Teach Secondary 14.4

THE SPEECH: Education Secretaryaddresses Children’s Commissioner’s Festival ofChildhood WHO? Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education WHERE? Festival of Childhood, taking place at London’s Young V&A WHEN? 3rdApril 2025 “Putting children first isn’t soft. It’s not a sugar-rush, ice-cream-for-dinner approach to schooling. It requires exposing children to a wide range of ideas, so that they can find what inspires them. It requires supporting children to persist with subjects that might feel hard, when they don’t immediately like what is in front of them; to keep going when it’s hard not to give up at the first sign of struggle. So that they can discover for themselves the quiet satisfaction, the happy resilience that comes from the pursuit of learning. It’s howwe raise a generation of children who can think critically and act thoughtfully, and that matters more now than ever before. At a time when uncertainty is rising, and trust is falling; a time when disinformation can slip quietly into the pockets of our children, and young boys can fall under the spell of toxic role models online –men who preachmisogyny, who cook up resentment, who feed on hatred. It’s clear the behaviour of boys, their influences, and the young men they become, is a defining issue of our time. We need to raise a generation of boys with the strength to reject that hatred – curiosity, compassion, kindness, resilience, hope, and respect.” THE RESPONSE: ASCL responds to‘workforce qualitygap’ FROM? Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of theAssociation of School and College Leaders REGARDING? The EPI’s ‘Closing theWorkforce Quality Gap’ report WHEN? 29thApril 2025 “This report lays bare one of the starkest issues in our education system– that children and young people who would most benefit from being taught by our strongest teachers and leaders are the least likely to experience this. Our accountability systemhas actively penalised those working inmore deprived areas, making it more difficult to recruit teachers and leaders in disadvantaged areas, who understandably feel the odds are stacked against them. In turn, this means disadvantaged children are more likely to be taught by teachers who are less experienced, or non-specialists, or in larger classes.” Just the job? The government’s pledge last year to recruit an extra 6,500 teachers in state schools and FE colleges by the end of the current Parliament may not be enough, due to changing demographics and ongoing financial challenges. That’s the viewof the National Audit Office, which recently issued a new report, examining whether government measures aimed at addressing the education recruitment crisis are delivering sufficient value formoney.The report notes how£700 million was allocated to a range of teacher recruitment initiatives in 2024, set against data indicating that there are still 4,000 existing state secondary and FE collage teacher vacancies. The report goes on to highlight how teacher numbers are failing tomeet a forecasted rise in the number of secondary school pupils,which is expected to peak in 2028. Indeed, the DfE currently estimates that a further 8,400 to 12,400will be needed by 2028/29. Another concerning finding is that the proportion of those leaving the profession due to retirement is down (7% in 2022/23 versus 33% in 2010/11), suggesting that a sizeable proportion of teaching staff are opting for work in other sectors. The NAO recommendations to government include publishing a delivery plan for achieving the aforementioned ‘6,500 teacher’ pledge; encouraging those in teacher training to enter teaching jobs at state- funded settings; and building an evidence base of recruitment and retention strategies . The full report canbe downloadedvia tiny.cc/ts144-NL1 SPEECHES AND CORRESPONDENCE Forget the media-friendly soundbites – what else was in those announcements and letters you missed? 26 JUNE 2025 The Northern Education Show | 3-4 JULY 2025 Festival of Education | 18-19 OCTOBER 2025 Battle of Ideas Festival SAVE THE DATE 26 JUNE 2025 TheNorthern Education Show Bolton StadiumHotel northerneducationshow.uk Free to attend for school leaders, administrative staff and local government representatives,The Northern Education Showwill give key education decision-makers the chance tomeet directlywith educational suppliers, and hear first-hand from government officials about the latest policy trends and developments set to shape the profession. 3-4 JULY 2025 Festival of Education WellingtonCollege,Crowthorne educationfest.co.uk This annual gathering of educators will once again be hosting a series of discussions and engaging speakers across some 40 on-site locations.As the name suggests, this really is a ‘festival’, giving visitors ample opportunities to share their ideas, experiences and practice with like-minded – and very differently inclined – teachers fromacross the countrywithin relaxed indoor and outdoor surroundings. 18-19 OCTOBER 2025 Battle of Ideas Festival ChurchHouse, London battleofideas.org.uk Some details are yet to be confirmed by the Academy of Ideas, organisers of this annual debating and networking event, but we can reasonably expect another two days of bold, impassioned and at times provocative rhetorical jousting on a range of topical subjects across a series of panels – including a number of topics likely to be of particular interest to educators and older students. 07 teachwire.net/secondary N E WS | M AY/ J U N