This week I highlight NGA’s new monthly free and on demand webinars for governors, the Education Secretary’s announcement on new AI and tech initiatives, confirmation that a joint letter from several charities has been sent to the Education Secretary and the Safeguarding Minister expressing concerns over safeguarding victims of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools, new guidance from the Dogs Trust on using dogs in schools and publication of a new DfE climate change blog.

NGA free and on-demand webinars
The NGA is now offering monthly free and on-demand webinars providing an opportunity for governors to keep up to date with the latest thinking on key issues in school governance. You can explore their webinars using this link.

Education Secretary announces new AI and tech initiatives
At the Bett Conference yesterday the Education Secretary announced mandatory training for teachers on assistive technology and introduced several Artificial Intelligence (AI) and tech initiatives to support education.

• Assistive Technology Training – all new teachers will receive mandatory training on using assistive technology to support children with special educational needs and disabilities starting in 2025.
• AI Safety and Tools – Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Adobe will commit to making AI tools for education safer by design, and new AI Product Safety Expectations were published.
• Attendance Data Summaries – new attendance data summaries are now available for every secondary school, academy trust, and local authority to help address the issue of persistent absence.
• Edtech Evidence Board – a new Edtech Evidence Board will be established to help teachers choose effective AI products for their classrooms, ensuring they are grounded in evidence.

Charities call for child-on-child abuse guidance
Several charities have written a joint letter to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips to express concerns over safeguarding victims of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools. The letter calls on the government to provide clearer statutory guidance on how schools should address sexual violence when both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are pupils.

New guidance on using dogs in schools
The Dogs Trust has published some new guidance on the use of school dogs. Although the charity overall advises against using dogs in school, it has released guidance on how to do so safely in recognition that bringing dogs into schools is a rising trend.

DfE publishes new climate change blog
The DfE has published a new blog on what the department is doing to tackle climate change, including inspiring young people to connect with nature, supporting schools to become greener and building greener schools.