All posts tagged: DfE

DfE set to make school phone ban guidance statutory

DfE set to make school phone ban guidance statutory

Published by skeptic

The Department for Education is set to introduce a statutory mobile phone ban in schools, to give “legal force to what schools are already doing”. Skills minister Jacqui Smith told the Lords last night the government will issue an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill to put existing guidance on a statutory footing. This will mean the guidance “must be followed unless there is a legally justifiable reason for schools not to do so”, she said. Research by the children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, found last year that 90 per cent of secondary schools and 99.8 per cent of primary schools already have policies in place that stop the use of mobile phones during the school day. A DfE spokesperson said the amendment will give “legal force to what schools are already doing in practice”. “It builds on the steps we’ve already taken to strengthen enforcement, with Ofsted considering schools’ mobile phone policies as part of inspection from this month.” It comes days after early years minister Olivia Bailey told the Commons that government had …

DfE invites bids from AI tutoring pilot partners

DfE invites bids from AI tutoring pilot partners

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The government has invited ed tech companies and AI labs to work with teachers to develop “safe, personalised” AI tutoring tools that will benefit disadvantaged pupils. The AI tutoring trial was announced earlier this year, with the aim of creating fairness for pupils unable to afford private tutors. Up to eight successful bids are expected for the scheme. They will have to show how their product will benefit disadvantaged pupils and how it will be accessible, inclusive and able to be used by pupils with different needs. The tools will be “robustly tested” from this summer under teacher supervision, and co-designed with schools, with the aim to make the successful tools available nationally next year. The Department for Education said up to 450,000 disadvantaged students a year in years 9 and 10 will benefit. But there are concerns, with one union leader saying teachers are “far from convinced that AI tutors are a magic bullet”. Schools Week spoke to leaders involved in the programme, as well as schools who already use AI, about the scheme. …

Teachers’ pensions delays ‘unacceptable’, says minister

Teachers’ pensions delays ‘unacceptable’, says minister

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Delays in the administration of teachers’ pensions are “unacceptable”, the schools minister has said, as a union called on the government to “step in”. Problems with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) have received renewed national attention after MPs heard about similar issues with civil service pensions. Both are run by the outsourcing giant Capita. Tens of thousands of retired teachers are still waiting for statements telling them how much they could be owed following public sector pension reforms in the 2010s. The McCloud remedy came after a 2018 court judgment ruled “transitional protection” reforms three years earlier had treated younger workers unfairly. Freedom of information requests have revealed tens of thousands of retired teachers are still awaiting remediable service statements (RSS), telling them how much they are owed and asking them to choose between a legacy scheme or a reformed option. ‘Complex change’ Speaking to Schools Week on Wednesday, schools minister Georgia Gould said the McCloud judgment “was a massive, big, complex change, and there are delays in complex cases. It’s unacceptable for teachers.” “I …

Inclusion promise rests on a workforce DfE can’t count

Inclusion promise rests on a workforce DfE can’t count

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The schools white paper’s “experts at hand” scheme is the largest overhaul of school inclusion in a decade. By the end of 2028-29, every primary school is to receive around 40 days of expert support a year, and every secondary around 160, through a £1.8 billion service built around educational psychologists (EPs) and speech and language therapists, alongside wider specialist support. The ambition is right, but a core part of the workforce who will deliver the ambition – educational psychologists – is one the Department for Education (DfE) cannot currently see, count or grow fast enough to deliver on that date. Educational psychologists are already stretched thin, unevenly distributed and partly invisible to the department now trying to expand their numbers. Three problems, set out in our new EPI report for the British Psychological Society, go unaddressed in the white paper. These issues will determine whether experts at hand works. The timeline does not fit Training an educational psychologist takes a three-year doctorate. The cohort beginning in September 2026 will not qualify until 2029, the …

Schools urged to ignore fake DfE letter about data breach

Schools urged to ignore fake DfE letter about data breach

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Trusts sent ‘fraudulent’ letter featuring ‘ministerial signature’ Trusts sent ‘fraudulent’ letter featuring ‘ministerial signature’ More from this theme Recent articles Schools and trusts have been urged to ignore “fraudulent” letters with “a ministerial signature” purporting to be about a data breach. The Department for Education has issued the warning over deceptive communications masquerading as a government “regulatory notice”. It said leaders should ignore the instructions set out in the missive, which claims “there has been a data breach” at a firm that maintains background check records for schools. In a notice, published this week, DfE stated the correspondence “is confirmed as fraudulent and has not been issued by the minister’s office”. Ministerial signature “We have been made aware that some academy trusts have received a letter presented as a DfE ‘national regulatory notice’,” officials said. “It includes a ministerial signature and claims there has been a data breach involving Online SCR/Intradev.” School have been told not to “follow any instructions in the letter” or “share data or comply with the directions”. They must also “ensure …

DfE considers new approach to funding

DfE considers new approach to funding

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Government begins market engagement over ‘future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education’ Government begins market engagement over ‘future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education’ More from this theme Recent articles Ministers are considering a shake-up of how they fund support for careers advice in schools and colleges, raising questions about the future of the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC). Founded by education secretary Nicky Morgan in 2014, the CEC has been responsible for supporting careers advice services for more than a decade and oversees a national network of careers hubs. It receives around £30 million a year in grant funding. But the Department for Education (DfE) recently published a market engagement notice regarding “future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education, information, advice and guidance”. The notice contains little detail, but states that a supplier engagement event will take place on Tuesday. At the event, the DfE said it will “share our broad plans for how we want to continue to support schools and colleges to improve …

We ARE consulting on EHCP appeals, insists DfE

We ARE consulting on EHCP appeals, insists DfE

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Lawyers ask for an ‘urgent explanation’ after conflicting messages on SEND tribunal Lawyers ask for an ‘urgent explanation’ after conflicting messages on SEND tribunal More from this theme Recent articles The government has insisted it is still consulting on proposed changes to the SEND appeals system, despite its own lawyers previously saying ministers have already “made decisions about them”. As part of widespread reforms to the SEND system, the Department for Education has proposed the legal duty to fulfil provision outlined in an education, health and care plan (EHCP) be shifted onto schools, rather than local authorities. While the consultation said families would retain their right to appeal aspects of an EHCP through tribunal, there are no questions directly referencing the changes to legal duties proposed. 55% rise in appeals In February public law and human rights firm Rook Irwin Sweeney launched a legal challenge on behalf of pupil Jessica Hayhurst, arguing that the consultation was “unfair and irrational”. The letter initiating the judicial review claim said: “The proposal to shift the legal duty to …

DfE leverages capital to force LA mainstream focus

DfE leverages capital to force LA mainstream focus

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Town halls will be required to sign a new ‘memorandum of understanding’ on how to spend £860m of high needs capital cash Town halls will be required to sign a new ‘memorandum of understanding’ on how to spend £860m of high needs capital cash More from this theme Recent articles Whitehall is continuing to tighten its grip on councils’ SEND functions by forcing them to agree to prioritise mainstream specialist places or face having capital cash withheld. Town halls will be required to sign a new “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) on how to spend £860 million of high needs capital cash for 2026-27. This “should start” with ensuring that there are enough places in mainstream schools, including through inclusion bases – which ministers expect to be in every secondary school. But if they intend to spend it on expanding special school or alternative provision, a “clear evidence-based rationale” must be provided. While the MOU is not legally binding, councils which fail to “evidence the outcomes” may have funding reduced or pulled entirely in future years.  …

DfE inclusion tsar to lead SEND expert panel

DfE inclusion tsar to lead SEND expert panel

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More from this theme Recent articles The Department for Education’s inclusion tsar and trust boss Tom Rees will co-chair an expert panel to develop packages underpinning education, health and care plans and national standards. Two adverts have also gone out to recruit up to eight panel members and a health co-chair for the independent panel. Under government SEND reform plans, EHCPs will be reserved for children with the most “complex needs” from 2030. Specialist provision packages will inform what support is needed for a pupil and put it in place before the EHCP is issued. The inclusion standards will set out what should be available in every mainstream school. Rees, chief executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, said: “I’m pleased to be able to continue to contribute to reform, as co-chair of the independent expert panel. “We want to create more inclusive, coherent education, health and care systems that high ambition and deliver brilliant outcomes for every child; the panel will play an important in making that a reality.” The panel will provide recommendations to ministers …

David Ross trust braced for redundancies amid falling rolls

David Ross trust braced for redundancies amid falling rolls

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Cuts loom at 36-school MAT after central team review failed to address funding reductions Cuts loom at 36-school MAT after central team review failed to address funding reductions More from this theme Recent articles A third of schools in a high-profile academy trust are set to make “staffing changes” as they wrestle with the falling rolls crisis. The David Ross Education Trust (DRET) is looking to make the cuts after a review of its central team failed to address the “scale of the funding reduction” caused by the fall in pupils. Bosses of the chain – which runs 36 academies across the country – stressed the changes will not impact all its schools but confirmed there will be redundancies. Central team review A trust spokesperson said: “Like many schools and trusts across the country, we are seeing the impact of the national decline in birth rates through falling pupil numbers. “Our priority remains providing a high-quality education for every pupil, while ensuring our schools are sustainable for the long term.” They added DRET has “taken …