Teach Secondary Issue 14.7
THE SPEECH: Education Secretaryaddresses launch of National Parent Survey WHO? Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education WHERE? The launch of the National Parent Survey 2025 by the charity Parentkind WHEN? 16th September 2025 “We’re failing in our collective responsibility to give a good education to every child. And it’s up to all of us – parents, schools, and government too – to turn this around and rebuild the bonds of trust. Our upcomingWhite Paper on schools will chart our path forward. And at the centre will be parents – and their engagement in their child’s learning. Because when parents are engaged in school life, their childrenmake four months of extra progress on average, every single year. Whether it’s in early years or in school, parental engagement isn’t just a nice-to-have. It must be front and centre of our mission to raise standards and cut the link between background and success. So high expectations of childrenmust mean high expectations of parents too. To live up to our responsibilities. To play an active role in our children’s learning. To send our children to school. To reinforce good behaviour. And to engage with our children’s school. But engagement is a two-way street of course. And schools must do their bit. It’s why our schoolsWhite Paper will set out plans to establish, for the first time, clear expectations of schools for parental engagement, so that families can be clear on what they should expect from schools and schools can be clear on what they should expect from parents.” THE RESPONSE: NASUWTsharesOfsted concerns FROM? MattWrack, general secretary of the NASUWT REGARDING? Ofsted’s response to its consultation on the introduction of inspection ‘report cards’ WHEN? 9th September 2025 “NASUWT remains gravely concerned that the new inspection regime isn’t fit for purpose and will harm the wellbeing of teachers and headteachers. Despite the fact that these changes were prompted in part by the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry, the reform’s independent assessment on teacher wellbeing hasn’t beenmade available to stakeholders for review. This lack of communication is evasive and demonstrates a failure to engage with educators.” Ofsted rings the changes Ofsted has detailed the reforms to school inspections that will take effect from November 2025, and published its latest Education Inspection Framework. The headline change will be the introduction of inspection report cards, aimed at conveying amore nuanced, yet concise breakdown of inspection outcomes for parents and providers. Following an initial test and gathering of feedback earlier in the year, the report cards have been redesigned to be ‘more accessible’ and easier to navigate viamobile devices. As has been known for a while, the four Ofsted grades of old (from‘Outstanding’ to ‘Inadequate’) have been replacedwith a 5-point grading scale employing different terminology. Fromworst to best, the scale consists of ‘Urgent improvement’, ‘Needs attention’, ‘Expected standard’, ‘Strong standard’ and ‘Exceptional’.Ofsted reports will henceforth covermore evaluation areas, though the number of ‘core evaluation areas’ originally proposed at the start of the year has since been reduced.Of particular note is the new‘inclusion’ evaluation area, intended to encourage better support for learners with SEND and fromdisadvantaged backgrounds. Ofsted inspections are now subject to operating guides that will set out suggested arrival and departure times tomanage the length of inspection days, and require inspectors to base their findings on an understanding of the school or setting’s unique context and local priorities. Schools can also expect more emphasis to be placed on the effectiveness of their parental engagement processes. The changeswill apply to all inspections carried out at state schools and FE providers from10thNovember; the latest Education Inspection Frameworkcanbe accessedvia tinyurl.com/ts147-NL1 SPEECHES AND CORRESPONDENCE Forget the media-friendly soundbites – what else was in those announcements and letters you missed? 18-19 OCTOBER 2025 Battle of Ideas Festival | 19-20 NOVEMBER 2025 Schools & Academies Show | 21-23 JANUARY 2026 Bett SAVE THE DATE 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. 19-20 NOVEMBER 2025 Schools &Academies Show TheNEC, Birmingham schoolsandacademiesshow.co.uk The ‘#SAASHOW’will be once again be setting up shop at the NEC, Birminghamthis autumn for another two days of CPD centred on strategy and school improvement, and opportunities tomeet with and learn from fellow leaders across the country.As always, there’ll also be a sizeable and thoughtfully curated exhibition floor hosting numerous suppliers and solution providers. 21-23 JANUARY 2026 Bett ExCeLLondon uk.bettshow.com Amust for any intrepid explorers of cutting- edge edtech, Bett is a two-day exhibition of themost advanced products, solutions and services the sector has to offer. Beyond the extensive showfloor you’ll also find an array of informative presentations addressing a wide spectrumof topics (both tech-related and otherwise), CPD opportunities aplenty and a series of thought-provoking keynote talks. 07 teachwire.net/secondary N E WS | O C T / N O V
Made with FlippingBook
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTgwNDE2