Tag: 2012

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 September 2012.

The government has today announced that 55 new free schools will open this September. The first 24 free schools opened in September 2011 while a further 114 have been approved to open in 2013 and beyond.

Free schools aim to achieve higher standards and offer a genuine alternative. They are funded by the government but have greater freedoms than local authority-run schools. They are run by teachers – not local councils or Westminster politicians – and have freedom over the length of the school day and term, the curriculum and how they spend their money.

The schools opening this month include:

• Dixon’s Music Primary Academy, in Bradford, which is the first specialist music primary school in England.
• Everton in the Community Free School, on Merseyside. The alternative provision school is being run by Everton Football Club and will cater for pupils aged 14 to 19 not in mainstream education.
• Bilingual Primary School, in Brighton & Hove, will be the first bilingual Free School in England, specialising in English and Spanish.
• School 21, in Newham, east London, is a teacher-led all-through Free School, including a sixth-form, in an area of significant deprivation. One of the founder members, and the executive head teacher, is Peter Hyman, previously a speech-writer for ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair.
• Rosewood Special Free School, in Southampton. A special school for children who have Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities.
• Tiger Primary School, in Maidstone, Kent, where all children will learn Mandarin and a musical instrument.
• Perry Beeches II The Free School, in Birmingham, is a new 11-18 Free School set up by an existing outstanding secondary school, Perry Beeches The Academy. The academy’s head, Liam Nolan, turned round the school’s performance from 21% of pupils achieving five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths in 2007 to 77% this year.
• London Academy of Excellence, in Newham, east London. This is a sixth-form free school which is being run by eight leading independent schools including Brighton College and Eton College.

Of the new free schools opening this September:

• 19 are primary schools, 19 are secondary schools and seven are all-age schools. There is one 14-to-19 school and one 16-to-19 school. Five are alternative provision schools – the first free schools of their type – and three are special schools.
• The schools are spread across England. They are primarily concentrated in areas of deprivation or areas where there is a shortage of school places. 25 of the 55 schools are located in the most deprived 25% of communities in the country. 33 of the schools are in areas where there is need for more school places.
• 12 have been set up by teachers, 19 by parent or community groups, 9 by charities and 13 are set up by existing education providers. Two existing independent schools will join the state sector as free schools.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

Every child should have the choice to go to an excellent local school. These new schools have been set up by idealistic people who are determined to give parents the kind of choice that only the rich can currently afford. The first 24 free schools are enormously popular and I expect this second wave to be equally successful.

Liam Nolan, executive head teacher of Perry Beeches II, Birmingham, said:

This is a fabulous opportunity for us to expand our brand of success into a new community and to work with a new group of young people in the heart of Birmingham. This is one of the beauties of free schools, that the very best schools can extend their outstanding practice.

Marina Gutierrez, Chair of the Bilingual Primary School Trust, Brighton, said:

I am delighted that this project has now become a reality and that Brighton & Hove’s children will have bilingualism as an educational choice.

Free schools have proved hugely popular with parents. All 24 which opened last year have filled, or almost filled, all their places for this year. Many have expanded to meet demand and many have large waiting lists.

New York charter schools, one of the inspirations behind free schools, have been shown to substantially narrow the attainment gap between rich and poor – by 86% in maths and 66% in English. In Chicago they halve the achievement gap between inner-city students and their wealthier suburban counterparts.

In England academies, which have the same freedoms as free schools, improve at a faster rate to state secondary schools – between 2010 and 2011 the proportion of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and maths rose by 5.7 per cent in academies, compared to 3.1 per cent in state secondary schools.

This press notice relates to England only.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 September 2012.

The government has today published draft provisions to improve the support provided to children and young people with special educational needs (SEN), and to their parents. These provide for:

• a new duty for joint commissioning which will require local authorities and health bodies to take joint responsibility for providing services
• a requirement on local authorities to publish a local offer of services for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs
• new protections for young people aged 16 to 25 in further education and a stronger focus on preparing them for adulthood
• parents and young people, for the first time, to be entitled to have a personal budget, extending their choice and control over their support
• further education colleges for the first time and all academies, including free schools, to have the same duties as maintained schools to safeguard the education of children and young people with SEN

Previously further education colleges had not been subject to SEN duties. The provisions relating to academies reflect the requirements currently in the majority of funding agreements signed since the introduction of the Academies Act 2010. Placing these requirements on the face of the legislation will give greater clarity to academies, parents and young people and will ensure further education colleges face the same requirements for the first time. The draft provisions would ensure that parents, young people and children are on the same footing whether they attend (or wish to attend) a maintained school, an academy, or a further education or sixth-form college.

Sarah Teather, Minister for Children and Families, said:

As the Paralympics are powerfully reminding us, disability is not necessarily a bar to outstanding achievement as long as people are given the right opportunities. We must do all we can to ensure that our schools give those with special educational needs and disabilities the best possible start in life.

Too many parents have faced bureaucratic barriers. We are making it easier for parents to access help for their children. And we will empower parents and young people, giving them greater control over the services they receive, by putting them in charge of personal budgets.

We are also increasing rights and protections for disabled young people in further education to prepare them for adulthood and paid work better. Taken together, our reforms package is giving young people with special educational needs the platform to succeed.

The Minister of State for Children and Families has today written to the chair of the Education Select Committee to seek the committee’s agreement to consider the draft SEN and disability provisions. The committee will decide formally later this week if it is willing to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny of these draft provisions.

The government looks forward to receiving views and feedback on the draft clauses, whilst it continues to learn from its pathfinder programme, before introducing legislation at a later date.

In September 2011, the Departments for Education and Health appointed 20 pathfinders (involving health and local authority partnerships in 31 areas across England) to test ways of achieving these reforms. Pathfinders have already played a valuable role in supporting the development of draft provisions and evidence emerging from the pathfinder programme will continue to inform regulations and guidance over the coming months.

Two of the delivery partners for the reform programme, Preparing for Adulthood and the Early Support Trust, have been working with pathfinders on a series of case studies describing their experiences as SEND pathfinders and setting out some of the early learning from their work. The first case studies are now available for download on the ‘Food for thought’ pages of the SEND Pathfinder website. Further case studies will be added in future.

The department is also sending out an invitation to disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs to join the young people’s advisory group (YPAG). This group will influence the policy making process by bringing disabled young people together with ministers and officials who are taking forward the government’s reforms set out in its green paper, ‘Support and aspiration: a new approach to special educational needs and disability’. It will enable those working on the reforms on a day-to-day basis to hear directly from disabled young people and test out policy proposals.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 31 August 2012.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb today announced more than 650 new recipients of teacher scholarships, which includes special education needs (SEN) support staff for the first time.

The second year of the £2 million National Scholarship Fund will see the government supporting teachers and SEN support staff to develop their skills and deepen their subject knowledge.

The continuation of the scheme is further evidence of the government’s belief that continuing professional development is the key to creating a world-class teaching profession.

The scholarships are worth a maximum of £3,500 for teachers and a maximum of £2,000 for SEN support staff. The value of each award is dependent on the type of activity funded.

Just over half of the applicants for both categories were successful:

• 387 teachers (35 English, 101 maths, 15 science and 236 SEN teachers).
• 274 SEN support staff.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

We have awarded these scholarships to teaching staff who have demonstrated their potential to develop deep subject knowledge and their desire to pass it on to their pupils.

A teaching profession that values scholarship and subject knowledge, with a commitment to continuing professional development is crucial to raising standards in our schools. These scholarships, along with our other reforms to improve teacher recruitment and training, will help deliver our objective of raising the status of teachers.

Applications in respect of the three priority subjects – English, maths and science – were received for a wide variety of activities ranging from a level 5 diploma to a Masters:

• Masters in Mathematics Education
• Masters in Victorian Literature
• Post Graduate Certificate in Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Level 7 Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia
• BPhil in Special Education: Autism (Children) Distance education

The scholarships are awarded where applications are judged to be of sufficient merit. This round of the scholarship fund, the first for SEN support staff, was awarded based on the following criteria:

• priority subjects/specialism – to include maths, English, science and SEN;
• support from school – teachers and SEN support staff will be required to demonstrate support from their school in terms of accessing resources and being able to carry out activities within and outside the school; and
• level and type of scholarship activity – encourages serving teachers and SEN support staff to deepen knowledge independently to Masters level and beyond.

Brian Lamb OBE, Chair of Achievement for All and Chair of the Lamb Inquiry into SEN and Parental Confidence, said:

Having expert and knowledgeable teachers to improve the attainment and outcomes for children with SEN is crucial. These scholarships will help support the development of that real expertise and greater focus on the needs of children with SEN. I was hugely impressed with quality of applications and the commitment of teachers to improve their skills that I saw in the applications this year.

Ian McNeilly, Director of the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE), said:

This scholarship fund is a helpful step towards making teaching exactly what it should be – a profession full of highly qualified practitioners.

Philippa Stobbs, Principal Officer of the Council for Disabled Children, said:

I welcome the overwhelming level of response to the scheme and people’s enthusiasm for developing expertise in such an important area.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 August 2012.

In the next fortnight there will be many more opportunities to applaud the talent, ambition and achievement of our young people.

Thousands of them will find that they have surpassed their own expectations and that years of hard work has paid off. They will secure the A level results they dreamt of and a university place or apprenticeship will be theirs.

This week of all weeks, they deserve to savour that success. Our society has not always valued academic achievement as it should. In the past, access to excellence was rationed with a majority of young people banished from the education system in their teens. University was assumed to be a minority pursuit. Influential voices still argue that having half our children go on to higher education is a mistake; that university expansion has gone too far; that more students must settle for less. But these critics never say whose children should be denied the chance to shine. And they certainly never assume it should be their own.

It is one of the great joys of my job that so many young people refuse to be held back by the enemies of promise. In more and more schools excellence is becoming a universal expectation, academic study a driving purpose. Whether it is Burlington Danes Academy, West London, Perry Beeches Academy, Birmingham, the marvellous Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys or the inspirational Paddington Academy, comprehensive schools with disadvantaged intakes are producing amazing academic results. Students from communities that were written off a generation ago are now making it to Russell Group universities in their hundreds.

Some of these schools are criticised for their remorseless emphasis on academic excellence – and especially their success in traditional subjects such as English, maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography and modern and ancient languages. The line of attack is as familiar to me as the annual debate about whether standards are rising. These schools are Gradgrindian; they are exam factories.

What the critics ignore, of course, is that academic rigour is liberating, not limiting. Students with good passes, especially in traditional subjects, have more opportunities in life.

Mercifully, a new generation of heads and teachers have fought back and given a new generation of state school students the chance to compete for glittering prizes. Thanks to great heads such as Sir Dan Moynihan, Dame Sue John, David Hampson, Rachel de Souza, Mike Griffiths, Alice Hudson and many others, whose schools outperform the rest, the argument for uncompromising emphasis on academic excellence has been won.

Which is why tomorrow, and next week when the GCSE results come out, attention should be directed to the secrets of these heads’ success, and their students’ amazing achievements.

Our young people are as capable of academic excellence as anyone. They need to be. Because the world is getting more competitive and they are up against billions of others in the race for jobs and university places. That is why we must make sure that our exam system, the training ground on which they prepare for the adult world, can match the world’s best.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 14 August 2012.

Our classrooms are now staffed by high-achieving maths graduates according to the latest figures released from the Teaching Agency (TA). Data reveals that almost 1 in 5 maths graduates are becoming teachers. In addition, for the first time, over half of new maths trainee teachers have upper second-class degrees, or better.

The data, from the Higher Education Statistical Unit, shows that 18.5% of maths graduates surveyed 3-and-a-half years after graduating chose to go into teaching. TA’s own data also shows that the proportion of maths graduates entering training with a 2:1 degree or better has risen from 44% to 51% in just 3 years.

Together, these figures confirm that teaching is an increasingly popular choice for the most able graduates, reflecting the good employment prospects which teaching currently enjoys. Teachers are also twice as likely to attain management positions early in their careers when compared to many of their fellow graduates.

Lin Hinnigan, chief executive of the Teaching Agency, commented:

The fact that we are attracting more, high-quality maths specialists into the classroom is excellent news and will help to raise attainment in maths in our schools. There are a few places remaining to start teacher training in maths this September, with tax-free bursaries of up to £20,000 available. People interested in teaching should apply to train now and take advantage of great employment prospects, career progression opportunities and a competitive starting salary.

Michelle Gora, a maths graduate who worked as a financial analyst for two years in the City before switching into teaching a year-and-a-half ago, said:

As a maths graduate, a career in the city seemed the logical choice but I soon realised it wasn’t for me. I want a career with long term prospects that I will still enjoy in years to come. Since making the switch, I haven’t looked back. I’m starting at a new school in September, with a healthy salary, and have a personal goal of making it to head of department as soon as possible!

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 9 August 2012.

Dear Sir

Your article on Monday regarding the sale of school sports fields omitted key facts.

Out of the 21 playing fields which you report have been sold since May 2010, 14 belonged to schools that had closed and 4 were sites that became surplus from school mergers. Of the other 3, one was surplus land to existing playing fields that was turned into sports facilities (with proceeds invested in the school sports changing facilities); one was leased to a company to turn an under-used playing field with poor drainage into all-weather playing surfaces, a full-sized football and hockey pitch and a 6-court indoor tennis facility; and a further sports field was due to be leased to an athletics club to improve sporting provision for the club and the school.

We are absolutely clear that we will only agree to the sale of school playing fields if the sports and curriculum needs of schools and their neighbouring schools can continue to be met. Sale proceeds must be used to improve sports or education facilities and any new sports facilities must be sustainable for at least 10 years. All sites disposed of under this government have either been because the school has closed, the sites became surplus from schools merging or the proceeds were needed to modernise sports provision. It was disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

This contrasts with the previous government which sold off 212 playing fields between 1999 and 2009.

We want competitive sport to be at the centre of a truly rounded education that all schools offer. This is why we are implementing plans for a new PE curriculum to provide stronger structures.

Yours faithfully

Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 August 2012.

The Department for Education has issued the following statement on the removal of the duty on schools to report whether they met the two-hour-a-week school sports target.

A Department for Education spokesperson said:

This was not a target – it was an unenforceable aspiration. No more than two in five pupils took part in competitive sport when we told schools they no longer had to inform us of how much sport pupils were doing.

We believe in freeing schools from unnecessary paperwork and form-filling. It used to take up far too much of teachers’ time which could have been better used in the classroom or at the running track.

The Secretary of State made clear in his letter to Baroness Campbell in October 2010 that he would expect every school to want to maintain as a minimum the current levels of PE and sport each week for every pupil.

Private schools never had to provide information on levels of participation. But that has not got in the way of encouraging sport in those schools – as the number of pupils from independent schools in Team GB shows.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 7 August 2012.

The Department for Education has responded to a Freedom of Information request on the disposal of school playing fields.

The department has received 22 applications since May 2010 for the disposal of school playing fields. Approval has been given for 21 applications and one is under consideration.

Of the 21 playing fields we approved for disposal 14 were schools that had closed, 4 were sites that became surplus when existing schools amalgamated. Of the other three:

• One was surplus marginal grassland on the school site. Proceeds of the sale were invested in the school library development and sports changing facilities
• One was leased to a company to redevelop and improve a playing field (for the school’s use) that was subject to poor drainage and under used. Funding introduced all-weather playing surfaces comprising of four 5-a-side pitches, two 7-a-side pitches, a full sized football and hockey pitch and a 6-court indoor tennis facility. The school also profited from private hire of facilities outside school hours
• One was due to be leased to an athletics club to improve sporting provision for the club and the school, although in this case the project did not go ahead

We will only agree to the sale of school playing fields if the sports and curriculum needs of schools and their neighbouring schools can continue to be met. Sale proceeds must be used to improve sports or education facilities and any new sports facilities must be sustainable for at least 10 years.

The number of approvals in previous years is as follows:

1999: 42

2000: 31

2001: 21

2002: 24

2003: 16

2004: 13

2005: 11

2006: 8

2007: 19

2008: 11

2009: 16

Since May 2010: 21

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 1 August 2012.

Dear Sir,

I was disappointed to read your article on Monday about the Diaspora Free School application and the accusation that the Department of Education has been racist and sexist in its decision not to approve the school. You returned to this story again on Wednesday and this time reported that the Department for Education has been accused of ‘snubbing poorer pupils’.

Every one of the hundreds of free school applications that we have received since 2010 has been assessed by officials who are committed to exercising impartial judgement. They run a competitive process where every application is properly tested before coming to ministers. I will approve only those applications that officials assess to have the best chance of delivering the excellent education that every child deserves. Inevitably some groups are disappointed, but we must strive to ensure we are guaranteeing the best possible approach to each child’s education and to tax payers’ money.

Half of the first free schools to be opened and two thirds of those opening in September are in communities with higher than average levels of deprivation. Of the most recent applications; over a third of the mainstream schools to gain approval have proposed sites in the 30% most deprived areas of the country. The Marine Academy in Plymouth and the Longsight Community Primary in Manchester are just two of these and have been designed to support some of our poorest families. In the circumstances, the assertion that the Department is sexist, racist, lacks expertise or ‘snubs poorer pupils’ seems to me not to reflect the professionalism of my colleagues or the quality of so many bids.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 July 2012.

The Department for Education has today made some minor changes to the model funding agreement to be used by schools in their conversion to academy status.

From today, head teachers in mainstream and alternative provision academies will be given greater freedom over the teachers they employ – giving them the same advantages as independent schools, free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges.

A Department for Education spokesman said:

Independent schools and free schools can already hire brilliant people who have not got qualified teacher status (QTS). We are extending this flexibility to all academies so more schools can hire great linguists, computer scientists, engineers and other specialists who have not worked in state schools before. We expect the vast majority of teachers will continue to have QTS. This additional flexibility will help schools improve faster. No existing teacher contract is affected by this minor change.

The funding agreements for all new academies – which are essentially contracts between the Secretary of State and the organisation which establishes and runs the school (‘the academy trust’) – will now state that academies can employ teaching staff who they believe to be suitably qualified – without the automatic requirement for them to have qualified teacher status.

Existing academies can request for their funding agreements to be changed to include this new freedom if they wish.

No existing contracts for any teacher in any academy will be affected by this change.

This policy will free up academies to employ professionals – like scientists, engineers, musicians, university professors, and experienced teachers and heads from overseas and the independent sector – who may be extremely well-qualified and are excellent teachers, but do not have QTS status.

As with the independent sector and free schools, the vast majority of teachers employed will continue to have QTS, as it will remain the highly-respected professional status for teachers – and one that all teachers training in the state sector must continue to meet.

This new freedom for academies will allow them to bring in professionals who will offer a wealth of knowledge and new skills for our state schools.

Ensuring the highest quality of teaching is paramount to the success of each school. Head teachers know this, which is why we trust them to employ staff that they believe to be well-qualified for the job.

All schools will continue to be held accountable for the quality of teaching through Ofsted inspection and the publication of school performance data.

As with free schools, because of their unique and specialist role, SEN Coordinators and designated teachers for looked-after children will still be required to have QTS. All teachers in special academies will also still need this qualification.

The successful independent school sector already takes the opportunity to employ teaching staff who do not hold QTS, as do a number of the first 24 free schools:

Independent schools

Brighton College

Brighton college has risen from 147th among independent schools to 18th and is the only school in England to have improved its ranking every single year for 6 years. It was awarded the Sunday Times Independent School of the year.

Richard Cairns, Head master of Brighton College, said:

I strongly believe that teachers are born not made and I will actively seek out teachers from all walks of life who have the potential to inspire children.

At Brighton College, this year’s Sunday Times Independent School of the Year, we have 39 teachers without formal teaching qualifications, including me!

Some have come straight from university: our History and politics department has three recent graduates, all with Firsts from Oxford or Cambridge and all excellent teachers. Others have come from other careers: an investment analyst, a lawyer, a management consultant, a nuclear physicist and someone from the BBC.

Once teachers are in the school, they have a reduced teaching timetable to allow them to spend time observing other good teachers and are actively mentored. By the end of the year, they are, in our view, better trained than any PGCE student.

Sevenoaks School

Katy Ricks, Head teacher of top independent school Sevenoaks, said:

The key aim for heads in recruiting staff is quite simply to find the best possible person to do the job. While of course qualifications and experience will play a part in the selection process, in the end, I am seeking ability, enthusiasm and potential.

As an untrained teacher myself, my own experience and those of my colleagues around me demonstrates clearly that good classroom practice, of course essential to being an outstanding teacher, can be learned on the job as long as there is a supportive framework within the school.

Studio schools

The Barnfield Federation

The Barnfield Federation is a highly successful education group made up of Barnfield College, Barnfield South and West Academies, the country’s first studio school and Barnfield Moorlands Free School. The studio school and free school have numerous staff without QTS including drama, English and Maths teachers all with degrees.

Sir Peter Birkett, Chief Executive of the Barnfield Federation, said:

The removal of QTS has proven very helpful to us, we are now attracting a broader range and an increased number of applications from people who would have otherwise been denied the opportunity to teach. The removal of barriers that allow us to employ the right people is absolutely critical to our success and therefore welcomed.

Free Schools

Langley Free School appointed a professional actor as a drama teacher, and a professional singer for music. In an interview with The Independent, the head teacher, Jane Sculpher, speaking during the school holidays, said:

Our drama teacher is off playing Cinderella in pantomime. The singing teacher will be away singing in Rome. They’re working at what they do. They’re not qualified teachers but they’ve been taught to degree level and are very, very able teachers.

Batley Grammar School’s head of Geography is an Oxbridge graduate and taught at independent schools before joining Batley.

West London Free School has appointed the former Head of Classics at a renowned independent school, as their classics teacher. They have also appointed an artist with several degrees as an art teacher, as they felt her skills and experience would be a huge benefit to the pupils at the school.