Categories
Governance

Funding for early years to help boost language and communication skills

Damian Hinds, Education Secretary, has announced new support to help parents improve their children’s early language and literacy skills at home before they start school (external link).

There will be two schemes that will aim to build the confidence of parents to support their children in language and reading at an early stage. The aim is to help close the so-called ‘word gap’ – the gap in communication skills between disadvantaged children and their peers when they start school.

One scheme run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) will see £5 million spent on trialling projects with the aim of providing practical tools and advice to parents so they can help their children learn new words through simple steps like reading and singing nursery rhymes. EEF will run trial projects in the north of England. The projects will look at what works best in improving children’s communication skills at home before they begin school.

The second scheme will be an £8.5 million programme for local authorities to fund projects to improve early language and literacy development for disadvantaged children.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said,This new support will help parents with early language learning at home by giving them practical advice on activities like reading and learning the alphabet which are so important in making sure no child is left behind.”

Categories
Governance

Mentally Healthy Schools website launched

Mentally Healthy Schools (external link) is a free, easy to use website which features evidence-based practical resources to “improve awareness, knowledge and confidence in promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health”.

The website is a legacy project of the Heads Together mental health campaign, which brings together The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry with charity partners including the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Place2be and Young Minds.

The website is currently tailored to the curriculum of primary schools in England but most resources will be universal and available later this term. The website features a wealth of information to help tackle stigma, raise awareness, and provide help for children and young people with mental health challenges, covering four main areas: teaching resources, risks and protective factors, mental health needs, and a ‘whole school approach’ for school leaders.

The website features a section on the key role of those governing which is available to access here (external link).

 

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Governance

Good estate management for schools – guidance released

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Department for Education (DfE) has published Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS) guidance and tools (external link).

GEMS is a new online resource and brings together new and existing guidance on school estate management, and sets out:

  • the fundamental policies and procedures needed to manage the school estate effectively;
  • guidance on strategic estate management, organisational oversight, understanding your land and buildings, energy and water management and managing projects;
  • updated guidance on health and safety, compliance and maintenance (replacing existing guidance in Essential Schools Maintenance);
  • the skills organisations need access to, links to tools and resources that can help.

The guidance is for anyone with responsibility for overseeing or managing the estate. This includes: leaders and governors of schools, trustees of academy trusts, school business professionals, those with responsibility for day to day running of the school estate, local authorities, Diocesan authorities and other religious authorities and bodies.

Governors and trustees are reminded that their role in estate management should be strategic and so boards should ensure that relevant polices are up to date and they are holding their senior leaders to account.

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Governance

Governance leadership development programme

The Department for Education (DfE) has contracted organisations to provide a professional development programme until March 2020.  Each provider’s offer, including the duration, may be different, and governors should consider which programme suits both them and their governing body’s needs best.

The programme is suitable for those in governance leadership roles, like chairs, vice chairs or committee chairs. The programme aims for:

  • increased capacity to improve the effectiveness of governing boards in line with the ‘Competency framework for governance' (external link) (particularly boards’ ability to provide strategic leadership and data-driven accountability for educational standards and financial performance);
  • greater involvement of governance leaders in sustainable and relevant peer-to-peer support networks that enable encouragement, support and sharing good practice with one another.

The format of the training will vary between different providers, but they all must ensure that you are supported and challenged.

Find out which providers cover Haringey here (external link).

 

Categories
Governance

Sir David Carter steps down

Sir David Carter, the National Schools Commissioner, has announced that he will be stepping down from his current role at the end of this academic year. Sir David issued a recorded message to announce his news, saying that he felt “incredibly privileged” to have undertaken the role. The Department for Education confirmed the news stating a “new National Schools Commissioner is to be appointed following the excellent work of Sir David Carter, who is retiring from the civil service after four years at the department”.

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Governance

DfE announces a review into school exclusions

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a review to examine the inequalities surrounding the school exclusion system. The review will look at challenges faced by the children most likely to be excluded from school, including those with special educational needs, as well as building on evidence showing children who receive an education in alternative provision settings, are “less likely to be in education, employment or training post 16”. 

The review, led by Edward Timpson MP, former education minister, will explore school approaches to exclusions, seeking views from parents, teachers, school leaders and children. The DfE hopes that the measures announced will address existing inequalities and help aid the improvement of educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.

The DfE have published a link to an open consultation on the review which you can access here (external link).

Categories
Governance

Mentally Healthy Schools – website launch

‘Mentally Healthy Schools’ is a free and easy to use website which features evidence-based practical resources to “improve awareness, knowledge and confidence in promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health”.

The website is a legacy project of the Heads Together mental health campaign, which brings together The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry with charity partners including the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Place2be and Young Minds.

The website is currently tailored to the curriculum of primary schools in England but most resources will be universal and available later this term. The website features a wealth of information to help tackle stigma, raise awareness and provide help for children and young people with mental health challenges, covering four main areas: teaching resources, risks and protective factors, mental health needs, and a ‘whole school approach’ for school leaders.

The website features a section on the key role of those governing (external link)

Categories
Governance

DfE announces review into school exclusions

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a review to enable it to gain a better understanding of the inequalities surrounding the school exclusion system. The review will look at the challenges faced by the children most likely to be excluded from school, including those with special educational needs, as well as building on evidence showing children who receive an education in alternative provision settings, are “less likely to be in education, employment or training post 16”. 

The review, led by Edward Timpson MP, former education minister, will explore school approaches to exclusions, seeking views from parents, teachers, school leaders and children.

The DfE hopes that the measures announced will address existing inequalities and help to improve the educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.

Access the open consultation on the review here (external link)

Categories
Governance

Governance leadership development programme

The Department for Education (DfE) has contracted organisations to provide a professional development programme until March 2020.  Each provider’s offer, including the duration, may be different, and governors should consider which programme suits both them and their governing body’s needs best.

The programme is suitable for those in governance leadership roles, like chairs, vice chairs or committee chairs.

The programme aims for:

  • increased capacity to improve the effectiveness of governing boards in line with the Competency framework for governance (external link)  (particularly boards’ ability to provide strategic leadership and data-driven accountability for educational standards and financial performance)
  • greater involvement of governance leaders in sustainable and relevant peer-to-peer support networks that enable encouragement, support and sharing good practice with one another

The format of the training will vary between different providers, but they are all required to ensure that you are supported and challenged.

Find out which providers cover Haringey (external link).

 

Categories
Governance

DfE announces Advanced Maths Premium for schools

The Department for Education (DfE)  has revealed details of a new fund, the Advanced Maths Premium, devoted to helping schools to increase the number of pupils taking up Maths beyond GCSE level. This initiative was first announced in last year's autumn budget. From autumn 2018, schools and colleges will receive an additional £600 premium for “each additional pupil taking the one-year AS Maths or the Core Maths qualification”; this potentially brings a total amount of £1,200 for each pupil studying the subject across a two-year A-level.

It is hoped that the new fund will help support schools to increase the number of girls and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds selecting A-level Maths.

Read more about the Advanced Maths Premium (external link).