This week I highlight the publication of new DfE guidance on how schools should prepare for and respond to terrorism and other major incidents, new research from the Nuffield Foundation on how Covid could impact on GCSE results into the 2030s and Ofqual’s response to the DfE’s consultation on the approach for the Advanced British Standard.

DfE releases new guidance ‘Protective security and preparedness for education settings’
The DfE has released new non-statutory guidance covering how education settings should prepare for and respond to terrorism and other major incidents. It covers preparatory measures such as security culture and practice drills; immediate actions during an incident such as safe communication and evacuation; and post-incident procedures such as welfare support and evaluation of the response. Alongside the guidance, the DfE has released a ‘Protective security and preparedness self-assessment’ template to helps schools evaluate strengths and weaknesses in provision.

New research shows that coronavirus (COVID-19) could affect GCSEs into 2030s
A new Nuffield Foundation study predicts that successive coronavirus cohorts are on course for the biggest overall decline in basic GCSE achievement for at least two decades.

Ofqual responds to DfE’s consultation on the approach for the Advanced British Standard
Ofqual has released its response to the DfE’s consultation on the approach to the Advanced British Standard, which aims to set a new vision for what students should learn post-16, at what level and with what balance across subjects. The consultation closed on 20 March 2024.

This week I highlight a Governors for Schools free webinar on understanding governors’ responsibilities around digital safeguarding, a new DfE web page for its resources on improving behaviour in schools, the publication of an updated version of the EEF’s guide to implementing new ideas and approaches in schools and publication of Ofsted and Ofqual documents on how they will use Artificial Intelligence.

Free Governors for Schools webinar on understanding governors’ responsibilities around digital safeguarding
In conjunction with Smoothwall, Governors for Schools are holding a webinar on
Thursday 16 May from 5-6 p.m. on understanding governors’ responsibilities around digital safeguarding. Smoothwall’s Head of Education & Wellbeing will discuss the intricacies of digital safeguarding, shedding light on the challenges students encounter in their digital world and offering practical safeguarding strategies aimed at fostering optimal outcomes and safety for students. You can use this link to register.

DfE behaviour in schools resource page
Yesterday the DfE published a new web page for its resources on improving behaviour in schools, including case studies from schools that took part in the Behaviour Hubs programme and its existing guidance on issues such as suspensions, mobile phones, confiscation, and use of reasonable force.

EEF publishes ‘A School’s Guide to Implementation’ update
The EEF has released an updated version of A School’s Guide to Implementation, a 2021 report on implementing new ideas and approaches in schools that have the biggest possible impact on children and young people’s outcomes.

Ofsted and Ofqual release documents on their approach to AI
Ofsted has published a paper which outlines how it will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly and fairly, setting out its position on the use of AI by education and social care providers. Ofqual has also released a document which sets out its approach to regulating AI. It covers issues such as managing malpractice, using AI to mark work or remotely invigilate, and Ofqual’s key regulatory objectives.

This week I report on a Governors for Schools free webinar on the new school governance guides, publication of updated guidance on sharing school attendance data, information on what to expect from KCSIE 2024 and the release of an Ofsted RE subject report.

Free Governors for Schools webinar on the new school governance guides
In conjunction with Better Governor, Governors for Schools are holding a webinar on Thursday 9 May from 8-9 a.m. exploring the new school governance guides to help you stay informed about the expectations of your role. They will discuss both the Academy trust governance guide and Maintained schools governance guide, which have now replaced the Governance Handbook. Use this link to register.

Updated guidance on sharing school attendance data
The DfE’s guidance on how to ‘Share your daily school attendance data’ now includes information about mandatory attendance data sharing, which begins in September 2024. The mandatory sharing of attendance data was first announced earlier this year in the February update to ‘Working together to improve school attendance’, which will become statutory from 19 August 2024.

KCSIE 2024 update
The Government has announced that it is to make only technical changes to KCSIE for September 2024, with a view to providing a more substantively updated document, encompassing wider changes, in 2025.

The DfE has launched a Call for Evidence from practitioners and others which is deliberately broad and seeks to reflect areas and issues that have been shared by school and college safeguarding professionals, or where wider systemic changes mean there is an opportunity to better align school and college safeguarding policy, including the findings from Ofsted’s Big Listen.

Whilst the DfE won’t be publishing the results of the Call for Evidence it will consult on any substantive changes it makes to future iterations of KCSIE, and school and college safeguarding policy in the normal way.

Ofsted releases RE subject report
Ofsted has published another of its subject report series, this time examining the factors that influence the quality of RE in schools in England.

This week I report on the publication of new non statutory DfE guidance on PE, the governor’s role in cyber security and publication of a range of resources to help promote staff wellbeing and support workload reduction in schools.

New DfE PE guidance for schools
New non statutory guidance explains how schools can meet the ambitions of the PE national curriculum, the aims of the school sport and activity action plan and the Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines. It includes a variety of schools’ approaches to providing a minimum 2 hours of PE per week and equality of access to PE and extra-curricular school sport and competition.

A Governor’s role in cyber security
One third of secondary schools and around 1 in 10 primary schools experienced cyber crime last year. As governors are aware cyber security if the responsibility of the whole Governing body because it’s central to a school’s ability to operate and function. Paragraph 144 of Keeping Children Safe in Education also explains that governors and school leaders are responsible for making sure they have the appropriate level of security protection procedures in place.

It’s good practice to have at least one governor who has completed cyber security training and this is recommended by the DfE in its guidance on meeting digital and technology standards and in the Governance guide for maintained schools (section 7.7.3) and academy trusts (section 7.9.3). Basic cyber security knowledge among staff and governors plays a vital part in promoting a more risk aware school culture.

With that in mind, please use this link to complete the NCSC’s Cyber Security training for school staff – it only takes around 35 minutes to complete.

Publication of resources for improving workload and wellbeing for school staff
The DfE has published a range of resources to help promote staff wellbeing and support workload reduction in school.

This week I report on the closure of the Inspiring Governance service in September with the withdrawal of DfE funding, the expansion of Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation with the opening of the children’s Big Listen survey and DfE’s publication of its evaluation of the first year findings of its attendance mentor intervention programme.

No government funding for governance
DfE funding of the Inspiring Governance school governor recruitment service will come to an end on 30 September after 8 years. From October this could be the first time in 25 years that there is no funded support for schools to recruit diverse, skilled governors from business. It only leaves Governors for Schools, an independent charity, as an avenue for Trusts and Governing bodies to use to recruit governors. The Co-Chief Executives of the National Governance Association have written an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education, to highlight the removal of the final piece of DfE governance funding.

Ofsted opens children’s ‘Big Listen’ survey
Ofsted has now extended its ‘Big Listen’ consultation to hear directly from children. The consultation, which aligns with the main ‘Big Listen’ consultation, asks a series of short questions for children to anonymously answer about how Ofsted should inspect schools.

Publication of the Evaluation of the attendance mentors pilot
The DfE has released its report on the first-year findings of the three-year attendance mentor intervention. The pilot aimed to test and evidence effective practice for improving school attendance through individual support and targeted family engagement.

This week I report on Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation, a free webinar on how governors can support schools in developing their provision for their EAL learners and updated non-statutory guidance for education settings on sharing nudes and semi-nude images.

Ofsted ‘Big Listen’ consultation
Ofsted’s consultation for the ‘Big Listen’ is now open for the public to respond to and will run for 12 weeks. The ‘Big Listen’ is seeking views from the full range of professionals and providers Ofsted works with, as well as parents, carers, children and learners. It asks a series of questions based around four themes:

• How Ofsted reports on its findings
• How Ofsted carries out inspections
• How Ofsted can have a positive impact in all the sectors it inspects
• What Ofsted needs to do to be a world-class inspectorate and regulator

The consultation will close on 31 May 2024 and you can access is using this link.

Governors for Schools free webinar on how governors can support schools in developing their provision for their EAL learners – Monday 25 March 2024 from 12 to 1pm
With over 20% of learners in schools utilising English as an additional language, it’s crucial to ensure that schools are equipped to meet the unique strengths and needs of this growing cohort. That’s why Governors for Schools are excited to host Sheila Hopkins from The Bell Foundation, who will delve into the pivotal role school governors play in fostering an inclusive pedagogy. Use this link to access the Governors for Schools website to book a place on the webinar.

Updated guidance on responding to incidents involving the sharing of nudes
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology and the UK Council for Internet Safety have updated the Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people non-statutory guidance. The update has expanded the guidance to cover nude image sharing incidents involving AI-generated images, and financially motivated sexual extortion.

This week I report on the long awaited publication of two new governance guides (one for maintained schools and one for academies) which have replaced the Governance Handbook, the outcome of the Spring budget and Ofsted’s publication of a subject report on the quality of English in primary and secondary schools in England.

New Governance Guides
Yesterday the DfE published two new governance guides (one for maintained schools and one for academies) replacing the Governance Handbook that was last updated in 2020. The documents are an essential reference guide to the roles and duties of governing bodies. There are no new requirements, so you don’t need to do anything right now, except to be aware of, and able to access, the right guide for your school setting.

Spring Budget 2024
On Wednesday the Chancellor delivered the Spring Budget confirming that Education sector is set to receive £81.9 billion in funding by the end of the 2023/24 financial year. For 2024/25 funding is planned to rise to £84.9 billion, an increase of £3 billion.

£105 million in funding will be committed to building 15 new special free schools, creating over 2,000 additional places for children with SEND in England and the location of these schools will be confirmed in May 2024. The Government also confirmed the location of 20 Alternative Provision free schools and that it is introducing two new data pilots to drive high quality AI in education.

Ofsted releases a Subject report series on English
Ofsted has released a subject report on the quality of English in primary and secondary schools in England. This report evaluates the common strengths and weaknesses of English that Ofsted has recognised in schools.

This week I report on the publication of statutory Attendance guidance, guidance for schools ahead of the launch of the wraparound childcare programme, non-statutory guidance on the use of mobile phones and the announcement of the delay of the Reception Baseline Assessment changes.

DfE publishes statutory Attendance guidance
The DfE has published updated ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance this week which will become mandatory from September. Changes include expectations on supporting pupils with mental health or physical ill health, new fine rates, absence thresholds at which penalties must be considered, requirements to share daily data and new absence codes.

DfE Guidance: Responding to requests for wraparound childcare
The DfE has published ‘Responding to requests for wraparound childcare’ guidance for schools ahead of the launch of the wraparound childcare programme. The guidance is designed to support schools to understand how to respond to requests from parents, carers and providers, in relation to the national wraparound childcare programme.

The guidance includes the responsibilities of the Governing body in relation to considering whether to establish wraparound childcare on school sites. It also emphasises that if wraparound childcare is set up using the powers afforded to governors, the Governing body holds responsibility for the provision, even where decision-making is delegated to others.
Governors are encouraged to read the guidance alongside the Wraparound guidance for schools.

New non-statutory mobile phone guidance
The DfE has released new non-statutory guidance that explains ways to develop, implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones in schools. The Government has stated that this guidance is part of a plan to “minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms”, and that many schools already have mobile phone bans in place.

Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) changes delayed to 2025
The DfE confirmed yesterday that previously announced changes to the RBA have been delayed by a year, taking effect from September 2025 rather than September 2024. The changes would see children answering questions on touchscreen devices instead of worksheets.

This week I report on the publication of updated non statutory guidance on flexible working, the announcement of a new apprenticeship route into teaching of Maths for non-graduates and publication of an EPI report suggesting the DfE sets Gatsby-style benchmarks for extracurricular activities.

Updated non-statutory guidance on flexible working
A revised version of this non statutory guidance has been published with an updated definition of flexible working and a broader range of arrangements. It will be updated again in April to align with the new flexible working law when it comes into force.

New apprenticeship route into teaching for non-graduates will launch in 2025
The DfE will begin recruiting for a pilot of 150 maths trainees in the autumn, with training beginning next September.

Since the advent of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, schools, trusts and councils have struggled to find ways to spend the money they pay in. Because teachers make up such a large proportion of schools’ workforces, the lack of an undergraduate route leaves leaders with few options. A one-year postgraduate route was created in 2018 but requires an existing degree.

It is hoped this new apprenticeship will provide a route for teaching assistants to become teachers with trainees getting a degree at level 6 and qualified teacher status on completion. Apprentices would spend around 40% of their time studying and the rest of the time in the classroom. It is not yet clear whether they will need to be supervised when teaching classes. The pilot will only include government funding for the training of one cohort and after that schools will have to use levy funding.

EPI suggests Gatsby-style benchmarks for extracurricular activities
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has published a report this week that suggests the DfE should set non statutory benchmarks for extracurricular activities, similar to those for careers advice, that would set the expected standard for provision that was accessible and appealing to a broad range of students. EPI analysis found pupils who attended clubs had a higher probability of progressing to higher education and being in employment than those who did not.

This week I report on the publication of new non-statutory guidance on wraparound childcare for primary schools, the announcement of a consultative ballot by the NASUWT to secure improved pay and conditions for teachers and a Schools Week report on the NHS’s pledge to provide increased child mental health support that is behind target.

New non-statutory guidance on wraparound childcare published
The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt outlined an “ambition” last year for primary schools to provide wraparound childcare, with £289 million funding to implement the scheme. The DfE has published new non-statutory guidance which explains the role of schools and academy trusts in supporting parents to access wraparound childcare. It provides guidance to help schools offer new or expanded wraparound childcare, with support from the national wraparound childcare programme.

NASUWT announces plans for a consultative ballot
The NASUWT has joined the National Education Union in announcing that it will hold a consultative ballot over the coming weeks as part of its campaign, up to and including industrial action, to secure improved pay and conditions for teachers. The two votes come amid increasing tension between government and unions over next year’s pay deal.

Child mental health support pledge looks in doubt
Today Schools Week reports on a flagship pledge to get more youngsters access to mental health services which is behind schedule and looks set to be missed unless rates are quickly increased.

The NHS’s 2019 long-term plan promised that by March this year, at least an additional 345,000 children and young people up to age 25 could access support through either NHS funded mental health services or new school mental health support teams. However, a presentation by NHS bosses, seen by Schools Week, shows only about 234,000 extra children were getting support in October, a gap of 111,000. The news comes in the same week that analysis found a 50% rise in the number of children being referred to emergency mental healthcare services in just three years. Both issues are heaping more pressure on schools, which are feeling the impact of stretched wider services.