For action
Action for schools and colleges: Read the letter from the Secretary of State and ministers on the Israel Hamas conflict
The Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan, the Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb and the Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon wrote to all schools and colleges about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The letter reiterates the importance of schools and colleges offering children, young people and staff a safe environment in which to learn and work and shares helpful information and resources that can support this. Please read the letter here.
Action for schools: Read the letter from the Minister of State for Schools celebrating the first cohort of Early Career Teachers completing their training
The Minister of State for Schools, Nick Gibb, has written a letter congratulating all Early Career Teachers (ECTs) who have successfully completed two years of Early Career Framework (ECF) based training.
He highlights the Department’s ongoing work to respond to feedback and make targeted changes to the framework and delivery to improve its impact while increasing flexibility for ECTs and mentors. The Minister thanks school leaders, mentors and ECTs for their work making the national roll out such a success. Please read the letter here.
Action for schools: Sign up to receive Ofsted’s new termly Headteachers’ Newsletter
The newsletter is exclusively aimed at headteachers and schools’ senior leadership teams. Ofsted will send the first email to subscribers after half term. The newsletter will feature:
- The latest announcements from Ofsted
- Where to find Ofsted resources and training (including webinars)
- The latest from Ofsted’s research
- Updates to inspections.
Subscribe to receive the first edition.
Action for schools: Promote strong attendance throughout the autumn term
As we approach winter it is a good time to reshare resources for parents on key attendance practices such as Is my child too ill for school? and the Chief Medical Officer’s letter to schools, which aid in making judgements about mild illness.
There is also guidance on how to seek support with attendance challenges, and good practice examples.
Schools can use our recently published toolkit for communicating with families to support attendance. This can help set high standards for attendance, ensuring children miss as little school as possible and is a helpful resource to respond to early patterns of absence in children.
Targeting support to children who have been absent is a key part of an effective strategy. Research by FFT shows pupils absent during the first week of term were up to 58% more likely to become persistently absent.
Action for schools and local authorities: Use the ‘Monitor your school attendance’ service
Schools and local authorities of all sizes can use the ‘Monitor your school attendance’ tool to analyse attendance data and tackle absence, and recently we have been hearing about your experiences of using this.
- A deputy head of a small primary school uses the service to identify children at risk of persistent absence. They have told us it’s much easier than their own Management Information System to switch between sub-groups and use the insights with staff and parents.
- An assistant head teacher of a rural secondary school told us: “it’s really good that it’s all in front of you. It makes you want to dig in more.”
Find out how to access the service on this page, and give your feedback. You can also give access to your attendance leads.
To find out more, sign up for our next webinar on Wednesday 29 November.
Action for schools and local authorities: Find out more about promoting good behaviour in schools
Creating a culture with high expectations of behaviour is a priority for the Government. Establishing calm, safe and supportive environments conducive to learning benefits both staff and pupils.
Join the Department for Education’s Lead Behaviour Advisor, Tom Bennett OBE, for a free 60-minute ‘Behaviour in Schools’ webinar at 4:00pm to 5:00pm on 13 November 2023.
The webinar will focus on the updated Behaviour in Schools guidance and the statutory Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance as an essential tool to support all schools to improve and maintain high standards of behaviour.
The webinar will provide an opportunity for school leaders and workforce, local authorities and governors to improve their understanding of the legislation, policy and practice on managing behaviour and in carrying out their functions in relation to school exclusion.
Please register using this link and share among your networks.
Action for schools and local authorities: Boost pupils’ attainment using the National Tutoring Programme
Schools can use the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) grant to contribute to 50% of tutoring costs.
You can use your funding flexibly to deliver tutoring via one, or more, of these routes:
To find out more about this year’s NTP arrangements, register for a webinar using the links below (both webinars will contain the same content).
There will be the chance to ask questions – to submit a question in advance, please email us.
Action for schools and further education settings: Support the mental health and wellbeing of pupils, students and staff this academic year
Good mental health and wellbeing supports improved learning, behaviour, and attendance. This academic year, prioritise mental health and wellbeing by joining 14,000 settings that have benefitted from DfE-funded senior mental health lead training.
The training develops your mental health lead’s knowledge and practical skills on their journey to introduce an effective school/college approach to mental health/wellbeing. Training will help you to:
- Identify need, and monitor impact, of mental health/wellbeing support.
- Develop approaches aligned with your Designated Safeguarding Lead/SENCO’s work.
- Develop your universal and targeted support offer.
- Engage students/pupils and develop positive relationships with parents/carers.
We offer flexibility to choose the right course for you, tailored to your needs/experience.
Apply for a £1,200 grant if you have not already done so.
If you previously claimed a grant and your lead left before fully developing your approach, apply for a second grant.
Action for further education settings and schools with further education provision: Help us improve information to students about Higher Technical Qualifications
We want students to make the best choices for their future. The Department for Education and our research partner Kantar Public would like your help to improve the information students receive about Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). HTQs are a post-18 option for students, delivered at universities and colleges, that are designed to provide the skills employers need.
We want providers of Level 3 qualifications to take part in this exciting opportunity to find out what engages your students to make informed choices and enables them to make the best decision for their future. Taking part is easy and we will supply all the materials you will need.
Express your interest by 31 October.
Action for early years settings: Support our Early Years Educator apprenticeships campaign
We would be grateful for your support with the department’s newly launched digital campaign promoting Early Years (EY) Educator apprenticeships.
It aims to raise awareness of EY Educator apprenticeships, showcase how rewarding a career in EY and childcare can be, and highlight benefits of the Level 3 apprenticeship.
We have produced a toolkit with resources for your promotional and recruitment needs. It will help you to:
- Support the campaign on social media - social media graphics can be downloaded from the toolkit for you to post organically, or you can amplify our posts via our social media channels. (Assets can also be printed and used locally).
- Share this toolkit with your stakeholders - please share this toolkit with your relevant contacts who may like to use the creative assets in their own recruitment activity.
If you have any questions, please contact external.affairs@service.education.gov.uk.
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