This week I highlight the announcement of a £150 million fund to update schools WiFi connections, a trial to boost school attendance in disadvantaged areas with mentors and publication of the national absence figures for 2020/21.

£150 million to upgrade school WiFi connections
This week the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced that every school in England will have access to high speed internet by 2025. A £150 million fund to support schools most in need to upgrade their WiFi connections will be made available. The DfE also published a set of technology standards aimed at supporting schools in understanding which technologies they should have in place to best support effective teaching and achieve safer, more cost-efficient practices. The standards refer specifically to broadband and in-school connectivity.

£5 million trial to mentor persistently absent pupils
Pupils who are persistently absent will be assigned mentors under a new £5 million trial to boost school attendance in disadvantaged areas. The DfE has published a tender notice for an organisation to recruit and train mentors “to provide targeted one-to-one support” to youngsters and their families to “overcome attendance barriers”.

The successful bidder will initially work for one year in one of the previously identified Education Improvement Areas, supporting between 500 and 1,000 pupils. But the contract will include the option to “scale up to multiple areas nationally and support larger volumes of pupils in years two and three”.

The latest government statistics show an overall absence rate of 4.6% and 12.1% of pupils persistently absent in 2020/21. Pupils missed 328 million in-person school days and 270 million were because of Covid. This represents a five-fold increase in days missed compared with 2018/19, the last normal year before the pandemic.

This week I highlight two free governor webinars from Governors for Schools on securing improvements in attendance and enhancing governors knowledge of supporting students with SEND in relation to careers related learning.

Thursday 24 March 2022 from 8 to 9 a.m. – The effective governance of attendance
In conjunction with Better Governor, this webinar looks at Ofsted’s recently published research on attendance, new guidance introduced by the DfE, and strategies schools have used to bring about improvements in attendance. It will also explore the role that governance can play in securing improvement in attendance, including the questions that governors can ask in board meetings to provide challenge and seek assurance.

Tuesday 29 March 2022 from 1 to 2 p.m. – Careers related learning for students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities
This webinar is for governors and school staff who want to enhance their knowledge of supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities when it comes to careers education. It will showcase examples of effective careers education and highlight key questions that governors should consider when reflecting on the offering of their own school.

Please use this link to register for either webinar on the Governors for Schools website.

This week I highlight changes in the Ofsted School inspection handbook in relation to harmful sexual behaviour and new DfE funding to provide opportunities for girls to access competitive sport.

Updated School inspection handbook
In February Ofsted updated their School inspection handbook. The changes relate to Ofsted’s approach to harmful sexual behaviour with new paragraphs (67, 236 and 252) inserted on sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and sexual violence. Inspectors will consider how schools handle such allegations and staff should have appropriate knowledge of part 5 of the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’. They should also have good awareness of the signs that a child is being neglected or abused, as described in ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused’ and the barriers that could prevent a pupil from making a disclosure e.g. communication needs and that these have been addressed.

Staff should be confident and well trained in handling reports of sexual harassment, abuse or violence in line with the DfE’s guidance, including incidents between children and those off school premises. That all allegations are taken seriously, comprehensively recorded and dealt with swiftly and appropriately, and pupils are confident that this is the case. If schools do not have adequate processes in place, it is likely that safeguarding will be considered ineffective.

DfE funding to provide opportunities for girls to access competitive sport
At least 50 schools across England are being sought to take part in a programme aimed at giving girls more opportunities to access competitive sport. The DfE has announced up to £980,000 in funding for its “Your Time” programme, which is being led by the Sports Leaders Qualifications (SLQ) awarding organisation.

The three year programme aims to increase opportunities for thousands of girls aged eight to 16 to access competitive sport and sport leadership opportunities. Schools will receive programme orientation sessions, access to learning modules and packs containing promotional materials for teachers and branded equipment items for leaders and participants. The programme will also signpost pupils to extra-curricular activities so they can continue to pursue sports outside school and once the scheme comes to an end.

Schools interested in joining the programme should contact SLQ directly for further information.

This week I highlight free governor training on Pupil Premium, an update on Covid-19 in terms of lateral flow testing, contract tracing, actions for pupils/staff with symptoms and the accountability arrangements for primary school and KS4 and Post 16 assessments.  As well as links to DfE webinars on how schools can improve attendance.

Free Governor training on the role of governors in making a difference for disadvantaged children: Tuesday 15 March 2022 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm
Governors for Schools are offering this webinar with the NGA and Child Poverty Action Group.  The session will provide an overview of Pupil Premium funding; its core use and what governors should be monitoring and asking to ensure it’s being used effectively. As well as focusing on the Child Poverty Actions Group’s Cost of the School Day project. The project aims to support schools to reduce and eliminate cost barriers that can prevent children from disadvantaged backgrounds from fully participating in learning and wider school life. 

To register your place please use this link for the Governors for Schools website.

Covid update
Lateral flow testing/contact tracing – twice weekly testing in mainstream schools is no longer advised and contacts are no longer required to self-isolate or advised to take daily tests, and contact tracing has ended.  Staff and pupils in specialist SEND settings, Alternative Provision, and SEND units in mainstream schools are advised to continue regular twice weekly testing.

Pupils/staff with symptoms – pupils/staff with Covid-19 should not attend school while they are infectious and should take an LFD test from 5 days after their symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms) followed by another one the next day. If both these tests results are negative, they should return to school as long as they feel well enough to do so and don’t have a temperature.

Accountability arrangements for primary school assessments and KS4 and Post 16 – the DfE has confirmed the following arrangements:

• Primary assessments – this year’s KS2 results will not be published in performance tables but will be shared with schools, academy trusts, local authorities and Ofsted for school improvement purposes and to help identify schools most in need of support. This will be a transitional arrangement and DfE intends to publish the data in performance tables again next academic year. KS2 results from this year will also be used to calculate Progress 8 baselines for future institution-level progress measures.
• KS4 and Post 16 – results from qualifications achieved this year will be published on school and college performance tables, using the normal suite of accountability measures, as far as that is possible.  The DfE will need to adjust the way that it calculates some performance measures at both KS4 and 16 to 18 stages for this year to take account of the fact that results of qualifications achieved in 2020 and the 2020 to 2021 academic year will not be included. At 16 to 18 in particular, it will not be able to use KS4 baseline data from 2020 or 2021, which will affect the 16 to 18 value added measure and the English and maths progress measure this year and in future years.

School attendance
This week the DfE added links to its website on webinars on how schools can improve attendance.

This week I report on new guidance on political impartiality in schools, updated 1^st aid guidance which now includes information for early years providers, confirmation that all 5-11 year olds will be offered Covid vaccination and the Covid workforce fund for schools has been extended to Easter.

Guidance on political impartiality in schools
New political impartiality in schools guidance has been published which aims to help teachers and schools navigate issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the legacy of the British Empire or societal responses to racism in accordance with the law, which states that teachers must not promote partisan political views and should offer a balanced overview of opposing views when political issues are taught.  Alongside this an information pamphlet is available for teachers and staff.

Guidance for employers in early years, schools and colleges on first aid provision
This week the DfE published updated first aid guidance including adding information for early years providers.

Covid update
The Health Secretary has confirmed that all 5-11 year olds will be offered one of two doses of a paediatric version of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine during April.

The government has extended its Covid workforce fund for schools until 8 April to cover supply costs at schools facing “significant staffing and funding pressures”, so they can continue to “deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils”.

This week I highlight a free webinar on how governors can ensure their school is meeting its PSHE duties, the launch of a consultation on changes to the School Admissions Appeals Code and publication of revision help for students sitting examinations this summer.

Governors for Schools free webinar on PSHE – the role it plays in the personal development of pupils
This webinar will take place on Thursday 17 February 2022 from 8 to 9am and will explore how governors can ensure their school is meeting its duties, while gaining assurance from leadership that pupils’ personal development is being informed by their needs and an effective programme of PSHE education. To register please use this link to go to the Governors for Schools website.

Consultation on changes to the School Admission Appeals Code
During the pandemic the DfE introduced temporary regulations to enable more flexibility in the school admission appeals process. The DfE is now consulting on revising the School Admission Appeals Code to add an option for holding appeal hearings remotely and allow for the possibility of a panel of two members to continue hearing and making decisions on appeals, in the event that a third panel member needs to withdraw. It would be the DfE’s intention to bring these changes into force immediately after the expiry of the temporary regulations on 1 October 2022.

Publication of revision help for students for the summer examinations
This week information was published by the DfE for students sitting GCSE, AS and A level exams this summer, as part of a range of adaptations to maximise fairness following the disruption to learning caused by the pandemic.

Some of the exam content, texts, topics and sub-topics, themes and skills due to be assessed have been made available for the majority of GCSE, AS and A level subjects, including maths, biology, chemistry and languages. The additional information aims to focus students’ revision without providing exact questions that will appear.

This week I highlight a DfE consultation on revised Behaviour in schools guidance and suspension and permanent exclusion guidance and the publication of the government’s Levelling Up White paper.

Consultation on revised Behaviour in schools guidance and Suspension and permanent exclusion guidance
In response to the ‘Timpson Review of School Exclusion’, the government committed to working with sector experts to publish clearer, more consistent guidance to support schools to create positive behaviour cultures and ensure suspensions and permanent exclusions are conducted in a lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair way.

The DfE has now launched a consultation on proposed revisions to the Behaviour in Schools Guidance and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Guidance which will close on 31 March.

Levelling Up White Paper
This week the government announced it will be establishing a new UK-wide online learning platform and pilot inspections against school food standards under plans set out in its levelling-up white paper. This is alongside the identification of 55 education investment areas (EIAs), encouraging bids to run new 16 to 19 free schools (with EIAs prioritised for the new provision) and a consultation on moving schools with “successive” ‘requires improvement’ ratings into academy trusts.

This week I highlight a new DfE consultation on pupil attendance as well as confirmation of £8 million from NHS England to support secondary schools with the in-school vaccination programme.

Consultation on increasing school attendance
On Tuesday the Education Secretary launched a new five-week consultation on pupil attendance signalling it was his intention for attendance to be a key component in his upcoming Schools White Paper. There are four key proposals:

• Requiring schools to have an attendance policy and have regard to statutory guidance on the expectations of schools, academy trusts and governing bodies of maintained schools on attendance management and improvement.
• Introducing guidance on the expectations of local authority attendance services.
• A clearer more consistent national framework for the use of attendance legal intervention, including a new regulatory framework for issuing fixed penalty notices for absence.
• Bringing the rules for granting leaves of absence in academies in line with other state funded schools.

The Secretary of State also intends to modernise the underlying regulations that govern
the keeping of attendance and admission registers, granting leaves of absence and
sharing of attendance information by schools with local authorities and a separate
consultation and draft regulations on this will be published in due course.

Funding from NHS England to support secondary schools with the in-school vaccination programme
Earlier this week the DfE confirmed £8 million in funding from NHS England to support secondary schools with the in-school vaccination programme and passing on materials about vaccination to young people to further boost protection. Further information will be provided to schools withdetails on how the NHS funding for vaccination support will be distributed. Secondary schools, special schools and alternative provision will be provided with a one-off payment of £1,000 with an additional uplift based on pupil numbers.

This week I highlight three free webinars from Governors for Schools and the lifting of the Covid Plan B restrictions.

Upcoming webinars from Governors for Schools
Three free webinars are being offered this half term as follows:

• On 27 January from 8-9 am – How do we govern the school curriculum?
With Ofsted having resumed inspections, Governors for Schools in conjunction with Better Governor are focusing this webinar on what governors need to know (and what they do not) to provide strong strategic oversight of their school’s curriculum offer. The session will clarify the statutory elements of the curriculum and suggest questions governors can ask to provide constructive challenge.

• On 1 February – How governors can ensure a skills-based education prepares pupils for the world of work (Primary focus) from 12.30-1 pm and (Secondary focus) from 1.30-2 pm
Both seminars will look at what schools should be offering in terms of careers and work readiness education and how governors can ensure that skills are being developed across the curriculum that will support pupils in the future world of work.

If you would like to take part please use this link to go to the Governors for Schools website to register.

COVID-19 Plan B restrictions lifted
The Prime Minister announced this week that Plan B measures will be removed in England and lifted its recommendation that masks be worn in secondary classrooms, with rules requiring coverings to be worn in indoor communal areas no longer applying from Thursday 27 January.

This week I highlight the consultation on the 2022 version of Keeping children safe in education and the publication of DfE research on how schools have coped with the impact of Covid-19.

Consultation on the 2022 version of KCSIE
On Tuesday the DfE opened its consultation on the 2022 update of Keeping children safe in education. The statutory guidance sets out the duties and responsibilities of schools and governing bodies in relation to safeguarding. Amongst the range of updates, it is proposed that:

• Schools conduct an online search (including social media) of would-be employees as part of their shortlisting process. This might help the school to explore any incidents or issues publicly available online with the applicant at interview.
• Ensure all governors receive safeguarding and child protection training at induction and that this training should be regularly updated.
• Update the phrase ‘peer on peer abuse’ with ‘child on child abuse’ and use the terms ‘victims’ and ‘perpetrators’.
• The existing Child on child abuse guidance is incorporated throughout this statutory document rather than as a separate standalone document.

The consultation closes on 8 March and the updated document will come into force in September 2022 for the start of the new academic year.

New DfE research published on how schools have coped with the impact of Covid-19
You might be interested in comparing your school’s ongoing response to the academic and pastoral challenges presented by Covid-19, with the key findings of the DfE’s recently published research report, aiming to understand how schools in England have responded to the impacts of the pandemic, and what further support they need.

It found that schools responded to the challenge of increased disparities in pupils’ social, emotional and academic progress and restricted access to equipment, by altering their curriculum based on pupil needs and school context. Respondents also stated that their focus for this academic year was returning to ‘normality’ on a responsive approach based on identifying needs, including reading recovery, mental health and wellbeing interventions, quality first teaching and extra staffing provision.