Tag: Department for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 November 2010.

Ahead of Anti-Bullying Week, Schools Minister Nick Gibb spoke to the News of the World about the importance of tackling bullying in schools:

Around half of all children say they’ve been bullied at school and had their lives blighted by fear. And it’s not just at school where young people encounter bullying.

It’s simply unacceptable for a child to be victimised – whether it’s in or out of school, or on their mobile phones, or on social networking sites like Facebook.

That’s why the coalition agreement that unites the government gives priority to tackling bullying and raising standards of behaviour in the classroom.

There are 3 clear principles behind the government’s position:

• we can’t allow any young person to go to school dreading the treatment they will get
• when a bullied child is brave enough to speak out, we must support them – not the bully
• when bullies are identified, we can’t just suspend them for a couple of days and then allow them to saunter back into school to torment their victims all over again

Our schools white paper later this month will put heads and teachers back in control, giving them a range of tough new powers to deal with bullies and the most disruptive pupils. Heads will be able to take a zero-tolerance approach and will have the final say – both in and outside of school.

We will also give teachers the right to remove disruptive children from the classroom without fear of legal action. They will be able to search pupils for weapons, and items like iPods and mobile phones, and confiscate them.

Schools will have revised guidance to make sure they know how to tackle bullying effectively.

We trust headteachers and teachers to use these powers. But there will be no-notice inspections for schools where behaviour, including bullying, is out of control.

As Schools Minister, I am determined to do everything I can to tackle bullying and to help schools raise standards of behaviour in the classroom.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 November 2010.

Michael Gove today announced the decision to scrap the complex and burdensome Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) with immediate effect.

Following discussions with local authorities and schools, there was an overwhelming consensus to scrap FMSiS and develop a simpler standard.

FMSiS was introduced in the early 2000s and made compulsory for all schools in 2007.

Schools were required to meet the standard every 3 years by going through a burdensome self-evaluation tool. Schools, particularly primary schools, found the system required too much documentation and was implemented in an overly bureaucratic manner. For example, it required them to submit documentation to meet more than 100 different assessment criteria ranging from providing evidence that meetings on school budgets were ‘consistent with the deadlines for important financial decisions’ to showing how the school had made staff aware of the local authority whistle-blowing policy.

Last year the Audit Commission said FMSiS focuses on processes rather than achievement of economy and efficiency, and that schools have not drawn an explicit link between its introduction and value for money.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring schools have the right arrangements in place to manage their budgets effectively and so we will now work with interested parties, including local authorities and schools, to develop a new, simpler way of doing this. It is hoped the replacement system will be introduced next year.

Michael Gove said:

We are committed to reducing the administrative burden on teachers and school governing bodies and have already cut the burdensome self-evaluation forms for school inspections. Today we are ending the overly bureaucratic Financial Management Standard in Schools, and we will continue to work with schools and local authorities to reduce the bureaucratic burden further.

Today’s announcement was welcomed by headteachers. John King, Headteacher of Gable Hall School in Essex, said:

This marks the end of a hugely time consuming, burdensome bureaucratic and, in parts, senseless system of checking financial competency.

Claire Axten, Headteacher of Brookside Community Primary School in Somerset, said:

Our experience is that FMSiS was a very lengthy and burdensome process. The aim of FMSiS was to achieve value for money but the process was so time consuming this defeated the aim at the beginning! I am very pleased the government has decided to end the current system and replace it with a much simpler, national standard.

Pippa Dodgshon, Headteacher at Hall Cross School in Doncaster, said:

The system was unwieldy and the process was expensive – a massive burden to schools.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 10 November 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced a pioneering new partnership with China to train 1000 more Mandarin teachers for secondary schools in England.

During a visit to China to build stronger education partnerships with the Chinese, Mr Gove launched the joint programme between the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and Hanban (the Confucius Institute Headquarters). It is to run over the next five years.

Mandarin is an increasingly popular subject choice for young people at GCSE but in England there are currently only around 100 qualified Mandarin teachers, and only 16 per cent of secondary schools offered Chinese language teaching in 2009.

This new partnership will increase the quality and quantity of Mandarin teaching in schools and allow more young people than ever before the chance to study this important language. Increasing the number of Mandarin speakers will help equip Britain’s future workforce with the skills we need to compete in a globalised economy.

Speaking from Beijing, Michael Gove said:

I am delighted to be building a stronger education partnership with the Chinese. There is a lot our countries can learn from each other and we want to work together to deliver world-class standards in schools through the greater sharing of knowledge and experience.

This is not just about fostering a better understanding of China among our young people. Offering every young person the chance to learn Mandarin will help to encourage mobility between the two countries, equip the next generation with the skills they need to succeed, and ensure the long-term success of our economy and society.

Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, said:

China is at the centre of the global economy, and the next generation will need to understand its culture and be able to work in its language – which is why we are delighted to be signing a memorandum of understanding with Hanban to train 1000 teachers of Mandarin Chinese over the next five years to meet the growing demand in England.

This new five-year programme will be co-financed by the two organisations and will begin in July 2011. The programme is aimed at dealing with the immediate shortage of Mandarin teachers and enabling schools to meet the rapidly rising demand for Mandarin teaching. In five years, the supply of qualified Mandarin teachers should have increased sufficiently to match demand, but the situation will be kept under review.

 Notes to editors

1. Hanban is the Confucius Institute Headquarters / Office of Chinese Language Council International.
2. Mandarin GCSE entries across the UK increased by more than five per cent between 2009 and 2010 and by nearly 40 per cent since 2002.
3. Currently there are approximately 100 qualified Mandarin teachers in the UK.
4. In a CBI survey in 2010, UK employers mentioned Mandarin and Cantonese as second only to French as language skills they would be looking for in future employees.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 11 November 2010.

Commenting on statistics showing Key Stage 1 attainment by pupil characteristics, Schools Minister Nick Gibb today stressed the need for a greater focus and emphasis on the teaching of reading and writing in primary schools.

The results are available via the Department’s Research and statistics gateway.

Nick Gibb said:

Though there is a slight increase in the proportion of seven-year-olds reaching the expected level in reading, it is a real concern that almost a third of all Key Stage 1 children receiving free school meals are failing to achieve the standard in reading and writing. Additionally, over a third of boys receiving free school meals fail to make the grade in reading and writing.

Getting the fundamentals right is crucial to a child’s success in secondary education and throughout their adult life, and the Government is committed to getting all children reading and writing to a high standard.

That is why we are promoting the use of systematic synthetic phonics in primary schools and why we are introducing a short reading test for six-year-olds, so we can identify those who need extra help. We will also support the most disadvantaged children by introducing a pupil premium which will provide extra funding for those schools with the most challenging intakes.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 November 2010.

Lord Bew will lead a small review panel consisting of two education experts, a number of primary headteachers and one secondary school head. The panel is due to launch a 12-week call for evidence, following which it will publish a progress report summarising the evidence gathered. The panel will publish its final report by June 2011.

The review will look at a number of issues, including

• how best to ensure schools are properly accountable to pupils, parents and the taxpayer for the achievement and progress of every child, on the basis of objective and accurate assessments
• how to ensure parents have good-quality information on the progress of their children and the success of schools
• how to avoid, as far as possible, the risk of perverse incentives, over-rehearsal and reduced focus on productive learning
• how to ensure performance information is used and interpreted appropriately within the accountability system by other agencies, increasing transparency and preserving accountability to parents, pupils and the taxpayer while avoiding the risk of crude and narrow judgements being made.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has acknowledged the current system can be improved to ensure concerns – such as children being ‘drilled’ at the expense of broad learning – are overcome while the information parents want is still provided.

Michael Gove said:

We know parents support clear, rigorous and transparent testing at the end of primary school, and the OECD has concluded that external accountability is a key driver of improvement in education and particularly important for the least advantaged. So we must continue to allow parents to know how their local primary schools are performing.

Raising standards and narrowing gaps are the central goals of the Government’s education policy. It is not our intention that the accountability system should be punitive or unfair to schools working in difficult circumstances but it must be able to identify and tackle cases of sustained underperformance.

Equally, I recognise concerns from heads and teachers about the current system. That is why I have ordered a review – to see whether there is a better way to give parents the information they want and hold schools to account, while overcoming the concerns.

I am delighted that Lord Bew, a hugely experienced, cross-bench peer, has agreed to lead the review, and I look forward to considering the panel’s findings next year.

The Education Secretary also announced today new arrangements for delivering National Curriculum tests and assessments following the abolition of the QCDA. Working within the Department, an executive agency will oversee statutory tests and assessments for children up to age 14. Its exact remit will be confirmed following consideration of the recommendations of Lord Bew’s review.

Michael Gove said:

It is essential that the statutory assessment arrangements put in place following our review are delivered in a timely and effective way. It is right that accountability for ensuring this rests with ministers, and that is why I am establishing an executive agency within my department that will be accountable to me for the secure delivery of its functions.

As the independent regulator, Ofqual will continue to have an important role, as it does now, in keeping under review the agency’s functions relating to National Curriculum tests and assessments.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 November 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today appointed the cross-bench peer, Lord Bew, to chair the external review into Key Stage 2 testing, assessment and accountability.

Lord Bew will lead a small review panel consisting of two education experts, a number of primary headteachers and one secondary school head. The panel is due to launch a 12-week call for evidence, following which it will publish a progress report summarising the evidence gathered. The panel will publish its final report by June 2011.

The review will look at a number of issues, including:

• how best to ensure schools are properly accountable to pupils, parents and the taxpayer for the achievement and progress of every child, on the basis of objective and accurate assessments
• how to ensure parents have good-quality information on the progress of their children and the success of schools
• how to avoid, as far as possible, the risk of perverse incentives, over-rehearsal and reduced focus on productive learning
• how to ensure performance information is used and interpreted appropriately within the accountability system by other agencies, increasing transparency and preserving accountability to parents, pupils and the taxpayer while avoiding the risk of crude and narrow judgements being made.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has acknowledged the current system can be improved to ensure concerns – such as children being ‘drilled’ at the expense of broad learning – are overcome while the information parents want is still provided.

Michael Gove said:

We know parents support clear, rigorous and transparent testing at the end of primary school, and the OECD has concluded that external accountability is a key driver of improvement in education and particularly important for the least advantaged. So we must continue to allow parents to know how their local primary schools are performing.

Raising standards and narrowing gaps are the central goals of the Government’s education policy. It is not our intention that the accountability system should be punitive or unfair to schools working in difficult circumstances but it must be able to identify and tackle cases of sustained underperformance.

Equally, I recognise concerns from heads and teachers about the current system. That is why I have ordered a review – to see whether there is a better way to give parents the information they want and hold schools to account, while overcoming the concerns.

I am delighted that Lord Bew, a hugely experienced, cross-bench peer, has agreed to lead the review, and I look forward to considering the panel’s findings next year.

The Education Secretary also announced today new arrangements for delivering National Curriculum tests and assessments following the abolition of the QCDA. Working within the Department, an executive agency will oversee statutory tests and assessments for children up to age 14. Its exact remit will be confirmed following consideration of the recommendations of Lord Bew’s review.

Michael Gove said:

It is essential that the statutory assessment arrangements put in place following our review are delivered in a timely and effective way. It is right that accountability for ensuring this rests with ministers, and that is why I am establishing an executive agency within my department that will be accountable to me for the secure delivery of its functions.

As the independent regulator, Ofqual will continue to have an important role, as it does now, in keeping under review the agency’s functions relating to National Curriculum tests and assessments.

Further information

Lord Bew is a cross-bench peer, Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University in Belfast, and a Member of Royal Irish Academy (MRIA). He was a historical adviser to the Saville Inquiry from 1998 to 2001.

Membership of the panel in full is:

• Lord Bew – Chairman
• Miriam Rosen – Former Executive Director, Ofsted
• Ruth Miskin – Founder, Read-Write Inc. and former primary headteacher
• Greg Wallace – Headteacher, Woodberry Down Community Primary School in Hackney
• Helen Clegg – Headteacher, Shiremoor Primary School in North Tyneside
• Kate Dethridge – Headteacher, Churchend Primary School in Reading
• Lubna Khan – Headteacher, Berrymede Junior School in Ealing
• Tim Sherriff – Headteacher, Westfield Community School in Wigan
• Sally Coates – Principal, Burlington Danes Academy in West London

Representatives of Ofsted and Ofqual will act as observers.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 November 2010.

The Secretary of State for Education has today allocated £110 million to establish an education endowment fund (EEF) designed to raise standards in underperforming schools.

The EEF will distribute money to local authorities, academy sponsors, charities and other groups that bring forward innovative proposals to improve performance in our most challenging schools. Those bidding for funds from the EEF will have to outline how their proposals will raise attainment. Bidders must also demonstrate how they will be held accountable for the success of their proposals.

The announcement comes as Mr Gove hosts a visit from Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education. Mr Duncan is here to exchange ideas with the UK Government. On both sides of the Atlantic, reforming Governments are implementing ambitious plans to transform state education. Secretary Duncan has helped introduce charter schools, the equivalent of our Free Schools and academies, to help raise the attainment of disadvantaged students. He has also made funds available to improve teacher recruitment and training.

The EEF draws on President Barack Obama and Secretary Duncan’s ‘Race to the Top’ programme, which invites states to apply for funding to trailblaze bold and innovative approaches in schools across the country.

By inviting bids from those who wish to turn round our weakest schools, the Government is also building on the transformative potential of the new pupil premium. Our most challenging schools are overwhelmingly concentrated in our areas of greatest deprivation.

The pupil premium will result in more money being allocated to support the education of all of our poorest children, adding £2.5 billion to school funding by the end of the CSR period. The EEF will allow many of the schools that educate our poorest children to do even more, and the innovative practice it encourages should drive improvement across the school system.

The EEF will be administered at arm’s length from ministers. The team administering the fund will be appointed following an open competition.

Funding for projects will come from returns on the EEF’s investment and fund managers will be able to draw down some of the capital from the total sum each year. The independent organisation that runs the EEF will also be expected to attract additional contributions from other organisations and philanthropists to add to the fund.

This fund is being established from the money that was set aside when the Government took the decision not to increase the number of free school meals. The establishment of the fund fulfils the Government’s pledge to better use this money to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, said:

The international evidence shows that we’re falling behind other countries educationally, and we have one of the most unequal school systems in the developed world. That’s why we need to press ahead with reforms which will raise standards for all children.

This new fund builds on the success of President Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ scheme. It will make schools and local authorities compete to help the poorest. Combined with our pupil premium, the expansion of the Academy programme, more rigorous exams and tough action to improve discipline, it adds up to a comprehensive package of school improvement.

Each project will have to meet tough criteria in order to be awarded funding, and bidders must prove their innovative, bold and rigorous approaches will support school improvement. Projects can be run by schools, charities, teachers, local authorities, national leaders of education, or successful academy sponsors and principals.

The EEF is just one part of the Government’s strategy for narrowing the attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils and raising standards in underperforming schools. The Department’s detailed strategy for tackling the weakest schools will be laid out in the forthcoming schools white paper.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 November 2010.

The Secretary of State for Education has today allocated £110 million to establish an education endowment fund (EEF) designed to raise standards in underperforming schools.

The EEF will distribute money to local authorities, academy sponsors, charities and other groups that bring forward innovative proposals to improve performance in our most challenging schools. Those bidding for funds from the EEF will have to outline how their proposals will raise attainment.

The announcement comes as Mr Gove hosts a visit from Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education. Mr Duncan is here to exchange ideas with the UK Government.

Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, said:

The international evidence shows that we’re falling behind other countries educationally, and we have one of the most unequal school systems in the developed world. That’s why we need to press ahead with reforms which will raise standards for all children.

This new fund builds on the success of President Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ scheme. It will make schools and local authorities compete to help the poorest. Combined with our pupil premium, the expansion of the Academy programme, more rigorous exams and tough action to improve discipline, it adds up to a comprehensive package of school improvement.

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

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

I would like to thank Dr Ian Craig, the Chief Schools Adjudicator, for his annual report, which raises a number of important issues.

It is absolutely right that every parent should want their child to go to an excellent school, so school admissions will continue to be a controversial and sensitive issue as long as there are too few good school places.

I am committed to driving up educational standards so all parents have that choice of high-quality schools close to home, which is why we are encouraging providers to set up new schools and turning round under-performing schools. And so no child is disadvantaged because of their background, I am introducing the pupil premium.

I also intend to make the school admissions framework, including the School Admissions Code, simpler and fairer, and I have asked my officials to start speaking with key stakeholders.

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

The Department has today confirmed that the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) will be abolished.

The Government has conducted a review of the future policy direction for determining school support staff pay and conditions, including the role of the SSSNB, and has concluded that the SSSNB does not fit well with the Government’s priorities for greater deregulation of the pay and conditions arrangements for the school workforce.

The SSSNB was established by the previous Government to develop a national pay and conditions framework for school support staff working in maintained schools in England. The Government has conducted a review of the future policy direction for determining school support staff pay and conditions, including the role of the SSSNB, and has concluded that the SSSNB does not fit well with the Government’s priorities for greater deregulation of the pay and conditions arrangements for the school workforce. I therefore propose to introduce legislation to abolish the SSSNB at the earliest opportunity.

This decision means that school support staff will continue to have their pay and conditions determined in accordance with existing arrangements whereby decisions are taken at a local level by employers.

In reaching this decision the Government has considered very carefully the views of the SSSNB Trade Union and Employer member organisations, and the SSSNB Independent Chair. I will be writing today to the Independent Chair and lead representatives of the SSSNB member organisations to notify them of the Government’s decision.