Newsbites – TES, Parent View, Academies

TES: More evidence that workload is driving the teacher recruitment and retention crisis

4th April 2016

The TES is reporting that there is more evidence that the rising workload is driving teachers away from the profession and exacerbating the recruitment crisis.  More than eight in 10 teachers have considered leaving the profession – with an overwhelming majority looking to exit because of workload, a new poll by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has found.

Read the article in full here.

Ofsted: Parent View Toolkit for schools

Ofsted have published information about the way they assess the Parents’ view of schools.  In the introduction they explain:

Parent View is an online questionnaire that allows parents and carers to give their views about their child’s school at any time. It is also the main mechanism for parents to give their views about their child’s school to inspectors at the time of a school inspection.

The document below goes on to explain how Ofsted uses Parent View.

• Parent View toolkit for schools.

DfE: Educational Excellence Everywhere

March 2016

The Secretary of State for Education has presented the document below to Parliament.   In the foreword to the document she opens with:

Education has the power to transform lives and, for me, is a matter of social justice – extending opportunity to every child, wherever they live and whatever their background. Good schools and a well-educated population make our country stronger, fairer, wealthier and more secure, and higher standards in the classroom mean better life chances for everyone. Investing in our education system is an investment in the future of our nation.

• Educational excellence everywhere.

SchoolDash: Examining academies

12 April, 2016

A new report published by School Dash has delved into the data to try and determine whether academies get better results than local authority-maintained school.  Click the link to read the full article or:

• Schools Week has the pulled out the key findings here: Do academies get better results than local authority schools?
• In relation to this research the TES is reporting that Academy status won’t make all schools better but it is ‘unlikely to do harm’.

DfE news story: 10 facts you need to know about academies

13 April, 2016

The DfE have published a document providing information intended to dispel some common myths and misconceptions about the academies programme.  The document addresses the following 10 ‘myths’:

1. By making every school an academy, education is being privatised.
2. Academies don’t lead to higher standards.
3. Multi-academy trusts are national, remote organisations that don’t give local schools and communities a say.
4. All schools will have to join multi-academy trusts.
5. Academies won’t be accountable to parents.
6. Academies will be forced to cut all ties with the local authority.
7. Academies aren’t transparent.
8. Becoming an academy will mean my good school has to change.
9. Converting will be a bureaucratic and financial burden to schools.
10. There is no longer a role for the local authority in schools.

Read the document here.