Education News July

This month… 

Academies Bill  -  Headteachers Pay  -  BSF, Behaviour and Attendance  -  Food in Schools   -  Rarely Cover  -  SATs Boycott Update  (Main source … National Governors Association)

 Academies Bill

The Academies Bill is only part of the new governments Structural Reform Plan (SRP)  – DfE Structural Reform Plan

Other parts, to be covered later include areas such as Free Schools, the Pupil Premium (funding model) and Reducing Bureaucracy (how to best achieve accountability, safeguards and management).

The Academies Bill has now had its third reading and has moved from the Lords to the Commons.

Changes since the bill was introduced include a requirement for schools to consult before they are converted into an Academy, for academies to be subject to the Freedom of Information (FOI) regulations and for regulations on SEN will apply to academies in the same way as to maintained schools.

See latest version of the Bill via this link – Academies Bill  

Headteacher’s Pay

Determining the headteacher’s pay is the role of the governing body. The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) sets out the regulations for determining headteachers pay. The Secretary of State has written to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), responsible for making recommendations on teachers’ pay, after identifying that some headteacher have earned earn more than the Prime Minister.

See recent news articles ….Daily Mail   The Telegraph   The Guardian    BBC News

Building Schools for the Future (BSF)

BSF is to be scrapped. Schemes which have not yet reached Financial Closure stage will be stopped altogether and even some schemes further down the line than this will be reviewed. This is a huge disappointment for the East Riding. DfE BSF Announcement

Behaviour and Attendance

On 7 July, Nick Gibb announced the Government’s plans to give greater powers to teachers and headteachers to deal with disruptive pupils. The key points are that the Government intends to:

• end the rule requiring schools to give 24 hours written notice for detentions
• allow heads and school staff to search pupils for: personal electronic devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players and cameras, legal highs, pornography, cigarettes and fireworks.
• strengthen guidance and legislation if necessary surrounding use of force in the classroom
• give anonymity to teachers accused by pupils and take other measures to protect against false accusations.

The full Ministerial Statement can be found via the attached link – Ministerial Statement on Behaviour and Attendance

Food in Schools

Ofsted carried out a survey on how effectively schools were promoting healthy food choices to their pupils and the extent to which schools were meeting the regulatory requirements for school food. 

The found around 2 thirds of schools visited were complying with school lunch standards. Primaries did better overall except in the requirement to provide a portion of fruit at each meal. Secondary schools were most often failing by providing deep-fried and starchy foods cooked in fat or oil. Though Ofsted noted that these failures to meet the standards were usually related to a misinterpretation of the regulations.

Ofsted found that an integrated strategy with the local authority worked best and that governors were often not aware of their responsibilities and that the provision was not monitored effectively.

Many schools have successfully introduced policies about what food can be brought from home though this is not covered by the regulations. Read more – http://www.nga.org.uk/food.aspx   and   Ofsted – Food in Schools Report

Rarely Cover

Times Educational Supplement (TES) reported that a ‘Rarely cover’ survey by UNISON union found majority of teaching assistants were ‘actively teaching’ classes. Almost half of these were not provided with lesson plans. The articles rightly points out that it is the  governing body responsibility teaching policy is implemented, including ensuring that those covering classes have the appropriate qualifications to do so. Read on TES Rarely Cover Story.  and The Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group’s notes – WAMG Rarely Cover Note

SATs Boycott Update

On 6 July, the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency issued Key Stage 2 test results to schools. These will be published on 3 August 2010.

The news report from the DfE indicated that of the 15,515 schools expected to administer the tests, 4005 schools did not.

The Secretary of State acknowledged that the current system was flawed and that the Government was committed to reviewing the system, if not the concept of testing. In advance of a full review he confirmed that Key Stage 2 tests will take place in the week beginning 9 May 2011.