very welcome, but the level of absenteeism in schools is still too high.

The Government has committed to tackling the underlying causes of absenteeism, raising academic standards and ensuring every child can meet their potential, regardless of their background. It’s crucial that children are not missing out on valuable lessons that could leave them vulnerable to falling behind. We are putting in place a series of measure to raise standards of behaviour, to put head teachers and teachers back in control of the classroom, and to get tougher on parents and pupils who do not abide by the rules.

We are also introducing the first ever pupil premium to provide additional funding for more disadvantaged pupils so that they benefit from the same opportunities as their more affluent peers. We need to ensure that all pupils have the basic skills of reading, writing and maths before they reach secondary school.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 6 August 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced the go-ahead for a series of new school projects. 33 local authority ‘sample’ school projects in 14 council regions will now proceed in Barking and Dagenham, Blackpool, Camden, Derby City, Ealing, Halton, Hartlepool, Hertfordshire, Lambeth, Oldham, Poole, Somerset, St Helens and Wandsworth.

Another 119 academies – schools being given new sponsors to raise attainment for the most disadvantaged – are also intended to go ahead. Ministers have been working with sponsors to ensure they can move forward with their academies, each designed to raise standards in areas of particular need. The 44 academies at the most advanced stage in their capital planning with Partnerships for Schools will receive capital now. Capital allocations for the remaining 75 will be decided in the Spending Review. Sponsors of these academies will be working with the Department to reduce costs over the next few months.

To ensure best value for money in school projects, the Government has begun working with major companies from the construction industry to help reduce building costs, which, alongside the independent capital review will provide a genuinely robust, efficient and fair system for future school building projects.

As the Coalition Government has made clear, deficit reduction and continuing to ensure economic recovery is the most urgent issue facing Britain. That’s why the Government has taken the difficult decisions necessary to equip Britain for long-term success. In the long term, and following the wider capital review, the Government wants money to reach a local level quicker, so that money reaches the schools that need it the most.

Michael Gove, Education Secretary, said:

I’m delighted that the sample schools and academy projects are going ahead, and I hope that local authorities and schools will welcome this news. This is good news for those schools.

I know how hard councils and schools have worked on these projects and I have been anxious to ensure we can do everything we can, in difficult economic times, to support the crucial work of raising educational standards. Planning for these projects is well advanced and we are keen they should proceed without further delay. I’m determined that we press ahead with the Academies programme and want all those schools identified as future academies to enjoy the freedoms and benefits academy status brings.

We will also work with councils, sponsors and the construction industry to ensure we bear down on costs and bureaucracy so every new school is built in as cost-effective and efficient a way as possible, and I am delighted that they have already responded so positively to this challenge.

Speaking today, John McDonough, of Carillion plc, said:

The private sector welcomes the opportunity to apply its experience and skills to demonstrate how it can reduce costs and improve value for money in the delivery of public sector building projects in the future, and we look forward to sharing our knowledge and experience with the Capital Review Team.

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said:

I am very pleased that today’s announcement means the continuation of all the Building Schools for the Future sample schemes. Schools, local authorities and the private sector have worked hard to progress these projects and this will be welcome news for communities across the country.

Major academy sponsors also welcomed today’s announcement, saying they stand ready to take on more projects over the next few years.

Dan Moynihan, Chief Executive of the Harris Federation, said:

We know from direct and hard-won experience that the current method of getting new school buildings is unwieldy, over bureaucratic and too expensive. We welcome the Government’s commitment to getting better value for money from the process and we are delighted that ministers are pressing ahead with the Academies programme. Academies have a great track record in turning round under-achievement and today’s announcement means more children will benefit from the freedoms and excellence academies embody. We look forward to the programme going further and faster in the months ahead.

Sir Ewan Harper of the United Learning Trust said:

The Government have been working closely with us and other academy providers to raise standards and get better value for taxpayers’ money.

We’re in a position now to go forward, giving more children in disadvantaged circumstances a better education at a faster pace than ever.

Cllr Edward Lister, Leader of Wandsworth Council said:

We’re delighted that all the sample schemes now have the go-ahead. The Building Schools for the Future model has forced councils to waste millions jumping though bureaucratic hoops before any building work could get underway. At Wandsworth we have some very good ideas about how to meet the challenge of ensuring value for money for the taxpayer and are looking forward to giving evidence to the review team in the weeks ahead.

At the time of last month’s capital announcement all projects past the financial close stage of BSF were given the go-ahead to proceed, with other schools earlier in the process stopped.

A further group of schools and academies required more detailed assessment because they were at crucial points of development.

The sample schools, pilot projects in local authorities who have yet to commence wider building programmes, are BSF projects at an advanced stage which had not yet reached ‘financial close’.

These discussions have been bolstered by the positive contribution made by leading construction companies, who have agreed to ensure they bear down on building costs wherever possible over the next few years.

The Government has been clear that the end of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme does not signal the end of new school buildings. BSF accounted for just a third of all the money spent on education capital investments. The Government is committed to ensuring there is a fairer, more effective and more efficient system for allocating capital money to schools, to best meet the need of the schools system.

Last month the Government announced the creation of a capital review led by Sebastian James, Group Operations Director of DSG International plc, to look at all areas of the Department’s capital spending.

The aim of the review is to ensure that future capital investment is better value for money, less bureaucratic and more cost efficient. It will give priority to schools with the greatest need and seek to address rising primary school numbers.

Today, Sebastian James issued a call for evidence to inform his review. Views are being sought from all interested parties including schools, local authorities, construction industry and academy sponsors.

Sebastian James said:

I believe that there is a chance for us all to make a real difference to how hard we can make any available capital work for us, and the speed that we can change the learning environment for our children.

I am excited to be working with a team with great experience and commitment and the views that we can harvest from this call for evidence will be extremely helpful in shaping the thinking for the future. I hope that we will see a strong response from a wide range of people.

The call for evidence runs from 6 August to 17 September 2010 and can be accessed at the Department’s consultations website. The Capital Review Team will report to ministers in mid-September and a forward plan for capital investment over the next spending review period will be produced by the end of the calendar year.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 4 August 2010.

The Chief Executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, said that the Premier League is looking at Michael Gove’s education reforms and could envisage the day when there is a Premier League school.

Mr Scudamore commented:

I can envisage the day when there is a Premier League school or perhaps a sports school in London where a number of sports get together and have a school for elite athletes, whether it be swimmers, runners, rugby players or footballers. We are working with our clubs and we are taking a look at Michael Gove’s education reforms.

If you have an elite athlete why not work on their education? We need coaching, schools and schooling to be very closely embedded for football.

In response to Mr Scudamore’s comments on the Government’s Free Schools policy, which will enable teachers, parents and charities to set up schools in areas where there is local need, a spokesperson for the Department said:

We want every child to have a premier league education and would be very happy to talk to the Premier League about setting up schools in communities across the country, where there is a local need.

We would be delighted if they joined the hundreds of passionate and talented groups that care about raising standards for all children and are interested in setting up new schools.

Football clubs are already linked to a number of academies across England:

Watford Football Club is linked to the Harefield Academy. The sponsors are all former directors of Watford Football Club and the academy is also home to the Watford Football Club academy for young players. This means the talented youngsters have a sound education and all the students at the school benefit from world-class football coaching.

Bristol City Football Club is linked to the City Academy, Bristol, which specialises in sport and is sponsored by John Laycock, former Chairman of Bristol City Football Club. The City Academy, Bristol, is also the home of Bristol City Football Club. Together the partnership has made enormous strides in raising the attainment of young people.

Reading Football Club is linked to the John Madejski Academy Reading. The lead sponsor is John Madejski, Chairman of Reading Football Club. Its specialism is sport and the delivery of the whole curriculum is underpinned by a sporting ethos of participation, motivation, aspiration and achievement. In partnership with Reading Football Club, the Sixth Form offers a unique opportunity for elite footballers.

Free schools will enjoy the same freedoms as these and other academies, which are publicly funded independent schools, free from local and central government control. Other freedoms include setting their own pay and conditions for staff, freedom from following the National Curriculum and the ability to change the lengths of their terms and school days. All Free Schools will have to comply with the admissions code that governs all publicly funded schools.

Ministers welcome applications for Free Schools from a diverse range of groups.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 August 2010.

Dame Clare Tickell is today launching a call for evidence to inform her independent review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Announced on 6 July 2010, the EYFS review is looking at how best to protect young children’s safety and welfare and support their development and learning.

Speaking about the call for evidence Dame Clare said:

I hope those with a passion for Early Years education take the opportunity to respond to this call for evidence. I want to hear from parents, professionals, carers and other Early Years experts about their experiences and views on the EYFS. I particularly want to hear from those who are delivering the EYFS on a regular basis and can advise on where we could make improvements. These views will help shape the future of the EYFS and will be invaluable in helping me to identify the best parts of the EYFS, as well as the parts that may have to change. I look forward to hearing from you.

The review will cover four main areas:

scope of regulation – whether there should be one single framework for all Early Years providers
learning and development – looking at the latest evidence about children’s development and what is needed to give them the best start at school
assessment – whether young children’s development should be formally assessed at a certain age, and what this should cover
welfare – the minimum standards to keep children safe and support their healthy development.
The call for evidence runs from 2 August to 30 September 2010 and can be accessed on the Department’s consultations website.

Dame Clare will provide a final report on the EYFS review in spring 2011. The Government will then consult on any proposed changes before they take effect from September 2012.

 

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 30 July 2010.

A statement in response to public comments regarding academies, free schools, faith schools and the curriculum.

We welcome the public comments made in response to the schools agenda set out in ‘The Coalition: Our Programme for Government’ (which covers policy for schools in England only). Although we will be reflecting on all the comments made, there were some recurring issues we would like to address immediately.

Firstly, we have noted your concerns about the introduction of Free Schools. We need to reform our education system if we are to accelerate improvement to keep pace with the highest performing systems of the world and ensure that every pupil growing up in this country gets a better chance of achieving their potential. For instance, in America the highly successful Knowledge Is Power programme (a chain of charter schools) has extended the freedom to focus on traditional subjects, set a longer and more fulfilling school day, and recruit and reward the best teachers. The result has been that more than 85 per cent of students have gone on to college despite the vast majority of students coming from low-income families, while the attainment gap between black and white children has also narrowed significantly.

Through the Academies Bill, we are now inviting all schools to apply for academy freedoms. We are also liberating professionals to drive improvement across the system by expecting every outstanding school that acquires academy freedoms to partner with at least one other school, so that the strong support the weak in a concerted effort to drive improvement across the board. Where there is sufficient demand, we will also make it easier for teachers, parents and charities to set up their own Free Schools, which will improve parental choice and help to drive up standards for all pupils.

We don’t believe the necessary reform can come from yet more expensive top-down initiatives from politicians in Whitehall. It can only come from giving much more autonomy to professionals – headteachers, teachers, support staff and governors – so that they have the freedom to transform our education system. This means giving more freedom to existing schools but also giving professionals the right to open new schools where there is the opportunity to innovate in the best interests of children. Tackling educational inequality is at the heart of the Coalition Government’s approach so our pupil premium will also ensure that more resources are targeted on the poorest children.

We also noted the area of curriculum was a core concern for many of you and we recognise these concerns. We will announce details of a curriculum review in due course. We intend to give schools greater freedom over the curriculum by restoring the National Curriculum to its original purpose – a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines. The review will be open and transparent and we will consult widely. In addition, we noted your concerns about sex and relationship education in schools and we would like to reassure you that we will be considering this area in the coming months.

We had a wide variety of comments both in favour and against faith schools. On this issue, the government believes all children, regardless of faith or background, should have access to a good education. We believe it is only fair that pupils of all faiths have opportunities to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents. We aim to build a diverse system that reflects parents’ needs and choice and we believe the Free Schools programme helps support this. Where an entirely new faith Free School or academy is set up – that has no predecessor school – the school will be required to adopt admission criteria that will ensure, if it is oversubscribed, 50 per cent of its intake of children will be admitted without reference to faith. This will ensure any new faith academies cater not only for faith demand, but also for broader local demand.

Our draft structural reform plan outlines our key priorities for the medium term. It has been published online and we are inviting the public to view and challenge all of our key priorities throughout the coming year, including dates for completion.

We remain committed to listening to the public’s views and we will be using the comments you have made to inform the vision we will set out in our Schools White Paper to be published in the autumn.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 28 July 2010.