Keeping up with the news is essential but can be time-consuming. To make it easier for you, we've summarised 5 most important stories from this past week, covering key updates impacting schools and trusts.
Here’s a quick look at what’s shaping the education sector right now. We hope you find these updates insightful. Have a great week!
1. NAO’s SEND review
The National Audit Office has released an assessment of how well the current special needs education system is performing, writes NAO.
A report by the National Audit Office has deemed the current SEND system “financially unsustainable” and the current intervention programmes inadequate in resolving the issues. An urgent reform is required.
Despite costs rising by 58% in a decade, it has "not led to better outcomes for children with SEN", the NAO report found.
"Given that the current system costs over £10 billion a year, and that demand for SEN provision is forecast to continue increasing, the government needs to think urgently about how its current investment can be better spent," Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said.
Here are the key findings from the NAO report:
- 4 in 10 councils face bankruptcy over £4.9bn deficit;
- Rising EHCP numbers would need another £4bn in high-needs funding;
- Lack of capacity data meant scarce special school cash was given to the wrong areas;
- DfE currently has no data on how much future capacity is needed;
- Progress on making mainstream schools ‘inclusive’ has been limited;
- SEND is not a key focus for NHS;
The report also provided several recommendations on how to improve the existing system.
Source: Support for children and young people with special educational needs (NAO.org.uk)
2. New ungraded inspections risk inconsistency, CST warns
Steve Rollett, deputy CEO of CST, has raised concerns about Ofsted’s new ‘focus areas’ approach in ungraded inspections, writes Tes.
From this month, Ofsted’s ungraded inspections will see inspectors grouping subjects together into “focus areas” rather than doing separate “deep dives” into individual subjects.
In a speech to a Schools North East conference yesterday, Steve Rollett, deputy chief executive of CST, raised some of the risks, saying: "How is this going to affect consistency?"
Mr Rollett added: "Inspectors are human." They will have "particular areas that they are more confident in or particular areas they are more interested in, and they will want to go and look at those."
However, he also identified some positives that could potentially result from the change, such as more flexibility for an inspection to meet a school’s needs and the potential for Ofsted to provide "a more nuanced view" of a school.
Source: New ungraded inspections risk inconsistency, trusts’ leader warns (Tes.com)
3. Major MAT to launch charity to run its community hubs
United Learning CEO Sir Jon Coles says schools have become focal points for providing community assistance, meaning the hubs are now a ‘necessity’, writes Tes.
A major multi-academy trust is launching a charity to run its network of community hubs amid concerns that support and services that used to come from local authorities have been cut back or lost.
United Learning will launch ‘United Communities’ to run the 26 community hubs it aims to have open by the end of 2025-26.
CEO Sir Jon Coles said that despite schools needing to focus on teaching and learning, "what has become apparent over the last few years is that many of the families we serve depend on our schools for far more than the education of their children."
Setting up a charity will allow the community hubs to attract funding, Sir Jon said, while not taking resources from teaching and learning.
Source: Major MAT to launch charity to run its community hubs (Tes.com)
Since 2016, Edurio has supported United Learning with stakeholder feedback. Read our case study to learn how United Learning uses surveys to foster a culture of transparency and ensure an inclusive approach to school improvement.
4. Top trusts excelling in trust value
Uncover the top 10 trusts that excel in creating environments where staff feel confident in the value of being part of the trust. Read more in our blog.
As we excitingly announced last month, we have launched our Edurio customer awards programme!
This month, we’re thrilled to present our Trust Value Award. The trusts recognised have excelled in creating environments where staff feel confident in the value of being part of the trust.
We are proud to announce the following top 10 for the Trust Value Award (in alphabetical order):
- Cirrus Primary Academy Trust
- Dixons Academies Trust
- Infinity Academies Trust
- LEO Academy Trust
- Oak Learning Partnership
- Great Schools Trust
- The Pinnacle Learning Trust
- The Rose Learning Trust
- Trinity Multi-Academy Trust
- Windsor Academy Trust
Congratulations to all our awarded innovative trusts!
Source: Top trusts excelling in trust perception and value
The upcoming report, Changing Trust Perceptions: How School Staff Perceptions of Multi-Academy Trust Leadership Have Changed 2019-2024, offers valuable insights into evolving attitudes towards multi-academy trusts.
5. Focus on inclusion over fines to fix attendance, report says
Threatening parents with fines is "not working for many families and not reducing severe absence rates," writes Tes.
An over-reliance on threatening parents with punitive fines will not solve the attendance crisis, according to a report that calls on ministers to create a "new era of inclusion and belonging" in the school system.
The report warns that children in the North of England are more likely to be absent from school, with rates of unauthorised absence 34% higher than in the South.
It also recommends that both central and local government support schools to implement early identification of students at risk of persistent absence, focusing on those from disadvantaged backgrounds, children with SEND and those from high-deprivation areas.
The report warns that the current approach to tackling absence is “far too punitive and uniform”. It found headteachers saying that strategies used before Covid are no longer as effective as they were before 2020.
Source: Focus on inclusion over fines to fix attendance, report says (Tes.com)
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