Lots in here. My personal favourite is that schools will be able to pay for Ofsted to visit. Don’t laugh! The advantages of becoming an outstanding school could be huge and if your “good” school’s data shows the right trends and ofsted aren’t due to visit for a few years, the cost of paying for a visit could be far outweighed by an “outstanding” designation. I can certainly help there and don’t hesitate to call if you find yourself in that position.
Here’s a link at the end to the whole 81 pages of the White Paper itself. http://www.education.gov.uk/b0068570/the-importance-of-teaching/
Education White Paper – A summary
Rather than provide the full 81-page document and rather than creating a summary from scratch, I’m indebted to:
for the basic summary. I’ve amended a few things.
Here is a summary of some of the key points.
Teacher Training
The Government will cease to provide funding for initial teacher training for those graduates who do not have at least a 2:2 degree;
Teach First will be expanded
Offer financial incentives to attract more of the very best graduates in shortage subjects into teaching;
Enable more talented career changers to become teachers;
Increase the proportion of time that trainees spend in the classroom, focusing on core teaching skills, especially in teaching reading and mathematics and in managing behaviour;
Develop a national network of Teaching Schools on the model of teaching hospitals.
Former servicemen to be encouraged to become teachers, by developing a ‘Troops to Teachers’ programme which will sponsor them to train as teachers.
National Curriculum:
Introduce a tighter, more rigorous, model of the knowledge which every child should expect to master in core subjects at every key stage.
Ensure support available to every school for the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics, as the best method for teaching reading;
Introduce the English Baccalaureate to encourage schools to offer a broad set of academic subjects to age 16, whether or not students then go down an academic or vocational route.
Reform vocational education so that it supports progression to further and higher education and employment, and overhaul our vocational qualifications following Professor Alison Wolf’s review to ensure that they match the world’s best.
Raise to 17 by 2013 and then 18 by 2015 the age to which all young people will be expected to participate in education or training.
Assessment:
At age 6, a simple test of pupils’ ability to decode words;
at 11, as pupils complete primary education;
and at 16 as pupils complete compulsory schooling.
Accountability/League Tables:
Reform performance tables so that they set out our high expectations – every pupil should have a broad education (the English Baccalaureate), a firm grip of the basics and be making progress;
Institute a new measure of how well deprived pupils do and introduce a measure of how young people do when they leave school;
Establish a new ‘floor standard’ for primary and secondary schools, which sets an escalating minimum expectation for attainment.
The main measure for “underperforming” secondaries the current GCSE measure will stay. Schools will be considered to be “underperforming” if fewer than 35% of pupils achieve five good GCSEs (those graded A* to C) including E+M and eventually, science.
Ofsted inspections will be reformed , so that inspectors spend more time in the classroom and focus on key issues of educational effectiveness, rather than the long list of issues they are currently required to consider.
In place of the current framework, Ofsted will consult on a new framework with a clear focus on just four things – pupil achievement, the quality of teaching, leadership and management, and the behaviour and safety of pupils. The new inspection framework will help to make sure that there is a better focus on the needs of all pupils, including the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities. This new framework will come into force in Autumn 2011, subject to legislation.
All schools will be able to request an Ofsted inspection from Autumn 2011. Ofsted will be able to charge schools for this service, and will decide when and how many ‘requested’ inspections it carries out each year, and how it will prioritise requests.
School Improvement
Increase the number of National and Local Leaders of Education – head teachers of excellent schools committed to supporting other schools – and develop Teaching Schools to make sure that every school has access to highly effective professional development support.
Make sure that schools have access to evidence of best practice, high-quality materials and improvement services which they can choose to use. Free local authorities to provide whatever forms of improvement support they choose. (This should mean new business opportunities for providers )
Funding:
Consult on developing and introducing a clear, transparent and fairer national funding formula based on the needs of pupils, to work alongside the Pupil Premium. (The pupil premium will now be £430 per pupil, benchmarked at a parental income of below £16,000. Looked after children will also be included – Paul)
End the disparity in funding for 16–18 year-olds, so that schools and colleges are funded at the same levels as one another.
Increase the transparency of the current funding system by showing both how much money schools receive and what they spend their funds on.
Take forward the conclusions of the review of capital spending, cutting bureaucracy from the process of allocating capital funding and securing significantly better value for money.
Note the original draft proposal to impose a clear national funding formula has been watered down. Now it’s out for consultation. However more schools under the expanded Academies and Free schools programmes will be getting their funds direct from the centre rather than through Local authorities