This week I highlight a free webinar on performance data, the new SEND Framework launched by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission and new guidance on collecting evidence on pupil performance in the unlikely event that the exams planned for next summer can’t proceed.

Free Governors for Schools Webinar: Performance data in 2022 on Thursday 8 December from 8-9am.
The key findings from the latest performance data reports published by Ofsted and the DfE will be discussed and how these translate into practical questions that you can ask at governing body meetings. With pressure to ‘catch-up’ on the mind of many schools, it has never been a better time to enhance understanding of the trends in performance and what this means for you as a governor. To register use this link to visit the Governors for Schools website.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) launch new SEND framework
Following on from a consultation which took place between June and September, Ofqual and the CQC have published a joint framework which lays out how area SEND inspections will be carried out. Under the new framework, the inspectorates will examine how services affect the lives of pupils with SEND, will determine whether services are adhering to statutory obligations, and will make the reports on their findings clearer.

Ofqual’s new guidance on ‘Supporting resilience in the exam system in 2023’
Following on from a joint consultation by the DfE and Ofqual which took place between September and October this year, Ofqual has published new guidance for schools on collecting evidence on pupil performance to ensure that qualifications can be awarded in the unlikely event that GCSE, AS and A Level exams cannot go ahead as planned this Summer.

This week I confirm arrangements for KS2 SATs, highlight publication of new DfE guidance on breakfast club support and the attainment data of pupils who completed the 2022 multiplication check.

KS2 SATs pushed back over King’s coronation bank holiday
Primary pupils will sit KS2 SATs a day later than planned in May because of the extra bank holiday to mark the King’s coronation. The Standards and Testing Agency has confirmed that English grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) papers 1 and 2 will now take place on Tuesday 9 May, the English reading paper on Wednesday 10 May, mathematics papers 1 and 2 on Thursday 11 May and maths paper 3 on Friday 12 May.

The KS2 timetable variation window for each test will also move back by a day. No changes are planned to other assessments, including KS2 teacher assessments, KS1 tests and teacher assessments, the phonics screening and multiplication table checks.

New guidance on breakfast club support
The DfE has released new guidance on how eligible schools can apply for breakfast club provision support. The support has been extended for another year with an additional £12 million in funding and will now be available until the end of July 2024. Places on the scheme are limited and schools in disadvantaged areas will be eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils in bands A-F of the income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI).

2022 Multiplication tables check attainment
The statistics covering the attainment of Y4 pupils who took the multiplication tables check in summer 2022, after the assessment became statutory last academic year, have now been published.

• Of pupils who took the check, the mean average score was 19.8 out of 25.
• The most common score in the check was 25 (full marks), with 27% of pupils achieving this score.
• Disadvantaged pupils performed less well in the check than other pupils. Of pupils who took the check, the average score for disadvantaged pupils was 17.9, while the average score for pupils not known to be disadvantaged was 20.5.
• Pupils with a first language of English performed less well in the check than pupils with a first language other than English. Of pupils who took the check, the average score for pupils with a first language of English was 19.4 while the average score for pupils with a first language other than English was 21.2.
• London was the highest performing region, with an average score of 20.9. In other regions, the average score ranged from 19.1 in the South West to 19.7 in the North East.

This week I report on the additional funding schools will receive over the next two years and a new report published by Ofsted on raising early years education standards.

Additional funding for schools announced in the autumn statement
As part of his autumn statement this week the Chancellor announced an additional £2.3 billion of funding in 2023/24 and £2.3 billion in 2024/25 for school budgets in England. The increase means that the amount of funding schools receive per pupil will rise on average by over £1k by 2024/25, compared to 2021/22, restoring per-pupil funding to the level it was in 2010.

Capital funding, which goes towards improving school building and infrastructure, will increase from £6.3 billion this year to £7 billion in 2023/24, before reducing to £6.1 billion in 2024/25.

Ofsted’s review looks to raising early years education standards
In a new report published this week Ofsted has stressed the value of play and teaching, and the importance of developing communication skills. The latest review joins the series of subject based curriculum research reviews which examines the factors that contribute to a high quality early education. Making sure children catch up after the pandemic is still a key challenge in the early years to which the report recommends that practitioners think carefully about what content to prioritise.

This week I highlight a Confederation of School Trusts blog on things governors might want to consider before joining a Trust, publication of NSPCC guidance on protecting LGBTQ+ pupils in sport, confirmation of an additional bank holiday on 8 May for the King’s coronation and the announcement of an Ofsted review of CEIAG in schools.

Joining an academy trust: 5 things to keep in mind
The Confederation of School Trusts (CST) is the national organisation and sector body for trusts in England.  The CST’s Director of public affairs and policy, Sam Skerritt, has written a blog suggesting what governing bodies might want to consider before joining a trust.

Guidance on safeguarding LGBTQ+ pupils in sport
The NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit has published guidance on how to effectively safeguard LGBTQ+ pupils in sport and create a supportive and welcoming culture for all. This includes advice on terminology, language and attitudes, and links to relevant resources.

Schools to close on 8 May 2023
The DfE has now confirmed that schools and settings which are normally closed on a bank holiday should close for the bank holiday on 8 May 2023 to mark King Charles III’s coronation. This date is scheduled to be the first day of KS2 SATs; the DfE says the Standards and Testing Agency will update schools on what this means for KS2 test week as soon as possible.

Ofsted announces thematic review of careers guidance in schools, further education and skills providers
Ofsted says it will review careers guidance in mainstream provision and in specialist settings, including special schools and alternative provision, and provide recommendations to improve practice. The review will be published in Autumn 2023. Inspectors will assess:

• How well school leaders fulfil their statutory duties and ensure careers education is of high quality.
• The extent to which schools engage with stakeholders, e.g. employers, and ensure that careers education contributes to local, regional and national opportunities and skills needs.
• How the curriculum helps pupils make informed choices about their future education, employment and training.

This week I report on new information and resources for schools around the Prevent Duty; the publication of updated guidance on promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools; confirmation that unions representing school support staff have accepted the 2022/23 pay deal; confirmation of a new Education Secretary and the Schools Bill to be discontinued as government focuses on economic matters alongside other priorities.

New information and resources for the Prevent Duty (DfE)
The government has updated and redeveloped its resources for schools around the Prevent Duty.  This includes guidance designed to explain the Prevent referral process and the statutory responsibilities to keep children, young people and adult learners safe from the risk of extremist ideology or radicalisation.  As well as a new self-assessment tool designed to assist schools in England to review their Prevent related responsibilities in line with Section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA) and the education inspection framework (EIF) 2022.

The tool will help schools to understand how well embedded their existing policies and practices are, and to encourage a cycle of continuous review and improvement. Use of the tool is not mandatory but contains both requirements and recommended good practice activities to meet those requirements.

Updated DfE guidance on promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools
Only minor updates have been made to the guidance, including adding a link to the government’s guidance on ‘Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing’ and confirming that more than 500 mental health support teams will be working with and in schools by 2024.

Unions have accepted the local government pay offer
Unison, the GMB and Unite, unions which represent local government workers including school support staff, have accepted the 2022/23 pay deal, following consultations with union members. The pay award applies to maintained schools and academy trusts and a flat rate payment of £1,925 will be added to each pay scale with effect from 1 April 2022. Unions have called on schools to implement the pay rises as soon as possible which should be backdated to April 2022. Specific funding has not been allocated to support schools to deliver on this pay award.

New Education Secretary and Schools Bill to be dropped
As a result of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s first reshuffle of the Cabinet, Kit Malthouse left the post of Education Secretary and was replaced by Gillian Keegan.

The schools bill is set to be discontinued by the government as it focuses primarily on economic matters alongside other priorities. It is understood, however, that ministers are eager to legislate some elements of the bill that they see as most important in the next parliamentary session, beginning next May. This might include some academy regulation and intervention powers alongside the establishment of a register of children not in education and powers to tackle illegal schools. Such policies could be brought back as part of smaller bills, meaning they are less likely to be held up in the way the schools bill has been.

In another tumultuous week for the country I report on the announcement of £180 million of funding to improve children’s development in the early years and potential strike action by members of the NEU and NAHT if approved in national ballots.

Early Years funding
The government has announced funding of £180 million to improve children’s development in the early years. Aiming to put children’s education and skills back on track after the pandemic, the funding will be used to improve teaching of children’s early speech, language and numeracy, along with professional development. Among the planned strategies is a new universal online child development training offer to help staff improve their knowledge and understanding of children’s development.

Union strikes over pay “likely” to take place in January
The NEU has said teachers and support staff strikes over pay are “likely” to take place from the end of January next year if approved in a national ballot which will open next week. The NAHT has also confirmed that it will ballot its members on whether they want to strike over pay, for the first time in its 125 year history.

The move to industrial action follows the 5% pay rise agreed for teachers and headteachers, with increases rising to 8.9% for newer teachers as a step towards achieving a minimum starting salary of £30,000. The planned increases have been criticised amid current levels of inflation and the resulting cost of living crisis as well as off the back of years of real term pay cuts to the profession.

This week I highlight the publication of a new set of cyber-security standards for schools and the 2022 School teachers pay and conditions document, confirmation of £24 million government funding for children’s literacy and reports that some Headteachers have requested safeguarding is decoupled from the main inspection framework and yearly audits carried out instead.

New cyber-security standards for schools
The DfE has updated its ‘Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges’ guidance, adding a new section covering a new set of cyber-security standards for schools to support them in protecting their IT systems.

STPCD 2022 released
The DfE has published the ‘School teachers’ pay and conditions document’ (STPCD) for 2022, which reflects the 2022 pay award. The document confirms that a 5% increase will be applied to all pay and allowance ranges and advisory points, with higher increases to some parts of the main pay range as a step towards achieving a minimum starting salary of £30,000.

£24 million Government funding for children’s literacy
The Government has announced £24 million in funding has been set aside to continue to support children’s literacy and phonics skills following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding will go towards building on the impact of the English Hubs Programme, which enables schools to implement high-quality phonics teaching and access literacy specialists. The boost will enable the government to hit its target of 90% of primary school pupils achieving the expected standard in literacy and numeracy by 2030.

Ofsted declines calls for separate safeguarding inspections
Ofsted has rejected requests by some headteachers for safeguarding to be “decoupled” from the main inspection framework and have its own yearly audits. The discussion was recently brought up in a committee inquiry into misogyny in education settings, where Ofsted’s national director for social care, Yvette Stanley, argued that safeguarding could not be assessed solely as it is intertwined with “the culture and leadership of the school”.

This week I highlight publication of the provisional information on the 2022 phonics, KS1 and KS2 assessments, updated secondary accountability measures guidance, a free webinar on school budget pressures and the role of governance, a couple of helpful documents in relation to aspects of safeguarding and the new School admission appeals code.

Provisional information on KS1 and 2 assessments released
The DfE has published provisional information on the 2022 phonics screening check and assessments at KS1 and provisional results for the 2022 national curriculum assessments at KS2. The KS1 information can be found here and the KS2 information can be found here.

Updated Secondary accountability measures guidance
The guidance has been updated for 2022 to include further information about KS4 accountability arrangements and the use of 2021/22 performance data. It sets out further detail on the methodological changes made reflecting that results from qualifications achieved between January 2020 and August 2021 will not be used in performance measures.

Free Governors for Schools Webinar: School Budget Pressures – The role of governance on Thursday 20 October from 8-9am. 
As inflationary pressures mount, the role of governors in balancing school budgets has never been more crucial. In conjunction with Better Governor you can join a discussion around the role that governors play in managing this important challenge.  To register use this link to visit the Governors for Schools website.

Safeguarding
As the 2022 version of KCSIE came into force on 1 September a couple of organisations have produced additional helpful guidance as follows:

• Online searches on shortlisted candidates – education law firm Browne Jacobson has produced a helpful FAQ on the topic.
• Low-level concerns policy – law firm Farrer & Co has produced guidance which provides further clarity and reflection of best practice in this area.

School admission appeals code 2022
The new appeals code, which replaces the ‘Draft school admission appeals code 2022 (correction)’, became effective on 1 October 2022 and is applicable to all appeals lodged on or after that date.

This week I highlight publication of the latest DfE School Governance update and confirmation of the examinations and grading plan for next year.

September 2022 DfE School Governance update
The September school governance update provides information on the Energy bill relief scheme, publication of the Academy Trust Handbook 2022, updated guidance on governance processes in federations, the online service Inspiring Governance which recruits governors and trustees for schools and trusts, governors and trustees views sought on school food guidance and training, updated information on the Risk Protection Arrangement in relation to cyber cover and regulatory mock trials.

Confirmation of exams and grading plan for 2023
The Government has confirmed that next year’s GCSE and A-level grades will return back to pre-pandemic levels, albeit with a “soft landing” and exam aids will be allowed in some subjects. The DfE has said senior examiners will use the grades achieved by previous cohorts of pupils, along with prior attainment data, to inform their decisions about where to set grade boundaries. Advance information, which was used last academic year to help students target their revision, will not be available again, however formulae and equation sheets will remain in GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science.

A consultation will be launched to “futureproof” exams and this includes guidance for schools about how to gather consistent evidence to ensure “preparedness” should exams need to be cancelled ever again. Exams boards body the Joint Council for Qualifications will consult on maintaining extra spacing between exams next summer and it will be proposed that the expectation pupils engage with unfamiliar and abstract material, such as unfamiliar vocabulary, in modern foreign language GCSE exams will be removed from next year onwards.

This week I highlight confirmation that the government will provide support for schools with their energy bills this autumn as well as updated guidance published for maintained schools on completing the Schools Financial Value Standard and for academies on completing the School Resource Management Self-Assessment Checklist.

Government confirms 6-month energy bills support for schools
This week the government has confirmed its plans to help schools and other non-domestic energy users with their energy bills this autumn. Ministers say their plan to reduce rates to a “government-supported price” of £211 per megawatt hour for electricity and £75 for gas will equate to a saving of £4k for a school paying £10k a month for energy. For comparison, the government said wholesale costs this winter are expected to be around £600 per megawatt hour for electricity and £180 for gas.

Updated guidance on the Schools Financial Value Standard
The DfE has made changes to the guidance and checklist to reflect expectations for this academic year and in section E on value for money, updates on threshold values for public procurement, good estate management and the get help buying for schools service.

Updated guidance on the School Resource Management Self-Assessment Checklist
Similarly the DfE has made some minor changes to the guidance for academies when completing their checklist which helps them check they are managing resources effectively and identifying any adjustments they need to make.