The PAG Newsletter - Issue 9
Introduction from Tom Legge
Hello
It has been a busy start to the year here at PAG, with the AP free school wave in full swing as well as preparation for the next phase of the SEND wave. With the AP deadline fast approaching on the 17th of February, this is your last chance to get in touch with Create: Schools for free support and advice with your bid.
This issue is packed with the latest education sector news stories, including a look at the possible future of AI technology, such as ChatGPT, in the classroom. We also feature in this issue a profile of PAG’s resident mapping expert, researcher Gavin Macdonald (or Mapdonald as he is often referred to!).
As always, thank you for reading our newsletter, and make sure to follow PAG on Twitter and LinkedIn.?
Sector News: Unregistered schools and Unregistered APs under Ofsted’s eye
By Ernestina Alvarez Corona
Since 2016, OfSTED’s Unregistered School Taskforce has monitored the activity of unregistered education establishments, commonly referred to as illegal schools.??
In the last six years, the government organisation has conducted over six hundred inspections throughout England. As a result, it has managed to get ninety-seven institutions to adapt their services according to legal requirements and duly register as educational providers. Nevertheless, the 2021-22 OfSTED Annual Report shows a rising number of placements in unregistered schools, especially in unregistered AP establishments.??
What are unregistered schools???
Unregistered schools are educational establishments that fit the legal criteria of an independent school but are not registered with the DfE, and operate outside of the education system without the legally required oversight.
According to the DfE, a school is an institution that caters for children and young people to receive full-time education from (roughly) ages 5 to 18, or part-time education from ages 2 to 5. A school must register as an independent school if it offers full-time instruction to five or more students of compulsory school age, or one such student who is looked after or has an EHC plan, and is not maintained by a local authority or a non-maintained special school.
Operating an unregistered school is considered a criminal offence punishable by up to 6 months in prison, a fine, or both. However, given the limited powers OfSTED currently holds, only six irregular institutions have been prosecuted in the past six years.??
It is not uncommon for some illegal schools to be operated in inappropriate locations, expose students to materials that are contrary to British values, or offer a limited curriculum. However, when it comes to unregistered alternative provisions, there are certain unique factors that must be considered.
To find out more about unregistered schools, and in particular unregistered AP provision, you can read the full article here.
Profile: Gavin Macdonald
Gavin Macdonald joined PAG in January 2022 via the Kickstart scheme. He originally provided data technical support to our Growth team and now works as a researcher for Create: Schools. Gavin grew up in Moray, North East Scotland but lives in Glasgow. He graduated from Queen Margaret University, with a BA in Business Management with Finance.
What kind of projects do you work on at PAG?
As my job title suggests a lot of research-oriented work with quite a strong focus on the quantitative side of things, anything involving interactive maps with some bid writing and data analysis mixed in there as well.??
In terms of actual projects over the last few months I have mainly contributed to free school bids and some applicant support on the Create: Schools side of things. Over the next few months, I’m really looking forward to working on some research projects that are in the pipeline.?
Do you have a project that you are particularly proud of or enjoyed working on and why??
Has to be the SEND review we did for Bath and North East Somerset in February last year. Not only did I find the research interesting, but this is when I knew I’d found the right company to work for. I’d not long started at PAG and was still only on a part time contract but was given a lot of trust on a project that pushed me out my comfort zone and did so much for developing my skills, knowledge of the sector and self-belief. Although there were expectations for me to provide a high standard of work , at no stage did I feel under pressure to do anymore than my best.?
This was my first piece of client facing work, so it was very fulfilling to see a satisfied client who provided some very useful feedback, and then commissioned us to write their application for a new special free school. The research also ignited a particular interest into the current trends and challenges within SEN provisions, that I previously had quite a scarce knowledge on – this equipped me well for the LA: SEND Wave 3 later that year.?
These research projects based on open ended business questions that our clients want to gain a better understanding of are now what I look forward to the most.?
What’s your favourite way to relax after a long day at work???
Working remotely can feel very lonely sometimes so always try and meet up with friends a few times during the week or get a bit of exercise in, however my commitment to the gym has been questionable at best the last few months.?
Post work beers in the sun will always be a favourite during the nicer weather.?
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given???
Not to dwell on the past, take ownership of your mistakes and use them as something to improve on. It’s hardly a ground breaking piece of advice but something I always comeback and remind myself of.?
Do you have any other fun/interesting stories from your time at PAG that you would like to include???
Hard to think of any in particular but the post meeting/team day drinks are always a highlight, still don’t know how I’ve never missed my return flight home – always cutting it fine and being thankful for delays as its a struggle leaving a pub surrounded by such good company!?
Although one of these shaky return journeys did include me water damaging a PAG laptop – but that’s still too recent for it to be funny…?
You can read Gavin’s full profile on our website here.
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Sector News: Additional school capital funding for improving energy efficiency
By Gabriel Senior
With high energy prices and the government aiming to decarbonise all sectors of the UK economy by 2050, it is clear that energy saving measures will be a major priority for educational establishments in 2023.
The Department for Education provides guidance and funding opportunities in order to support this movement. In December 2022, the department released additional school capital funding for the financial year aimed at improving energy efficiency. This funding can be spent on implementing energy efficient improvements, such as:
According to our capital partners AMR Consult, while the building fabric is key (fabric first strategy) to any sustainability master plan, one way to effectively deploy these monies quickly and easily is by replacing inefficient lights, such as fluorescent lights, with LED lights, alongside movement and daylight sensors. This can reduce energy consumption from lighting by around 80%. Additionally, it will save the maintenance and material cost of the old lamps.?
AMR are experienced in tendering for and delivering these works quickly and efficiently allowing your estate to reap the benefits. They have delivered hundreds of these projects through the Salix Energy Efficiency Scheme, SCA funding and CIF.?
If you would like to receive expert advice on energy saving measures for your establishment, including our the “fabric first strategy” you can book a no obligation discussion with one of their team here.
Create: Schools News: Upcoming Events
By Gavin Lawrie
This month Create: Schools will be joining forces with our construction partners AMR and our financial partners MLG to bring to you two fantastic sessions around free schools.??
The purpose of these webinars is to provide attendees with the latest updates, key insights and information related to the free schools process. By partnering with AMR and MLG, Create: Schools aims to offer a well-rounded and comprehensive look at the fields of capital and finance to provide attendees with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in their own efforts. The webinars are an excellent opportunity for school administrators to learn, address doubts and connect with free schools expert.?
?The details for these webinars can be found below:?
Click here to book your spot for any of our free sessions before it’s too late.
As well as webinars, Create: Schools have been working closely with the Department for Education to bring two events together. The first is a Principal Designate event for 2023/24 Openers and the other event is geared towards 2022/23 opening free schools.?
The principal designate event will look at Ofsted pre-registration, site consideration, marketing, working with your LA and more. The event for 22/23 openers will provide useful insight into the likes of leadership, your first Ofsted inspection and the key challenges and considerations that may face open schools. These sessions will be panelled by industry experts alongside members of the Create: School team.?
Sector News: Should ChatGPT be integrated to the classroom?
By Ernestina Alvarez Corona
“ChatGPT, the large language model developed by OpenAI, has the potential to revolutionise the way we think about education and teaching. In particular, it can have a significant impact on grading in schools.” This is the bold promise that the AI makes when ordered to write about its possible impacteffects in schools. The new Open AI language model likes to think of itself as a groundbreaking tool to make gfacilitate grading easier for teachers as well as help students to deepen their knowledge in any kind of subject.?
However, some teachers and school managers may have different perspectives on this topic. The immediate concern is cheating, along with the bot's inclination to spit forth inaccurate or deceptive responses. Afraid that the chatbot may have a detrimental impact on pupil’s language and critical skills, many schools in the US have already banned the new Open AI chatbot from their internal networks. Ofqual, England's exam watchdog, will investigate if further instructions should be issued to schools that are concerned about the use of AI chatbots for assessments.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a large language model that has been trained to generate text that is similar to human speech. It can perform a wide range of natural language processing tasks, including language translation, question answering, and text completion. Developed by Open AI, the chatbot gathers and processes information from the internet and can source almost everything published up to 2021, then delivers the content to the user in a simple, easy-to-read, conversational text format.?
New tool, old concerns
ChatGPT is a powerful tool that performs reasonably well across a wide range of writing tasks and academic subjects. Nevertheless, there are legitimate concerns about the ethics of AI-generated writing, as well as whether the answers provided by ChatGPT are accurate since it is sourced from multiple internet sites.?
Cheating and plagiarism are currently at the centre of the AI and education debate. By using the OpenAI platform, pupils could quickly produce unique essays and do their homework without actively engaging in learning. However, this is not a new concern. The fear that students could easily hand in material from the internet that they did not produce has materialised different policies across the education sector in the last two decades, such as the implementation of plagiarism software. Computer scientists at Princeton University are currently trying to develop a similar tool to detect AI-generated text.?
ChatGPT also poses potential risks regarding learning abilities, critical thinking, and writing skills. The ease of access to information and answers may lead students to become dependent on the model rather than developing their own abilities to find information, analyse and write. Oscar Goldman, Senior consultant at PAG, explained that the main issue regarding language AI is that they are purely quantitative models that spit out statistically frequent words and syntax. As education moves from quantitative structures, such as rote memorisation or imitative studies in English, to more qualitative models, AI is rendered futile to generate transferable skill development.
You can find out more about ChatGPT, and read an essay generated by the AI software, here.
Live Bids
For more information on current opportunities, you can check out the live bids page on our website here.
Thank you for reading this edition of The PAG Newsletter! You can check out our previous issues here. Make sure to follow PAG on LinkedIn and Twitter for regular updates on all of our exciting projects!