Dear Subscribers
Well, a lot has happened in the last week. The change of government obviously means the appointment of a new Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson. One of the new government’s big education pledges, as you may have heard in the media, is the recruitment of 6,500 new teachers. Initial steps towards this ambitious goal involve reinvigorating the Every Lesson Shapes a Life campaign and the further education campaign Share Your Skills. One of the most urgent things in the new education secretary’s in tray is the teacher’s pay offer – her predecessor, Gillian Keegan, had not published the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) report by the time of her departure.
The new Education Secretary has written a letter to all education workforces. The emphasis is on rebuilding trust with the sector, listening, and collaborative working. The Education Secretary states: ‘I am determined that we will drive change together. Working with all of you, we want to build a fairer society with a government that delivers the best life chances for every child.’ She has announced a live event on 16th July for all stakeholders to share more of the government’s vision for the education system. No joining details yet on the DfE website but keep an eye out for this.
Unsurprisingly, there is something of a dearth of publications on the DfE website this week as the pause button was pushed because of the election. However, there is one important statistical release to bring to your attention. The key stage 2 national curriculum assessment results have just been published, The headline is that 61% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing, and science, compared to 60% in 2023.
Over on the Ofsted website, and of particular interest to teacher educators such as myself, we have the most recent data on ITT inspections. This academic year so far, there have been 41 inspections of ITT providers. Of these, 18 have been rated outstanding, 19 have been rated good, 1 has been rated requires improvement, and 3 have been rated inadequate.
Finally, if any of you are considering a job switch, a heads up that the new government is already recruiting – 6 posts are available for senior strategy advisors in different parts of the country. You can find more information here.
I look forward to updating you again next week.
