Week Commencing 18/04/2022 Headlines?
UK to lead the way in climate and sustainability education?
The DfE has launched its Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy which includes the launch of a new natural History GCSE?
- Secondary school students will be able to study the natural world through an exciting new GCSE in natural history to be introduced by September 2025.?
- Students will develop the skills to help them carve a future career in the natural world if they wish to.?
- By 2023 there will also be new requirements for further education teachers to build sustainability into their teaching.?
- What resources, equipment, trips and services might schools want/need to support this area of the curriculum??
Schools Week news article about the new GCSE qualification?
New ￡18m National Tutoring Programme will see nearly 50,000 tutors trained?
More details about the catch-up scheme are revealed?
- From September, ￡349 million of tutoring cash will go directly to schools, for them to decide how to spend it. How will they choose to spend this??
- Will the flexibility benefit schools (and pupils)? Or will this put extra pressure on schools??
- Training will be for?both schools-led tutors and academic mentors. The training will be mandatory for those new to the role, except for qualified teachers.?
Poll: 7 in 10 primary heads say catch-up cash ‘insufficient’?
Two in five leaders raid pupil premium budgets to make ends meet.?
- How are schools managing their budgets??
- How is the shortfall impacting pupils? Some report cutting back on school trips and support staff.?
- Are schools to blame? Government data shows that as of March,?two in five schools had not engaged with the government’s flagship National Tutoring Programme, and?recent statistics show academy trust coffers swelled by more than a quarter last year.?
Teacher recruitment targets hiked as DfE predicts post-Covid exodus?
Ministers have repeatedly missed past targets, but ￡130 million was slashed from trainee bursaries while teacher retention was high during the pandemic.?
- Despite a boom during Covid, last year the target was missed again, with less than a quarter of the required physics teachers recruited. What is the impact on pupils??
- The government is preparing to revive early-career bonuses in maths, physics and chemistry. Will this address the issue and encourage more to join the profession in these subjects??
- There are concerns around the number of language teachers: numbers are up but there are no plans to provide early-career bursaries in langauges. A third of language teachers in the UK are EU nationals. New EU staff now need sponsorship, face costly visa and NHS fees and no longer qualify for capped tuition fees, loans or bursaries. Will this mean numbers soon start to drop??
Early Years vacancies difficult to fill?
The manager of a group of nurseries said it had been "incredibly difficult" to recruit qualified early years staff.?
Figures from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) showed vacancies in the sector had increased by 45%.?
- How will the lack of quality Early Years staff impact nursery children??
- How can the government encourage new people to enter the sector??
- More emphasis is being placed on apprenticeships but this doesn’t immediately solve the problem.?
- DfE are set to increase the hourly rates that childcare providers will receive and have announced a ￡180m package to provide better training and support for staff working with pre-school children.?
DfE pupil number projections inform teacher recruitment targets. ?
- The primary population is expected to fall 1.7% in 2023-24?
- Secondary numbers to grow by 1.5%, a slower rate than previous years.?
- Secondary and special school numbers to peak in 2024?
- The DfE is projecting that the state-funded nursery and primary school population will drop by 302,000, or 6.5% by 2026?
- How will this impact school budgets and spending??
Wales council elections: Young voters call for politics lessons?
- Are we providing students with enough education about politics in the UK??
- Better politics teaching in schools could boost voting numbers among first-time voters.?
- How can schools better implement politics as part of the citizenship curriculum??
School leaders plan Covid isolation rooms so symptomatic kids can take exams?
‘Ambiguous’ guidance leaves heads facing a ‘logistical nightmare’.?
- There are still concerns around students missing exams and Covid-positive students who don’t have access to tests transmitting Covid to other students?
- The logistics of planning alternative provision for symptomatic pupils will put an added strain on school staff?
- The lack of clear guidance may leave pupils feeling anxious about what they should do if they feel unwell?