This week I report on a free webinar on Ofsted inspections taking place during this academic year, a helpful glossary on all things school governance, a new guide for governors on looked after children, what the budget means for schools, information on new Regional support and intervention teams and the announcement of plans to boost inclusion in mainstream.

Free webinar on Ofsted inspection this academic year
Governors for Schools in association with Better Governor are offering a webinar on Ofsted in 2024/25 on Thursday 21 November from 8:00 to 9:00 am. The session will bring all those involved in school and academy governance up to date with the latest in Ofsted inspection developments and you can register your place via the Governors for Schools website using this link.

Free Governance Glossary
Fee Stagg was a National Leader of Governance, is currently a Chair of Governors, and an Independent Clerk and Governance Professional in both the maintained and academy sectors. She has produced a free, A-Z of governance terms which is a useful induction document for new governors, as well as being of interest to experienced governors.

New: Guide for governing bodies on looked after children
Written by BECOME, a charity for children in care and Aaron King from 9000 Lives, this new guide for those governing in primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units provides useful information and questions to support governors to discuss children in care (also known as looked after children) with their school leaders.

What does the budget mean for schools?
Core funding for schools will rise by £2.3 billion next year with £1 billion of that for SEND provision. The increase will fully fund this summer’s 5.5% pay award for teachers and help cover pay awards in 2025/26. In addition, the DfE has confirmed that schools will be compensated to cover the increase in employer national insurance contributions, although details on what that will mean in practice are yet to be released.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves also announced a rise in capital funding to £6.7 million next year, including £1.4 billion to ensure the delivery of the existing Schools Rebuilding Programme and £2.1 billion to improve the condition of school buildings. £1.8 billion has also been confirmed to support the expansion of government funded childcare and investment in breakfast clubs will triple to over £30 million.

Information on new Regional support and intervention teams
On Tuesday the DfE set out in a briefing how schools will be supported regionally from next year, with Ofsted report cards set to play a key role. Groups of civil servants and advisers known as Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams will start supporting schools in 2025.

Based on the findings of Ofsted report cards, schools will be placed into one of three categories: those with minimal issues with strong capacity requiring ‘universal support’, those with one or several issues needing ‘targeted support’, and those requiring intervention. The RISE teams will play a role in supporting schools in the first two categories as follows:

• Signposting for schools with ‘minimal issues’ – RISE teams will develop a set of local area priorities, including in areas such as attendance and SEND. They will then signpost schools to hubs and leading schools, to help promote the sharing of good practice and support in these areas.
• Schools needing more ‘targeted support’ – RISE teams will commission help from a supporting organisation with a strong track record of improvement. This supporting organisation could be a trust, a local authority or another local partner. The supporting organisation will create a support package for the school and commission wider support where needed. For example, the supporting organisation may commission another body to support the school with attendance, if this is not a particular area of expertise for the main support organisation.

Announcement of plans to boost inclusion in mainstream
Yesterday the Education Secretary announced a raft of measures aimed at making mainstream schools more inclusive for pupils with SEND. In a speech at the Confederation of School Trusts’ conference she announced the appointment of two major new SEND advisers – Tom Rees (CEO of Ormiston Academies Trust) and Dame Christine Lenehan (Director at the Council for Disabled Children at the National Children’s Bureau).

She also announced the creation of an expert group on neurodiversity to improve inclusivity in mainstream schools and said that the government would encourage more mainstream schools to set up specialist resourced provision and SEN units.