This week I report on the expansion of the ‘opportunity areas’ programme, the publication of final KS4 figures and performance tables based on last year’s GCSE results, guidance on Progress 8 and Attainment 8 headline measures and confirmation from the DfE for funding for SEND from April this year.

Expansion of ‘opportunity areas’ programme
Yesterday Justine Greening the Education Secretary announced the expansion of the ‘opportunity areas’ programme by adding Bradford, Doncaster, Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, Hastings, Ipswich and Stoke-on-Trent as areas of focus.

The Government will also partly fund a new £3.5m programme that will see the Education Endowment Foundation establish a research school for each of the 12 opportunity areas. These schools will lead the development and dissemination of evidence-led practice in local schools.

All opportunity areas are social mobility cold spots identified by the Social Mobility Index, published by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. A key aim of the programme is to build young people’s knowledge and skills and provide them with the best advice and opportunities, including working with organisations such as the Careers and Enterprise Company, the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses and the National Citizen Service.

Finalised KS4 figures and performance tables and Guidance on Progress 8 and Attainment 8
Yesterday the Government released the final Key Stage 4 figures and performance tables based on last summer’s GCSE results. Schools are now judged against a new Progress 8 measure, rather than the proportion of pupils that achieve five A* to C at GCSE.

This week the DfE has also published guidance on how the two new headline measures (Attainment 8 and Progress 8) were calculated last year and changes that will apply this year, in 2018 and 2019.

Funding for special educational needs support confirmed
Last week the Government confirmed funding from April this year of nearly £60 million to support children with special educational needs and disability (SEND). The funding includes:

• £15 million for the Independent Supporters programme in 2017 to 2018, run by the Council for Disabled Children;
• £2.3 million for Parent Carer Forums in 2017 to 2018, which aims to give parents a voice in influencing local decision-making;
• £1.8 million to Contact a Family, to support Parent Carer Forums and their National Network, and to run a national helpline for families.

The funding also includes £40 million (up by £4.2 million last year) to support councils planning for the final year of the transition to the new SEND system.

This week I report on the publication of the new Competency Framework for Governance, the newly updated version of the Governance Handbook and the Prime Minister’s plans to transport mental health support.

Competency Framework for Governance
Yesterday the DfE published the much-anticipated Competency Framework for Governance, which sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for effective governance. It is non-statutory guidance applicable to governing boards of maintained schools and academies and should be read alongside the updated version of the Governance Handbook.

The framework begins with the principles and personal attributes which, alongside the commitment of time and energy to the role, underpin effective governance. Around 200 competencies have been identified, grouped under the headings of the six features of effective governance as follows:

• strategic leadership – that sets and champions vision, ethos and strategy;
• accountability – that drives up educational standards and financial performance;
• people – with the right skills, experience, qualities and capacity;
• structures – that reinforce clearly defined roles and responsibilities;
• compliance – with statutory and contractual requirements;
• evaluation – to monitor and improve the quality and impact of governance.

Within each of the six features of effective governance the competencies have been organised into those which are essential for everyone on the governing board, those which are required of the chair and those which at least one member of the governing board should have.

I will provide a full briefing paper for our meetings as governors will need to consider which knowledge and skill areas outlined in the framework are most important for their context. It would be sensible for governors to bear in mind that the core competencies are designed not to be used as a checklist and the National Governors’ Association is going to update it model skills audit as soon as possible.

Governance Handbook (January 2017)
The latest edition of the Governance handbook was also published yesterday by the DfE, having last underwent review in November 2015. As well as the content being revised to take account of changes made to the law and policy over the past year, the DfE has also given the handbook a complete restructure.  It’s now structured around the newly identified “six features of effective governance” developed alongside the new competency framework.  It sets out the Government’s vision and priorities for effective governance by:

• outlining the core role and functions of the governing board;
• summarising and providing a first point of reference on all the legal duties on governing boards, signposting to more detailed information, guidance and resources; and
• providing information on the support available to governing boards to be effective.

The most significant changes to the content from the previous version include:

• Section 2 – a new section at 2.3 bringing together material about the board’s role as the key decision-maker.
• Section 3 – a stronger emphasis on ensuring financial propriety at 3.4.
• Section 4 – updated text at 4.1.2 to reflect the new requirement that all those involved in governance in maintained schools and academy trusts must have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.  New advice on conducting informed elections at 4.1.4.  New sections bringing together material on the important role of the chair at 4.3 and the clerk at 4.4.  A new explanation at 4.8 of the risks associated with close family relationships between those involved in governance or between them and senior employees.  Details of the duty on boards to provide information about individuals involved in governance via Edubase at 4.8.
• Section 5 – updated guidance on the role of Trustees and Members at 5.2.1.  Clarification at 5.6 that all boards are required to publish a scheme of delegation to explain their governance arrangements, together with new guidance on what makes an effective scheme of delegation.
• Section 6 – confirmation at 6.7 that an individual on the board should take leadership responsibility for the organisation’s safeguarding arrangements, which include its Prevent duty.  New advice at 6.7.1 on handling allegations of abuse made against other children.
• Section 7 – updated content on schools causing concern and on coasting schools at section 7.4.

Government plans to transform mental health support
On Monday, the Prime Minister Theresa May announced a package of measures designed to transform mental health support in schools, workplaces and communities. The support includes free mental health first aid training for secondary school staff and new trials to look at how to strengthen the links between schools and local NHS mental health staff.

The Prime Minister has also asked the Care Quality Commission to lead a “major thematic review” of children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) across the country. This will identify what is working and what isn’t and will produce a new green paper on children and young people’s mental health which will “set out plans to transform services in schools, universities and for families”.

Welcome back!  This week I report on the publication of the Children’s Commissioner’s Growing up Digital Taskforce Report on equipping children and young people with adequate skills to negotiate their lives online, provide information on a SCHOOLS NorthEast Regional Governance Conference and congratulate those who were recognised in the New Years Honours  for their services to education.

Schools should teach all pupils ‘digital citizenship’, says Children’s Commissioner
Yesterday the Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield said schools should teach ‘digital citizenship’ to all pupils aged 4 to 14 to help keep them safe online. In a report from her Growing up Digital taskforce, the Commissioner calls for 3 key interventions:

• creation of a digital citizenship programme to be compulsory in all schools from age 4-14 (this would include what it means to be responsible online, how to protect your rights and how to respect those of others. It would also cover how to disengage and engage with the digital world);
• implementation of the intent of the General Data Protection Regulation by introducing simplified Terms and Conditions for digital services offered to children;
• a new Children’s Digital Ombudsman to mediate between under 18s and social media companies.

This follows confirmation by the Government in December that it is considering its position on compulsory PSHE as it attempts to get the children and social work bill passed.

The Commissioner is also supporting a proposal to review the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and bring the articles up to date for the digital age.

SCHOOLS NorthEast Regional Governance Conference – 30 March 2017
SCHOOLS NorthEast is holding a conference at Durham County Cricket Club in Chester-le-Street on Thursday 30 March to support those in school governance roles in carrying out their duties confidently and effectively. The event is also aimed at senior leaders who want to make sure they have a high performing governing board and those looking to recruit new governors. Belita Scott HMI, Ofsted’s National Lead for Governance will be a keynote speaker and key themes will include:

• Ofsted and compliance: what is expected of governing boards and how to make sure you are inspection ready (including feedback from schools that have recently been inspected).
• Selection and recruitment of governors: what makes a good governor and how can schools attract the right people.
• The changing education landscape: helping governors and school leaders horizon scan the changes to come (including changes planned in the National Funding Formula and how schools will have to cope on ever tightening budgets)
• The future economy: the Government is focusing on the destination outcomes for young people.
• Pushing for excellence: best practice in governance (how leaders and Chairs can work more effectively together; the importance of external support; training and development for governors).

The cost is £40 per delegate with SCHOOLS NorthEast Partner Schools attracting a half price discount at £20 per delegate and you can get a third free delegate when you book two places. To book your place at this event, please email info@schoolsnortheast.com.

New Years Honours 2017
Four people from the North East received an award in the New Years Honours for their services to education.  Many congratulations go to Tracey Booth, Chair of Governors at Churchill Community College who was awarded an MBE. She’s been Chair at the College for the past 15 years and is also a National Leader of Governance.

Merry Christmas to all Governors and a Happy New Year

This week I report on the next stage of the consultation on a new national funding formula, the publication of Ofsted’s new ‘improving governance’ study, information on subsidised funding for the Chairs and aspiring Chairs programme and the release of revised Key Stage 2 SATs results and Primary School performance tables .

Schools National Funding Formula
On Wednesday the Department for Education published its response to stage 1 of the consultation on a new national funding formula. The new formula will be introduced in 2018 to 2019 and there will be a transitional year during which local authorities will continue to set local schools funding formulae. The Government also provided an interactive spreadsheet illustrating the impact of the proposed formula on individual schools. You can look up your school on the first sheet of the document or see a full list of schools in the tab ‘NFF all schools’.

The Government announced the second stage of its consultation on the new funding formula and at the same time opened a consultation on High Needs funding. High needs funding is for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities who need extra support at school, college or alternative provision settings. The Government is looking for views on the weighting for each factor in the proposed formula as well as the transition to and implementation of the formula.

Ofsted ‘Improving governance’ study
Yesterday Ofsted published its ‘improving governance’ study looking at the challenges facing governing bodies in schools. The report draws on evidence from visits to 24 improving primary, secondary and special schools  situated in some of the poorest areas of the country to look at their governance arrangements. It also uses evidence from routine inspections and monitoring visits over the last year and from 2,632 responses to a call for evidence initiated by HMCI in November 2015. The report identifies the barriers faced by governors in these schools and the actions taken to strengthen their professional skills and fulfil their roles as effective, strategic school leaders.

Funded training for Chairs and aspiring Chairs
Leading Governance is running the Governors’ Leadership Development programme for governors in Spennymoor, Durham, with the support of the Governor Services teams from Durham and Middlesbrough. The programmes are open to all chairs and aspiring chairs in the North East.

These six month accredited programmes normally cost £399, but the National College of Teaching and Leadership has made scholarships available, meaning that the cost to you/your school is just £79.

The first session will start on 23rd January 2017. For more information and to register for the programme, please go to www.leadinggovernance.org or call 0121 237 4600.

Primary School Performance Tables and revised Key Stage 2 SATs results
Yesterday the DfE published the Primary Schools performance tables as well as the revised Key Stage 2 SATs results at national, regional and local authority level.

This week I report on the launch of the “growing up north’ project, the publication of the PISA rankings with additional Government funding for Science and the announcement that the National Teaching Service will not be continuing.

Children’s Commissioner launches a project to collect data on the northern education gap
Over the next year, the Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield will be leading a project aimed at addressing educational inequality in the north of England. She will be joined by an advisory panel (although it should be noted that there isn’t currently a North East representative) to gather data on children in the region to examine factors that influence their progression.

The project will bring together data on pupil outcomes to “increase understanding” of regional differences, look at the ways in which children’s ambitions are shaped by their experiences and assess the opportunities available to young people between and within different regions.

It’s not known if there’s a specific budget for the project or if it will be funded through the Commissioner’s office’s existing funding. This follows numerous other projects/reports that have looked at educational inequality in the north including the Ofsted chief inspector’s last annual report, Sir Nick Weller’s review of schools and the northern powerhouse and a Social Market Foundation commission on educational inequality, chaired by the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

PISA tests: UK lags behind in global school rankings
This week the influential PISA rankings were published showing the UK is still lagging behind leading countries at education and has made little progress in international rankings since results were last published.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), provides evidence on how the achievement and abilities of 15-year-olds varies across countries. PISA is conducted every three years and pupils are tested in four subjects (science, mathematics, reading and collaborative problem solving), with one subject the focus each time.

As the data enables countries to benchmark themselves against the rest of the world and to spot strengths and weaknesses in their education system, they have become increasingly influential on politicians.

In maths the UK is ranked 27th, slipping down a place from three years ago, in reading the UK is ranked 22nd, up from 23rd and the UK’s most successful subject is science, up from 21st to 15th place.

To support the teaching of science in schools the Government has announced a £12.1 million investment until 2019. The funding will provide CPD for science teachers, support schools to share best practice and offer tailored in-school support. The programme will be delivered through a network of national science learning partnerships (North Tyneside Learning Trust forms part of the collaboration for the North East Hub) and support schools to encourage more teenagers to take GCSE triple science – physics, chemistry and biology.

Government scraps National Teaching Service
The Government has announced that it will not be pressing ahead with plans for a National Teaching Service (NTS) following an unsuccessful pilot in the North West of England. The initiative, launched by former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan in 2015, was intended to recruit good teachers to work in deprived areas. The goal was to see 1,500 of the country’s “top teaching talent” matched to the schools that need them the most, by 2020.

The North West pilot aimed to enlist up to 100 teachers to work in eligible primary and secondary schools across the region from September 2016. Its been reported that just 54 teachers were recruited after only 116 applied and in total only 24 of those recruited have so far been matched with schools.

This week I report on the publication of the NFER’s research into the evolving schools’ landscape since the introduction of Regional Schools Commissioners, the announcement of additional Government funding to help address school underperformance and the publication of the Government’s response to the Early Years Funding consultation.

Research looking at the educational landscape since RSCs were introduced
New research published by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) looks at the evolving schools’ landscape since Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) were introduced in 2014 and explores how regions have changed in terms of the number and proportion of academies and free schools. Key findings include:

• 29% of all state schools in England are now academies;
• the proportion of academies continues to vary by phase and RSC region;
• in 2016 primary academisation has exceeded secondary growth for the 1st time;
• the difference in academisation within regions is greater than differences between regions;
• there are variations in the proportions of underperforming LA maintained schools becoming sponsor-led academies;
• the number of schools in single and multi-academy trusts by region also varies; this may make it more difficult for some RSCs to find sufficient sponsors in the future.

The NFER’s second report will be published in early 2017 using the latest performance data to explore the future challenges RSCs face to support schools in their areas.

New funding for school improvement
On Wednesday, the Education Secretary announced a new wave of funding meant to address underperformance and “help ensure every child has a good school place”. These include:

• from September 2017, a £50m a year fund for local authorities to continue to monitor and commission school improvement for low-performing maintained schools;
• a new “Strategic School Improvement Fund” of £140m will also be set up for academies and maintained schools to ensure that resources are targeted at schools most in need of support to drive up standards;
• the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has committed to spend a further £20m over the next 2 years to “scale up” and disseminate evidence-based programmes and approaches.

The Government’s ambition remains that all schools will become academies forming a fully school-led system, where Headteachers and school leaders collaborate to drive improvement in their schools.

Government response to Early Years Funding consultation
Yesterday the DfE published its response to the Early Years funding consultation which ran for six weeks from 11 August to 22 September 2016. The funding formula will allocate funding for three and four-year olds, both the existing universal 15 hour entitlement and the new 30 hour entitlement for children of working parents. It will commence in April 2017 for the existing 15 hours alongside the funding rate uplift announced in the 2015 Spending Review; and for the additional 15 hours when 30 hours of free childcare is implemented nationally from September 2017.

The formula will feature three funding factors that determine the funding per child that each local authority receives as follows:

• a base rate of funding for each child;
• an additional needs factor, reflecting the extra costs of supporting children with additional needs to achieve good early learning and development outcomes; and
• an area cost adjustment, reflecting the different costs of providing childcare in different areas of the country.

Though nearly 80% of LAs will see hourly funding rates rise, no local authority will face a reduction in its hourly funding rate of more than 10% against its 2016-17 baseline as a result of introducing this formula.

This week I report on the publication of the long-awaited review into education in the Northern Powerhouse, the launch of the new online service proposing to make recruitment of governors easier and information on when we should expect to see the new Governor Competency Framework and updated Governance Handbook.

Independent review into education in the Northern Powerhouse
Yesterday, the Department for Education released “A Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy”, an independent review led by Sir Nick Weller, CEO and Executive Principal of Dixons Academies in Bradford. The report outlines a series of proposals to “tackle educational underperformance in the North of England” in the following five areas:

• Building teaching and leadership capacity
• School improvement capacity
• Raising standards by closing the disadvantaged
• Curriculum
• System conditions

Whilst the Government has indicated it will invest £70m over three and a half years to improve capacity and raise standards in Northern Powerhouse schools, it is difficult to see how the recommendations in this review could all be taken on-board given the amount of funding available.

Launch of online governor recruitment service
Back in October last year I highlighted a new scheme launched by the Inspiring Governors Alliance to connect skilled volunteers interested in serving as governors and trustees with schools and colleges. It was formally launched on Tuesday this week and run by the National Governors Association (NGA) and Education and Employers, a careers charity, in partnership with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). It will receive funding from the Department for Education for four years.

I have taken the liberty of registering your school and using the skills and expertise gaps highlighted in your skills audits, will search for suitable matches.  I will flag up any suitable matches with the Chair of Governors and Headteacher.

Governor Competency framework and Governance Handbook
Publication of the Governor Competency Framework is expected around the end of this month and advance information suggests that it will not now be used as a basis for the national development of governor training. The new Governance Handbook will also be published at the end of the month. As soon as they are available I will provide governors with a link.

This week I report on the EEF’s study on the positive impact providing a school breakfast club can have in primary schools, the opposition leader’s motion to stop schools collecting pupil nationality and country of birth data and £300 million government funding to help young people enjoy the benefits of music and the arts.

EEF funded study found positive impact from primary school breakfast clubs
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has published the results of a randomised controlled trial which found that pupils in primary schools who attend breakfast clubs before school benefit from an improvement in their reading, writing and maths. The results are based on the Magic Breakfast project jointly funded by the Department for Education and the EEF.

An independent evaluation by researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that:

• year 2 pupils attending breakfast clubs experienced an improvement in reading, writing and maths equivalent of two months’ progress over the course of a year
• year 6 pupils experienced a slightly smaller positive impact from attending breakfast clubs
• teachers recognised an improvement in pupil behaviour and concentration and this may indirectly improve the outcomes for children who do not attend breakfast clubs

Offering breakfast clubs is seen as a cost-effective way to raise pupil attainment. Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive of the EEF stated that “offering free breakfasts at school is a relatively cheap and straightforward way of alleviating this symptom of disadvantage’’.

Parliamentary motion lodged to stop pupil nationality data collection
On Wednesday, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a motion in parliament to stop the practice of schools collecting pupil nationality and country of birth data. If it succeeds, the early day motion will cancel new laws introduced by the government in September forcing schools to collect the data in their annual census.

Ministers have sought to reassure parents that the additional data will not be used by the Home Office for immigration processes but to help schools to cope better with pupils with first languages other than English.

Under parliamentary procedure, the early day motion, or ‘prayer’, can be used to revoke legislation providing it gets enough support. Early day motions like this act as official public notice that the opposition is trying to secure a debate on an issue. A timetable for a potential debate and vote is yet to be finalised.

£300 million government investment to help young people enjoy the benefits of music and the arts
Today the Schools Minister Nick Gibb announced that over the next 4 years the government will provide £300 million (of which £75 million has already been announced for this year) to a network of 121 music education hubs to work with schools, local authorities and community organisations to get more young people taking part in music and arts. The funding will be administered by Arts Council England, which has a wealth of experience and strategic partnerships to improve music and cultural education for children.

The government will work to ensure that the funding particularly benefits children in the six (West Somerset, Norwich, Blackpool, Scarborough, Derby and Oldham) recently announced opportunity areas, identified as the most challenged when it comes to social mobility, to give those young people access to the best possible music and cultural education.

This week I report on the Schools Minister evidence to MPs in the Education Select Committee regarding grammar schools, the publication of the Sutton Trust’s report on the poor performance of white working class British boys and the IPPR’s report recommending the replacement of lower level apprenticeships with a pre-apprenticeship programme for 16-18 year olds.

Grammar schools to demonstrate how they’ll improve the ‘social mix’
This week Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, was called to give evidence to the MPs in the Education Select Committee as part of the scrutiny process for the Government’s consultation on re-introducing grammar schools.

Mr Gibb stated that strict conditions would be implemented to increase the number of pupils from poor backgrounds in selective schools and that they would also apply to new and existing grammar schools. He said “Under our proposals, existing grammar schools and new grammar schools would only be allowed to open if they met strict conditions designed to ensure increased numbers of less well-off pupils have access to selective education.” The Minister added that new grammar schools and those looking to expand would have to demonstrate how they would “improve the social mix”.

Poor performance of white working-class British boys
The Sutton Trust, the leading social mobility charity, has urged schools to implement targeted attainment improvement programmes for disadvantaged white British pupils.

Their latest report Class Differences: ethnicity and disadvantage found that white British boys eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) have now been either the lowest or second lowest performing ethnic group every year for a decade. The Trust also found the attainment gap between FSM and non-FSM white British boys to be the second highest at 32 percentage points, with Irish boys in the lead displaying a 46 percentage points difference.

Apprenticeships ‘must address distinct needs of teens’
Yesterday the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published a report recommending that the Government replaces lower level apprenticeships with a new, distinct pre-apprenticeship programme for 16–18-year-olds. Its report comes as universities have been awarded £4.5m to develop 5,200 degree level apprenticeships from September next year.

The report suggests level-two apprenticeships for younger learners “are often very job specific, do not include much off the job training, and from next year they will not be required to include a recognised qualification”. Instead the IPPR believes a pre-apprenticeship programme should be designed to “address explicitly the distinct needs of younger learners”, with more “off the job training” and general education.

This week I report on the Education Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement signalling schools in “unviable or underperforming” council areas won’t now be forced into becoming academies, the publication of the Rochford Review in to P scales, the increase in the number of KS2 tests appeals and new guidance on calculating progress 8 and attainment 8.

Shelving of the Education for All Bill
During the half term break the Education Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement announcing a new Technical and Further Education Bill and, importantly, confirmed that plans to force all schools in “unviable or underperforming” council areas into academies would no longer proceed.

Ms Greening advised there would be no changes to education legislation in this Parliamentary session (which runs until next Summer) and said “Our ambition remains that all schools should benefit from the freedom and autonomy that academy status brings. Our focus, however, is on building capacity in the system and encouraging schools to convert voluntarily.”

Many in the education community have claimed the Government has now all but scrapped the proposed Education for All bill, but experts have said the Government could roll elements from the bill into the new legislation which will be needed to introduce its grammar school proposals.

Rochford Review into P scales published
The report of the Rochford Review, an independent group commissioned by the DfE to review statutory assessment arrangements for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum tests was recently published. Currently, P scales are used to assess and report the attainment of pupils with SEND who are not working at the standard of mainstream statutory assessments. The review recommends that P scales should not continue to be used and that a new approach should be developed. Other recommendations touch on teacher training, sharing of good practice, quality assurance, and the need for further work on the best way to support schools with assessing pupils with English as an additional language (EAL).

Increase in number of Key Stage 2 tests appeals
New statistics published by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) this week reveal a rise in the number of key stage 2 tests that were subject to an appeal. The sharpest increase was recorded in English reading – from 17,469 reviews to 21,587 this year. The mathematics test had the fewest review applications – 0.7% of tests taken.

Overall, 9.8% of review applications resulted in a successful review this year, with the highest change recorded in the mathematics test where 12.6% of applications resulted in a different outcome. Successful reviews applied to 0.2% of all tests taken in 2016.

New guidance on calculating progress 8 and attainment 8
The Department for Education has recently released information on how progress 8 and attainment 8 measures are calculated. It aims to help governors and trustees to understand the new measures. New GCSE qualifications will be graded from 1-9, but not all GCSEs are being moved to the new system at the same time. The DfE has, therefore, developed a methodology to compare the two parallel systems from 2017. A useful table to help people to benchmark the old A* – G grading system against the new 1 – 9 system is provided in the document and shows how unreformed GCSE’s will be translated into the new grading system.