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  • Jonathan Hill – 2010 Speech at the Second Reading of the Academies Bill

    Jonathan Hill – 2010 Speech at the Second Reading of the Academies Bill

    The speech made by Jonathan Hill, the then Education Minister, in the House of Lords on 7 June 2010.

    My Lords, I beg to move that the bill be now read a second time.

    My Lords, the House will be aware that I am now the Minister in charge of this bill, rather than my noble friend, Lord Wallace of Saltaire in whose name this bill was introduced.

    I am happy to assure the House that I too believe that the provisions of this bill are compatible with the Convention Rights and would have been content to sign the necessary statement had I been in a position to do so when the bill was introduced.

    My Lords, this bill will:

    • grant more freedoms to schools
    • give more responsibility to teacher
    • help ensure that standards rise for all children

    Last week we had an excellent debate on the measures contained in the Gracious Speech.

    Re-reading the whole debate over the weekend, I found that there was broad agreement on the need to trust professionals more, to reduce the bureaucracy they face and to give them more opportunity to drive their own improvement and to deploy resources in the most effective way.

    It is precisely those freedoms that the measures contained in the Academies Bill will help to deliver.

    My Lords, I have had very thoughtful discussions with the right reverend Prelate, the Bishop of Lincoln and others about managing expectations for this bill.

    So let me be clear from the outset that this bill does not in our view represent a revolution in our schools system.

    Rather, it builds on what has gone before.

    We can trace its roots to the reforms introduced by my noble friend, Lord Baker, through the Education Reform Act 1988, which led to the opening of the first City Technology Colleges in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.

    But it was under a Labour government that the pace of reform really picked up and I recognise that contribution very clearly. The Learning and Skills Act 2000, saw the beginning of the Academies programme, and the Education White Paper of 2005 built on it.

    I hope I won’t embarrass the noble Lord, Lord Adonis by saying what I said in his absence last week, how much I respect his achievement, and what high standards he set for those who came after him.

    I am happy to pay tribute to him, and to my other predecessors who should feel pleased at the good they have done through the Academies programme and the thousands of children’s lives they have already changed for the better.

    My Lords, I do not for one moment argue that Academies are always going to be the answer. The noble Baroness, Baroness Morris of Yardley reminded us in the debate on the Gracious Speech that many outstanding schools are notAcademies. And that not all Academies are outstanding. She is of course right.

    But, overall, academies do represent one of the best and fastest routes to school improvement.

    They have transformed some of the worst performing schools in the country into some of the best.

    And in doing so, they have transformed the prospects of tens of thousands of young people. In 2008 and 2009, Academies saw GCSE results increase twice as fast as the national average.

    My Lords, it is also clear that the extension of the Academies programme we now propose was what the then Labour Government itself intended to do. In a speech given the day before the publication of the 2005 White Paper, this is what the then Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon Tony Blair, had to say “We need to make it easier for every school to acquire the drive and essential freedom of Academies… We want every school to be able quickly and easily to become a self-governing independent state school… All schools will be able to have academy-style freedoms… No one will be able to veto parents starting new schools or new providers coming in, simply on the basis that there are local surplus places. The role of the LEA will change fundamentally.”

    It has taken 5 years my Lords, but this bill is giving effect to what the previous government intended.

    My Lords, it is worth reminding ourselves why we need reform.

    Despite the best efforts of previous governments, it is still the case that 81,000 11-year-olds left primary school last year without achieving the required standard in reading.

    Half of young people left secondary school without achieving five good GCSEs including English and maths.

    And in the last year for which we have data, out of 80,000 young people eligible for free school meals, just 45 made it to Oxbridge.

    My Lords, raising standards is not simply about structures – that was a point well made in last week’s debate. It is about the quality of teaching – which is why we will build on the previous government’s excellent Teach First programme.

    And at a time of great pressure in public spending we have also prioritised investment in education by protecting frontline spending this financial year for Sure Start Children’s Centres, for 16-19 learning and, of course, for schools.

    But we do believe that giving schools and teachers more freedoms will help them do the job they came into teaching to do.

    This bill will give all schools – including, for the first time, primary schools and special schools– the opportunity to apply to apply to become an academy.

    I want to stress the word ‘opportunity’. This is largely a permissive bill rather than a coercive one.

    And it will help schools right across the spectrum, from the very worst to the very best.

    Schools already rated as outstanding by Ofsted may have their applications fast-tracked, and open this year if they wish to.

    In return, we will expect every outstanding school which acquires academy freedoms to partner with at least one other school to raise performance across the system.

    Schools that are really struggling, my Lords, will see government intervention.

    There has always been a focus in the academies programme on the weakest schools, and that will continue.

    The Bill will allow the Secretary of State, in circumstances where a school is struggling, to remove a school from the control of the local authority and to reopen it as an academy.

    This will mean that we can deliver faster and deeper improvements in deprived and disadvantaged areas.

    And for the schools in between, my Lords – those that are doing well but could do better – academies will present a real opportunity to achieve excellent results through the core freedoms that all academies enjoy: making their own decisions about the curriculum, teachers’ pay, the length of the school day and how they spend the money currently spent on their behalf by local government.

    But, again, it will be for head teachers, governing bodies and school trustees to decide whether or not to apply.

    My Lords, I was struck by this sentence in the speech made by the noble Baroness, Baroness Morgan of Drefelin last week: “There is a good argument for successful schools being given more managerial autonomy and flexibility, provided that that is on the basis of fair admissions, fair funding and a recognition of their wider school improvement responsibilities.”

    I thought that was a very fair statement and summed up what we are trying to achieve with this bill very well.

    This bill will not just help a small proportion of pupils in leafy suburbs – the original focus of the academies programme on underperformance and deprivation will remain a key feature.

    This bill will not allow a small number of schools to float free above the rest of the state school system – it will help all schools improve standards by increasing the number of heads inspiring heads and teachers learning fromteachers through greater partnerships between schools.

    This bill will not impinge upon a school’s unique ethos or religious character if it becomes an Academy – we want to give schools greater freedoms, and the preservation of a school’s unique ethos will be an important consideration in deciding whether or not to apply for academy status.

    That is also why the legislation ensures that for foundation schools and voluntary schools with a foundation, consent must be gained from the trustees of the school’s foundation before the school can apply to become an academy.

    This bill does not provide a back-door to selection – while the small number of schools that are currently selective will be able to keep their selective status, if they choose to become an Academy, non-selective schools will not be able suddenly to become selective. A fair and open admissions policy will mean that intakes at academies will be diverse, inclusive and drawn from the local community.

    And we will aim to ensure that the position with maintained special schools is mirrored – we want a special school that converts to an academy still only to take children with statements.

    The bill will not disadvantage any maintained school financially, nor will there be extra funding going to academies that maintained schools will not get.

    Finally my Lords, this bill will not create a two-tier schools system. Indeed, we believe that it will help close the gap in our current system.

    And most importantly of all, while it is not catered for in the bill currently before you for consideration, we will also target resources on the poorest through a new pupil premium. That will take money from outside the schools budget to make sure that those teaching the children most in need get extra resources, for example to deliver smaller class sizes, more one-to-one tuition, longer school days and more extra-curricular activities.

    In concluding, my Lords, may I update you on the response we have received from schools so far.

    In a little over a week, over one thousand one hundred schools have expressed an interest in applying for academy freedoms.

    More than 620 outstanding schools – including over 250 outstanding primaries and over half of the outstandi ng secondaries – have expressed their interest, along with more than 50 special schools.

    So there seems to be a real demand for the measures in this bill.

    Our aim is to meet it and to ensure that:

    • heads and teachers have the freedoms they want and need
    • parents have the choice of a good local school
    • a child’s background does not dictate whether they succeed

    I know that this is a vision that is shared on all sides of this House.

    My Lords, I am pleased to present this bill for your consideration.

    And I beg move that the bill be now read for a second time.

  • PRESS RELEASE : SEN support staff – £500,000 scholarship scheme launched

    PRESS RELEASE : SEN support staff – £500,000 scholarship scheme launched

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 18 April 2012.

    Hundreds of school support staff are to get degree-level and specialist training in helping children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), under a new £500,000 programme set out today by Children’s Minister Sarah Teather.

    The annual SEN support scholarship programme will provide up to £2,000 each to boost the skills of talented teaching assistants and school staff who work with children with SEND. The scholarship cash will fund staff through rigorous, specialist courses and qualifications.

    ‘Support and aspiration’ the SEN green paper published in March last year, set out major reforms to develop the expertise and expert knowledge of the wider school workforce – so the most vulnerable children have their needs identified early and get the specialist help they need.

    The green paper pointed to evidence that in many schools, pupils with SEND were left to be supported ‘almost exclusively’ by teaching assistants – risking children becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the class and classroom teachers.

    It said the best schools proved that highly-skilled support staff could be crucial in raising standards – if they were trained, supported, deployed and managed effectively – and it proposed a national scholarship scheme to send a clear message that high-level professional development should the norm throughout a support staff career.

    Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

    This is about getting the best from all school staff. These scholarships identify and train talented professionals, with the potential to develop their specialist knowledge further and pursue a teaching career in the future if they want.

    We know that support staff can make a real difference to the achievement of pupils with SEN and disabilities. They are never a substitute for a qualified teacher – but we know that when used effectively, they are vital to giving the most vulnerable pupils the support they need to get the most out of school.

    These pupils need more, not less, time with the schools’ best teachers. Our green paper sets out a clear reform programme to raise the quality of SEN education and support across the board.

    The scholarship programme will fund 50% of the total course costs – up to a ceiling of £2,000 each.

    There will be a competitive application process, open to support staff who hold A level or equivalent qualifications or hold higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) status. It will fund staff to take a wider range of degree-level equivalent qualifications and specialist diplomas in specific impairments such as in dyslexia or autism.

    Applications will open on 30 April and close on 17 May, with the first scholarships awarded later this year.

    This new fund for support staff scholarships is in addition to the national scholarship fund for teachers which opens its second round this month.

    The minister also today confirmed funding in the academic year 2012 to 2013 to train 1,000 new special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) through the master’s-level National Award for SEN Coordination – on top of almost 9000 training places funded to date since September 2009.

    This year the scheme has also been extended to include qualified teachers working in pupil referral units, to support improved SEN provision, following the government’s behaviour expert Charlie Taylor’s recent review into the quality of alternative provision.

    SENCOs are teachers with specialist qualifications who play a lead role in a particular school on planning and delivering provision for pupils with additional needs.

    SENCOs work with senior leaders and other teachers to:

    • identify pupils in need of more help
    • advise on the most effective provision
    • liaise with outside specialist agencies
    • oversee the delivery of targeted help for pupils with SEN
  • PRESS RELEASE : Primary school absence – government adviser calls for crackdown [April 2012]

    PRESS RELEASE : Primary school absence – government adviser calls for crackdown [April 2012]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 16 April 2012.

    • Publishing reception absence data to help schools intervene earlier.
    • Overhaul of fine system for school absence to make it more effective.
    • Strengthening of the rules around term-time holidays
    • Extension of Charlie Taylor’s appointment as government adviser. Charlie Taylor, the government’s expert adviser on behaviour, today called for a crackdown on primary school absence to make sure it is not a problem later on in life.

    Latest figures show that almost 400,000 pupils miss 15% of schooling a year – the equivalent of having a month off school.

    Evidence shows that as children move up through the school system from primary school onwards, the number of children who are persistently absent grows – most significantly in the final years of secondary school.

    By the time children have reached their mid-teens it becomes more difficult for parents and schools to get them to attend. Much of the work these children miss when they are off school is never made up, leaving them at a considerable disadvantage for the remainder of their school career. The majority of children whose parents are taken to court for poor attendance are in Years 10 and 11, but by this time it is often too late to solve the attendance problems.

    Currently there is no nationally collected data on children’s attendance in nursery and reception, as school is not mandatory at this age. This means schools are not held to account for pupils’ attendance until they reach the age of five. Many schools do not take measures to improve attendance until their pupils reach statutory school age, but for some children this is already too late.

    Children with low attendance in the early years are also more likely to come from the poorest backgrounds. These children are likely to start school already behind their peers, particularly in their acquisition of language and their social development.

    Charlie Taylor has called for:

    • the government to publish data on attendance in reception along with local and national averages and this is considered when Ofsted inspects
    • primary schools analyse their data on attendance and quickly pick up on children who are developing a pattern of absence
    • primary schools focussing on supporting parents in nursery and reception who are failing to get their children to school.

    Having worked in some of London’s toughest schools, Charlie Taylor was commissioned by Education Secretary Michael Gove to look at the issue of school attendance in the wake of the summer riots last year.

    Publishing his independent review – ‘Improving attendance at school’ – he said:

    School attendance has been steadily improving in the last few years, but there were still 54 million days of school missed last year.

    Schools are aware of the consequences of poor attendance on their pupils’ attainment. Some schools go to great lengths to tackle attendance issues, and to see the absence rates decreasing is very promising. But more work needs to be done to reduce the number of pupils who are still persistently absent.

    The earlier schools address poor attendance patterns, the less likely it is that they will become a long term issue. The best primary schools realise this and take a rigorous approach to poor attendance from the very start of school life.

    There is also clear evidence of a link between poor attendance at school and low levels of achievement. Of pupils who miss between 10% and 20% of school, only 35% achieve 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and maths. But 73% of pupils who attend 95% of school achieve this.

    The government has already taken action to improve school attendance. Last year, the government lowered the threshold at which children are defined as persistently absent to 15% or more of school time, so that schools could step in to tackle absence sooner – before the problem really takes hold. Previously, children who missed 20% of school were considered persistent absentees.

    The main recommendations from the independent review, which the government has accepted, include:

    • Making data on attendance in reception classes available along with local and national averages – this fits with the government’s policy of giving as much information as possible about school performance.
    • Publishing national statistics on attendance for the whole year not just up until half term in the summer, as is currently the case. The exception to this would be for Year 11.
    • Asking Ofsted to set specific, timed targets for improving attendance in schools where it is low.
    • Encouraging all primary schools to analyse their data on attendance so that they can quickly pick up on children who are developing a pattern of absence including in nursery and reception.
    • Whilst there should be no outright ban on term-time holidays and with headteachers having the discretion, the government should toughen up the rules. If children are taken away for a two week holiday every year and have an average number of days off for sickness and appointments, then by the time they leave at 16 they will have missed an entire year of their schooling.

    The government will in due course amend the Pupil Registration Regulations to make clear that schools should only give permission where there are exceptional circumstances. The latest figures show that term-time holidays remain a major reason for absence.

    Parental sanctions for school absence

    One of the last resorts for schools to deal with absence problems is to issue fines to parents. Currently if a headteacher decides to impose a fine, the parent has 28 days to pay a fine of £50; if they fail then it is doubled. After 42 days if the parent has not paid then the local authority has to withdraw the penalty notice, with the only further option being for local authorities to prosecute parents for the offence.

    More than 32,600 penalty notices for school absence were issued to parents last year, and more than 127,000 have been issued since introduction in 2004. However, around half went unpaid or were withdrawn.

    Whilst independent research shows that over three-quarters (79%) of local authorities said that penalty notices were ‘very successful’ or ‘fairly successful’ in improving school attendance, local authorities feel court action is often a long-winded process that achieves very little.

    In 2010, out of 9,147 parents found guilty by the courts, only 6,591 received a fine or a more serious sanction. The average fine imposed by the court was £165. Education Welfare Officers report that, within certain groups of parents, the word has spread that prosecution for poor attendance is a muddled process in which there is a good chance of getting off without sanction.

    Fines for school absence were introduced by the previous government in 2004 and the levels of the fines have not been revised since then. In comparison to other offences, the fines for school absence are relatively low:

    • Parking fines range from £80 to £130 and if paid within 14 days it is reduced by 50%.
    • Speeding fines are £60 if paid within 28 days plus three points added to your driving licence, after which it doubles to £120 and registered in court as a fine.
    • Littering, graffiti and flyposting offences attract fines up to £80, reduced if paid within a certain timeframe.

    Charlie Taylor has recommended a toughening up of the system by increasing the fines. The government has accepted this recommendation and from September 2012, headteachers will be able to impose a fine of £60 (a £10 increase) on parents whom they consider are allowing their child to miss too much school without a valid reason. If they fail to pay within 28 days it will double to £120 (a £20 increase), to be paid within 42 days.

    Charlie Taylor has also recommended that once the fine has doubled, the money should be recovered automatically from child benefit. Parents who do not receive child benefit and fail to pay fines would have the money recovered through county courts.

    Charlie Taylor said:

    We know that some parents simply allow their children to miss lessons and then refuse to pay the fine. It means the penalty has no effect, and children continue to lose vital days of education they can never recover.

    Recouping the fines through child benefit, along with other changes to the overall system, will strengthen and simplify the system. It would give head teachers the backing they need in getting parents to play their part.

    The government will consider this recommendation further and work with other government departments to explore ways to make the payment of penalty notices swift and certain.

    Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove, responding to the report, said:

    We must do everything to improve school attendance so that all children benefit from good teaching. Successive governments have focussed overwhelmingly on tackling truancy amongst older children. We now need a fundamental change in approach.

    Improving the attendance of younger children at primary school will reduce the number who develop truancy problems when they are older.

    We must also equip schools to tackle the minority of parents who do not heed that message. Sanctions are most likely to work if their effect is immediate and if they are simple to administer. I agree that the current penalty notice scheme should be simplified. I will work with my colleagues in the Government to explore ways to make the payment of penalty notices swift and certain.

    Extension of Charlie Taylor’s appointment

    The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, has also today extended the appointment of Charlie Taylor as the Government expert adviser on behaviour for a further year.

  • Nick Gibb – 2012 Speech to the Grammar School Heads Association

    Nick Gibb – 2012 Speech to the Grammar School Heads Association

    The speech made by Nick Gibb, the then Education Minister, in London on 16 April 2012.

    Thank you Barry. I’m delighted to be here today and grateful to the Association for inviting me back to its annual conference this year.

    On the way over, I was pondering what Dr Pettit, the inspirational, and to me as a young 12-year-old, very scary headteacher at Maidstone Grammar in the early 1970s, would have said if he’d known any the pupils in my class had been interested enough in education to become a schools’ minister.

    I suspect he would have greeted the news with a certain wide-eyed amazement…

    Fortunately however, we did all get a little older and wiser. And I’ve certainly never forgotten the enormous debt of gratitude I owe to the school, for which I have only the very fondest memories.

    So, I wanted to start by thanking the Grammar School Heads Association for inviting me along to speak at the conference for a second year running – and for all its support over the last year. I’m looking forward to my next meeting with Roy, Barry and Simon in a few weeks’ time and I’m sure, as always, that your advice will be good advice. I’ll let you know if it isn’t ….

    Second, let me thank the 164 grammar school heads and their staff for the wonderful work they are doing, and have done. Their results over the past year have been incredibly strong. But more importantly, the quality and standard of education is world class.

    Last year alone, around 1,050 grammar school pupils were studying at Oxford or Cambridge after taking A levels in 2008;

    98% of pupils in grammar schools achieved 5 or more GCSEs at Grades A* to C, including English and Maths, compared to 55% of pupils nationally.

    And an incredible 95.6% of grammar school pupils who were eligible for free school meals, achieved 5 or more GCSEs at Grades A* to C, compared to just 30.9% nationally.

    That gap between the overall figure of 98.4% and the free school meal figure of 95.6%, which is just 2.8%, contrasts very sharply with the national figure.

    Last year, 55% achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and maths. But the free school meal figure was just 31% – and that gap of 24 percentage points has remained stubbornly constant over recent years.

    It is a disparity in outcome that we want closed – or at the very least brought closer to the 2.4% gap that grammar schools have achieved – for the very simple reason that reducing the attainment gap between pupils from rich and poor backgrounds is an absolutely key moral objective of the coalition government in general, and of Michael Gove in particular.

    The million dollar question of course, is how you achieve that moral objective? And if you look to the example of grammar schools, you see the answer comes from a combination of high standards and ambition. Essentially, it boils down to the old grammar school ethos of placing ‘no limit on achievement’.

    For example, we know that grammar schools don’t measure performance by the percentage of their pupils gaining 5 C grades. They’ve developed their own indicators that focus on the percentage of students gaining 5 As and even 8 As. As a result of which, it’s not uncommon for headteachers to see every single one of their pupils achieving the 5 A* benchmark.

    Quite clearly, there’s a very serious lesson to be taken from this and applied more widely. And that’s why the ‘no limit on achievement’ ethos, is one that’s now absolutely critical to the government’s own blueprint for education reform.

    Like grammar schools we want to be unashamedly ambitious on behalf of pupils locally; we want to spread opportunity more equally nationally; and we want to match (or better) the very best schools internationally.

    Now, in one sense of course, there is nothing radical about any of this. For many years, the UK marked itself out as one of the world’s top education performers by fostering exactly those kinds of high standards. Lofty expectations were placed on every child. Standards of behaviour were properly enforced. There was no embarrassment attached to high performance.

    Even today, we have many exceptional schools and teachers in this country who work extremely hard towards achieving these goals – some of the very best in the world in fact – but we also know that many comprehensive schools are struggling to work in what is (at times) an almost unworkable system of bureaucracy and central control.

    As a result, we’ve fallen back in the PISA international education rankings: from 4th to 16th in science; 7th to 25th in literacy; and from 8th to 28th in maths – meaning our 15-year-olds are 2 years behind their Chinese peers in maths; and a full year behind teenagers in Korea and Finland in reading.

    When the US Education Secretary Arne Duncan saw a similar story unfolding in America’s own PISA rankings, he made the point that the States was ‘being out-educated’. And here in the UK – exactly the same holds true. We’re being out-educated and out-thought by more ambitious education systems.

    In and of itself of course, this is a hugely worrying trend. But it is made almost a 100 times worse by the fact that our education system has also become one of the most stratified, and unfair in the developed world.

    Only last week, the OECD told us that pupils from poor backgrounds in the UK were less likely to escape disadvantage than students from countries like Mexico and Tunisia – coming 28th out of 35 leading nations.

    This was, I thought, a truly worrying report from the OECD. No-one wants to see the UK transformed from a land of opportunity to one of social stagnation. But the fact is, too many children, especially from the poorest backgrounds, are now getting a very raw deal indeed.

    We’re not introducing enough of them to the best that’s been thought and written; we’re not equipping them to compete against their peers around the world; we can’t even say we’re preparing them to enter the UK workforce. Only last month, the CBI’s annual education and skills’ survey showed almost half of top employers are having to invest in remedial training for school and college leavers.

    Even in the best of times, this kind of backtracking would be unsustainable.

    But the fact is, pupils today are being taught and studying at a time of unprecedented competition. We’ve just been through the worst financial crisis since 1929. Our economy is weighed down by a huge debt burden. Technology is moving faster than most of us can keep pace with, and there has been an unprecedented shift in political and economic power towards Asia.

    This leaves us with the obvious question: how do you match the success of places like Asia and make sure you’re not treading water for another 10 years?

    Leading experts like Sir Michael Barber and organizations like the OECD and McKinsey, have shown us time and again that the top performing nations have several key attributes in common:

    First, they value and respect their teachers and employ the very best people in their classrooms;

    Second, they step back and let schools get on with it, free from bureaucratic control;

    Third, they encourage collaboration between schools;

    And fourth, they hold schools to account in an intelligent way.

    These themes formed the basis of our White Paper last November: The Importance of Teaching – and today, I’d like to say a little about each of them – and pick out specifically where I hope grammar schools can lead improvement across the maintained sector.

    First – we want to get the best graduates into teaching by funding the doubling of Teach First over the course of this Parliament, and by expanding the Future Leaders and Teaching Leaders programmes, which provide superb professional development for the future leaders of some of our toughest schools.

    In addition, we’ll shortly be publishing our strategy for initial teacher training. This will set out our commitment to restoring the status of the profession by toughening up the recruitment process, and ensuring that all new entrants have a real depth of knowledge in their subject.

    Not only this, but we will also explore how excellent schools, including grammar schools, can be more involved in both initial training and the provision of professional development.

    Perhaps most exciting though, is the development of Teaching Schools. Where we have had more than 1,000 expressions of interest and 300 applications have already been received. And I know grammar schools themselves have been amongst the keenest to express their interest. In much the same way, I know many grammar schools are now already sponsoring academies or supporting local schools to improve standards. Transporting their own ambition and high standards out into their local communities, and helping to raise aspirations. While I know many more grammar schools have taken the step of actually converting to become academies. As of the 10th June this year, there were some 89 designated maintained grammar schools, plus 75 grammar schools, that had converted to academy status.

    Many of these will be supporting other schools in the local areas. And I know still more are involved in helping other schools on a less formal basis. So, for example, operating an exchange of staff, working with students and supporting school leadership.

    In fact, Barry has told me that 98% of grammar school headteachers are working on major partnership activities to support the work of other secondary schools and primary schools.

    A brilliant achievement, and we’re very keen to encourage exactly this kind of collaboration both through the new converter academies, which have, between them, agreed to support over 700 other schools and through the doubling of the National and Local Leaders of Education programmes to support fellow heads.

    But of course, we do understand that great teachers and collaboration between schools cannot raise standards on their own, if they are then bedeviled by the kind of bureaucracy that constricts achievement.

    In opposition, we counted the number of pages of guidance sent to schools in one 12 month period as coming to an incredible 6,000 pages. Twice the complete works of Shakespeare – but not as interesting.

    So, we’ve been systematically cutting down on the red tape headteachers and their staff have to deal with – to the point where departmental guidance will have been more than halved over the coming months.

    For example, we’re slimming down the national curriculum; scrapping the self evaluation form; reducing the behaviour and bullying guidance from some 600 pages to 50; we’re focusing Ofsted inspections on teaching; closing down quangos; and – of course – we’re in the process of cutting down, and consulting on the massively complex admissions and appeal codes.

    That consultation comes to an end on the 19th August, with the department then publishing its official response to the consultation in September.

    Without pre-empting its findings, I can assure you there are currently no new policy proposals specifically focusing on the areas of academic selection or grammar schools themselves.

    But, subject to the consultation, the Association’s schools would be able to take advantage of crucial freedoms such as:

    in-year coordination – which removes the requirement on local authorities to co-ordinate in-year admissions

    published admissions numbers – where we want to make it easier for popular schools to expand

    consultation – which would mean admission authorities only have to consult on admission arrangements every seven years (rather than three) when they are not making any changes

    and the pupil premium – which will allow academies and free schools to prioritise children from the poorest backgrounds

    Of course, when you have far more schools enjoying these kinds of freedoms, and improvement is driven not by government but by schools, proper accountability inevitably becomes more important than ever.

    That’s why we’re currently overhauling the Ofsted framework to focus on the four core responsibilities of schools – teaching; leadership; attainment; and behaviour and safety.

    And it’s why we’re also very pleased to see the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, which we specifically designed in order to narrow the segregation in education between those from the poorest backgrounds and the rest – and to give parents a simple benchmark against which to hold schools accountable.

    The Russell Group has been unequivocal about the core GCSE and A level subjects that equip students best for the most competitive courses – the list trips off the tongue: English; maths, the three sciences; geography; history, classical and modern languages.

    Nationally, grammar schools perform remarkably well in this area, with some 67.4% of its students achieving the E-Bacc. A figure that even the independent sector can’t match: where only around 24% of its pupils achieved at least a C in the combination – rising to 51.3% when the Edexcel iGCSE results, which were not credited initially, are included.

    Nonetheless, just 15.6% of students achieved at least a C in the E-Bacc combination in the maintained sector generally.

    And this does beg the question as to how it can possibly be fair to those students who are automatically handicapped by the system’s inherent lack of aspiration on their behalf?

    It should, I believe, be a major concern to everyone that nine out of ten state pupils eligible for free school meals are not even entered for the E-Bacc subjects – and just four% achieve it.

    Equally, it cannot be fair that no pupil was entered for any single award science GCSE in 719 mainstream state schools; for French in 169; for geography in 137; and for history in 70.

    Quite simply, the most academic subjects must not become the preserve of the few. They should be open to every single student, regardless of background.

    And this, as the Secretary of State described in his National College speech last week, is ‘the moral cause’ that lies behind all our reforms – and our aspiration to raise the minimum benchmark for schools to 50% of pupils achieving five A* – C grades in GCSEs, with maths and English, by 2015.

    Grammar schools, through their own example; through the sponsorship of academies; through partnerships with underperforming schools; through the network of teaching schools; the education endowment fund; and through the national and local leaders of education programmes; have a unique opportunity to make this happen.

    So, let me finish with a final thank you to all those grammar school headteachers who have already taken advantage of these changes. We owe the sector a very real debt of gratitude and enormously value your contribution to those reforms.

    I also hope that Simon, Roy and Barry and all heads here will continue to play a very active advisory role with the department over the coming months.

    I know headteachers will not always agree with all our changes, but I think we agree on more than we disagree – and the voice of grammar schools remains one that is highly valued and respected not just by myself, but also – I know – by the Secretary of State and by Lord Hill.

    In the final analysis, education reform is not about politics, it’s about progress. Or, as Ronald Reagan put it: ‘It’s not about left or right – it’s about up or down’. I hope you’ll agree that these reforms are squarely aimed at getting us on the right trajectory.

    Thank you.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Fair funding for all schools [April 2012]

    PRESS RELEASE : Fair funding for all schools [April 2012]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 13 April 2012.

    Headteachers today welcomed a government consultation on how school funding can be made fairer.

    It seeks the views of parents, teachers, schools, unions and local authorities about the current system, and asks whether a new system would result in a fairer outcome for schools.

    The consultation launched today is the first part of a two-stage process. Taking into account these views, further proposals will be published for consultation later this year.

    As it stands, the school funding system creates large variations in how much money similar schools in different parts of the country receive. Funding is based on historic calculations – some dating back to at least 2005 – that bear little resemblance to the needs of schools and their pupils today.

    For example:

    • Similar primary schools’ funding can vary by as much as £1,300 per pupil. Similar secondary schools’ funding can vary by as much as £1,800 per pupil. In a secondary school of 1,000 pupils, that is a difference of around £1.8 million. This could pay for around 40 extra teachers.
    • In one local authority, a school with 43% of its pupils eligible for free school meals received £3,367 per pupil. In another local authority, a school with only 10% of its pupils eligible for free school meals received £4,032 per pupil. This is a difference of £655 per pupil.
    • The system cannot respond to changes in the types of children living in certain areas. In Peterborough, for example, the number of children who speak English as an additional language has risen by 60% since 2005. This significant change will not have been reflected properly in the funding system.

    Ministers believe this is unfair, which is why the government is consulting on whether we should try to make school funding fairer.

    Ideally a new funding system for all schools would:

    • distribute money in a fair and logical way, with schools in similar circumstances and with similar intakes of pupils receiving similar levels of funding
    • provide transparent, additional funding to support deprived pupils, with the pupil premium being the first step to creating a fairer funding system
    • be clear and easy for parents, schools and the public to understand
    • support a diverse range of school provision, including academies and free schools.

    More than £35 billion of revenue is spent on schools each year. It is crucial that the funding system provides good value for money and that resources are distributed fairly.

    The consultation asks questions including:

    • Do you agree with the case for reforming the system?
    • Do you agree with the aim of ensuring that all deprived pupils get the same level of funding no matter where they live?
    • What is the right balance between simplicity and complexity?

    Schools Minister Lord Hill said:

    Headteachers tell us that the current funding system is unfair and illogical. In some cases it means a child living in one part of the country can be funded up to £1,800 more than a child with similar needs living elsewhere. Having a fairer system is not just right in principle. It would enable parents to see more clearly how schools are doing with the funding they receive.

    Addressing the disparities and inequalities within our school system is a top priority for the coalition government. For standards to improve, all pupils must get the support they are entitled to. This consultation is the first step to ensuring fairer funding for all.

    Brian Lightman, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said:

    ASCL has long argued for a reform of the funding system and the development of a new funding system. We are therefore very pleased to see that the government is launching this consultation.

    What we have known for some time, and was obvious following the department’s release of financial data on schools in January, is that the current funding method is inequitable and indefensible. Funding between similar secondary schools can vary by up to £1,000 per pupil; this situation surely cannot be allowed to continue. A continuation of the current ‘spend plus’ methodology would actually increase the level of unfairness in school funding, making this review absolutely essential.

    Implementation of a change of this magnitude will need to be very carefully planned and we welcome the opportunity to contribute to this consultation.

    Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the NAHT, said:

    The time is right for a debate on a new funding system. The significant differences in funding between schools of the same size and intake cannot be justified and the current system is far too complicated. Funding must be consistent across schools if accountability is to be fair. We are under no illusions about the challenge and risk, especially in times of financial constraint, but it is a conversation worth having.

    The early framework for consultation asks many of the right questions and suggests some workable principles. As an association, we endorse the need to recognise the differing characteristics of pupils and for simplicity and transparency. School leaders must be able to plan over the long term.

    We need to think carefully about how we protect small schools that are so clearly valued by their communities, how we avoid turbulence and how we manage any transition.

    These are the early days of a very long run process and we welcome the commitment to a genuine dialogue from first principles.

    The government is also consulting on potential options for funding academies next year, as an immediate step towards making the funding system simpler. This consultation will run for 6 weeks.

    At present, academy funding replicates the funding that other schools in the local authority receive. But this system was designed for a much smaller number of academies. As more schools choose to convert, the current system is becoming increasingly clumsy and needs to change. 629 academies are now open, compared to 203 in May 2010.

    The current academy funding system has a number of flaws:

    • Like maintained schools, academies receive opaque funding allocations
    • The system is complex and lacks transparency
    • Replication of funding is labour-intensive and bureaucratic. The Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), the body that administers academy funding, estimates that an average replication model takes 3 to 5 days to build but may take up to 3 weeks to verify
    • The system for calculating the Local Authority Central Services Equivalent Grant is extremely complicated and does not deliver funding that is transparent

    The Government is consulting on three different options for funding Academies in the school year 2012 to 2013.

    David Wootton, Chair of the Independent Academies Association, said:

    We in the academy movement are committed to a funding formula that is fair for all schools and all children. The present system is innately unfair and has for a long time disadvantaged many youngsters. The funding system has not kept up with the pace of change or indeed changes in localities.

    A new funding system has the potential to create a fairer and simpler way of funding schools. This consultation offers everyone the chance to explore and consider in some detail the opportunities and challenges in moving from the current highly complex arrangements to a simpler, transparent system.

    The intention to consult on the benefits of a new funding system was set out in the Schools white paper.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Disruptive children – new rules restore headteachers’ power to exclude [April 2012]

    PRESS RELEASE : Disruptive children – new rules restore headteachers’ power to exclude [April 2012]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 13 April 2012.

    New rules published today will put an end to excluded pupils winning the right to come back to school against the headteacher’s wishes.

    Coming into force from this September, the new regulations will apply to maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units. The changes were legislated through the 2011 Education Act.

    Currently when a headteacher excludes a child from school, the school can be forced by an appeals panel to re-admit that child. This can lead to a disruptive child continuing to damage their own education as well as that of others – as well as undermining the headteacher’s authority.

    Under the new system, headteachers will have the power to exclude a child as long as the decision is legal, reasonable and fair. If the new review panels believe this has not been the case, they will be able to require schools to revisit their decision. They will not be able to force the school to take back the child.

    Supporting schools to promote good behaviour is vital to enabling all pupils to achieve their full potential, regardless of their circumstances.

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    Raising standards of behaviour in schools is a key priority of the government. It is a vital building block in the government’s objective of raising academic achievement and closing the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds.

    Restoring the authority of teachers and headteachers is an important part of the objective of raising standards of behaviour in schools. When head teachers decide that they have no choice but to expel a persistently disruptive or uncooperative pupil that decision must not be undermined by an appeal process which can result in the pupil returning to the school against the wishes of the school and its leadership.

    These new rules preserve the right to have a decision to expel a child reviewed by an independent panel but take away the power to force the return of the pupil to the school.

    The new independent review panels will provide a fair and accessible process for considering exclusion decisions in a way that takes account of the impact that poor behaviour can have on the education and welfare of other pupils.

    The new exclusions system will also provide additional safeguards for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), in particular through the introduction of the role of SEN experts to advise independent review panels.

    In addition, in all cases where schools stand by the decision to exclude following a direction by the review panel to reconsider its decision, schools would have to provide a payment of £4,000 towards the cost of alternative provision for the excluded child.

    Ultimately, the government’s intention is to reduce the need for exclusion by supporting schools to manage behaviour and intervene earlier to address any underlying causes. The government is currently trialling a new approach in a number of local authorities with around 300 secondary schools, where schools retain responsibility for permanently excluded pupils and work in partnership to secure better outcomes for pupils at risk of exclusion.

    In the academic year 2009 to 2010 there were 5,740 permanent exclusions and 331,380 fixed period exclusions in England. In the same period, 510 appeals against permanent exclusions were heard in the academic year 2009 to 2010. Of these, 110 appeals were determined in favour of the parent, and reinstatement of the pupil was directed in 30 cases.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Apprentices more successful if they complete work experience [11 April 2012]

    PRESS RELEASE : Apprentices more successful if they complete work experience [11 April 2012]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 11 April 2012.

    A best practice report on apprenticeships for young people launched by Ofsted today has found that those who had completed work experience, course tasters or vocational study were more likely to make good progress in their apprenticeship than those starting straight from school without it.

    The best practice report also found that good relationships between employers and trainers were crucially important in capturing evidence of apprentices’ skills.

    The National Director for Learning and Skills Matthew Coffey said:

    “There has been much concern lately about the quality of apprenticeships. When looking at the national picture we can see that around 70% of apprenticeships are good or outstanding but more needs to be done to improve provision further. The Apprenticeships for young people best practice report will provide a vast pool of knowledge and examples on how to deliver apprenticeships successfully and will act as a useful guide for trainers, assessors and educational leaders wishing to improve.

    “When preparing post-16s for apprenticeships schools need to provide meaningful work experience. While the majority of learners are completing their apprenticeships around a quarter are dropping out. It is clear that more work experience, vocational study and course tasters are needed to ensure learners are on the right apprenticeship for them and that they understand the demands of work.”

    Apprenticeships have a key role in the government’s strategy to develop the skills of the workforce and to promote the growth and rebalancing of the nation’s economy. The government’s ambition that all young people will participate in learning up to the age of 18 will rely critically on the sector’s expertise in designing and delivering high quality programmes, including pre-apprenticeships and intermediate and advanced apprenticeships.

    As seen in this best practice report it is important for employers and teachers to work together and understand how the apprenticeship is delivered so learners can show evidence and be readily assessed on both their practical and theoretical skills.

    Work experience in the area that interested the young person was seen as a positive force in equipping young people with an appropriate work ethic and basic employment skills. Despite the benefits of work experience, the employers in the survey said that the number of students they could accommodate on placements was restricted. This was because too many local schools tended to ask for placements during the same short period at the end of the academic year.

    Providers and employers felt that the most important attributes of a potential apprentice were the right attitude and commitment to employment.

    Employers and trainers who worked together and had a good understanding of how the apprenticeship was delivered were better placed to help learners capture evidence of the skills they learnt during their apprenticeship. This way they had a wide base of evidence to link their workplace training with the training they had done with their provider, marrying both their practical and theoretical skills.

    The most effective teaching was well planned, engaged learners and enabled them to put quickly into practice what they learnt in theory lessons. The strong vocational backgrounds of the staff together with small group sizes ensured good and sometimes outstanding skills development.

    Providers surveyed in this best practice report said that good training in key and functional skills such as English and maths was seen as more relevant by young people when it was put into context and used in relation to the skills associated with the young person’s apprenticeship. Linking key or functional skills training to the area of learning being studied meant that young apprentices did not view it as more of the same ‘English and maths’ they studied at school and could see the real benefits of improving these skills. Those who had not done well at school said that they could see the point of mathematics in particular when they would be using it as part of their jobs.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (18/09/2022) – 207 days

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (18/09/2022) – 207 days

    The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 18 September 2022.

    Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

    I started this day, as always, with a morning conference call.

    The Commander-in-Chief, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the heads of intelligence, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, the Security Service, the Head of the Office, “Ukroboronprom” and some others who are responsible for the most important areas of assistance to our defenders.

    This is how my day starts. Often – with the same questions, often – with similar answers. And this is always the time for the most important words for Ukraine.

    Izyum, Balakliya, Kupyansk and the Kharkiv region in general are the cities and communities that we have liberated. These words are heard now. They are heard everywhere.

    Mariupol, Melitopol and Kherson are also heard, but they will sound even more often and louder when we liberate them.

    Donetsk, Horlivka and Luhansk – they will be heard as well. Dzhankoy, Yevpatoriya, Yalta – and they will, too. Definitely.

    We do not talk about what’s not ours. Only our words, Ukrainian words, sound.

    Every morning, every afternoon, every evening, every night – for 207 days already.

    They sound thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, thanks to the Special Operations Forces, thanks to the Main Intelligence Directorate, thanks to the Security Service of Ukraine, thanks to the territorial defense, thanks to the border guards and the entire system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – from the National Guard and the National Police to the rescuers of the State Emergency Service.

    The most important words that are heard thanks to our medical workers and transporters, thanks to energy workers and volunteers, thanks to fighters of the information front and educators, thanks to diplomats and many others who do their job in a way that makes us all stronger. Strengthens our ability to fight and win.

    Perhaps it seems to someone now that after a series of victories we have a certain lull. But this is not a lull.

    This is preparation for the next sequence. For the next sequence of words that are very important to us all and that definitely must be heard.

    Because Ukraine must be free – the whole of it.

    And in conclusion, as always, words that sound and will always sound. They are heard by us, they will be heard by our children, they will be heard by our grandchildren. They will be heard in free Ukraine.

    Eternal glory to all our heroes!

    Glory to Ukraine!

  • PRESS RELEASE : New National Careers Service launched [April 2012]

    PRESS RELEASE : New National Careers Service launched [April 2012]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 April 2012.

    National Careers Service

    Combining face to face to face local advice with a new interactive website, the new National Careers Service will:

    • Provide information and advice for approximately 370,000 young people through the use of the helpline and website.
    • Offer face to face advice to 700,000 adults each year in a range of locations in local communities.
    • Provide detailed sector by sector labour market information so people can discover which industries are growing in their area.
    • Provide tools such as a CV builder and a Skills Health Check on the website to help people identify their skills strengths and gaps.
    • Allow people to open a Lifelong Learning Account, which gives them clear information and advice on skills, careers and financial support in a single, personalised online space.

    John Hayes said:

    “The National Careers Service, universally available to people at all stages of their careers, has the very best interactive tools on its website and the highest-quality advisers, committed to the noble cause of helping others fulfil their aspirations.

    “Making available the right advice at the right time and in the right places is to strike a blow for social mobility, social cohesion and social justice – a society that encourages people from wherever they start to journey to the destination of their dreams.”

    Model turned Chef, Lorraine Pascale is an Ambassador for the service. Speaking from the launch she said:

    “After modelling, choosing my next career move was a big decision. I knew I wanted to find something that I was really passionate about, but I tried courses in hypnotherapy, auto repair and interior design before I found the thing that really makes me tick: cooking.

    “Having independent careers advice can really help you find the thing you want to do. I’d encourage everyone to make the most of the National Careers Service to find out how to take their career forward, and realise their ambitions.”

    Her view was echoed by Record Producer Pete Waterman. He said:

    “I know from my own experience that it’s never too late to learn a new skill.

    “I learnt to read and write much later in life than many people, but this opened up a whole new world for me.

    “It’s one of the reasons why I’m so passionate about helping people to get the skills they need to fulfil their ambitions.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : Too few pupils develop creativity through confident drawing [March 2012]

    PRESS RELEASE : Too few pupils develop creativity through confident drawing [March 2012]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 30 March 2012.

    An Ofsted report launched today looking at art, craft and design education in schools and colleges has found that after getting off to a confident early start, pupils’ progress slowed during primary school and was no better than satisfactory at the start of secondary school.

    The report, ‘Making a mark: art, craft and design 2008-2011’, shows that weaknesses in the teaching of drawing have not been addressed since Ofsted’s last report. Too few pupils developed creativity through confident drawing. Limited provision for teachers’ professional development meant that less than a quarter of teachers surveyed participated in subject-specific training in the year before their inspection.

    Only 2 out of 5 primary schools and 3 out of 5 secondary schools provided good or better education in art, craft and design, the main short coming with the remainder being inconsistency in provision. The report says that opportunities available out of school, such as visits to art galleries, are not made clear enough to pupils, parents and carers. It recommends that these opportunities and other good practice should be accessible to all.

    Ofsted Director of Education, Jean Humphrys, said:

    Children’s ability to appreciate and interpret what they observe, communicate what they think and feel, or make what they imagine and invent, is influenced by the quality of their art, craft and design education.

    We found that children often began well, drawing adventurously and imaginatively at the very start of their education, but too few made consistently good enough progress to flourish creatively, especially boys. This was masked by their enjoyment of the subject even when teaching was barely satisfactory.

    I would like to see teachers getting better access to professional development. I want schools to build on pupils’ experiences and creative development in their early years more effectively in primary and secondary school.

    The quality of the curriculum had improved since Ofsted’s previous survey. The schools inspected for the report typically had broadened curriculum provision to promote greater inclusion.

    The best work inspectors saw in schools and colleges was characterised by a breadth of drawing media used for a range of purposes such as recording, experimenting, analysing, and developing ideas. They found that good skills in drawing, a fundamental subject skill, underpinned good achievement in later secondary school and post-16 education.

    An increase in photography courses and crafts-based approaches had improved boys’ participation and achievement. For example, in 11 of the 86 secondary schools visited, photography courses had improved boys’ participation and performance. But there is still more to do to close the gap with girls’ high attainment in the subject.

    In the 14 schools and nine colleges visited where provision was outstanding, best practice was promoted by energetic subject leaders who ensured that the exciting world of art, craft and design was reflected in and beyond the classroom. Their impact was reflected in work in art galleries; self-motivated pupils, outside lessons, strong teamwork, vibrant displays and challenging exhibitions of work.