This week I highlight the DfE’s evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body proposing an unfunded pay increase for 2025/26, Ofsted’s review of AI use in schools and the DfE’s outcome of its call for evidence on children missing education.

Teachers’ pay award for 2025
The DfE has provided evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body about the teachers’ pay award for 2025/26 and also published a blog detailing how the evidence will affect schools. It is proposing an unfunded 2.8% increase, acknowledging that most schools would need to supplement the new funding they receive with efficiencies.

Ofsted to review AI use in schools
The DfE has asked Ofsted to carry out an independent review of AI use in schools. It will look at how AI supports teaching and administration, the benefits and challenges, how the use of AI is governed, and other issues. Ofsted will collect evidence in the Spring and aim to publish results by the Summer.

Response published for children missing education (CME)
The DfE has added the outcome of its call for evidence on ‘Improving support for children missing education’, which ran from May to July 2023. It sought views on how children missing education were identified and supported, the challenges in identifying and supporting those children, and how to address those challenges.

This week I report on the announcement of DfE capital funding to create more SEND places in mainstream schools and confirmation that no further safety valve agreements will be agreed with councils struggling with their high needs deficits; the publication of Ofsted’s Annual Report for 2023/24 and the rescheduling of a DfE live event with the Minister for Early Education.

Funding to create new specialist places in mainstream schools
The Government has earmarked £740 million of capital funding to create more specialist SEND places in mainstream schools. The aim is to ensure that more children with SEND can attend mainstream schools in their local area, rather than having to attend special schools further afield due to a lack of provision locally. The DfE’s press release states that new guidance on how councils can use this investment will be published in the Spring.

Ministers have also announced they will not enter into any new ‘safety valve’ agreements with councils struggling with big high needs deficits, warning the scheme has not been effective enough across the board given the scale of the challenge. It will continue to work with local authorities with safety valve agreements in place to deliver their plans.

Publication of Ofsted’s Annual Report for 2023/2024
Ofsted has released its Annual Report for 2023/2024 and the main findings state that education settings are struggling to recruit and retain skilled staff, school absence rates remain higher than before the Covid pandemic, and more children are experiencing unorthodox patterns of education. Ofsted also reaffirmed that at the start of 2025, it will formally consult on a renewed inspection framework for schools, early years, further education and skills providers, and initial teacher education.

DfE Early Years live event
The DfE’s live online event with Stephen Morgan, the Minister for Early Education, has been rescheduled to Tuesday 17 December at 6:00pm. The DfE said the rescheduling is to ensure that the discussion can include announcements that are anticipated in the coming weeks. You can sign up for the event using this link.

This week I highlight the updated Gatsby Benchmarks and the opportunity for primary schools to apply to become an early adopter in the government’s free breakfast club rollout.

Updated Gatsby Benchmarks published
The Gatsby Foundation have published updated ‘Gatsby Benchmarks for good careers’ guidance. Following a review of the benchmarks ten years after their initial release, the report explores what good careers guidance looks like now and how schools and trusts can deliver careers guidance for the next ten years

Early adopters breakfast club scheme
Information on how primary schools can apply to become an early adopter in the government’s free breakfast club rollout has been published by the DfE. The clubs are scheduled to open in April 2025 to help parents of primary age pupils receive an additional 30 minutes of childcare before the start of the school day, and for pupils themselves to start the school day ready to learn.

This week I highlight the DfE’s new attendance toolkit providing good practice advice for schools and key findings from the Public Accounts Committee on SEND.

DfE Attendance toolkit
The DfE has released a new Attendance toolkit for schools providing good practice advice around improving attendance.

Key findings from the Public Accounts Committee on SEND
On Monday a Public Accounts Committee Hearing was held reviewing the findings of a highly critical National Audit Office report on the support available for young people with SEND. Key points from the session were for the DfE to:

• consider criticism that the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan introduced by the previous government didn’t go far enough and look at a report by the Isos Partnership, commissioned by councils, which made a series of recommendations this summer;
• work with the Treasury on LA’s challenging dedicated schools grant deficits. A statutory override, which keeps these deficits off council books, is set to expire in March 2026 and the NAO report warned that 43% of councils would be at risk of issuing a Section 114 notice (effectively declaring bankruptcy) if these deficits were allowed to impact on their financial position;
• work with the SEND tribunal on statistics given that 98% of EHCP appeals in 2023 had been found in parents’ favour and that potentially the system favoured those parents with the capacity to navigate it;
• look at variability in the length of time it took LA’s to produce EHCPs and the proportion of pupils with EHCPs being educated in mainstream schools.

DfE officials confirmed the department’s commitment to inclusion highlighting the appointment of multi-academy trust chief executive Tom Rees as an adviser who would be helping it with work on inclusive practice, the curriculum and assessment review that was being led by Professor Becky Francis, looking at what barriers existed within the mainstream school curriculum and the fact that Ofsted was set to inspect inclusion as part of its new framework being launched next year. They also highlighted the new national professional qualification for SENDCo’s and said that this was also being taken by aspiring school leaders which was growing a “cadre of leaders who will essentially increase the confidence of a school overall”.

This week I report on the DfE’s consultation on amendments to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and the announcement that the academy conversion support grant will end on 1 January next year.

Teachers’ Pension Scheme consultation launched
The DfE has launched a consultation on amendments to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), proposing the first rise in employee contributions since 2015. The DfE states, however, that the lowest-paid staff would not see their contributions rise. The consultation closes on 23 January 2025.

Academy conversion grant scrapped
Earlier this month the Government announced that the academy conversion support grant, which gives schools up to £25k for converting, will end on 1 January 2025. It has also announced that it has no plans to continue to run its trust capacity and trust establishment and growth funds.

It has been reported that this is part of how the government is seeking to rationalise the dual school system in England. Its upcoming children’s wellbeing bill will seek to bring the two parts of the sector closer together, requiring academies to follow the national curriculum and cooperate with councils on admissions and pupil place planning.

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.

This week I report on updated DfE filtering and monitoring standards and updated requirements on what schools must or should publish online.

Updated DfE filtering and monitoring standards
The DfE has updated the filtering and monitoring standards in its guidance on Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges. Changes include emphasising the governing body’s responsibility to ensure their school has appropriate filtering and monitoring systems; adding a more comprehensive assessment of what to consider in student risk profiles; and enabling safe search by default on any search engines used.

Updated DfE information requirements for schools to publish online
The DfE has updated both the maintained school and the academy versions of its guidance on what schools must or should publish online. Changes have been made to various sections including exam and assessment results, pupil premium, PE and sport premium and governance.

Academy schools must also publish the details of any arrangements for handling complaints from parents and carers about the support they provide for pupils with SEN. They must do this as part of their SEN information report.

This week I highlight confirmation from Ofsted that schools that have deferred inspections can be notified of the new inspection date on any day of the week, the announcement of new funding primary schools can apply for to set up or expand their nurseries along with the publication of non-statutory guidance and publication of the Government’s response to the EYFS safeguarding consultation that ran earlier this year.

Ofsted deferral guidance updated
Ofsted has made minor updates to its inspection deferrals guidance to bring it in line with the latest updates to the School inspection handbook, clarifying that if Ofsted agrees to a deferral it can notify the school of the new inspection date on any day of the week. The guidance was also updated to confirm that accepted reasons for deferral now include where a state-funded school with a religious character has already been notified of an inspection under section 48 of the Education Act 2005.

School-based nurseries plan kicks off with £15 million funding and new non-statutory guidance
The first stage of the Government’s plan to deliver 3,000 school-based nurseries began yesterday with the announcement that primary schools can now apply for up to £150k of £15 million capital funding, with the first stage of the plan set to support up to 300 new or expanded nurseries across England. According to the DfE’s latest projections, around 70,000 additional places and 35,000 early years educators will still be needed to deliver the expansion to 30 hours of government funded early education from next September.

On the back of that the DfE has published new non-statutory guidance on establishing school-based nursery provision, outlining key considerations and requirements that schools should consider if they want to open or expand a nursery on their site.

Publication of the EYFS safeguarding consultation response
The DfE has published its response to the EYFS safeguarding consultation that ran from 22 April to 17 June this year. The consultation looked to gather views on the department’s proposals to strengthen the safeguarding requirements within the EYFS statutory framework.

This week I report on the publication of two new EYFS research reports from Ofsted, the resumption of procurement of £7 million worth of funding to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities and the reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body to ensure all school staff have access to fair pay and conditions.

Ofsted EYFS research reports released
This week Ofsted has published two new research reports about early years education, emphasising its importance as a foundation for children’s future learning and development. The first report focuses on ‘Strong foundations in the first years of school’, covering how schools secure the knowledge and skills pupils need by the end of KS1. The other report is the third and final part of ‘Best start in life: a research review for early years’, which began in November 2022. It considers the four specific areas of learning of learning outlined by the EYFS statutory framework: literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design.

Resumption of procurement for tackling antisemitism in Education
The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson has announced that the Government is resuming the procurement of £7 million worth of funding to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.

The commitment comes after the number of incidents of antisemitic abuse nationwide more than doubled in the first five months of 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier. The funding will aim to educate people about antisemitism and better equip schools, colleges and universities to stamp out antisemitic abuse.

Reinstatement of the SSSNB
The Education Secretary has announced that the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB), which was abolished in 2010 by the previous government, is to be reinstated in recognition of the vital role support staff play in the workforce and young people’s education.

Support staff make up over half the school workforce and include a wide range of roles including teaching assistant, administrative staff, catering staff or caretakers. To ensure all school staff have access to fair pay and conditions the SSSNB will apply to support staff in both local authority maintained schools and academies.

Legislation to re-establish the body through the Employment Rights Bill was introduced in Parliament yesterday and will now pass through the legislative process. As part of this the government will consult on the detail of the legislation, including the right definition of support staff.

This week I highlight that next year’s teachers’ pay award won’t be announced before maintained schools budgets are set; the DfE has updated its non-statutory staffing and employment guidance reflecting legislative changes that came into force in April, next year’s phonics screening check guidance has been published and confirmation that exam aids will remain for the next three years for maths, physics and combined science GCSEs.

Teachers pay award update
The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has warned that the pay award for next academic year will not be announced before maintained schools set budgets but has pledged to reset the timeline for 2026/27. In her letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) to kickstart the pay review process, she also asked for recommendations on how the teachers’ pay framework can allow for more flexible working in the profession.

Updated staffing and employment guidance
The DfE has updated its non-statutory guidance on staffing and employment to reflect changes to legislation on time off and flexible working that came into force in April this year, such as the right to request flexible working from the first day of employment.

Phonics screening check guidance published
On Tuesday the STA published guidance for the phonics screening check next year that outlines the arrangements that apply to schools taking part in the check. While assessments at the end of KS1 are now non-statutory, the Government is encouraging schools to administer the optional tests. Alongside the new guidance, the STA also updated its guidance for administering the check, and its page summarising future primary assessment dates.

GCSEs exam aids to remain for three more years
Pupils sitting GCSEs in maths, physics and combined science will continue to receive exam aids for three more years, the Education Secretary has confirmed in a letter to Ofqual’s Chief Regulator.

Exam boards first provided pupils with formula and equation sheets in 2022 in recognition of the continuing impact of Covid pandemic lockdowns on learning. They were provided again in 2023 and 2024, with ministers intending to scrap them from next year. However it’s now been acknowledged that the pandemic’s impact continues and also the independent review of curriculum and assessment will report next year and advise on long term changes to the curriculum and assessment system.