Next Newsletter: Monday March 30th  2020
Subscribe here:  http://www.clerksassociates.co.uk/1/newsletter/

Highlight

School Admission: National Offer Day, Grammar Schools memorandum and 11-plus FOI tribunal

Content

| Schools: Admission, Exclusion and Governance |
| DfE | Ofsted | Ofqual | Westminster |
| Education Unions | News media |

| Schools: Admission, Exclusion and Governance
Twitter updates:  #SchoolAdmission, #SchoolExclusion and #SchoolGovernance

• Coronavirus: NGA publishes information for governing boards 
• OSA: Stockwell Primary School
  admission variation decision
  OSA: Kingswood Primary School
  admission variation decision
• Twenty-five post-primary schools to get extra places
  “443 additional places to cope with an expected increase in demand in some areas”
• Waltham Forest records highest rate of secured first choice secondary school places in London
• Parents fury as children in Thanet denied grammar school places despite passing the Kent Test 
• Does profit matter more than parents understanding of school admissions?
  Tribunal set to decide whether an 11-plus company’s commercial rights matter more than public transparency
• Hansard: Written Answers — Department for Education: Special Educational Needs: Pupil Exclusions (10 Mar 2020) 
• Gangs, weed and crime: Impact of school exclusion
• Funding for charity tackling school exclusions
• Thurrock’s excluded teenagers given lessons aimed to steer away from gang violence 
• How can link governors for SEND help children participate fully in school life? 
• ‘If you’re creative, you can always avoid exclusions’
• Written Answers — Department for Education: School Exclusions Review (9 Sep 2019)
  “not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation”
• Clerking Matters: using outside individuals for panels 
• Careers guidance for Governors and Trustees on National Careers Week 2020
• Parents claim victory after Langley Park school admissions proposals dropped 
• ‘Our control over our children is being taken away’: South Leeds parents protest over school admissions ‘crisis’ 
• SEN pupils ‘not well’ served by in-year admissions
• Findings of Clerks pay research revealed
• Hansard: Written Answers — Department for Education: Schools: Admissions (5 Mar 2020)
• More of district’s pupils get first-choice secondary school places 
• Council confirms school places for all children in Middlesbrough – after 2019 shortage 
• Claims Leeds schools putting children in isolation for ‘wearing earrings’ and ‘eating sweets’ 
• SEND Conference
  04 July 2020
  09:30 – 16:00
  Birmingham
• Academy that removed pupils ‘without good reason’ branded ‘inadequate’
• Calling all Engineers – Take a Closer Look at School Governance
• NAHT comments on secondary school places offer day 2020
• Heads must ensure excluded pupils ‘stay in full-time education’ 
• Why might more parents be left disappointed on National Offer Day? 
• Number of families denied first preference of school could rise
• Primary school places 2020: when admissions are announced, and what to do if you don’t get your first choice
• Over 95% Of Lancashire Students Successful In Gaining Preferred School Admission 
• Disadvantaged pupils offered Birmingham grammar school places
• Designs released for a new ‘mega school’ with over 2,000 extra primary and secondary places and a sixth form
• What to do if you don’t get your first choice of secondary school?
• News round-up: 11-plus secrecy, social mobility and grammar schools, and new Sutton Trust admissions campaign
• Memorandum of understanding between DfE and Grammar School Heads Association
  “The memorandum of understanding sets out the action that will be taken to widen access for disadvantaged pupils”

| DfE

• DfE: Early adopters of relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education
• DfE: Government advises schools and colleges to cancel overseas trips
• DfE: 16 to 18 multi-academy trust performance: 2019 revised
• DfE: A level and other 16 to 18 results: 2018 to 2019 (revised)
• DfE: Get support from your local computing hub
• DfE: COVID-19: guidance for educational settings – Updated: 12 March 2020
• DfE: National funding formula tables for schools and high needs: 2020 to 2021
• DfE: Multi-million government investment in the future of UK science
• DfE: NEET statistics annual brief: 2019
• DfE: Provide training for postgraduate teaching apprenticeships
• DfE: Recruit a postgraduate teacher apprentice: guidance for employers
• DfE: Education Secretary: We’re going on a discipline drive in schools

| Ofsted

• Local area SEND inspections: information for families
• Ofsted seeks views on proposals to revise post-inspection arrangements
• Conduct during Ofsted inspections

| Ofqual

• Ofqual: Updated statement on coronavirus
  We’ve updated our statement on coronavirus and the summer 2020 exam series.
• Exam system contingency plan: England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  This joint contingency plan is in place to deal with any major disruption that may affect exam candidates.
• External quality assurance of apprenticeships – an expanded role for Ofqual

| Westminster

• Committee to examine disparities for pupils with SEND
• Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Bill 2019-20
  Published Friday, March 6, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers CBP-8813
• Apprenticeship Levy: Education Committee hosts roundtable on impact and possible reforms
• Special Educational Needs: support in England
  Published Wednesday, March 4, 2020 | Commons Briefing papers SN07020
• Education Committee membership agreed

| Education Unions

• Budget 2020
• NAHT comments on Budget 2020
• Coronavirus – we’ll be here for you
• Unions warn Treasury that capital spending cuts could increase asbestos risk in schools
• EPI on school funding
• Budget
• NAHT’s School Improvement Commission
• Sixth day of strike action in over 30 sixth form colleges
• International Women’s Day – celebrating women in the union
• Parents and educators join forces over need for increased school funding
• EPI on Technical Education
• NAHT comments EPI teacher shortages report
• EPI on teacher supply and disadvantages schools
• Coronavirus
• Rona Tutt’s SEND summary February 2020
• NASUWT calls for education ministers to extend Coronavirus guidance to include racist incidents
• New consultation on proposed changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance for September 2020
• School leaders take action for children with SEND ahead of budget

| News media

• Parents pulling children out of school over coronavirus fears
• Keeping schools open ‘best course of action’
• Warning of closure chaos for 40% of schools
• Coronavirus: Your complete planning guide for closures
• Reform or scrap GCSEs, say 86 per cent of heads
• Coronavirus: Heads call for clarity on exam disruption
• Coronavirus: science chief defends UK plan from criticism
• Chancellor pledges specialist maths school in every English region
• Millions wasted on ‘ghost’ teacher trainees
• Coronavirus: a guide for schools
• Why are twice as many boys as girls assessed for SEND?
• The one where the SEND system is a success: The astonishing views of the DfE
• SEND crisis ‘could bankrupt entire council’
• Coronavirus: Cancelled trips may cost schools millions
• Analysis: school funding | Budget 2020
• Parents and educators join forces over need for increased school funding
• Up to £123m spent on ‘ghost’ teacher trainees
• Scrap Sats and tables if virus spreads, say heads
• Budget 2020: Show us the money for SEND!
• Heads say Ofsted complaints plan doesn’t go far enough
• Free school dinners ‘led to fall in childhood obesity rates’
• Charities preparing to feed children if schools shut over coronavirus
• Reaching 130 million girls with no access to school
• Scrap primary school exams if coronavirus spreads, headteachers say
• Heads and councils press for extra £5.5bn for ‘struggling’ schools
• An international comparison of technical education funding systems: What can England learn from successful countries?
• Can a new Parliamentary Group keep the pressure on to #fixSEND?
• The Government’s proposals for SEND funding could be disastrous for vulnerable children
• Half of heads admit social segregation is a problem in state schools
• Health inequalities briefing
• Teacher shortages in England: analysis and pay options