Schools call for end to ‘archaic’ daily worship following UK census results?
With fewer than half the population in England and Wales describing themselves as Christian, there are calls to end religious assemblies?
- The 2021 census revealed last week that for the first time fewer than half the population in England and Wales described themselves as Christian, while 37% said they had “no religion”.?
- Because more than a third of schools are faith based, with religious schools especially prevalent at primary level, many children will be having a Christian education that they wouldn’t choose.?
- Will schools want to move towards more assemblies focused on values, citizenship and topical issues? WIll they need more resources to support with these??
Government has ‘not grasped’ child mental health service ‘crisis’?
Lords are 'deeply concerned' at the state of children and adolescent mental health provision?
- The committee of lords declared that children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are in crisis.?
- Lords said important early intervention, to reduce high-cost interventions later down the line, “remained absent across many of the areas we looked at, threatening the stability of families and the health of children and young people”.?
- They said that the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is also failing many children.?
- A spokesperson from the Department for Health and Social Care stated, “We are already investing ￡2.3 billion a year into mental health services, meaning an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to access NHS-funded mental health support they need by 2024.?
- Are schools still seeking ways to provide extra mental health and wellbeing support to their pupils? WIll they be prioritising this, even as budgets get tighter??
Research into headteacher wellbeing and sources of stress?
- Four main areas of stress found to be: accountability (including inspections); staff; parents; the local authority, governors or school improvement partner.?
- Inspections was the number one cause of stress – heads want their schools to do well but don’t want their staff to be emotionally damaged.?
- Sources of positive wellbeing were: involvement of others within the school team; time away from the job; creating physical and temporal boundaries; developing a sense of ‘self’.?
- The study found that support for heads could be from other heads, the school leadership team, a senior figure from the local authority or a private company, or access to a coach or mentor.?
- Recommendations from the study are for heads to have access to a coach/mentor, access to wellbeing training, and access to headteacher networks.?
￡500m for schools to make buildings more energy efficient?
Average secondary to get ￡42k and primary ￡16k to 'futureproof' buildings, but energy bills support to end?
- Funding is set to be paid to schools in December and colleges in January.?
- Suggested improvements include: installing better heating controls, insulation to reduce heat loss from pipes, or switching to energy efficient lighting.?
- New guidance is out for schools (released 7th Dec) to support with how to maximise energy efficiency.?
- Concerns loom that this funding will not pay inflated energy bills in the immediate future, yet costs are still rising and the government intends to end the energy relief scheme at the end of March.?
DfE energy saving tips and ￡500m funding rules?
MPs and peers do worse than 10-year-olds in maths and English Sats?
Campaigners seeking abolition of year 6 Sats staged event at which children invigilated tests on parliamentarians?
- The campaign group, ‘More Than A Score’ believe that “the exams only judge schools but do not help children’s learning”.?
- Labour MP Ian Byrne, who took the test, stated, “The exams were absolutely terrifying. The mental impact such pressure would have on these young children is immense. Sats at this level must be scrapped. I’m delighted so many cross-party colleagues could experience this pressure too.”?
- Conservative MP Flick Drummond, said, “We should have assessments but they shouldn’t be at such high stakes, wasting six months or more. It was quite a hard test and we need to acknowledge what will actually be useful for the future. We’re not educating young people to pass tests, we should want to give them a love of learning.”?
- Could this finally mean an end to KS2 Sats??
School attendance dip follows rise in strep A cases?
Figures from more than 4,000 schools also show absences at the start of December were higher than at the same time last year?
- One in ten pupils was off school?on Tuesday 6th December.?
- Will schools once more be looking to fill learning gaps in the wake of this absence??
Ofsted already nearly 2,000 inspections behind school target?
But watchdog confident it can ramp up visits to meet pledge of inspecting every school by July 2025?
- The inspection cycle is being accelerated to catch up after Covid.?
- Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman states that Ofsted is still on track to meet their commitment of visiting all schools at least once by July 2025.?
- How are school leaders and staff feeling about inspections??
- How are schools preparing for inspections??
Revealed: Tutoring scheme missed disadvantage target?
Data suggests just 49% of tutoring reached disadvantaged pupils last year, well shy of the government's original 65% target?
- Not only does the data state that just 49% of tutoring reached pupil premium pupils, but there were vast disparities in different areas – the figure was as low as only 30% of pupil premium pupils receiving tutoring in the north east.?
- How will schools address these learning gaps and provide the support that’s needed for their most vulnerable pupils??