This afternoon the DfE published its updated statutory guidance on the constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools.  Key updates include:

• the requirement of a Disclosure and Barring Service check within 21 days of appointment/election
• the requirement to supply information to the Secretary of State about those involved in governance via Edubase
• clarified information on governors’ access to training and the role of the Governing body in addressing the training and development needs of individual governors
• clarified information on Parent Governors

The new version of the guidance references the DfE’s Governance Competency Framework, which is expected to be published this term.

The DfE also clarifies that Parent Governors have a valuable perspective to offer and are a good source of knowledge about the school. However, parental engagement is a separate activity for which the whole Governing body is responsible.

This week I highlight the Education Secretary’s announcement of the creation of new ‘opportunity areas’ that will receive £60m towards school improvement, concerns raised on social media about schools collecting census nationality data and confirmation of changes at the Northern Regional Schools Commissioner’s office.

New £60m ‘opportunity areas’
On Tuesday the Education Secretary, Justine Greening announced the creation of new ‘opportunity areas’ across the country which will receive £60m towards school improvement, teacher support and school-business collaboration.

The ‘opportunity areas’ are social mobility “cold spots” identified by the Social Mobility Index (published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission), with the first in West Somerset, Norwich, Blackpool, Scarborough, Derby and Oldham, before the programme is widened out to four other parts of the country in the coming months. Whilst three North East Local Authority areas have been identified by the report as being social mobility “cold spots”, they are ranked in the bottom 20%.

Requirement for schools to collect census nationality data
Changes to the school census that require the collection of data on pupils’ country of birth and nationality are back on the agenda again after parents took to twitter to share examples of their schools’ responses to the new rules. The debate has also been potentially reignited following an announcement at the Conservative Party conference that companies will be forced to list foreign workers.

The information is being collected for inclusion in the national pupil database (NPD) which helps civil servants and researchers get a full picture of a school’s roll, and the Government has claimed the additional information is needed to make that picture more complete. Among the concerns of parents and activists is that the data could be passed to the Home Office and be used to help curb immigration, but the DfE has said it has no current plans to do so.

Whilst the rules place an obligation on schools to ask parents for the country of birth and nationality of their child, there is no requirement for either parents or pupils to supply the information and schools can record that refusal in their census submission. Schools also have the option to tick either ‘not yet obtained’ or ‘not known’.

Changes at the Northern Regional Schools Commissioner’s office
The start of the new academic year has seen a number of changes at the Northern Regional Schools Commissioner’s office with two new Deputy Directors, Katherine Cowell and Jane Wilson.  Following restructuring, Steve Bibby, Jean Jackson and Mark Marshall now have responsibility for Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, South and North Tyneside, Sunderland, and Durham.

There are also two new co-opted appointments to the Northern Head Teacher Board; Sir Michael Wilkins (retired former CEO of Outwood Grange Academies Trust), and Elizabeth Horne OBE (CEO of Horizons Specialist Academy Trust in the Tees Valley).

The RSC North newsletter that announced these changes also carried a message from the National Schools Commissioner, Sir David Carter, who wanted to reassure primary schools that the changes in Key Stage 2 testing and assessment would not mean that significantly more schools would be classed as below floor targets.

This week the Labour Leader announced a campaign to provide inclusive education for all, the DfE published the results of this year’s Phonics Screening Check and Key Stage 1 SATs and I highlight an opportunity for Governors to attend a free seminar  on how to convert to academy status and form and grow a MAT.

Labour Campaign launched against grammar school plans
This week the newly re-elected Labour leader used his victory speech to announce a campaign for “inclusive education for all” that would start with a street demonstration tomorrow, as well as an online and off-line petition, social media campaign, video, mail shots, street stalls and a range of community events over the coming weeks.

The party leader also pledged that if Labour won the next general election, it would introduce an arts Pupil Premium worth £160m of extra funding for schools that would help pupils learn to play instruments, drama, dance and give them regular access to cultural institutions in their local areas.

Phonics Screening Test and Key Stage 1 SATs results
The DfE released data this week on the results of the Phonics Screening Test and Key Stage 1 SATs results.  The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in phonics this year was 81% in Year 1 and 91% by the end of Year 2. Figures showed that at the end of Key Stage 1, 74% of pupils achieved the new expected standard in reading, 65% in writing and 73% in maths.

Free Seminar on converting to academy status and how to form and grow a MAT
As we all know the education landscape has changed over the past year and Governors wanting to know more about converting to academy status and how to form and grow a MAT can attend a free seminar on Tuesday 18 October at the Northern Design Centre in Gateshead.

The session led by the Freedom and Autonomy for Schools – National Association (FASNA) includes a review of different MAT models, an overview of the legal processes, changes in roles and responsibilities for governors as well as opportunities for discussion and networking.

For further information and to book your place, please click here.

This week the Education Select Committee has launched an inquiry into how this year’s new tougher SATs tests have affected primary schools and the DfE has published new guidance on screening and searching pupils and handling strike action in schools.

Education Select Committee inquiry into primary assessment
This summer was the first year that 10 and 11 year olds took the new tougher tests in reading, maths and spelling, grammar and punctuation. Pupils were also assessed in writing by their teachers according to a new national framework.  Just 53% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths and the NAHT, ATL and NUT have said that urgent changes are needed or they will consider a boycott in 2017.

The Commons Education Committee has launched an inquiry looking at the implementation of the new system, its impact on teaching and learning schools and the wider issue of what primary assessment is for.

The Government has already put on hold plans to introduce multiplication tables tests next year and has said that proposed Year 7 resits will not begin in this academic year.

Guidance: searching, screening and confiscation at school
Today the Department for Education (DfE) published updated guidance explaining the powers schools have to screen and search pupils, and to confiscate items they find. The new guidance now includes a link to the UK Council for Child Internet Safety’s advice on responding to ‘Sexting in schools and colleges’.

Given that we now live in a technological age and most pupils have a mobile phone and/or access to a tablet/laptop, Governors are reminded that the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education now includes an annex in relation to online safety. As Governors should be aware pupils should be taught about online safety as part of safeguarding within the curriculum.

Updated guidance on handling strike actions in schools
This week the Government published revised guidance on what to do when school staff go on strike. The document emphasises the DfE’s expectation that all reasonable steps will be taken to keep a school open in the event of a strike. It also provides advice on how to achieve this while explaining the law on trade disputes and picketing.

This week saw the Education Secretary launch the consultation on the Government’s controversial plans to expand grammar schools in England, confirm that the Government will proceed with the Educational Excellence Everywhere white paper and the publication of updated guidance on what schools need to know to plan for the new academic year.

Launch of consultation on Schools that work for everyone green paper
Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for Education, addressed the House of Commons on Monday to launch the Government’s consultation on proposals for new grammar schools, as outlined in the Schools that work for everyone green paper.

The consultation is structured around four types of institutions – Independent schools; Universities; Selective schools and Faith schools and the proposals include:

• allowing new selective schools to open, existing ones to expand, or non-selective schools to convert where there is demand (these schools must meet certain conditions such as guaranteeing places for children from disadvantaged backgrounds or helping to establish non-selective free schools);
• stronger, more demanding requirements for independent schools to retain the benefits associated with charitable status; this could include offering bursaries to those less able to afford them or sponsoring schools in the state sector;
• requiring universities to open or sponsor schools in exchange for the right to raise their tuition fees;
• lifting the cap on new faith free schools which requires them to limit the number of pupils admitted on the basis of faith to 50% and replacing it with new measures to ensure all new faith free schools are truly inclusive.

The Government also intends to develop a way to identify children from “families who are just about managing” – i.e. families who are struggling, but are not picked up in pupil premium and/or free school meals measures.

The consultation will close at 11.45 p.m. on 12 December 2016.

Academies white paper to go ahead
The Education Secretary faced her first grilling in front of the Education Select Committee yesterday, where she announced the Government’s plan to enact the Educational Excellence Everywhere white paper.

Ms Greening explained to MPs that the Government is currently “pulling together” legislation to go ahead with the planned changes, adding that she wanted to focus academisation on “struggling” schools.

Whilst the Committee heard that more details will be made available later in the year, Ms Greening did confirm that the controversial policy to remove the need for Parent Governors from academies will be scrapped.

Governor Mandatory Timelines
This week also saw the publication of updated guidance from the Department for Education on what academies, maintained schools and pupil referral units must know to plan for the academic year ahead.

The new academic year starts controversially as I report on the Prime Minister’s plans to allow new grammar schools to open and state schools to select pupils by academic ability, the launch of the Government’s new plans to reduce childhood obesity and the publication of the updated version of the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Prime Minister’s school reform plans
This morning the Prime Minister announced more education reforms, including plans to scrap the rule which prevents new grammar schools from opening, which was introduced by Labour in 1998. A summary of the main proposals is provided below:

• Existing grammar schools in England to be allowed to expand, backed by £50m of new funding
• All state schools in England to be allowed to select pupils by academic ability “in the right circumstances” and where there is demand
• All selective schools will have to meet access conditions, such as taking a share of pupils from low-income backgrounds, setting up a new non-selective secondary or primary school or backing an underperforming academy
• New grammars will be able to take pupils at 14 and 16, as well as 11, or take on students from non-selective schools for certain subjects
• Universities will be expected to sponsor a state school or set up a new free school as part of an overhaul of fair access requirements
• Catholic schools which are oversubscribed and want to expand will be able to choose 100% of new pupils on faith grounds, not 50% as now
• All independent schools will have to support state schools in some way, in return for maintaining their charitable status.
• Fee-paying schools will have to sponsor or set up a new free school or subsidise places for pupils from more modest backgrounds

A consultation will be held on ways to make new selective schools and expanding grammars more inclusive so that places are not limited to families who can “pay for tuition to pass the test”.

Currently there are no grammar schools in the North East and the Prime Minister told Conservative MPs on Wednesday night that the expansion would not be forced on areas that did not want them.

Launch of Government plan to reduce childhood obesity
In August the Government published its plan for action to significantly reduce childhood obesity by supporting healthier choices. The plan looks at how schools can support this in helping children to enjoy an hour of physical activity every day, improving the co-ordination of quality sport and physical activity programmes for schools, creating a new healthy rating scheme for primary schools and making school food healthier.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016
An updated version of the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education was published on Monday this week. The document contains information on what schools and colleges should do and sets out the legal duties with which schools and colleges must comply in order to keep children safe.

In my last update this academic year we can reflect on what a tumultuous year it has been. We started back in September with a new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework, new curricula and assessment. The publication of the Education White Paper in March heralded a move to make all schools academies by 2022. Following a public outcry in May the Government backed down confirming it wouldn’t now be legislating to force all schools to become academies. At the end of June, the UK voted to leave the EU raising concerns around the loss of substantial EU funding of research in our Universities and this week we have a new Prime Minister and Education Secretary.

This week I report on the new Education Secretary, evidence presented at the Education Committee’s enquiry on MATs and the announcement of further funding to expand the south asian method of teaching maths in primary schools.

Have a relaxing and enjoyable Summer break and I look forward to seeing you all again in September for what promises to be another unpredictable academic year.

New Secretary of State for Education
Justine Greening is the new Secretary of State for Education, replacing Nicky Morgan who had served in the role for two years. Ms Greening moves to the role from the Department for International Development, where she had been Secretary of State for nearly four years. She will be taking on both the higher education portfolio and the skills brief as part of a dramatic overhaul of Whitehall departments. We wait to see how her appointment impacts on education policy going forward.

MAT inquiry: Academy Trust CEOs give evidence to the Education Committee
The parliamentary Education Committee heard on Wednesday from eight witnesses about multi-academy trusts (MATs) and their role, size, governance and performance. Chief executives of academy chains and leading education figures outlined their vision for the future of the multi-academy trust (MAT) system. Some of the main points that came out of the session included:

• Trusts had been encouraged to grow “too fast” in the past
• There was a lack of clarity over what size is most effective
• Academy trust chiefs agree that Ofsted should inspect MATs
• Parents need to play a greater role in the MAT system
• Tight regional clusters can help – but trusts also need to help each other

South Asian method of teaching maths to be rolled out in schools
As many of you are aware the North Tyneside Learning Trust is one of the 34 regional Maths Hubs that has been involved in the DfE’s England-China Maths Innovation Research Project. This week the Government announced that the south Asian ‘mastery’ approach to teaching maths is set to become a standard fixture in England’s primary schools. With the help of up to £41 million of funding spread over the next four years, more than 8,000 primary schools will receive support to adopt the approach which involves children being taught as a whole class, building depth of understanding of the structure of maths, supported by the use of high-quality textbooks.

The Government has also announced the launch of a tender for the national maths education centre, which will help in the training of specialist maths teachers and the review into the feasibility of compulsory maths study for all pupils up to 18 will report by the end of 2016.

This week the DfE has clarified the information schools need to provide for the national database of governors from 1 September, the Key Stage 2 SATs results have been released and the Secretary of State has proposed Amanda Spielman as the new head of Ofsted.

All schools are required to provide information for the national database of governors
The DfE has recently issued a statement clarifying that the requirement for governors’ details to be published on the Edubase website must be met by 1 September 2016. Edubase is the DfE’s open-access register of educational establishments in England and Wales.

Between now and 1 September all state schools must give Edubase information about their governors. Governing bodies of maintained schools have to supply all of the required information, whilst most academies have an easier job as the Government already holds a lot of what is required and has populated their entries with it. Academies will however need to check that what is published is correct and fill in any blanks. Both academies and maintained schools are required to keep the information up to date.

Most of the information required will be available to the public on Edubase, but some is only for use by the DfE and a number of officials such as Regional Schools Commissioners. For the public part the following information is required:

• the full name of each governor
• the body that appointed them
• the date of their appointment
• the date their term of office ends, or ended if they ceased to be a governor during the current school year
• for maintained schools, whether they are the Chair of Governors or a member of the Governing body, and for academies whether they are a trust member, a trustee, the Chair of Trustees, or a local governor on a local governing body

At the same time the following details must be given for each governor, which will not be made public:

• their postcode
• their date of birth
• any previous names
• their nationality
• the Chair’s email address must also be given

From September the requirement for academies to supply this information will be in the Academies Financial Handbook and for maintained schools the specific duty will be spelled out in the September edition of the Governance Handbook.

Key stage 2 results for 2016 published
National results published this week for the new, tougher primary school testing system in Maths and English, confirmed that 53% of pupils had met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

The Government was keen to emphasise that this year’s results were not comparable to test results from previous years which were under an entirely different system of assessment. The Government has also reiterated its intention for a Year 7 resit for those children that didn’t meet the expected standard.

New HMCI
Whilst the Education Secretary has proposed Amanda Spielman as the new head of Ofsted, to replace Sir Michael Wilshaw at the end of the year, she has written to the Education Committee Chair (Neil Carmichael) calling their report, which rejects Ms Spielman as the preferred candidate, “factually wrong”, stating that it reflects a “misconception of the role”.

This week I highlight the NUT strike taking place on Tuesday next week with many schools in our Borough affected, news on the Competency Framework for Governors promised in the Education White Paper and the requirement for schools to collect data on immigrant children from the Autumn.

NUT strike on Tuesday forcing many schools to close in England and Wales
Members of the National Union of Teachers have voted to hold a one-day strike on Tuesday (5 July) in protest at cuts to school budgets as well as workload concerns.  Support for the strike was high among those who voted, at about 92% supporting the move. But only about 50,000 votes were returned by the 210,000 members balloted, a turnout of just 24%.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the union’s reasons for holding a strike were unclear. It said: “It is disappointing the NUT has chosen to take unnecessary and damaging strike action, which less than a quarter of its members voted for. It is even more disappointing when we have offered and committed to formal talks between ministers and the unions to address their concerns about pay.”

The DfE has recently updated its Guidance on handling strike action in schools in relation to managing school meal options on a strike day.

Working group to develop a competency framework for governors
The DfE has provided further information about the competency framework for governance promised in March’s Education white paper. The National Schools Commissioner, Sir David Carter, has convened a working group of experienced Chairs of Governors and one Clerk to support the production of the framework, which will set out the skills, knowledge and behaviours required for effective governance.

A first draft will be produced by early July and will be put out to consultation with stakeholders. It is the DfE’s intention that the final framework will be published in the Autumn term. The framework will be used as a basis from which to make recommendations about the content of the National College of Teaching and Leadership’s professional development programmes for Chairs and Clerks from September 2017. It will also be used to produce a national standard for governor induction training.

Schools must collect data on immigrant children from the Autumn
The Government is to start collecting data on how many children from immigrant families are being taught in England’s schools. The DfE has changed the information that will be collected from schools this Autumn to include details about pupils’ nationality and country of birth. The change in the census records will expand the current collection, which just records pupils’ ethnicity – i.e. black, white British, Asian, etc.

The information about pupils’ nationality will come in addition to a new measure also being introduced this Autumn, which will ask schools to assess how good at English are those pupils classed as “having English as an additional language”, on a five-point scale.

A DfE spokesperson said: “The department will collect data on pupils’ country of birth, nationality and level of English proficiency through the school census in line with the national population census. “The information will be used to help the DfE better understand how children with, for example, English as an additional language, perform in terms of broader learning.”

Yesterday the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) in a landmark referendum result. The result has already led to the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, who has said he will step down by October this year. While the result was announced this morning, it will be at least 2 years before the UK actually leaves and exactly how and when this will happen is currently unclear. Mr Cameron’s resignation creates uncertainty with regard to decision-making in Government and also wider uncertainty that the two years (at least) negotiation to leave the EU will bring.

What does this mean for education?

Those supporting the ‘remain’ campaign have said that Britain is home to many of the world’s leading universities, its education system out performs some bigger European countries and Britain’s place in the EU is inextricably linked to this success. Universities UK (the representative organisation for the UK’s universities) has argued that there are 125,000 EU students at British universities generating more than £2.2bn for the economy and creating 19,000 jobs. 14% of academic staff come from other EU nations and research funding from Brussels is worth £1bn a year. It added that the quality of research is enhanced through EU co-operation, benefiting the economy and helping British academics to tap into a “continent-wide” pool of knowledge.

The European Social Fund (ESF) has also been cited as an example of how the EU can provide better learning opportunities to young people, as it has funded support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in employment, education or training and who may have had barriers to learning. Erasmus+ is a well-known programme allowing 250,000 students to undertake cultural and educational exchanges throughout Europe over seven years and this scheme provides Britain with funding of around €1bn over this period.

Those supporting the ‘leave’ campaign have said that Britain’s exit will not deter EU students from applying to British universities and if numbers of EU students were to fall, the increase in international fees applied to those who wanted to study in the UK could help plug a funding gap. The campaign has also countered claims that leaving the EU would end government plans to expand apprenticeships. They say the stronger economy brought about by Britain’s exit would fund apprenticeships and training. Fears over generous EU grants to universities would also be allayed by campaign promises over how current subsidies would be spent.

Does this now mean that all EU funding of research will end? that EU funding for apprenticeships and training will end? and that Britain’s membership of Erasmus+ is now uncertain? It has been intimated that current spending commitments will be honoured until the end of the current EU budget in 2020. We will need to see how the next few weeks and months pan out to get comprehensive answers to these questions.