This week I report on the parent from the Isle of Wight who’s lost his case in the Supreme Court allowing him to take his child on holiday during term-time, new rules requiring schools with more than 250 workers to publish their gender pay gap statistics have come into force and the DfE has published a form that new Chairs of Trustees of academies, free schools and independent schools must complete in conjunction with their DBS application.

Parent loses landmark term-time holiday legal challenge
Yesterday the Supreme Court upheld the Isle of Wight Council’s right to fine a father who took his daughter out of school to go on holiday to Florida in April 2015.  The decision overrules the High Court decision and Isle of Wight magistrate’s court, which both ruled in the father’s favour.

Mr Platt had argued that because his daughter still had a 90.3% attendance record, even when she returned from their seven-day holiday to Disneyland, he had not broken rules requiring his child have “regular attendance” at school.  However, the five judges ruled unanimously that regular attendance at school had to follow the rules of the school.  They found that attending “regularly” must mean in accordance with the rules set by the school or the “appropriate authorities” such as a council.  The Department of Education (DfE) welcomed the ruling and had covered the Isle of Wight Council’s costs for the case.

Schools now have 12 months to publish gender pay gap statistics
New rules requiring academy trusts and schools with more than 250 workers to publish their gender pay gap statistics came into force yesterday. Employers that fall under the new requirement have until April next year to publish figures on their websites, as part of a Government pledge to champion gender equality.  Statistics will then have to be published every year thereafter.

Mandatory figures for reporting include the median and mean gender pay gap, the proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure, and pay gaps in any bonuses paid out during the year. Employers will also be encouraged to publish an action plan alongside their figures showing how they will close any pay gap.

Completion of an identity verification form for new Chairs of Trustees for academies, free schools and independent schools now required
On Wednesday, the DfE published a form that new Chairs of Trustees of academies, free schools and independent schools must now complete in conjunction with their Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) application.

They are required to complete the new form and take it to one of an approved list of professionals to verify their identity and then must submit it along with their DBS application form to the DfE. It is not yet clear how that process will work if an on-line DBS application is usually applied for.

This week I report on the start of a consultation on reforms to the Primary Assessment system including the recommendations from the Rochford Review,  the Education Secretary has clarified the new GCSE 9 to 1 grading system and the findings from a consultation on peer support and children’s and young people’s mental health was published.

Consultation on reforms to the Primary Assessment system
Yesterday the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, set out proposals to replace Key Stage 1 SATs with a new baseline test at Reception to create a more “stable and proportionate” primary assessment system. The consultation proposes:

• improvements to the early years foundation stage profile – consulting on how to make improvements and reduce burdens to the existing assessments on children’s readiness to start school at the end of their early education;
• bringing forward the starting point for school progress measures during primary education – through the introduction of a new teacher-mediated assessment in Reception;
• reviewing the statutory status of Key Stage 1 assessment – schools will still be provided with test materials to help them benchmark their pupils and inform parents;
• reducing the burdens of teacher assessment – removing the requirement to submit teacher assessments where the assessment is not used in the accountability of schools;
• considering whether there should be greater flexibility for teachers to use their judgement to assess pupils’ ability in writing.

A parallel consultation on the recommendations of the independent Rochford Review opened at the same time looking at the future of statutory assessment arrangements for pupils
working below the standard of national curriculum tests in England.  This is a diverse group of children – a high proportion have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), some are from disadvantaged backgrounds and some have English as an additional language.

Both consultations will last for 12 weeks, closing on 22 June.

Clarification around the new GCSE 9 to 1 grading system
The Education Secretary has written to the Chair of the Education Select Committee to provide certainty about how the new grading will work and, in particular, the consequences for individual pupils of achieving a grade 4 or grade 5.

Rather than reporting on the “good pass”, achieving a grade 4 will be regarded as a “standard pass” and a grade 5 as a “strong pass”.  Under the new system, a grade 4 and above will be equivalent to a C and above.  This is the level that pupils must achieve in order not to be required to continue studying English and maths post 16.  Therefore, the expectation is that employers, FE providers and universities that currently accept a grade C would continue recognising a grade 4.

The Government will publish not just the “standard pass” (grade 4 and above) but
also the “strong pass” (at grade 5 and above) in school performance tables.  Achievement at the “strong pass” will be one of the benchmarks used to measure the performance of schools.

Consultation outcome on peer support and children’s and young people’s mental health
The Government established a Steering Group and an Advisory Group in December 2015 to identifying ways to increase and improve the quality of peer support for mental wellbeing made available to children and young people by schools.  This week it published a report which summarises and presents the findings from the range of activities that were undertaken including workshops with stakeholders and young people and ‘flash’ Twitter polls.  A short analysis aimed at children and young people was also produced.

This week I highlight the newly published review of behaviour in schools, guidance on eligibility criteria for 30 hours childcare and research on the current provision and operational practice of work experience and work-related activities at schools and colleges in England.

BENNETT BEHAVIOUR REVIEW PUBLISHED
Today the Government published its independent review of behaviour in schools led by teacher and behaviour expect Tom Bennett. It was commissioned to help identify evidence of effective strategies so school leaders can “optimise behaviour” among their pupils. Mr Bennett spent several months meeting classroom teachers and leaders from a variety of schools to identify successful strategies. The Department for Education (DfE) has welcomed the report and in its response has said it will  use the report’s findings to inform ongoing work to help and support schools to deal with this issue.

GUIDE TO ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR 30 HOURS CHILDCARE
Earlier this week the DfE published a short guide setting out the eligibility requirements for 30 hours childcare for parents of 3- and 4-year-olds in England. More information on 30 hours childcare is available from the childcareworks website.

RESEARCH ON WORK EXPERIENCE AND RELATED ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
On Tuesday, a research study commissioned by the DfE was published looking at:

• the type, coverage and take up of work experience
• post-placement activities
• the effects of work experience and work-related activities on learners and employers
• good practice in providing effective placements

This week I report on the growing pressure on Government to scrap the proposed national funding formula, the launch of a new consultation on revised School Exclusion guidance and publication of new guidance on the Apprenticeships Levy.

Report on the consequences of the Government’s proposed national funding formula
Today the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has published the first comprehensive review of the consequences of the Government’s proposed national funding formula. The report raises concerns that cash will not reach the poorest pupils, that secondary schools with the most deprived intakes will lose out, as well as those schools with growing in-year admissions.

Given that every school is facing real-term losses by 2019/20 because of the removal of the education services grant, inflation and the funding formula in combination, it estimates that primary schools will lose about £74,000 on average each (the equivalent of two teachers) and secondary schools will lose about £291,000 (the equivalent of six teachers).

Revised School Exclusion guidance consultation
On Tuesday, the Government launched a five-week consultation on revised statutory School Exclusion guidance, which it says aims to “clarify” areas that were “causing confusion in the system”, rather than change existing policy. It also includes “corrected descriptions of legal requirements” that it said weren’t clear enough in the previous guidance which dates from 2012.

The Government has also issued two non-statutory annexes to the document, one for Headteachers and the other for parents, to help them understand the exclusion process. The proposed changes are due to come into effect in September 2017 and the consultation runs until 25 April if you would like to submit a response (via email: Exclusion.guidance.consultation@education.gov.uk).

Apprentice Levy
This week the DfE released guidance for schools on the Apprenticeships Levy that will come into effect next month. It provides information specific to schools on what apprenticeships are, how schools can use them, and how the apprenticeship levy and public sector target applies.

The levy applies to all employers operating in the UK, but only employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million will pay the levy, charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s annual pay bill. The way in which the levy applies to schools depends on the type of school and the overall employer. For example, for schools where the governing body is the employer (and has an annual pay bill of over £3million) it will need to pay the levy, and if the local authority is the employer (for those schools with an annual pay bill of over £3 million) it will pay the levy.

Subject to parliamentary approval of regulations, public sector bodies in England with 250 or more employees will be set a target to employ an average of at least 2.3% of their headcount as new apprentices over the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021. The target is for new ‘apprenticeship starts’, which includes both existing employees who start on an apprenticeship, and newly employed apprentices.

Schools in England with 250 or more employees will be in scope of the target, and will therefore need to have regard to it. They will be required to publish certain information annually on their progress towards meeting the target, and send information to the DfE. The DfE has indicated that it will shortly publish employer guidance on what information needs to be published and shared, and the specific format in which it should be returned. The first reports will be due by 30 September 2018.

This week I report on the education related aspects of Wednesday’s Budget, the launch of the updated NGA’s Skills Audit, which incorporates elements from the Core Competency Framework for Governance and publication of the Government’s new Early Years Workforce Strategy.

Education implications of the Budget 2017
The Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first Budget on Wednesday and detailed below are the key points relating to education:

• Free schools and grammar schools expansion – extending the free schools programme with investment of £320m in this Parliament to help fund up to 140 schools, including independent-led, faith, selective, university-led and specialist maths schools. Also the current ‘extended rights’ entitlement for children aged 11-16 who receive free school meals or whose parents claim Maximum Working Tax Credit will also be extended so that they will now get free transport to attend the nearest selective school in their area.
• T-levels: funding technical education – a pledge to increase the number of programme hours of training for 16-19 year olds on technical routes by more than 50%, to over 900 hours a year on average, including the completion of a high quality industry work placement during the programme. The routes will be introduced from 2019-20 and £500m of additional funding per year invested once routes are fully implemented.
• Funding for school maintenance – a further £216m investment in school maintenance, to help rebuild and refurbish existing schools. The money will be allocated over the course of two academic years, with half spent in 2018/19 and the other half in 2019/20.
• £1bn funding for school sports from the sugar tax – whilst the sugar tax revenue was lower than initially forecast (as manufacturers have reduced the sugar content in some products) the Department for Education will get £1bn over the rest of this Parliament to spend on sports activities in schools and to help promote healthy lifestyles amongst pupils.

New 2017 NGA Skills Audit
As promised the NGA has published a brand new version of its skills audit tool, in response to the DfE’s Core Competency Framework for Governance which was published in January. Whilst the interactive version is not yet available I thought it would be helpful for you to see the new version.

The NGA continues to believe that governing bodies are best placed themselves to individually assess which areas outlined in the framework are most important for them, so while the new skills audit is structured around the DfE’s six features of effective governance, it doesn’t attempt to replicate all 200 plus competencies, knowledge skills and behaviours. Instead it combines the core aspects of the framework with the experience and feedback of its members to inform the skills, experiences and knowledge included.

Publication of the Early Years Workforce Strategy
Launching the Government’s Early Years workforce strategy late last week, the Early Years Minister, Caroline Dinenage, confirmed that equivalent qualifications would now count again from April this year.  Since 2014 new recruits have needed at least C grades in GCSE English and maths, with equivalent “functional skills” qualifications not accepted. Childcare organisations have been complaining that this requirement was putting off talented staff, risking a recruitment crisis and the roll out of the 30-hours free childcare scheme for working families in September could only make this situation more difficult.

Commitments included in the Strategy are:

• enabling staff with an Early Years Educator (EYE) qualification who also hold level 2 English and mathematics qualifications, including Functional Skills, to count in the level 3 staff:child ratios;
• consulting on allowing those with Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS), and its predecessor Early Years Professional Status (EYPS), to lead nursery and reception classes in maintained schools;
• working with the sector to develop level 2 childcare qualification criteria;
• improving the quality of early years training and providing access to continuous professional development (CPD);
• providing funding to support the sector to develop quality improvement support in partnership with schools and local authorities.

This week I report on the Government’s plans for all secondary schools in England to teach relationships and sex education, £415m funding for schools to improve facilities and encourage healthier lifestyles and two new DfE guidance documents on managing staffing and employment issues.

Schools to teach 21st century relationships and sex education
On Wednesday, the Government tabled amendments to the Children and Social Work Bill which will make it a requirement that all secondary schools in England teach relationships and sex education (RSE).

The amendments also allow the Government to make regulations requiring personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) to be taught in all schools in England – primary, secondary, maintained and academy – in future. Currently only pupils attending local authority maintained secondary schools are guaranteed to be offered current sex and relationships education, and PSHE is only mandatory at independent schools. Neither are currently required to be taught in academies.

The Government is proposing the introduction of the new subject of ‘relationships education’ in primary school and renaming the secondary school subject ‘relationships and sex education’, to emphasise the central importance of healthy relationships.

Full public consultation will take place later this year and its expected the new curriculum will be taught in schools as soon as September 2019. Schools will have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects, so they can develop an integrated approach that is sensitive to the needs of the local community; and, in the case of faith schools, in accordance with their faith.

Schools to benefit from £415m to transform facilities and encourage healthy lifestyles
The Education Secretary, Justine Greening, has announced £415m funding to boost school facilities and help pupils benefit from healthier, more active lifestyles. The Healthy Pupils Capital Programme will be available to all primary, secondary and sixth form colleges in 2018/9 and will be paid from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, introduced by the Government last year to tackle childhood obesity.

Under the new programme, schools will be able to use the funding to support physical education (PE), after-school activities and healthy eating. Schools will also be able to use it to improve facilities for children with physical conditions or support young people struggling with mental health issues.

Local authorities and larger MATs will receive an allocation for schools and will make decisions locally on how this money is invested. Smaller MATs, individual academies and sixth-form centres will be able to bid for grants for specific one-off projects.

DfE Guidance on managing staffing and employment issues
This week the DfE published two new guidance documents:

• Staffing and employment advice (replacing the 2009 ‘Guidance on managing staff in schools’) to help schools with staffing and employment issues, and to inform their decision making.
• Flexible Working in schools to help schools consider how best to encourage, support and enable flexible working requests.

Whilst helpful documents they don’t replace HR advice obtained from the school’s HR providers.

This week I report on the DfE’s announcement that a new service will replace RAISEonline from April, the House of Commons Education Committee remains unconvinced about plans to increase selective education and the Local Government Association has called on the Government to make sex and relationships education compulsory in all schools.

Replacement for RAISEonline from April
The DfE has announced that a new service to replace RAISEonline (the web-based system used to disseminate school performance data to schools) will launch in April. The DfE led service will “provide schools and other existing user groups with detailed performance analysis to support local school improvement” and the data will also be securely available to other accredited suppliers.

Grammars ‘unnecessary distraction’, say MPs
On Monday, the House of Commons Education Committee heard evidence from a panel of academics and policy experts about plans to increase selective education and expressed their scepticism at the influence of grammar schools in improving attainment. Members of the panel were in broad agreement that the evidence that pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds did better in grammar schools was weak. The Committee called on the Government to publish a thorough assessment of the impact of introducing new grammar schools on the wider school system, given the potential consequences for school funding, the supply of teachers, and the overall health of schools in England from expanding selective education.

Neil Carmichael, the Committee’s Chair, says the focus on expanding grammars has become an “unnecessary distraction” from improving the school system. The DfE has argued that removing the ban on opening new grammars will be a way of making “more good school places available, to more parents, in more parts of the country”.

Renewed calls to make SRE compulsory in all schools
The Local Government Association (LGA) released a statement this week calling on the Government to make Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) compulsory in all schools. The LGA claims the lack of compulsory SRE in academies and free schools is “creating a ticking sexual health time bomb”, pointing to sharp increases in the number of people diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection on leaving school.

Last week, a group of cross-party MPs tabled several amendments to the Children and Social Work Bill going through parliament. The amendments included the requirement to make Relationships Education a statutory subject within the National Curriculum and to extend the duty to provide sex education (currently applied in maintained schools) to academies and free schools.

This week I highlight the publication of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s first report identifying key priorities to increase the impact and contribution of the North to the UK economy, a new teaching resource aimed at preventing abusive behaviours within young people’s relationships and a request from the DfE for feedback on its current financial benchmarking website.

Increasing attainment at 16 and the number of good and outstanding secondary schools identified as priorities in a new report
The first report published by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) says improving educational attainment at 16 should be a priority in the development of the Northern Powerhouse and suggests that eliminating the gap with the rest of the UK in the percentage of good and outstanding secondary schools can be done by building on the approach of the Ofsted annual report published last year. A not inconsiderable task given that education in the North East is currently underfunded compared to the rest of the country and the Government’s proposed new national funding formula would only benefit the North East by 0.0058% of the national share of funding.

The NPP is commissioning a group of leading employers and education experts to come together to draw on the latest evidence and thinking, producing reports during this year making specific recommendations for actions which can be pursued in the short, medium and long term to drive change.

Disrespect NoBody Campaign publishes new teaching resources for PSHE
A new teaching resource has been developed by the PSHE Association with the Home Office and Government Equalities Office to support the Disrespect NoBody campaign. The campaign builds on the Government’s previous This is Abuse campaign, and is aimed at preventing abusive behaviours within relationships.

The discussion guides are aimed at young people aged 12-16 with additional guidance on how to use the Disrespect Nobody campaign with young people aged 8-12 and 16-18. The resource features session plans that aim help young people to understand what a healthy relationship is, to challenge their views on abuse and consent and to signpost further advice and resources. It aims to help young people to develop key skills needed to enjoy healthy relationships, such as empathy, respect, communication and negotiation.

DfE request for feedback on its current financial benchmarking websites
The DfE is redesigning the two financial benchmarking websites (Academies financial benchmarking and Maintained schools financial benchmarking) and wants to hear from as many governors and trustees as possible about how they use these websites to inform their understanding about the financial health of their schools. If you’re interested in helping to improve this service, please fill out the user research survey.

This week I report on the Government’s decision to abandon plans for a Year 3 phonics re-check, school governors in West Sussex are threatening to “strike” over the new funding formula and new research published examining good practice in early education.

Year 3 phonics re-check abandoned
This week Government officials have told Schools Week that a phonics re-check for eight year olds will not be rolled out to all primary schools following a pilot carried out in June last year.  Pupils will continue to be assessed on phonics in Years 1 and 2.

Escalating dispute over spending cuts threatening the first ever school governors “strike”
Schools governors in West Sussex are warning MPs that they will refuse to sign off budgets or carry out their supervisory work unless their “urgent concerns” about funding are addressed. The DfE has argued that the new funding formula will provide a much fairer basis for allocating funds to schools, and will give Headteachers more certainty over their future budgets and long-term planning.

Governing bodies and schools can have their say on the next stage of the National Funding Formula by filling in the online survey before the 22 March 2017 deadline.

Research examining good practice in early education as part of the study of early education and development (SEED)
At the end of last month results from a study exploring how good quality early years settings articulated, established and sustained good practice, which had the potential to improve child outcomes, was published.

Focusing on provision for two to four year olds the study examines good practice in relation to curriculum planning, assessment and monitoring, staffing, managing transitions and communication with parents and home learning.

This week I report on the Government’s plans for a ‘comprehensive careers strategy’, new secondary school resources to help to teach pupils about Brexit and the Article 50 process and new publications from the DfE to support schools to save money on their non-staff spend by improving how they buy goods and services.

Ministers review incentives and consider toughening Ofsted over school careers advice
The Government is to unveil plans for a “comprehensive careers strategy” on Monday, which were initially scheduled for the beginning of 2016. Minister for Skills, Robert Halfon, told a meeting in Parliament on Wednesday that incentives for schools to offer better careers advice will be reviewed by officials, as well as a tougher approach by Ofsted.

The Government expects the strategy to be published later this year as the review of careers advice is still ongoing. The Minister spoke of the need to “raise the prestige of careers guidance” and creating “widespread quality provision”.

Brexit and Article 50 process resource pack
Every secondary school in the UK will receive a resource pack developed by the Bar Council and the Citizenship Foundation to help them teach pupils about Brexit and the Article 50 process. The resources were launched on the day that the UK’s highest court dismissed the Government’s appeal, meaning Parliament will now be required to give its approval before official talks on leaving the EU can begin.

New DfE publications on buying and leasing and subscription services for school equipment

• Schools Buying Strategy – a new document outlining various initiatives to help all schools improve how they buy goods and services. It is intended to support schools to save over £1 billion a year by 2019-20 on their non-staff spend, allowing them to maximise the resources they can invest in high quality education for their pupils and supporting them in managing cost pressures.
• Leasing and subscription services for school equipment – non statutory guidance designed to help schools to select a cost effective solution for their needs and highlight some of the common pitfalls some schools have encountered in the past.