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Tag: 2010

  • PRESS RELEASE : Gove – ‘Teachers, not politicians, know how best to run schools’

    PRESS RELEASE : Gove – ‘Teachers, not politicians, know how best to run schools’

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

    Gove invites all schools to become academies

    Greater freedom and independence were promised to primary and secondary schools today as Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, invited all schools to apply to become academies.

    Writing to schools today, he announced the government will open up the academies programme to all schools including, for the first time, primary schools and special schools. He also pledged to make the process of becoming an academy quicker and less bureaucratic, removing local authority powers to block schools that want to become academies.

    Schools that are rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted will be fast tracked through the process.

    Subject to parliamentary approval of the Academies Bill, which was introduced in the House of Lords today, the first tranche of these academies will open in September 2010 and schools that become academies will enjoy:

    • freedom from local authority control
    • the ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff
    • freedom from following the national curriculum
    • greater control of their budget
    • greater opportunities for formal collaboration with other public and private organisations
    • freedom to change the length of terms and school days
    • freedom to spend the money the local authority currently spends on their behalf.

    These freedoms will be in addition to system-wide reductions in bureaucracy due to be announced shortly. This will shift power from central and local government back to heads and schools.

    Michael Gove said:

    The government is genuinely committed to giving schools greater freedoms. We trust teachers and headteachers to run their schools. We think headteachers know how to run their schools better than bureaucrats or politicians.

    Many school leaders have already shown a keen interest in gaining academy freedoms. They want to use those powers to increase standards for all children and close the gap between the richest and the poorest.

    Today I am inviting all schools to register their interest. It is right that they should be able to enjoy academy freedoms and I hope many will take up this offer.

    Schools who wish to apply for academy status can now register their interest online and will receive further guidance on how the process works.

    Further details of today’s changes will form part of the academies bill. Subject to parliamentary approval, the government will allow all maintained schools to apply to become an academy with schools rated outstanding being fast-tracked for approval by the Secretary of State. Other primary, secondary and special schools will be able to convert at a later stage with the final decision on which schools become academies resting with the Secretary of State.

    Today’s announcement was welcomed by headteachers, academy sponsors and national education bodies.

    Patricia Sowter, Headteacher of Cuckoo Hall Primary School, indicated her school would apply for academy freedoms. She said:

    To achieve success in our school we have always been committed to effective and non-bureaucratic ways of working. I have always felt that successful schools should be given the option to adopt the same level of autonomy that comes with academy freedoms. These freedoms would allow Cuckoo Hall to continually build on its success and shape its own future by choosing our own curriculum to best meet the needs of our children.

    Dan Moynihan, Chief Executive of the Harris Federation:

    Academy freedoms for outstanding schools will remove bureaucratic shackles from headteachers and give them the scope and incentive to run their schools even more entrepreneurially for the benefit of children and their communities. This policy change is a major step forward in creating a world-class educational system.

    Sally Coates, Principal of Burlington Danes Academy:

    I welcome today’s announcement. I have led inner-city schools under local authority and academy control and I know that academies enjoy the freedom to put into practice fresh ideas to keep students motivated and genuinely enthused about learning. Academies have the autonomy to really respond to the needs of the local community context and strategically shape their offer to meet those needs.

    Tom Clark, Executive Chairman of the Foundation, Aided Schools and Academies National Association (FASNA) said today:

    FASNA have always said that to ensure a high-quality education for all pupils, headteachers need to have control over how they run their school; and importantly need to be free from local authority intervention. FASNA welcomes this initiative and is confident that many of our schools will be keen to apply for these freedoms.

    Dr Elizabeth Sidwell CBE, CEO Haberdashers’ Federation:

    At the Haberdashers’ Federation we value our academy freedoms very highly. Overall they encourage a sense of responsibility and allow our principals to take decisions and be accountable for these. The best heads flourish in this way. We enjoy self determination in the allocation of our resources and so get the best deals for our schools in all support services.

    Freedom also means we can act promptly and apply resources to teaching and learning where it is most needed. For example, through efficiencies of scale we are able to give all our primary children free cooked lunches which benefits their health, social skills and most importantly their learning.

    The freedom to set our own term and holiday dates means we are able to maximise learning and teaching time and put a two-week break in the long autumn term and start the academic year early.

    Ian Foster, Chair of the Board – Academies Enterprise Trust:

    It seemed to me so often in recent years that, with a few notable exceptions, the Academies programme provided failing schools with reward and opportunity whilst excluding the best schools from the freedoms and opportunities that becoming an academy offers. I am very pleased that the new policy addresses that whilst, at the same time, continuing to allow more challenged schools to become academies, under the control of successful sponsors or commissioned by parents. As a sponsor with a track record of success the Academies Enterprise Trust is looking forward to playing a proactive role in growing the academies network.

    Sir Kevin Satchwell, Headmaster Thomas Telford School:

    I believe that there will be considerable enthusiasm for this initiative. Outstanding schools by their very nature have outstanding heads who thrive on greater independence and autonomy. They deserve to be trusted and in my view will be able to do so much more to progress their own and other local schools who may need support. I have been afforded these premier conditions for many years and recognise how critical it has been to the success of Thomas Telford School and the family of schools that have grown from our independence.

    ARK Schools said:

    Having academy status has given ARK Schools the opportunity to design a curriculum and staffing model that is having real impact in delivering high achievement for disadvantaged pupils. ARK’s 3 academies with GCSE pupils achieved a weighted average annual increase in GCSE attainment of 7.8 percentage points since opening.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Response to figures showing fall in overall absence rate

    PRESS RELEASE : Response to figures showing fall in overall absence rate

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

    Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

    The fall in the overall absence rate and small fall in unauthorised absences is very welcome but the overall level of absenteeism in schools is still too high.

    We need to do more to tackle the underlying factors that result in thousands of children being absent from school each day.

    We are determined to help schools raise standards of behaviour and to give teachers the clear powers they need to maintain a calm and safe environment for children and staff. We need to ensure that students starting secondary school have the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics firmly embedded so they can cope with the demands of secondary education.

    Tackling absenteeism in schools is a crucial part of the government’s commitment to increasing social mobility and to ensuring every child can meet their potential.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Queen’s Speech – Education and Children’s Bill

    PRESS RELEASE : Queen’s Speech – Education and Children’s Bill

    The press release issued by Downing Street on 25 May 2010.

    The purpose of the Bill

    Give full effect to the range of programmes envisaged in the Coalition agreement.

    The main benefits of the Bill

    • To give all schools greater freedom over the curriculum
    • To improve school accountability
    • To take action to tackle bureaucracy
    • To improve behaviour in schools

    The main elements of the Bill

    • To provide schools with the freedoms to deliver an excellent education in the way they see fit.
    • To reform Ofsted and other accountability frameworks to ensure that head teachers are held properly accountable for the core educational goals of attainment and closing the gap between rich and poor.
    • To introduce a slimmer curriculum giving more space for teachers to decide how to teach.
    • To introduce a reading test for 6 year olds to make sure that young children are learning and to identify problems early.
    • To give teachers and head teachers the powers to improve behaviour and tackle bullying.
    • We expect standards across the education sector to rise through the creation of more Academies and giving more freedom to head teachers and teachers. We will also ensure that money follows pupils, and introduce a ‘pupil premium’ so that more money follows the poorest pupils.

    Existing legislation in this area

    • The structure and functions of Ofsted are set out in the Education and Inspections Act 2006.  The duty to inspect and report on schools is set out in section 5 of the Education Act 2005.
    • The law relating to the National Curriculum, the key stages and testing is set out in Part 6 of the Education Act 2002 and related secondary legislation.
    • Much of the law relating to pupil behaviour is set out in Part 7 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and related secondary legislation.  The requirement to set up Independent Appeal Panels is in section 52 of the Education Act 2002.  There are provisions about home-school agreements in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
    • Academies are currently governed by contracts entered into under section 482 of the Education Act 1996 as amended.
  • PRESS RELEASE : Queen’s Speech – Academies Bill

    PRESS RELEASE : Queen’s Speech – Academies Bill

    The press release issued by Downing Street on 25 May 2010.

    Legislation will be introduced to enable more schools to achieve academy status and give them greater freedoms over the curriculum.

    The purpose of the bill is to:

    • the Academies bill will enable more schools to become Academies and give them the freedoms and flexibilities they need to continue to drive up standards
    • the Government’s vision is to create a world beating school system in which every parent has access to a good school and all pupils achieve high standards. Our central aims are to raise standards for all children, while narrowing the gap between the attainment of the most and least advantaged

    The main benefits of the bill would:

    • allow maintained schools to apply to become academies and power for the Secretary of State to issue an Academy Order requiring the local authority to cease to maintain the school
    • remove the requirement to consult the local authority before opening an Academy, thus simplifying and accelerating the process;
    • require the consent of any existing (mainly church) foundations before a school applies to become an Academy.
    • deem Academy trusts to be exempt charities;
    • provide for secondary, primary and special schools to become Academies;
    • ensure there is no change of religious character in the conversion process (such changes can be made through separate existing provisions);
    • there will be no expansion of selection but grammar schools and other schools which select or partially select pupils will be able to continue to do so
    • retain the existing legal requirement for funding agreements to last at least seven years (the agreement can still provide for intervention or termination, if the academy fails).

    The main elements of the bill will:

    • provide schools with the freedoms to deliver an excellent education in the way they see fit, within a broad framework where they are clearly accountable for the outcomes they deliver
    • enable all maintained schools to apply to become an Academy. For the first wave of applications, the key test for approving an academy conversion will be that the school is currently rated outstanding by Ofsted – the Secretary of State normally expects he will approve applications from outstanding schools unless they have a substantial financial deficit (more then £100,000) or other exceptional circumstances apply
    • allow primary and special schools to apply to become an Academy in their own right for the first time and will benefit from the increased freedoms and flexibilities that this will offer
    • make the process of applying to become an Academy as simple as possible without a requirement for Local Authorities to be consulted;
    • allow schools which apply to become Academies to keep any surplus balance they hold
    • the bill will automatically make all new Academies charities

    We expect standards across the education sector to rise through the creation of more Academies. We expect a significant number to open in September and for the number to continue to grow each year;

    NB. Academies will continue to be funded at a comparable level to maintained schools but will also get their share of the central funding that their LAs used to spend on their behalf. They will have freedom to allocate this funding in a way that focuses on the needs of their own pupils.

    Existing legislation in this area

    Section 482 of the Education Act 1996, as amended by Section 65 of the Education Act 2002, provides for the establishment of Academies and specifies the core characteristics of Academies.

    Devolution

    The provisions of the Academies Bill will only apply in England and will therefore only permit an Academy to be established in England.

    England and Wales is a single legal jurisdiction and so all laws passed are part of the law of England and Wales. The application of laws can apply to only one country or the other but the provisions of the Academies Bill will have no practical impact on, or application to, the organisation of schools in Wales.

  • Ed Balls – 2010 Comments on the Government’s Immigration Policy

    Ed Balls – 2010 Comments on the Government’s Immigration Policy

    The comments made by Ed Balls, the then Shadow Home Secretary, on 17 December 2010.

    The government’s immigration policy is in a state of chaos. Their so called cap may have sounded good before the election but it wasn’t properly thought through and didn’t get the scrutiny it deserved. Not only will it do little to control immigration it also risks damaging British businesses. Cutting the number of border officers and staff by nearly a quarter raises serious questions about the security of our borders and whether the government’s policies can be enforced. And David Cameron’s flagship election promise to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands has now been watered down from a firm pledge to just an aim.

  • Caroline Flint – 2010 Comments on Unequal Financial Support for Councils

    Caroline Flint – 2010 Comments on Unequal Financial Support for Councils

    The comments made by Caroline Flint, the then Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, on 20 December 2010. The text in bold is from the Labour Party’s press release.

    [Sheffield hit four times as hard as Cameron’s Witney

    Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, has responded to House of Commons figures revealing that the most deprived councils in England will see a fall in revenue spending power in 2011/12 on average nearly four times as big as the least deprived councils.

    Meanwhile, Labour Party analysis shows Tory Cabinet Ministers’ constituencies getting off lighter than many other areas, including those of their Lib Dem colleagues.

    Nick Clegg’s Sheffield council will suffer a cut of 8.4% whereas David Cameron’s Witney constituents living in Oxfordshire County Council will get off with only a 1.9% reduction. Oliver Letwin’s Dorset County Council will even see its central government support rise.]

    These figures confirm what many feared – we’re not all in this together. While Sheffield council taxpayers will see their council lose eight percent of its central government support, Tory Cabinet ministers’ areas are getting off much lighter.

    The Tory-Lib Dem Government has chosen to hit the poorest councils hardest, with average cuts for the most deprived communities four times bigger than those in the better off areas. In some cases, the cuts are nearly nine times as big.

    That’s unfair and it shows just how out of touch this Government is with ordinary people.

    Eric Pickles must now explain why the hardest pressed towns and cities up and down the country are faced with spending cuts substantially greater than the best off areas.

  • Andy Burnham – 2010 Comments on David Cameron’s Policy on School Sports

    Andy Burnham – 2010 Comments on David Cameron’s Policy on School Sports

    The comments made by Andy Burnham, the then Shadow Education Secretary, on 20 December 2010.

    David Cameron and Michael Gove have spent weeks seeking to justify a bad decision with dodgy statistics. Gove’s overruling by the Prime Minister is a victory for thousands of young people, teachers and athletes, and is a warning to this Tory-led Government that it cannot simply do what it likes. But this package from the Conservative-led Government, after weeks of scrabbling round for funding to save something it branded a “complete failure”, only raises one cheer at best.

    So today, in conceding the success of Labour’s School Sports Partnerships, the Government has nevertheless failed to put in place a proper funding package that will allow us to capitalise on the excitement of the 2012 Games. We are still looking at the prospect of fewer children playing sport in the run up to the Olympics, and no answer on what will happen to school sport following the Games.

  • Ed Balls – 2010 Comments on Proposed Cuts to the Met Police

    Ed Balls – 2010 Comments on Proposed Cuts to the Met Police

    The comments made by Ed Balls, the then Shadow Home Secretary, on 22 December 2010.

    Sir Paul [Stephenson, Metropolitan Police Commissioner] is absolutely right to air his concerns about the funding cuts and unprecedented challenges the Metropolitan Police faces. Like police chiefs across the country Sir Paul has been put in an impossible position by a Conservative Home Secretary who failed to fight the corner of the police in the spending review.

    House of Commons Library figures show that the Met faces a real terms cut in government funding of over £330m in just two years. That’s a cut of over 15 per cent – most of which is in the year of the Olympics – and with more cuts to come in the two years after that.

    Ramming through cuts to policing of this speed and scale at a time of rising public protest on our streets, an ongoing terror threat and the security challenge of the 2012 Olympics is a reckless and dangerous gamble by this Conservative led government. It will undermine the fight against crime across the capital and take unnecessary risks with national security and the safety of our communities.

    It’s time the Conservative Home Secretary Theresa May and the Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson started standing up for our police.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2010 Comments on Liberal Democrats and Welfare Policies

    Douglas Alexander – 2010 Comments on Liberal Democrats and Welfare Policies

    The comments made by Douglas Alexander, the then Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 23 December 2010.

    I have written today to Lib Dem ministers offering immediate talks in the New Year on Privy Council terms to work together to make the government’s welfare policies fairer.

    David Cameron’s own ministers are now on record as saying his plans for child benefit are unfair and ill thought through. And his Business Secretary thinks policies are being rushed and not properly implemented.

    Working together we can change complaints expressed in private into public policy changes.

    We have little time to waste as next month the government is bringing forward a welfare bill so I’m offering immediate talks in New Year.

  • Ivan Lewis – 2010 Comments on Chris Patten Chairing the BBC Trust

    Ivan Lewis – 2010 Comments on Chris Patten Chairing the BBC Trust

    The comments made by Ivan Lewis, the then Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, on 23 December 2010.

    We note the rumours which are circulating about favoured candidates for the chairmanship of the BBC Trust.

    At a time when the independence of the BBC is threatened by the ill concealed hostility of David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, it is essential that the new chairman is above accusations of political bias.

    If the Conservative led government is serious about new politics, no appointment should be confirmed until the favoured candidate is scrutinised by the DCMS Select Committee.