Changes to the national strategies for literacy and numeracy
Revisions were announced in 2007, though implementation will occur in 2008 unless schools make early adoptions. The changes that have been incorporated include:
extending it to include foundation stage (age 3 to the end of Reception Year, which is pre-Year 1)
creating a clearer set of outcomes to support teachers and practitioners in planning for progression in literacy and mathematics and personalise learning
some scaling up of expectations and a greater focus upon planning for progression through a teaching sequence over an extended unit of work covering two or three weeks
supporting schools and settings in implementing the teaching of phonics and early reading
supporting improved leadership and management of literacy and mathematics
reducing workload and fostering professional dialogue on how to use the Framework flexibly to meet the needs of children through focused CPD
introducing a new, electronic format which allows for customised planning, teaching and assessment, with the ability to link quickly to a wide range of teaching and learning resources available through the Primary National Strategy.
The QCA has announced the new secondary national curriculum, which will come into force in September 2008. It follows the curriculum review launched in February 2007.
These aim to give teachers a less prescriptive, more flexible framework for teaching, creating more scope to tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of each individual student.
The changes to the national curriculum for 11 to 14-year-olds (key stage 3) in England include:
English: Pupils will continue to study Shakespeare plays and sonnets as well as the canon of pre-20th century literary classics, including Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and George Eliot. There will be a suggested list of contemporary authors, such as Benjamin Zephaniah, Philip Pullman, and Bill Bryson.
History: Pupils will continue to learn about the importance and impact of events in the last century, such as the world wars and the Holocaust. The history and impact of the slave trade will be added to the curriculum with explicit references to the role of reformers, such as Equiano and Wilberforce.
Languages: Schools will be given greater freedoms to offer economically useful languages, such as Mandarin and Urdu. But students will be able to drop all languages at age 14.
Citizenship: Following Keith Ajegbo's review, pupils will study national identity and the diversity of living together in the UK, including issues such as the legacy of Empire.
Geography: Sustainable development and environmental change will be given a much stronger focus.
Cooking: Pupils will be taught how to cook simple healthy meals from basic fresh ingredients in revamped food technology classes.
Personal finance: Pupils will be taught essential financial life skills through functional maths and in personal social and health education (PSHE). These will include: personal finance, enterprise and financial capability; learning about risk and reward; investment and trade; personal budgeting; mortgages; interest rates; and balancing credit cards.
PE: Lessons will combine physical activity with learning how exercise affects fitness and health. Schools will have even more flexibility to run the physical activities that best meet their pupils' needs.
All 11 to 14-year-old pupils will continue to study all 12 subjects of the national curriculum covering, in addition to English and mathematics, science, design and technology, ICT, the humanities, a foreign language, art, music, PE and citizenship.
The new curriculum will put more emphasis on general skills, such as initiative, enterprise, and the capacity to learn independently - which are particularly valued by employers.
Curriculum Online and e-Learning Credits ending
Curriculum Online was launched by the DfES in 2003 to give teachers in England easy online access to digital learning materials. The programme consists of ring fenced funding and a web portal (www.curriculumonline.gov.uk).
£75m per year funding for purchasing digital resources is due to end in August 2008 and the Curriculum Online site is expected to close.
14-19 Reform
In February 2005 the DfES announced a major change to the 14-19 curriculum, with the aim of promoting vocational qualifications as a viable, highly regarded alternative to academic qualifications. This shift came on top of the introduction of eight vocational GCSEs which were introduced in 2002.
The 14-19 reform also saw an increased emphasis on personalised learning and learning about the world of work.
A range of partners are involved with the provision of capital funds to support the organisation and delivery of the 14-19 curriculum. These include Local Authorities, The National Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and local LSCs; and Schools, FE colleges and other training providers. Capital support for the post-16 learning and skills sector is allocated by the Department to the LSC, who then allocates these funds to post 16 providers.
Capital support for schools, including school sixth forms is provided by the Department to local authorities and schools. However from 2006-07 the LSC will administer a new 16-19 capital fund for school or college capital projects that lead to a material increase in 16-19 school or college places.
The LSC's capital baseline is £400 million in 2005-06, increasing to £475 million in 2006-07 and £596 million in 2007-08. This comprises of capital funding for the Further Education and Adult and Community Learning sectors. It includes funding to develop the Information and Learning Technology infrastructure; to develop Centres of Vocational Excellence; and to support the Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities programme. There are around 400 FE colleges.
NB This current model of financing via local authorities will be impacted by the changes outlined in the whitepaper below – if they are to become law.
Building Schools for the Future
The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is bringing significant investment in buildings and ICT to the secondary school market in England. In total £2.2 billion will be invested in BSF projects in 2005-06, on top of £2.9 billion that will be spent on school building projects outside of BSF. The BSF programme is scheduled to last for circa 12 years with the aim to deliver replace or refurbished every secondary school in England. Currently the government envisages a series of 15 waves over a period of 10-15 years, with all authorities included on one or more waves. Allocations are £2.1 billion in 2005-06, £2.2 billion in 2006-07, and £2.2 billion in 2007-08. Recent indications suggest that this programme will also be extended to primary but further details have not yet been released.
Part of the BSF output specification relates to implementation of virtual learning environments (VLE). These systems allow schools to manage education content, build their own courses and manage their teaching. Content best suited to use of VLEs are small learning objects that can be built up into useful resources. To allow teachers to search for these learning objects they must be catalogued or metatagged to international classification standards and curriculum frameworks. This will have an impact on the way resources are used and stored – and should be considered by any software publisher.
The significance of this in the long term is still unclear; however major players in the industry think that the overall money for ICT in education will actually decrease. It is the governments stated agenda to get ‘good’ value for money and they are encouraging buying at a regional or LEP (local education partnerships) level. Schools forming trusts will also be purchasing on a group basis in order to get cost savings.
Workforce reform
All schools have to make planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time available to all teachers from September 2005. The government has estimated the cost of this to be 1% of the total budget for primary schools for the part year September 2005- March 2006. This has already eaten into the funding available for resources and it will continue to do so. This will also be compounded by Teaching and Learning responsibilities which will mean all teachers being re-graded, with unions requiring that no teacher’s job should be downgraded as a result of this initiative. This may mean that more money goes on salaries in the interim, meaning less to spend on resources. Teachernet
Every Child Matters
The Every Child Matters: Change for Children is a new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19. The programme places better outcomes for children firmly at the centre of all policies and approaches involving children's services. These outcomes are:
Be healthy
Stay safe
Enjoy and achieve through learning
Make a positive contribution to society
Achieve economic well-being
The policy demands that all organizations that provide services to children work together in more integrated and effective ways. The need for change was made apparent in Lord Laming's report into the death of Victoria Climbié. The report highlighted a need for improved integration and accountability across all children's services.
The real outcome of this policy has been the money made available through Surestart programmes to provide childcare for the under 4’s and education for parents of young children. This has also resulted in increased funding for nursery places.
In 2003, the Government published a green paper called Every Child Matters alongside its formal response to Lord Laming's report. The green paper prompted an unprecedented debate about services for children, young people and families. There was a wide consultation with people working in children's services, and with parents, children and young people. Following the consultation, the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps, and passed the Children Act 2004, providing the legislative spine for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. [ Source: DfES 2005]
Primary National Strategy - Excellence and enjoyment
On 20 May 2003, Excellence and Enjoyment - A Strategy for Primary Schools was launched, which gave the next steps in the Governments vision for the future of primary education built on previous reforms. This was a move away from the strict adherence to the literacy hour back towards a more creative thematic based curriculum. This included:
Empowering primary schools to take control of their curriculum, and to be more innovative and to develop their own character.
Schools setting their own targets for level 4 and 5 at Key Stage 2, based on challenging but realistic targets for the progress of each child in the school, with LEA targets being set afterwards.
Trialling a new approach of supported teacher assessment at Key Stage 1, where tests underpin teacher assessment rather than being reported separately.
Encouraging schools to network together and learning from others in sharing and developing good practice. Partnership with parents and making wider links with the community.
Government acting more and more as an enabler with schools increasingly in control of the support they get to:
1. strengthen leadership, particularly leadership of teaching, and professional development to help teachers embed the principles of effective teaching and learning both in literacy and numeracy and across the curriculum
2. help schools design broad and rich curricula which make the most of links between different areas and provide opportunities for children to have a wide range of learning experiences. [Source: DfES 2005]
This policy has only recently started to have an impact on the way primary schools are structuring their teaching but Schoolzone has discovered that a move towards more thematic teaching is emerging, particularly at Key Stage 1.
Key Stage 3 National Strategy
The Key Stage 3 National Strategy is part of the Government's agenda for transforming secondary education. The Government is currently unhappy with the progress made by pupils in the transfer years between primary and secondary – and this strategy is designed to support schools to address the learning needs of 11-14 year old pupils. The 2004/5 Government focus is on how the core subject departments enable many more pupils to progress two levels across the Key Stage. In English and mathematics, they want more attention paid to those who enter at level 3 and find it more difficult to progress to level 5. In science, they are focusing on pupils who achieve level 4 at the end of Key Stage 2 but find it difficult to make further progress to level 5 during Key Stage 3.
This document also links the strategy with the principles of school improvement and the actions that school leaders should undertake to promote improvement. It also offers practical guidance for senior leaders on working on whole-school initiatives, working with subject leaders and teachers. [Source: The Standards site, 2005]
Harnessing Technology - Transforming learning and Children’s services
Launched in 2005, this policy puts ICT at the heart of the Government’s policy for learning, with key issues being the integrating and embedding of technology into every aspect of education. The central tools of this policy include:
e-portfolio – individual learning space for each child by 2007
data-sharing framework (e.g. National M anagement info rmation systems/interoperable systems)
resource sharing (eg national or regional VLEs which are interoperable)
a national pedagogic framework for e-learning content to establish quality
common online assessment tools
National benchmarking of school progress on the e-maturity roadmap, with associated ICT M ark for schools achieving the highest standards
Programmes of training delivered to teachers to help them progress along this route
Support and develop leaders through ICT
Continue to develop connectivity and broadband infrastructure
This policy, more than any other, marks a highly visible and practical strategy which demonstrates the government’s real commitment to ICT in education.
Higher Standards, Better Schools for All
On 25th October 2005, the Department for Education and Skills published the Schools White Paper "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All - More Choice for Parents and Pupils".
This White Paper sets out what are seen as fairly radical plans to put parents and the needs of their children at the heart of schools, whilst also allowing all schools to become free agents, operating independently of local authorities. The government proposes to create a system increasingly driven by parents and choice. To make that happen they plan to individualize learning by putting a bigger emphasis on personalized learning.
‘Radical’ is used often in the white paper, one example of which is that every school, including primary, will be able to acquire a self-governing trust. Academies will remain at the heart of the system, independent schools will be welcome to join and a national Schools Commissioner will drive change, acting as a matchmaker between partners and taking action possibly against local authorities where parental choices are being frustrated.
The proposed aim of this white paper is the creation of a system of ‘independent non-fee paying schools, with fair admissions, fair funding and clear accountability’. ‘Improved choice and access for all will be delivered by the provision of more ‘good places’ and more ‘good schools’, supported by better information and dedicated choice advisers, free school transport to the nearest three schools within six miles for poor children, easier introduction of banding.
The local authority will become champions of pupils and parents, commissioning rather than providing education. They will have a new duty to promote choice, diversity and access to schools, with new powers to act decisively where schools are failing and underperforming. [Source: NFER 2005]
Surestart and Nursery provision
Surestart is a Government programme which aims to achieve better outcomes for children, parents and communities by: increasing the availability of childcare for all children, improving health and emotional development for young children, supporting parents as parents and in their aspirations towards employment. [Source: DfES Surestart]
In recent years, the proportion of 3 and 4 year olds in England enrolled with an early years education provider, either in nursery and primary schools or with a private and voluntary provider, has increased - partly due to a fall in the 3 and 4 year old population in that time. Participation in maintained nursery and primary schools is generally higher in the North of England than in the South where more children are enrolled with private and voluntary providers.
Participation of children in maintained nursery and primary schools (as at the 1st January) by age, England , 1997 to 2005
[Source: DfES statistics 2005]
The daycare sector has seen a sharp increase in the number of day nursery places in recent years, with a corresponding fall in the number of places with playgroups and child minders. In June 2005, there were 1.5 million childcare places and over 106,000 childcare providers in England .
