Ofsted drops 'one word' judgements
Ofsted inspections will no longer issue a single overall grade to an institution.
Back to pay-as-you-go school?
As many children return to school, research indicates that parents face increasing pressure to pay voluntary contributions for education supplies and trips.
Government and unions scope new partnership
The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has met with unions to discuss a “new model” for the government to work in “partnership” with the education sector.
Absence in school transition is 'especially harmful'
Recent research warns against focusing only on chronic or persistent pupil absence in schools, indicating that moderate absences ‘accumulate over time and significantly impact achievement’
Research & analysis
Research:
A Day in the Life of a Secondary School Pupil in Relation to School Food
[Defeyter et al 2024; The Healthy Living Lab, Northumbria University]
This research project focused on the co-design of school food in a secondary school in the North East of England, aiming to address the often overlooked nutritional needs of students beyond primary school.
Conducted at North Durham Academy, the project involved young people in every stage, from documenting their food experiences to designing new blueprints for food provision.
Supported by academic findings and lived experiences, the study took a holistic approach, integrating food into the school’s daily routine rather than treating it as a separate element.
It explored not only school lunches but also the timing and type of food to enhance cognitive function, educational attainment, promote positive behaviours, and improve dietary intake and socialisation.
The collaborative nature of the project extended to various stakeholders, including academic colleagues, local authorities, and food service providers, who contributed to its success.
The participants, including Year 11 pupils, staff, and external partners, made pledges to continue implementing the findings, highlighting a commitment to using the research to drive positive change in school food practices.
Research:
A survey of nutritional education within the Holiday Activities and Food programme across England
[Round et al 2024;The Healthy Living Lab, Northumbria University]
This study explores the delivery, content, dose, and perceived impact of nutritional education within the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in England.
Nutritional education is a mandatory part of the programme, but there is limited research on how it is implemented.
The study used a cross-sectional online survey with 147 HAF club leads across England.
Results showed that face-to-face sessions were the most common form of nutritional education, primarily involving discussions about food and nutrition.
While most clubs met the Department for Education’s guidelines on the number of sessions, the time spent on these activities was often insufficient to create meaningful changes in skills and behaviours.
Additionally, many clubs did not adopt a whole-family approach, and some failed to deliver any nutritional education, citing a lack of resources and unclear national guidance.
The study calls for increased funding for local authorities to support organisations lacking the necessary resources and materials.
It also advocates for national training in innovative, experiential nutritional education that can be applied across various community settings.
Evidence-based guidelines are needed to ensure that these educational practices are effective and impactful.
Research:
Who is losing learning? The case for reducing exclusions across mainstream schools.
[Gill et al 2024; Institute for Public Policy Research and The Difference]
This recent research highlights an alarming rise in suspensions and exclusions from schools in England. Over the past year, suspensions and exclusions increased by more than 20%, with a total of 32 million days of learning lost in 2022-23 due to exclusions and unauthorised absences.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those receiving free school meals (FSM), children with special educational needs (SEND), and those facing mental health issues, are disproportionately affected.
FSM children are five times more likely to be permanently excluded and four times more likely to be suspended than their peers.
The study also found that an increasing number of children are being moved from state-funded schools into privately run alternative provision (AP), where the quality and safety of education are less guaranteed.
Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, there was a 56% rise in children leaving state settings for private provision, with costs sometimes double those of state placements, reaching up to £111,000 per child per year.
Ethnic minority children, particularly those from Black Caribbean, mixed Black Caribbean and white heritage, and Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller backgrounds, are disproportionately placed in alternative provision.
The report also found widespread concern over internal truancy, with 95% of secondary schools reporting that pupils are present at school but not attending lessons, and one in five schools using part-time timetables to support struggling students.
The report calls attention to the need for improved support for children at risk of exclusion and for mainstream schools to be better equipped to handle diverse student needs.
Research:
Children Sustain Cooperation in a Threshold Public-Goods Game Even When Seeing Others’ Outcomes
[Kanngiesser et al 2024; University of Plymouth]
The research, conducted by the University of Plymouth and other international institutions, investigated how children cooperate in group settings, especially when working towards a shared goal.
The study involved a game where children, aged six to ten, were given water containers and had to decide how much to contribute to a common pool, with benefits being awarded to the group if a threshold was reached.
However, children also retained benefits from any water they kept. The research explored how children balance personal gains with collective goals and the influence of feedback on individual and group outcomes.
The majority of groups successfully cooperated to achieve the common goal, even when they were aware of others’ outcomes.
Groups where participants could observe others' outcomes were slightly less likely to maintain cooperation in later rounds, as individual differences became more noticeable.
Children adjusted their behavior flexibly based on circumstances, increasing cooperation when needed.
The study provides insights into how clear targets and feedback can help groups overcome challenges, even in young children, demonstrating potential implications for addressing societal issues like climate action.
Best Practice:
An ABC for building equity and addressing disadvantage in your school
[Bromley 2024, SecEd.]
This article by Matt Bromley explores how schools can avoid exacerbating inequity and disadvantage and, instead, work to promote equity in education.
Bromley advocates for a practical approach that schools can adopt to support disadvantaged students, focusing on converting the root causes of disadvantage into concrete classroom interventions.
Bromley warns against a "label-led" approach, where educators assume that labels such as socioeconomic status, SEND, or ethnicity entirely define a student's needs.
Instead, he suggests a learner-led approach that addresses each student's unique challenges and gaps in knowledge or skills.
An ABC approach is suggested as a means of helping to both understand and implement approaches to equity in education (Attendance, Behaviours, Community)
Research:
Social selection on the map
[Cullinane 2024; Sutton Trust]
This new analysis from the Sutton Trust examines social segregation in schools across local authorities in England, focusing on how the socioeconomic profiles of school intakes compare to their surrounding areas.
The analysis highlights significant differences in how disadvantaged students (those eligible for free school meals) are distributed across schools.
Some schools enrol fewer disadvantaged pupils than live in their catchment areas, while others have much higher levels of disadvantaged students.
The North East has the highest levels of socio-economic segregation, followed by the North West. Both regions have 3 local authorities each in the top 10 most segregated, meaning that pupils eligible for free school meals are more unevenly spread across schools in those areas.
High levels of segregation are linked to larger attainment gaps in GCSE grades between disadvantaged and advantaged pupils. This suggests that areas with more uneven distributions of disadvantaged students face greater educational inequality.
The most segregated area, Solihull, would require 32% of its pupils to be redistributed across schools to achieve a balanced socio-economic intake.
In contrast, in Torbay, the least segregated area, only 6% of students would need to be redistributed.
Recommended resource:
Cost of the School Day Calendar
[Child Poverty Action Group, 2024]
Access the resource for free here
This annual resource from CPAG is a 'must see' and 'must use' resource for schools!
The calendar is a practical guide designed to help schools manage financial barriers that might affect students’ participation in school events and activities throughout the academic year.
It provides suggestions for affordable or cost-effective ways to celebrate key dates and events, ensuring that all students can be included without financial strain on families.
The resource includes ideas and best practices from schools in England, Scotland, and Wales that have participated in the Cost of the School Day project. These examples demonstrate how schools have successfully navigated financial challenges.
It is designed as a calendar, which you can flip through and annotate with your own events and important dates.
It is a great resource that enables those working in schools to plan effectively with the cost-of-living and cost of the school day in mind.
Opportunity:
Vote for Tees Valley Education (and other innovators) with the Fair Education Alliance
The Community Choice Award is part of the Innovation Award provided by the Fair Education Alliance and supported by Bloomberg that finds new solutions to transform the education system and make it fairer for all.
We are proud to say that Tees Valley Education feature as a finalist for the award with their project called PLACE.
Meet the 10 Innovation Award Finalists and vote for the initiative you believe will make the biggest impact on tackling educational inequality.
The initiative that receives the most votes will receive £500 and become Community Choice Award Winner 2024!
The video shows yours truly and my daughter explaining what PLACE is in less than a minute!
Voting closes on Wednesday 11 September, so please be quick.