Full steam ahead
Chris Toyne ??
I am the proud owner of the greatest waterproof rucksack in the world ??
Hopefully, you have all had a smooth start to the new academic year. Children have transitioned to their new classes and year groups, the staff room is full of sweet treats, and you all feel revitalised and ready to go.
If so, now is a great time to kick back, relax and take on the last seven days' news round-up across Education and EdTech.
If not, now is still a great time to kick back, relax and take on the last seven days' news round-up across Education and EdTech.
DfE News
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)
On the 4th of September the DfE released Everything you need to know about the new guidance on RAAC in education settings.
Most schools should be unaffected, but this information may still be interesting or reassuring.
Gillian Keegan’s department ‘gave ￡1m from schools rebuilding pot to company linked to husband’
The above is the title of an article that was published on Wednesday afternoon by the Adam Forrest. You can read the full article here , but in summary.
The cabinet minister’s husband Michael?Keegan?states on his LinkedIn social media page that he is a non-executive director at technology firm Centerprise.
The company was one of six suppliers awarded IT contracts earlier this year to replace server infrastructure at schools – with the money coming from the school rebuilding programme fund, according to the Daily Mirror.
Spotlight on: looked after children missing from education
Earlier this year, a report from the Office of the Children's Commissioner highlighted that looked after children are over-represented among those missing from school: 2.7% of looked after children are not in school. In total, 1.3% were being educated in unregistered settings, 1.1% were not enrolled at any educational provision, and 0.3% were recorded as being registered at a school but with 0% attendance.
The same office has put together resources for schools to support the back-to-school drive, and they can be found here.
You can also find the full article here.
Ofsted News
Ethnic Minorities Shadowing Programme
Are you a Black, Asian or minority ethnic leader in an early years, school, social care or further education setting?
You can now apply to join Ofsted's ethnic minorities shadowing programme. You will gain a unique insight into how Ofsted works. Leaders in England are eligible to apply for this programme.
Participants will benefit professionally from the experience, which includes face-to-face briefings and the chance to shadow an inspection visit.
The closing date is 29 September. Apply here!
Non-association independent schools inspections and outcomes: management information
Ofsted usually publishes the above data 3 times a year, and you can access the most recent update here.
Ofsted Talks
On this week's podcast (found here ), Ofsted discuss post-inspection arrangements and complaints, and your opportunity to share your views.
These are the proposals:
领英推荐
General Education News
ASCL calls for consultation on single-phrase judgements following Ofsted complaints reform - Taken from the ASCL website.
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has today published a response to the proposed changes to Ofsted’s post-inspection arrangements and complaints handling.
The proposals, which ASCL strongly welcomes, include new routes to challenge inspection outcomes and the opportunity for providers to contact Ofsted the day after an inspection if they have unresolved concerns. ASCL believes that this is a step in the right direction, but there is much more work that needs to be done to create a fairer inspection system that has the trust of the whole profession.?
Tom Middlehurst, Inspection Specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The current complaints system is extremely convoluted, and school and college leaders tell us that they find it very difficult to successfully challenge an inspection outcome. These proposals will go some way towards supporting leaders during and after an inspection. As they will take time to be confirmed and implemented, we would urge Ofsted to follow the spirit of the proposals in the meantime.
“These changes are very welcome but represent only modest improvements to an inspection system that all too often produces judgements which are unreliable and unfair. The single biggest positive change that could be made is the removal of the overall effectiveness grading, which is often the largest point of contention in any complaint. These judgements can be reductionist, misleading and damaging to the mental health and wellbeing of staff. Switching to narrative judgements, which identify a school or college’s strengths and weaknesses, would build much-needed resilience into the inspection system and be far more informative for parents and other stakeholders. Ofsted and the Department for Education must consult on this change as soon as possible.”
Read the full response here.
EdTech News
It's time for Wonde...
Two innovative reading platforms, Lexplore and Reading on Your Head, have updated their offer over the summer to give schools and MATs the benefits of Wonde integration.
Lexplore is a platform that supports reading development through eye-tracking technology and a systematic approach to reading (see a past BBC One Show feature here ).
Reading on Your Head is a low-stakes quizzing platform that helps improve reading comprehension, engage children and save teachers time. They were winners of the Shine Trust award, and you can find more info here .
Training for Education and SENDcast Sessions
Training for Education and SENDcast Sessions have merged, allowing them to focus on supporting schools and parents to support children and young people with SEND. The podcasts have won several awards and are available on many platforms; you can find out more here .
Juniper Education Group Announces Autumn Roadshows
Back to school savings for schools with Al Kingsley
That's all for this week. I hope your first week back is going better than planned and you are still smiling.
As always, if you have found the Ed & Tech Times useful, please repost, like and comment. Raising awareness is the best way to support us in producing a weekly round-up.
Last but not least, if there is something else you would like to see topic-wise, just let me know in the comments or via DM.
Stay Happy Ed & Tech Timesers (sounded a lot cooler in my head, but let's run with it).
Failed musician, but always writing.
1 年I love these round-ups. Not sure about your community name idea in the last paragraph, Chris. Might need a bit of thought! ??