The press release issued by the Department for Education on 6 August 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced the go-ahead for a series of new school projects. 33 local authority ‘sample’ school projects in 14 council regions will now proceed in Barking and Dagenham, Blackpool, Camden, Derby City, Ealing, Halton, Hartlepool, Hertfordshire, Lambeth, Oldham, Poole, Somerset, St Helens and Wandsworth.

Another 119 academies – schools being given new sponsors to raise attainment for the most disadvantaged – are also intended to go ahead. Ministers have been working with sponsors to ensure they can move forward with their academies, each designed to raise standards in areas of particular need. The 44 academies at the most advanced stage in their capital planning with Partnerships for Schools will receive capital now. Capital allocations for the remaining 75 will be decided in the Spending Review. Sponsors of these academies will be working with the Department to reduce costs over the next few months.

To ensure best value for money in school projects, the Government has begun working with major companies from the construction industry to help reduce building costs, which, alongside the independent capital review will provide a genuinely robust, efficient and fair system for future school building projects.

As the Coalition Government has made clear, deficit reduction and continuing to ensure economic recovery is the most urgent issue facing Britain. That’s why the Government has taken the difficult decisions necessary to equip Britain for long-term success. In the long term, and following the wider capital review, the Government wants money to reach a local level quicker, so that money reaches the schools that need it the most.

Michael Gove, Education Secretary, said:

I’m delighted that the sample schools and academy projects are going ahead, and I hope that local authorities and schools will welcome this news. This is good news for those schools.

I know how hard councils and schools have worked on these projects and I have been anxious to ensure we can do everything we can, in difficult economic times, to support the crucial work of raising educational standards. Planning for these projects is well advanced and we are keen they should proceed without further delay. I’m determined that we press ahead with the Academies programme and want all those schools identified as future academies to enjoy the freedoms and benefits academy status brings.

We will also work with councils, sponsors and the construction industry to ensure we bear down on costs and bureaucracy so every new school is built in as cost-effective and efficient a way as possible, and I am delighted that they have already responded so positively to this challenge.

Speaking today, John McDonough, of Carillion plc, said:

The private sector welcomes the opportunity to apply its experience and skills to demonstrate how it can reduce costs and improve value for money in the delivery of public sector building projects in the future, and we look forward to sharing our knowledge and experience with the Capital Review Team.

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said:

I am very pleased that today’s announcement means the continuation of all the Building Schools for the Future sample schemes. Schools, local authorities and the private sector have worked hard to progress these projects and this will be welcome news for communities across the country.

Major academy sponsors also welcomed today’s announcement, saying they stand ready to take on more projects over the next few years.

Dan Moynihan, Chief Executive of the Harris Federation, said:

We know from direct and hard-won experience that the current method of getting new school buildings is unwieldy, over bureaucratic and too expensive. We welcome the Government’s commitment to getting better value for money from the process and we are delighted that ministers are pressing ahead with the Academies programme. Academies have a great track record in turning round under-achievement and today’s announcement means more children will benefit from the freedoms and excellence academies embody. We look forward to the programme going further and faster in the months ahead.

Sir Ewan Harper of the United Learning Trust said:

The Government have been working closely with us and other academy providers to raise standards and get better value for taxpayers’ money.

We’re in a position now to go forward, giving more children in disadvantaged circumstances a better education at a faster pace than ever.

Cllr Edward Lister, Leader of Wandsworth Council said:

We’re delighted that all the sample schemes now have the go-ahead. The Building Schools for the Future model has forced councils to waste millions jumping though bureaucratic hoops before any building work could get underway. At Wandsworth we have some very good ideas about how to meet the challenge of ensuring value for money for the taxpayer and are looking forward to giving evidence to the review team in the weeks ahead.

At the time of last month’s capital announcement all projects past the financial close stage of BSF were given the go-ahead to proceed, with other schools earlier in the process stopped.

A further group of schools and academies required more detailed assessment because they were at crucial points of development.

The sample schools, pilot projects in local authorities who have yet to commence wider building programmes, are BSF projects at an advanced stage which had not yet reached ‘financial close’.

These discussions have been bolstered by the positive contribution made by leading construction companies, who have agreed to ensure they bear down on building costs wherever possible over the next few years.

The Government has been clear that the end of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme does not signal the end of new school buildings. BSF accounted for just a third of all the money spent on education capital investments. The Government is committed to ensuring there is a fairer, more effective and more efficient system for allocating capital money to schools, to best meet the need of the schools system.

Last month the Government announced the creation of a capital review led by Sebastian James, Group Operations Director of DSG International plc, to look at all areas of the Department’s capital spending.

The aim of the review is to ensure that future capital investment is better value for money, less bureaucratic and more cost efficient. It will give priority to schools with the greatest need and seek to address rising primary school numbers.

Today, Sebastian James issued a call for evidence to inform his review. Views are being sought from all interested parties including schools, local authorities, construction industry and academy sponsors.

Sebastian James said:

I believe that there is a chance for us all to make a real difference to how hard we can make any available capital work for us, and the speed that we can change the learning environment for our children.

I am excited to be working with a team with great experience and commitment and the views that we can harvest from this call for evidence will be extremely helpful in shaping the thinking for the future. I hope that we will see a strong response from a wide range of people.

The call for evidence runs from 6 August to 17 September 2010 and can be accessed at the Department’s consultations website. The Capital Review Team will report to ministers in mid-September and a forward plan for capital investment over the next spending review period will be produced by the end of the calendar year.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 4 August 2010.

The Chief Executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, said that the Premier League is looking at Michael Gove’s education reforms and could envisage the day when there is a Premier League school.

Mr Scudamore commented:

I can envisage the day when there is a Premier League school or perhaps a sports school in London where a number of sports get together and have a school for elite athletes, whether it be swimmers, runners, rugby players or footballers. We are working with our clubs and we are taking a look at Michael Gove’s education reforms.

If you have an elite athlete why not work on their education? We need coaching, schools and schooling to be very closely embedded for football.

In response to Mr Scudamore’s comments on the Government’s Free Schools policy, which will enable teachers, parents and charities to set up schools in areas where there is local need, a spokesperson for the Department said:

We want every child to have a premier league education and would be very happy to talk to the Premier League about setting up schools in communities across the country, where there is a local need.

We would be delighted if they joined the hundreds of passionate and talented groups that care about raising standards for all children and are interested in setting up new schools.

Football clubs are already linked to a number of academies across England:

Watford Football Club is linked to the Harefield Academy. The sponsors are all former directors of Watford Football Club and the academy is also home to the Watford Football Club academy for young players. This means the talented youngsters have a sound education and all the students at the school benefit from world-class football coaching.

Bristol City Football Club is linked to the City Academy, Bristol, which specialises in sport and is sponsored by John Laycock, former Chairman of Bristol City Football Club. The City Academy, Bristol, is also the home of Bristol City Football Club. Together the partnership has made enormous strides in raising the attainment of young people.

Reading Football Club is linked to the John Madejski Academy Reading. The lead sponsor is John Madejski, Chairman of Reading Football Club. Its specialism is sport and the delivery of the whole curriculum is underpinned by a sporting ethos of participation, motivation, aspiration and achievement. In partnership with Reading Football Club, the Sixth Form offers a unique opportunity for elite footballers.

Free schools will enjoy the same freedoms as these and other academies, which are publicly funded independent schools, free from local and central government control. Other freedoms include setting their own pay and conditions for staff, freedom from following the National Curriculum and the ability to change the lengths of their terms and school days. All Free Schools will have to comply with the admissions code that governs all publicly funded schools.

Ministers welcome applications for Free Schools from a diverse range of groups.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 August 2010.

Dame Clare Tickell is today launching a call for evidence to inform her independent review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Announced on 6 July 2010, the EYFS review is looking at how best to protect young children’s safety and welfare and support their development and learning.

Speaking about the call for evidence Dame Clare said:

I hope those with a passion for Early Years education take the opportunity to respond to this call for evidence. I want to hear from parents, professionals, carers and other Early Years experts about their experiences and views on the EYFS. I particularly want to hear from those who are delivering the EYFS on a regular basis and can advise on where we could make improvements. These views will help shape the future of the EYFS and will be invaluable in helping me to identify the best parts of the EYFS, as well as the parts that may have to change. I look forward to hearing from you.

The review will cover four main areas:

scope of regulation – whether there should be one single framework for all Early Years providers
learning and development – looking at the latest evidence about children’s development and what is needed to give them the best start at school
assessment – whether young children’s development should be formally assessed at a certain age, and what this should cover
welfare – the minimum standards to keep children safe and support their healthy development.
The call for evidence runs from 2 August to 30 September 2010 and can be accessed on the Department’s consultations website.

Dame Clare will provide a final report on the EYFS review in spring 2011. The Government will then consult on any proposed changes before they take effect from September 2012.

 

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 30 July 2010.

A statement in response to public comments regarding academies, free schools, faith schools and the curriculum.

We welcome the public comments made in response to the schools agenda set out in ‘The Coalition: Our Programme for Government’ (which covers policy for schools in England only). Although we will be reflecting on all the comments made, there were some recurring issues we would like to address immediately.

Firstly, we have noted your concerns about the introduction of Free Schools. We need to reform our education system if we are to accelerate improvement to keep pace with the highest performing systems of the world and ensure that every pupil growing up in this country gets a better chance of achieving their potential. For instance, in America the highly successful Knowledge Is Power programme (a chain of charter schools) has extended the freedom to focus on traditional subjects, set a longer and more fulfilling school day, and recruit and reward the best teachers. The result has been that more than 85 per cent of students have gone on to college despite the vast majority of students coming from low-income families, while the attainment gap between black and white children has also narrowed significantly.

Through the Academies Bill, we are now inviting all schools to apply for academy freedoms. We are also liberating professionals to drive improvement across the system by expecting every outstanding school that acquires academy freedoms to partner with at least one other school, so that the strong support the weak in a concerted effort to drive improvement across the board. Where there is sufficient demand, we will also make it easier for teachers, parents and charities to set up their own Free Schools, which will improve parental choice and help to drive up standards for all pupils.

We don’t believe the necessary reform can come from yet more expensive top-down initiatives from politicians in Whitehall. It can only come from giving much more autonomy to professionals – headteachers, teachers, support staff and governors – so that they have the freedom to transform our education system. This means giving more freedom to existing schools but also giving professionals the right to open new schools where there is the opportunity to innovate in the best interests of children. Tackling educational inequality is at the heart of the Coalition Government’s approach so our pupil premium will also ensure that more resources are targeted on the poorest children.

We also noted the area of curriculum was a core concern for many of you and we recognise these concerns. We will announce details of a curriculum review in due course. We intend to give schools greater freedom over the curriculum by restoring the National Curriculum to its original purpose – a core national entitlement organised around subject disciplines. The review will be open and transparent and we will consult widely. In addition, we noted your concerns about sex and relationship education in schools and we would like to reassure you that we will be considering this area in the coming months.

We had a wide variety of comments both in favour and against faith schools. On this issue, the government believes all children, regardless of faith or background, should have access to a good education. We believe it is only fair that pupils of all faiths have opportunities to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents. We aim to build a diverse system that reflects parents’ needs and choice and we believe the Free Schools programme helps support this. Where an entirely new faith Free School or academy is set up – that has no predecessor school – the school will be required to adopt admission criteria that will ensure, if it is oversubscribed, 50 per cent of its intake of children will be admitted without reference to faith. This will ensure any new faith academies cater not only for faith demand, but also for broader local demand.

Our draft structural reform plan outlines our key priorities for the medium term. It has been published online and we are inviting the public to view and challenge all of our key priorities throughout the coming year, including dates for completion.

We remain committed to listening to the public’s views and we will be using the comments you have made to inform the vision we will set out in our Schools White Paper to be published in the autumn.

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

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

An independent commission into early intervention, which aims to ensure that children at greatest risk of multiple disadvantage get the best start in life, will be chaired by Graham Allen MP, confirmed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith and Children’s Minister, Sarah Teather, in an announcement today.

Early intervention can provide children with the social and emotional support needed to help fulfil their potential and break the cycles of underachievement which blight some of our poorest communities. The commission will look at and recommend the best models for early intervention and advise on how these could be extended to all parts of the country. It will also consider how such schemes could be supported through innovative funding models, including through non-Government streams.

The enquiry is being commissioned as one of the first pieces of work to be remitted to the Social Justice Cabinet Committee, chaired by Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith. The committee is the first time that a cross-departmental approach is applied to tackling the causes of poverty and will ensure that each department’s proposals deliver fairness and achieve a social return on investment.

Accepting the role of chair, Graham Allen MP said:

I am taking on this added burden not for sectional interest or to score political points but to improve the life chances for people in constituencies like mine. Nottingham has proved we can intervene successfully. Now we not only need to prove we can take early intervention to a national level, we also need to find inventive ways to fund it in a time of economic drought.

I have insisted that this work be strictly independent and the lessons shared with all parties. If early intervention is to be a success it must last a generation and therefore has to be owned and sustained by all parties.

Launching the review, Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said:

I am delighted that Graham will be chairing this review. He understands that early intervention means tackling the root cause of social problems rather than spending years afterwards ineffectively treating the symptoms. If we are serious about unlocking children from generations of poverty and giving them a real chance to make something of their lives then we have to make sure the support is there from the start.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

No child’s future should be predetermined by the decisions or mistakes of his or her parents, and I firmly believe every child should have the chance to succeed, regardless of their background. Intervening earlier with troubled families can not only prevent children and their parents falling into a cycle of deprivation, antisocial behaviour and poverty but can save thousands if not millions of pounds in the longer term.

This review demonstrates the importance the Government places on improving early intervention, we want to learn from the areas already pioneering a successful approach to tackling troubled families early and build on local good practice.

The review will report by the end of January 2011 on the issue of best practice and provide an interim report on funding. A final report on funding will be produced by May 2011.

Notes to Editors

1. Graham Allen is MP for Nottingham North and has previously co-written a report on the merits of early intervention with Iain Duncan Smith for the Centre for Social Justice and the Smith Institute.

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

A new pupil premium to raise achievement among disadvantaged children will start from 2011, the government announced today.

As set out in the coalition government document, the new pupil premium will provide additional funding for more disadvantaged pupils to ensure they benefit from the same opportunities as pupils from richer families.

Education Secretary Michael Gove and Children’s Minister Sarah Teather have launched a consultation to seek views on how best to operate the premium including what deprivation indicator to use. The premium will help target money so that more can be done to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds that are still not doing as well at school as they could or should do.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

Schools should be engines of social mobility. They should provide the knowledge, and the tools, to enable talented young people to overcome accidents of birth and an inheritance of disadvantage in order to enjoy greater opportunities.

Children from poorer backgrounds, who are currently doing less well at school, are falling further and further behind in the qualifications race every year – and that in turn means that they are effectively condemned to ever poorer employment prospects, narrower social and cultural horizons, less by way of resources to invest in their own children – and thus a cycle of disadvantage and inequality is made worse with every year that passes. Last year of the 80,000 pupils who had been on free school meals just 45 made it to Oxbridge. Just 2 out of 57 countries now have a wider attainment gap between the highest and lowest achieving pupils.

This is not good enough and addressing this disparity is a top priority of the coalition government. It is for this reason that we are implementing a pupil premium, to ensure that extra funding is targeted at those deprived pupils that most need it.

The latest figures available show that:

• only 53% of 7- to 11-year-olds known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieved the expected level in both English and mathematics compared with 75% for non FSM pupils
• just 27% of pupils eligible for FSM achieved 5 A* to C GCSEs or equivalent, including English and mathematics, compared with 54% for pupils not eligible for FSM

The proposed pupil premium would provide additional per pupil funding on top of the existing funding provided to schools. Schools will be free to spend the additional funding as they choose to raise the achievement of disadvantage pupils.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

For too long social background has been a deciding factor in a child’s achievement and future prospects. In a fair society, it’s the government’s responsibility to close the gulf in achievement, where the poorest children are almost 3 times less likely to leave school with five good GCSEs than their richer classmates.

That’s why I’m delighted we are today announcing a new pupil premium, which will give extra funding to schools to help them tackle the inequalities that have been a part of our state system for far too long. Thousands of children will finally be getting the extra support they need to succeed.

The consultation on the pupil premium sets out options for how deprivation is calculated including:

• free school meal (FSM) eligibility – which could be current eligibility or a measure of whether the pupil has ever been eligible for FSM
• out-of-work tax credit – pupils in families in receipt of out-of-work tax credit
• commercial classifications such as ACORN or MOSAIC used by some local authorities

In addition, the government set out its proposal for the pupil premium to:

• include looked after children who have consistently low attainment with only 15% achieving 5 GCSEs or equivalents compared to 70% of all children
• explore extending to cover service children who face unique challenges and need to be supported as they progress through school as armed forces families

The government also set out its proposals for distributing overall school funding from April 2011. School funding will in the short term continue to be allocated using the current method to allow the pupil premium to be introduced smoothly. However, the government signalled its intention to review school funding for all schools including academies beyond the 2011 to 2012 year and details will be announced in due course.

The school funding consultation is also seeking views on

• ending the policy of funding a minimum of 90% of a local authority’s 3-year-old population
• ceasing to funding dual-subsidiary registrations at pupil referral units (PRUs)
• a proposal to allow local authorities to apply for additional funding where they have schools serving service children, whose pupil numbers are affected by troop movements
• a proposal to allow local authorities to claim for 10% of a unit of funding for home-educated pupils
• an intention to have a minimum funding guarantee

In addition, the government announced today that all local authorities will be required to introduce the early years single funding formula (EYSFF) from April 2011. For too long, early years funding has been inconsistent and patchy across the country – with too many children, particularly from disadvantaged families, not accessing any or all of their free nursery education hours.

The EYSFF will require all local authorities to be transparent about the funding that they are providing for free nursery education for 3- and 4-year-olds, so that parents and providers are able to hold their local authority to account. It will also require local authorities to fund providers for the children that attend their nursery – rather than allowing funding to be wasted on empty places. This will help to ensure that nurseries are making the best effort to fill their places by attracting and encouraging more families to take up free nursery education for their child.

The government has pledged to ensure that funding is focused on supporting those children from disadvantaged families who benefit most from nursery education. For that reason, every local formula must include a deprivation supplement so that more money will be targeted at the children who need it most. This will be set locally in the short term, but we will look at whether – over time – it is feasible to introduce a pupil premium for the early years.

Notes for editors

1. The consultation on school funding for the year 2011 to 2012 is available on the Department for Education’s e-consultations website and closes on 18 October 2010.
2. A written ministerial statement that has been made to Parliament and a Q&A document are available to download.
3. Until the comprehensive spending review has concluded this autumn, the government will not be able to give an indication of precise funding allocations.
4. The additional pupil premium funding will not be ring fenced at school level allowing schools to decide how this extra funding should be best spent to benefit the individual pupils it is targeted at. Schools will get help and advice from government on how best they can use the money to raise pupil attainment, by publishing information and evidence about what works, including about the impact of new and innovative practice. The government will monitor the achievements of disadvantaged children who are likely to benefit from the premium.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 22 July 2010.

As Minister of State at the Department for Education he will be responsible for apprenticeships (16 – 18) and careers advice.

John Hayes said:

“I am delighted to be able to take on this new role and look forward to helping take forward the government’s work on careers advice and apprenticeships for young people.

“I am completely committed to ensuring people of all ages have access to learning and the skills they need to get on in their lives and careers.”

As Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, John Hayes is responsible for: further education, adult skills, Skills Funding Agency, skills strategy, lifelong learning, informal adult learning, apprenticeships, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, Sector Skills Councils, Workplace Training reforms, qualifications reform programme.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 July 2010.

Further moves to reduce bureaucracy and red tape in 16 to 19 education have been announced by the government.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said the current funding processes were too complex and had too many layers.

The new measures will simplify the system by * freeing up LAs to focus on their strategic role in 16 to 19 education * scrapping the need for LAs to set up sub-regional groups and regional planning groups * paying further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and other training providers direct from the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), the change coming in from August

Nick Gibb and Education Secretary Michael Gove outlined the changes in letters to Councillor Shireen Ritchie, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, Marion Davis, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, and other stakeholders.

Ministers added that further simplification would be introduced for the allocations round for the 2011 to 2012 academic year, with education institutions’ annual funding shares for 16 to 19 being based on the previous year’s student numbers. This will ensure funding follows the student and will end the need for drawn-out planning involving lengthy local negotiations. Institutions will be free to decide on their curriculum, responding to the needs of students and employers.

Nick Gibb said:

These measures will cut red tape and allow local authorities to focus on their strategic role as champions of young people, taking action where they identify significant issues in terms of gaps in supply or quality, particularly in ensuring access amongst the most vulnerable groups.

These moves further underline our principle of freeing up schools and colleges to focus on providing an excellent education to their students.

Martin Doel, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said:

These changes will be welcomed by colleges as a means by which the funding arrangements for 16- to 18-year-olds can be simplified and in the process costs contained to the benefit of front-line services to students. They are also entirely consistent with the wider government policy of ‘setting colleges free’.

Local authorities must be key partners in influencing and informing college provision to young people, and in particular vulnerable learners. We look forward to discussing with local authority partners how this might best be achieved.

Mark Bramwell, Principal of Totton College and Chair of the Sixth-form Colleges’ Forum stated:

I welcome this announcement. Sixth-form colleges value the relationship they have with local authorities but these decisions tick all the right boxes in terms of a simpler system achieving better value for money. The decisions also reflect the fact that we have a national funding methodology and a national service to students in sixth-form colleges.

Dr Richard Williams, Chief Executive, Rathbone, said:

By passing payments and contract management responsibility to the Young People’s Learning Agency, and letting us work in partnership with local authorities, the government is emphasising both the importance of local government in the planning and development of services for young people and ensuring that funding gets to the frontline on a basis which minimises costs.

The government has already announced outstanding FE and sixth-form colleges will be exempt from routine inspection, that sixth-form colleges will no longer be required to undertake surveys of learners views and that plans to introduce in-year funding adjustments would be scrapped.

 Notes to editors

Under the current system, LAs are required to form sub-regional groups and regional planning groups to support the planning and commissioning of 16 to 19 education provision. * Sub-regional and regional planning groups * Payment of further education providers. The new system cuts out a layer of bureaucracy, with the YPLA paying sixth-form colleges, further education colleges and other training providers direct, so freeing up local authorities to focus on their strategic role in 16 to 19 education. * The Young People’s Learning Agency. The YPLA supports the training and education of all 16- to 19-year-olds in England.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 19 July 2010.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

Today’s report from Ofqual recognises that overall the testing system is sound and that the results are a fair reflection of each pupil’s level of attainment. Rigorous external assessment provides parents and teachers with valuable objective data and plays a vital role in the accountability system. But I also agree with Ofqual’s report when it says that the current testing system can be improved. That is why we are committed to reviewing national curriculum tests to ensure they are as rigorous as possible and in the best interests of schools, children, parents and the public.