Wednesday, April 28, 2010
News in brief, April 2010
Brief news items from April 2010.
Student behaviour good in most schools. Statistics released by the DCSF reveal that Ofsted reported behaviour in 78.6 % of secondary schools as good or outstanding in their last inspection.20% were rated satisfactory and 1% were rated inadequate. To read the figures in full you can download them here.
The Children, Schools and Families Bill was passed into law by the UK parliament on April 8th 2010. The new Bill had been revised with several amendments following discussion with opposition parties. The provisions that remain cover:
- Special Educational Needs (SEN) – requiring school inspectors to report explicitly on provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and giving parents a new right to appeal if their child’s special educational needs statement is not amended at annual review.
- Alternative Provision – local authorities will be required to provide full-time education for children and young people who for medical, social or emotional reasons, or because they are waiting for a place in a maintained school, are not in school but in alternative provision.
- Powers of Governing Bodies – giving school governing bodies greater powers on how they use their budgets, and the power to set up new schools and academies.
- Local Safeguarding Children Boards – new provisions will be introduced to ensure effective information sharing and to strengthen the evaluation of Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) as improvements to safeguarding arrangements.
- Family Courts – provisions to build public confidence in family courts through allowing greater media reporting of proceedings. Amendment to Apprentices, Skills, Children and Learning Act – on the role of the Local Government Ombudsman.
However, some key provisions have been taken out because no agreement could be reached between the Government and opposition parties. These provisions covered the following policy areas:
- The Pupil and Parent Guarantees,
- Home School Agreements,
- Reform of the primary curriculum,
- Introduction of compulsory Personal Social Health and Economic(PSHE) education,
- The new Licence to Practise for teachers,
- Registration and monitoring of home education.
The Act of Parliament can be viewed here.
The number of children attending Private schools in the UK has fallen for the first time in five years. The annual survey conducted by The Independent Schools Council published on April 26 revealed 2,645 less children were attending private school this year as compared with last year, an overall fall of 0.6 %. The number of four-year-olds starting reception year in a private school fell by 5.2%, at a time when this age group is expanding and state schools face pressure on places.
The percentage of women in England who attend University has reached over 50% for the first time in history. Figures released by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills this month for University entrance for 2008-9 show that 51% of young women entered Higher Education. Ten years ago the figure was 41%. This contrasts with 20 years ago when about one in five young women went into higher education and 30 years ago it was about one in 10.
The Indian parliament has passed a law making schooling compulsory and free for all children between the ages of 6 and 14, regardless of social status, income or gender. There are currently millions of children in India (mainly girls) who do not attend school who will now be entitled to a free education.