Week Commencing 04/07/2022?
What changing government policy means for faith academies?
The schools bill features a number of important proposals specifically relating to faith schools?
- Faith schools account for more than one third of the education sector?
- In 2010 the faith schools sector was reluctant to take up the opportunity to convert to academy status until assurances were made regarding certain protections and guarantees?
- Since receiving that assurance, the conversion of faith academies has kept pace with the wider education sector?
- Will the new legislation lead to enough faith school conversions, in line with the government’s vision of full academisation by 2030??
An overview of capital funding for post-16 education providers, the type of funding available, what it can be used for and when to apply?
- Funding will be allocated to upgrade college estates which are in unsatisfactory condition; get specialist equipment; improve training facilities; create extra capacity to accommodate increases in 16- to 18-year-old learners?
- The?FE?capital transformation fund is providing ￡1.5 billion to colleges over 6 years ending in March 2026?
- The next bidding round is expected to be in autumn 2022, subject to budget approval?
Double-whammy: PTA fundraising hit by Covid and cost-of-living crisis?
- The amount of money being raised by school PTAs continues to fall despite volunteers putting in more hours?
- Parent volunteers are now putting in an average of more than?8 hours per week, up from 6.5 hours in 2019?
- The cost-of-living crisis is making it harder for families and well-wishers to donate?
- A report by Parentkind estimates that PTAs lost, on average, ￡4,367 in income in the 2020/21 school year as traditional fundraising events were cancelled?
- What will the impact on schools, resources and, ultimately, the pupils with this source of funds being severely diminished??
Large and small employers across the public and private sector recognised for their vital contribution to apprenticeships?
- The Army came first, the Royal Navy second, BT were thrid,?Royal Airforce were in fourth place, closely followed by the Department of Work and Pensions in fifth position?
- The Top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employers 2022 were also published and acknowledged for the first time to recognise the critical role small and medium-sized organisations play in creating opportunities, particularly for younger people and those in disadvantaged areas?
Participation in education, training and employment: 2021?
National participation figures for 16- to 18-year-olds at end of 2021, and updates to provisional estimates for end of 2020?
- Participation in education or apprenticeships down 0.9 percentage points to 81.2%?
- The not in education, employment and training (NEET) rate has decreased and is one of the lowest on record at 6.4%?
- Of the remaining 12.3% of the population, 4.4% were in wider training and 8.0% in employment?
- Females aged 16-18 have higher participation rates than males largely due to more being in full-time education?
- Males are more likely to be on apprenticeships or in part-time education than females?
- Are all learners receiving equal opportunities, guidance, advice and support with their options post-16??
The top 3 skills we should be developing and investing in, in education?
Collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving are not currently taught well in schools?
- Matt Wingfield, Chief Executive at The Assessment Association, suggests that while knowledge and understanding key facts are important, our education system shouldn’t focus on just these skills?
- ‘Soft skills’ are not developed enough in education currently?
- How can schools develop these soft skills in a creative, engaging way??
- What resources or ‘vehicles’ are available to schools to develop these skills??
- Tom Dore, Education Director at British Esports Association, suggests that esports can be a vehicle for developing skills such as STEM-based skills and digital creative media skills – skills we know our young people will need?
How can we nurture teachers’ superpowers??
There are clear ways to develop impactful teacher expertise, writes Sarah Bagshaw McCormick, and merely observing colleagues’ ‘superpowers’ isn’t one of them?
- In order to share best practice in teaching standards, teachers need opportunities to focus on building their own expertise?
- What actually is it that effective teachers do??
- Research suggests that teachers’ ‘superpowers’ lie in four domains: subject knowledge; knowledge of their pupils; pedagogical knowledge; and self-knowledge?
- Research also revealed that a teacher’s ‘superpowers’ don’t easily transfer between classrooms, year groups or subjects – meaning an experienced, effective teacher in one setting can feel like a novice again in another?
‘Be teachers, not campaigners’ urges Ofsted chief?
Amanda Spielman tells teachers to maintain their 'own impartiality'?
- Ofsted chief, Amanda Spielman,?warns that children are “growing up in an online world that both reflects and fuels the atomisation and polarisation of society”?
- Schools can refer to the non-statutory political impartiality in schools guidance, which gives tips on how to teach about issues such as climate change, the Black Lives Matter movement and the British empire?
- Are school staff confident in addressing sensitive, controversial topics in school??
- Would more training and resources be useful for staff on discussing and teaching about certain issues??
Westminster chaos: James Cleverly appointed education secretary as Boris Johnson resigns?
- Cleverly became the third education secretary in two days?
- Issues outstanding for Cleverly to address are: the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention and support staff retention; teacher pay; and the heavily criticised Schools Bill?
- How will the change of education secretary impact school staff and pupils??