Tag: Department for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 June 2011.

• Attracting the best graduates with incentives of up to £20,000
• Best schools to work with universities to lead on teacher training
• New £2 million scholarship scheme to help existing teachers develop

Top graduates will be attracted into the teaching profession to help drive up standards in schools, under new plans published today.

Despite having many excellent teachers, trained in some of the best institutions in the world, other nations are racing ahead in school improvement.

The Government is committed to raising the status of the profession, in the bid to make it a highly attractive career for top graduates.

There has also been a longstanding problem recruiting the high quality maths and science teachers we need.

We know that:

• South Korea recruits teachers from the top five per cent of graduates and Finland from the top 10 per cent.
• Only two per cent of the highest achieving graduates from our top universities train to become teachers on graduating.
• Independent research shows the difference high quality teachers make. An eight-year-old taught by a top performing teacher can make as much as two year’s additional progress by the time they reach 11, compared to a pupil with a low performing teacher.
• Last year we recruited around 260 fewer trainees to physics initial teacher training courses and 80 fewer chemistry trainees than we needed.
• The Institute of Physics have also said we need to recruit around 1000 new specialist physics teachers each year for 15 years to plug the gap.

The Initial Teacher Training Strategy sets out plans to build on the strengths of the existing system, as well as addressing some important weaknesses.

The proposals cover:

• Offering high quality graduates including science and maths specialists significantly better financial incentives to train as teachers – up to £20,000 for graduates with first class honours degree. Trainees will receive the bursary in monthly instalments in their training year, as currently happens. They currently only receive bursaries of up to £9000.
• Offering financial incentives to all trainees with at least a 2:2 so that teacher training continues to be attractive, whilst having graduates with excellent subject knowledge. Graduates with a third class degree will not be barred from teaching but will not receive government funding for their training.
• Requiring all trainees to have high standards of mathematics and English by having to pass tougher literacy and numeracy tests before they start training. Candidates who fail one or both of the skills tests at the first attempt will be limited to two re-sits for each test. Currently they only take the tests after starting their training course and they are allowed unlimited re-sits. New figures show that one in five trainees fail either of the basic tests first time round.
• Allowing and encouraging schools, often working as groups or chains, to lead their own high quality initial teacher training in partnership with a university. Around 100 outstanding schools are expected to become ‘Teaching Schools’ this September. Together with their partners, they will lead the training and professional development of teachers and headteachers.
• Giving schools, as prospective employers, a stronger influence over the content of ITT training as well as the recruitment and selection of trainees. Teachers consistently identify two specific weaknesses in the initial training they have received: being able to confidently teach reading effectively, including using systematic synthetic phonics, and how to manage pupil behaviour.
• Continuing to subject ITT provision to quality controls that focus on the quality of placements and selection.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State, said:

If we want to have an education system that ranks with the best in the world, then we need to attract the best people to train to teach, and we need to give them outstanding training.

We have some excellent teachers in this country, but many who could make a huge difference in the lives of children choose other professions. Our teachers are trained in some of the best institutions in the world, but the schools which employ these teachers do not get enough of a say in how they are trained. Nor does the training focus sharply on the techniques teachers most need, such as behaviour management and the effective teaching of reading.

We value our teachers highly, but the current system of funding does not incentivise the best. The system needs to change.

Stephen Hillier, Chief Executive of the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) said:

The TDA welcomes the Government’s ambitious plans for improving teacher recruitment and training.

The proposals will greatly enhance our ability to recruit the very best graduates into teaching, especially in subjects where demand is high. They will create a significant shift towards schools taking more responsibility for recruiting and training the next generation of teachers, within strong university/school partnerships, ensuring that the quality of training offered by universities and schools is as high as possible.

Professor Chris Husbands, director of the Institute of Education, said:

The quality of teacher education is one of the major determinants of the effectiveness of an education system. Across the world, high performing education systems have paid attention to their teacher education systems. We know a great deal about how to design and deliver outstanding teacher education: it involves schools and universities working as co-equal partners, defining together the way they will shape the teaching profession.

We look forward to further developing our work with our partners in schools to ensure the children get the best prepared teachers.

The strategy is now for public discussion and the final strategy being published later this summer. The new system is planned to come into effect from September 2011, with most changes affecting new trainee teachers starting in September 2012.

Scholarship scheme launched

Ministers today have also launched a new £2 million scholarship scheme for existing teachers.

The Coalition Government firmly believes that the quality of teachers and their professional development are enormously important. That is why, as set out in the Schools White Paper, the Government is committed to developing a strong culture of professional development where more teachers acquire postgraduate qualifications and are supported to progress further academically to deepen their subject knowledge.

The new scheme will be open to all qualified teachers. The maximum scholarship value will be £3500 but the value of each award will vary depending on the type of activity funded. Around £2 million has been allocated for 2011/12 and we expect similar funding in the future.

Scholarships will only be awarded where applications are judged to be of sufficient merit. This will determine the number of scholarships awarded. The first round of the scholarship scheme will be awarded in December 2011 and be based on the following criteria:

• priority subjects/specialism – to include maths, English, science and Special Educational Needs;
• support from school – teachers 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 to pursue knowledge independently to Masters level and beyond.

Around 50 per cent of the scholarships will be awarded for SEN and the remaining split between the three priority subject areas.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

Most high-prestige scholarship schemes are characterised by their limited size and competitiveness. They have high status within their respective professions and are highly sought after. This scheme will be no different.

Scholarships will be awarded against stringent criteria to teachers who have the potential to make a significant contribution to the country’s intellectual heritage through the acquisition of deeper subject knowledge. We believe this will have a positive and sustainable impact on the culture of professional development in schools and children’s education.

The scheme will be administered by the Training and Development Agency for Teachers (TDA). Further details about the scheme and how to apply can be found on the training and development section of the Department for Education website.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 23 June 2011.

Statement from Schools Minister Nick Gibb on recording and reporting significant incidents of use of force in schools.

The Secretary of State for Education has asked Charlie Taylor, his recently appointed Expert Adviser on Behaviour and an experienced and successful head teacher with a track record in radically improving behaviour in troubled schools, to review the implications for schools of the requirement to record and report the use of force in schools, as set out in section 246 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. In particular, Charlie Taylor has been asked to make sure that the accompanying guidance provides the best possible advice to schools on establishing ‘light touch’ systems while still providing protection for pupils and staff. It remains our intention to commence this requirement from 1 September 2011, subject to the outcome of Charlie Taylor’s review.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 June 2011.

In a speech today, Education Secretary Michael Gove announced the numbers in the 2012 Free School applications round.

He said:

Our school system leaves children poorly prepared for the world we face. We have just suffered the worst financial crisis since 1929. Our economy is weighed down by a huge debt burden. Europe has major problems with debt and the euro. Meanwhile there is a rapid and historic shift of political and economic power to Asia and a series of scientific and technological changes that are transforming our culture, economy and global politics. If we do not have a school system that is adapting to and preparing for these challenges then we will betray a generation.

The highest-performing education systems are those where government knows when to step back. We want a school system in which teachers have more power and in which they are more accountable to parents – not politicians.

Our critics said it was impossible to open a school in little more than a year. Several will open this September. They told us that schools wouldn’t want to become Academies. They are converting at a rate of two every school day.

Application figures

In the application round that was launched on 17 March 2011 and closed on 15 June 2011, the Department received 281 applications to set up a Free School from September 2012.

There were 37 applications to set up a University Technical College.

Of the 281 Free School applications received, the current analysis shows that

• 227 are for mainstream schools
• 34 are for alternative provision schools (such as Pupil Referral Units)
• 20 are for schools for children with Special Educational Needs.

Of the 227 mainstream applications

• 77 (34%) are for primary schools
• 81 (36%) are for secondary schools
• 65 (29%) are for all through schools
• 4 (2%) are for 16-19 schools.

Of the 227 mainstream applications

• 12 (5%) applications came from existing Academy providers
• 126 (56%) applications came from local groups.

The percentage of applications from independent schools wishing to move into the state sector has decreased in this application round.

• 40 (18%) of the 227 applications are from existing independent schools, compared to 98 (35%) last year

The percentage of schools characterising themselves as faith schools has also fallen

• 65 (29%) compared to 115 (40%) last year.

Recent research shows that, of the 32 groups that the Department is progressing

• two Free Schools are located in the most deprived 10% of Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in the country
• one is in the least deprived 10% of LSOAs in the country
• just under a third (31%) are located in the most deprived 20% LSOAs of the country
• the majority (59%) are located in the most deprived 50% of LSOAs in the country.

A Lower Super Output Area is made up of around 1,500 residents, surrounding the 32 Free Schools. This is judged to a reasonable reflection of the catchment size of many of the Free Schools.

Between 10 and 20 schools are expected to open this September, having taken little more than 15 months to set up from initial application. Previously, parent promoted schools could take up to nine years to set up from conception, and it took three years for the first 12 Academies to open.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 June 2011.

Schools Commissioner Dr Elizabeth Sidwell’s speech to Wellington Academy.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 16 June 2011.

• Record number of underperforming schools to become academies this year
• Weakest primary schools to become academies
• Minimum GCSE standards to rise from 35 per cent to 50 per cent

The Government today announced further action to help our school system become world class.

Speaking to headteachers at the National College for School Leadership, Michael Gove set out plans to raise standards and tackle underperforming schools. The key measures will include:

• The Government will open more sponsored academies (turning around underperforming schools) this year than the last Government did in the first eight years of the programme and more than in any year of the history of the academy programme. 88 schools have already been identified and will open in the next academic year.
• The weakest 200 primary schools in the country will become academies in 2012/13.
• Local authorities with particularly large numbers of struggling primaries will be identified for urgent collaboration with the Department to tackle a further 500 primaries.
• The current average performance will become the new ‘floor’ for secondaries – all schools should have at least 50 per cent of pupils getting five good GCSEs including English and Maths by 2015.

This ‘sponsored academy’ programme is in addition to the 1,200 schools that have already applied to convert to academy status (‘convertor academies’). The academy programme was previously focussed on underperforming secondary schools. This Government is now using academies to tackle weak primary schools as well. The rapid conversion of so many great schools to academies means there is now a larger pool of great schools to build chains and improve underperforming schools.

There are around 1,400 primary schools below the primary ‘minimum floor standard’ (less than 60 per cent of the children reaching a basic level in English and Maths at 11, and where children make below average progress between seven and 11) based on 2010 results. Of these, about 500 have been below the floor for two or three of the last four years. A further 200 have been below the floor for the last five years (120 of these roughly 200 have been below the floor for more than a decade).

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, said

We have just suffered the worst financial crisis since 1929. Our economy is weighed down by a huge debt burden. Europe has major problems with debt and the euro. Meanwhile there is a rapid and historic shift of political and economic power to Asia and a series of scientific and technological changes that are transforming our culture, economy and global politics. If we do not have a school system that is adapting to and preparing for these challenges – a school system that is not only adapting to the amazing revolution of iTunesU, whereby Harvard and Oxbridge publish their most valuable content free, but is also able to adapt to the unknown revolutions ahead – then we will face even worse crises in the years ahead.

The education debate in this country has not confronted reality. Education systems across the world are improving faster than England. We have to set our sights higher. We should no longer tolerate a system in which so many pupils leave primary school without a good grasp of English and maths, and leave secondary school without five good GCSEs. We want all parents to have a choice of good local schools.

Evidence shows that the academy programme has had a good effect on school standards. Heads and teachers should run schools and they should be more accountable to parents instead of politicians. We must go faster and further in using the programme to deal with underperforming schools.

The Education Secretary also confirmed that the minimum expected standard for secondary schools will rise over the course of this parliament. In 2004, a ‘floor standard’ for secondary performance was set at 20 per cent of pupils getting five A* to C GCSEs (English and Maths not included); in 2006, it rose to 25 per cent in 2007, it rose to 30 per cent getting five A* to C GCSEs including English and Maths. In 2010, the new Government raised it to 35 per cent getting five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths, combined with the majority of pupils making above average progress from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 4.

The 35 per cent floor will increase. In 2012, it will rise to 40 per cent and by the end of the Parliament it will rise to 50 per cent. The current average across the system will become the new floor.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 16 June 2011.

A Department spokesman said:

The current system of academy funding was introduced by the last government. It relies on local authorities to provide accurate information about their spending and occasionally individual local authorities make errors which lead to academies getting too much or too little funding. It is wrong to blame Departmental officials for errors that have occurred in local authority returns.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 7 June 2011.

Education Secretary Michael Gove recommends that Amanda Spielman becomes the new Chair of Ofqual and Chief Regulator of Qualifications and Examinations.

Michael Gove said:

Amanda is an extremely talented and hugely experienced individual whose skills are perfectly suited to this high-profile post. I am delighted she is keen to take the role. She will make sure Ofqual is a strong regulator which holds our exam boards to account and ensures our qualifications are as rigorous as the best in the world.

Amanda Spielman said:

Ofqual has an extremely important role in our education system. I am honoured to be considered for the role and I hope to ensure that it sustains its focus and rigour, in maintaining standards and in the regulation of awarding bodies.

Ms Spielman is research and development director of the academy operator ARK Schools, where she is also responsible for legal, governance and regulatory matters. She was a member of the Sykes review panel commissioned by Michael Gove to review the school assessment system. She is also a chartered accountant and spent more than 15 years in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate strategy in the UK and the US for Kleinwort Benson, Mercer Management Consulting and Nomura International Principal Finance Group.

The previous Chair and Chief Regulator was Kathleen Tattersall, who left her post last year. In the interim, deputy chair Sandra Burslem has taken on many of the responsibilities, supported by the chief executive, Glenys Stacey. Ms Spielman, whose appointment is subject to confirmation by Her Majesty at the next Privy Council meeting, is due to start at Ofqual later this summer. The education select committee has waived its right to hold a pre-appointment hearing.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 June 2011.

As of today:

• 1244 schools have applied to be an academy since June 2010
• 831 of these applications have been approved
• 430 have already converted and are open.

The total number of open academies, including those opened under the previous government, now stands at 704. This is an increase of 46 since the last month.

Outstanding schools were invited to apply for academy status from June 2010. This offer has since been extended to special schools and any other school that is performing well.

Strong schools that convert to academy status are expected to support other local schools that could benefit from improvement.

Academies are free from local and national government control. They are able to focus their time and resources on meeting the needs of their pupils and school, rather than answering to local or national politicians and bureaucrats.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 May 2011.

• New admissions code: more places in good schools, a fairer and simpler system
• New Chief Schools Adjudicator appointed

Together the two current codes stretch to more than 130 pages and impose more than 600 mandatory requirements on admissions authorities (local authorities, governing bodies or Academy Trusts). The process is complex, confusing, costly and unfair. The current Admissions Code and Appeals Code undermine parental choice.

The proposed changes would see two new codes created. Together the two slimmed-down documents will contain around half as many requirements.

The proposals would:

• increase the number of good school places available by making it easier for popular schools to take more pupils
• improve the current in-year applications scheme so fewer children face delays in finding a new school. (In-year applications happen when a child moves to a new area during the academic year)
• give priority to children of school staff when a school is over-subscribed, if the school wishes, making it easier for schools to recruit teachers and other staff
• strengthen the military covenant by allowing children of armed forces personnel to be admitted to infant classes even if it takes the class over the 30-pupil limit
• allow twins and other multiple-birth children to be admitted to infant classes even if it takes the class over the 30-child limit
• ban local authorities from using area-wide “lotteries”
• reduce bureaucracy by requiring admissions authorities to consult on admissions arrangements every seven years (rather than every three years) if no changes are proposed. (They would still need to consult when they wanted to change their admissions arrangements).

The consultation also asks whether Academies and Free Schools should be able to prioritise children receiving the pupil premium, as announced in the Schools White Paper last year.

A raft of unnecessary prescription will also be removed from the draft Appeals Code to make the process cheaper and less burdensome. The consultation suggests:

• Parents will have at least 30 days to lodge an appeal against primary or secondary school decisions. The current 10-day limit forces parents to appeal quickly. In the last school year for which figures are available (2008/09), more than a quarter of all appeals lodged (24,550 out of 88,270) were not taken forward, wasting time and money.
• The rule that currently bans appeals from being heard on school premises will be overturned. At the moment admissions authorities have to make costly, taxpayer-funded bookings of hotels or conference rooms.
• The regulation for admission authorities to advertise for lay appeal members every three years will be cut.
• The new admissions process will be more open than before. Currently only a very restricted list of people can object to admissions arrangements they believe are unfair. In future anyone will be able to object. The draft code is also clear that local authorities will retain the power to refer any admissions arrangements they believe are not complying with the code to the Schools Adjudicator.

Education Secretary Michael Gove MP said:

The school system has rationed good schools. Some families can go private or move house. Many families cannot afford to do either. The system must change. Schools should be run by teachers who know the children’s names and they should be more accountable to parents, not politicians. Good schools should be able to grow and we need more of them.

The Admissions Code has been bureaucratic and unfair. You shouldn’t have to hire a lawyer to navigate the school system. We are trying to simplify it and make it fairer. We want to cut the red tape that has stopped good schools expanding. We want to make various specific changes to help servicemen and teachers. Together with our other reforms, these changes will help give all children the chance of world-class schools.

Michael Gove today also announced the appointment of Dr Elizabeth Passmore as the new Chief Schools Adjudicator and stressed the importance of her role in the new system.

Subject to the passage of the Education Bill, the Adjudicator will be able to consider admissions objections about all maintained schools and Academies. If the Adjudicator finds admissions arrangements are unlawful, they must be changed immediately by the admissions authority.

Michael Gove said:

I am delighted to announce Dr Elizabeth Passmore as the new Chief Schools Adjudicator. She brings a wealth of experience to this post and will be a strong advocate of ensuring that our school admissions system is fairer, simpler and easier for all to understand. She will also be firm with those schools or local authorities who do not comply with the Code.

Michael Gove also paid tribute to the current Chief Schools Adjudicator, Dr Ian Craig. He said:

I would like to place on record my deep appreciation for the rigour and hard work, as well as the professionalism and diligence, that Dr Craig has brought to this post. He has been an outstanding Chief Adjudicator since his appointment in 2009. I know he and Dr Passmore will work well to ensure a smooth handover.

Dr Craig said:

It has been a great privilege to act as Chief Schools Adjudicator and to have had the opportunity to bring greater equality and fairness to the schools admissions system. I am grateful for the support that the Secretary of State and his Ministers have shown me since they took up office and know they listened to my advice, as evidenced when they agreed Academy-related objections should be heard by my office, a change now being effected through the Education Bill.

I am pleased at the publication of a new Code for consultation today. Reducing the complexity and making it easier for parents to understand without removing the safeguards for vulnerable groups is essential to our admissions system. I would like to offer my congratulations to Dr Elizabeth Passmore on her appointment to this crucial role. I know that she will do an excellent job and I will be delighted to offer her any support necessary during the transition until she takes up her post substantively later this year.

Dr Elizabeth Passmore said:

It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed to the post of Chief Schools Adjudicator, particularly at such an exciting time in view of the provisions in the Education Bill around extending the remit of the Adjudicators to consider objections to the admission arrangements of Academies and Free Schools. I welcome the consultation on the Codes and hope the greater simplification and transparency of the Codes will make the system easier for schools, local authorities and especially parents to navigate and make a greater reality of choice, but without losing any of the essential safeguards.

I would like to pay tribute to the outgoing CSA, Dr Ian Craig, for all the good work he has done and for his great commitment to a fairer schools system that meets the needs of all, not just the few.

Rob McDonough, headteacher at West Bridgford School in Nottinghamshire, said:

I very much welcome the direction of change. Through greater school autonomy, and the academies programme which will positively impact upon standards, I do believe this will increase the supply of good school places for parents.

Keith Reed, chief executive of the Twins and Multiple Births Association (TAMBA), said:

We are very supportive of the work that is being done to make the school admissions system simpler and more family-friendly. In particular, we are delighted that the new Government has taken on board our suggestion to add twins and multiple-birth children to the list of infant class size exceptions. This change should make a massive difference to the families of children of multiple births.

The consultation starts today and lasts 12 weeks. Given the challenge of simplifying such a complex system and the potential for changes to have unintended consequences, this consultation is particularly important. Following the consultation period, the draft codes will be laid before parliament. The new codes will not affect the next admissions round (for entry in September 2012) but will take effect for the September 2013 intake.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 24 May 2011.

The Department for Education today announced plans for significant reductions in the bureaucracy that controls how schools manage teacher performance and deal with poorly performing teachers.

The current system for teachers’ performance management is set out in the Education (School Teacher Performance Management) (England) Regulations 2006. These regulations are complex, detailed and prescriptive, telling schools what to do at every turn. The overall system fails to respect the professionalism of headteachers and teachers and makes it harder for schools to manage vital processes, such as how staff are trained and rewarded.

The existing School Staffing Regulations (2009) require governing bodies to have “capability procedures”. Schools are expected to follow a complex “model capability procedure” for dealing with poorly performing teachers.

But the performance management arrangements and capability procedures were developed separately and this has created further complexity, overlap and duplication.

Ministers, therefore, have today published plans to cut this bureaucracy. The proposed changes will make it easier for schools to manage teachers and deal effectively with the small number of poorly performing teachers. They will:

• introduce simpler performance management regulations, which set a few basic requirements, remove many restrictions (including the so-called “three hour observation rule”), and leave other decisions to schools
• introduce an optional new model policy for schools that deals with both performance and capability/disciplinary issues
• allow poorly performing teachers to be removed in about a term, a process that now often takes a year or more
• clarify that staff illness need not bring disciplinary processes to a halt
• scrap about 60 pages of unnecessary guidance.

These proposals are now subject to a 12 week statutory consultation. It is expected that the new arrangements for dealing with underperforming teachers will come into effect from September 2011. Revised regulations for performance management will be published in September 2011 and take effect in 2012.

Recent research for the Sutton Trust shows that heads and teachers support the aims of these proposals. More than half (57%) of those surveyed in November 2010 agreed or strongly agreed that there was not enough freedom for schools to dismiss poorly performing teachers. Less than a quarter (21%) disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Michael Gove MP said:

We have a great generation of headteachers and teachers. We want to help them to do their jobs even better. We want to make it easier for schools to provide teachers with the training and professional development they need to fulfil their potential and to help their pupils to do the same.

Heads and teachers also want a simpler and faster system to deal with teachers who are struggling. For far too long schools have been trapped in complex red tape. We must deal with this problem in order to protect the interests of children who suffer when struggling teachers are neither helped nor removed. Schools must be given the responsibility to deal with this fairly and quickly.

Brian Lightman, General Secretary, Association of School and College Leaders said:

ASCL welcomes this consultation which has the potential to reduce bureaucracy and streamline processes whilst retaining and strengthening important principles of fairness and transparency The vast majority of school staff are extremely hard working and set themselves high professional standards. Appraisal enables staff and school leaders to identify training needs and implement appropriate programmes of continued professional development.

In the relatively small number of cases where performance is unsatisfactory in spite of the formal and informal support that has been provided, it is essential for the benefit of the students that capability procedures can be implemented swiftly without the current constraints over timescales.

Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the NAHT, said:

These proposals will be generally welcomed by school leaders. Headteachers need the ability to move on the relatively few weak teachers present in our schools, and want to be able to do this fairly and without delay, to the benefit of pupils and, ultimately, staff. Both bureaucracy and delays are unfair to all involved.

Managing performance is an essential part of development for school staff. It ensures identification of training needs to allow staff to grow and also, where areas need attention, enables appropriate support to be provided. If, despite that support, the level of performance is still not satisfactory, then it is essential that this is dealt with quickly and fairly.

Darran Lee, Executive Principal to the Learning Federation and headteacher at Medlock Valley and Mills Hill Schools said:

These new proposals provide greater flexibility for school leaders to develop approaches that meet the needs of their school and secure the very best teaching for our children.

The merging of performance management and capability policies into one will ensure a continuum of support and challenge, removing duplication and overlap in procedures. This will enable leaders to take action more quickly when teaching is below expectations.

Ivan Ould, Chair of the National Employers’ Organisation for School Teachers, said:

We welcome the Secretary of State’s proposal to simplify the performance management arrangements for teachers. In particular we welcome the introduction of a clearer relationship between performance management and capability procedures in order to address cases, where teachers are falling below the standards which are expected of them as part of the employment contract, in a more appropriate and timely manner.