For action
Action for all settings: Respond to consultation about mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
On 2 November 2023 the Home Office launched a consultation setting out the government's proposals for implementing a mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse.
The consultation asks for feedback on a small but significant set of remaining policy questions, following the call for evidence which took place for 12 weeks earlier this year.
It is very important that the government hears from as many people and organisations as possible that could be affected by this new duty.
Please send your views through the consultation online or by email by 30 November 2023. Please do also circulate the consultation to any staff and contacts that you think will be interested to respond.
Action for all settings: Request a free portrait of His Majesty the King Charles III
In April 2023, the Government announced a new scheme to allow public authorities across the UK to apply for a free portrait of His Majesty the King to celebrate the new reign. The scheme has launched and portraits are available to order below.
Maintained nurseries, primary & secondary schools, pupil referral units (including Alternative Provision and Free schools), state funded special schools, non-maintained special schools and colleges are eligible.
The supplier chosen to operate this scheme is Cubiquity. Eligible settings can request their free portrait by the deadline of 2 February 2024.
Please refer to the FAQs for questions about the portrait and the scheme itself.
Details will be provided shortly for other public bodies wishing to purchase a portrait or any authorities who would like to purchase additional portraits.
Queries relating to this scheme should be directed to hmkportraitscheme@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
Action for schools and early years settings: Update on the Online Safety Act
The Online Safety Act has received Royal Assent. The Act imposes obligations on those services within its remit to deliver additional protections for children accessing these services.
Education and childcare providers subject to existing legal duties and statutory guidance (such as Keeping Children Safe in Education) to safeguard and protect children are not within the Act’s remit.
The exception is Ed-tech user-to-user services which provide services direct to learners without a regulated educational provider in the middle. If these services are likely to be accessed by children, even if these services are accessed from school devices, they will be subject to the Act. Services potentially within the Act’s remit may wish to take independent advice.
All schools should continue to adopt a whole school approach to online safety and safeguard children from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material.
Action for schools with further education provision and further education settings: 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, including schools with further education provision, 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.
Please share your details with us via this Expression of Interest form if you are interested in participating.
Action for schools and local authorities: Find a tuition partner to deliver tutoring to your pupils
Schools can use the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) grant to contribute to 50% of tutoring costs. The tuition partner route allows you to build partnerships with expert tutoring organisations that have been quality-assured by DfE.
Use the Find a Tuition Partner service to shortlist organisations, compare prices and send an enquiry with your school’s needs.
This route may help schools that would benefit from external resource to deliver tutoring. Tuition partners can also reduce administrative burden by helping schools plan tutoring, track delivery and evaluate impact.
Charlotte Clinton, deputy headteacher of Lancasterian Primary School said:
“We’ve had a really positive experience with our tuition partner, Action Tutoring. They made it easy for us and the children to access. The tutors covered appropriate and useful content, and provided the school with weekly feedback.”
For more information on NTP, read the NTP guidance for schools.
Action for schools: Respond to consultation on formulae and equation sheets for GCSE exams in 2024
The Department for Education has confirmed students taking exams in 2024 will not need to memorise the usual formulae and equations for GCSE maths, physics and combined science, as they must in a normal . These proposed arrangements recognise the disruption this cohort of students experienced during their secondary education due to national school closures during the pandemic.
Ofqual is now consulting on a proposal to provide formulae and revised equation sheets in the exams for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science in 2024.
The consultation closes on 30 November 2023. Please respond to the consultation with your views.
Action for schools: Complete our online smoking, drinking and drug use survey
NHS England is calling for secondary schools in England to participate in its survey during this autumn term on smoking, drinking and drug use among young people.
As the Government’s main source on alcohol, drug and tobacco/vaping use among young people in England, the findings are used by numerous government departments and local authorities to inform policy-making.
For taking part, your school will receive a personalised report showing how your school’s data compares against national averages, and two PSHE Association lesson plans about how data is gathered and used in research.
The survey takes 20-30 minutes and is completed online by pupils in school. Findings are completely confidential, and full instructions will be provided ahead of the survey taking place.
To take part, please email the Ipsos survey team at: SDDsurvey@ipsosresearch, or call 080 8101 2066.
Please follow this link for further information.
Action for schools: Take part in focus groups on schools’ experiences of pupil premium
The pupil premium policy team is seeking headteachers to join some small focus groups, to meet remotely for a 90-minute discussion about the pupil premium.
The focus group discussions will be confidential and will help to improve our understanding of school leaders’ experiences. We want to engage with headteachers from primary, secondary, and special schools, and from those with different sized cohorts of pupil premium eligible pupils.
We are aiming to hold the focus groups between 27 November and 8 December 2023 at 4.30pm. If you are interested in participating, please contact pupil.premium@education.gov.uk to register your interest.
You are welcome to pass this invitation on to a senior colleague who leads on pupil premium strategy at your school. Further information will be provided ahead of the focus groups.
Action for early years settings: Share the Childcare Choices campaign with parents and carers
On 27 October 2023 we updated the eligibility checker on childcarechoices.gov.uk, enabling parents to access personalised information on the support available to them, including which of the new transformational childcare offers they will be eligible for depending on the age of their child and earnings.
An additional feature added to the website is a subscribe for updates function, which will give parents the opportunity to sign up for regular newsletters letting them know when they should take action to make sure they are getting the support they are entitled to – including information about wraparound for primary school children and when the new 15 hours for two-year-olds becomes available for sign-ups, with the offer beginning in April 2024.
We also produced a communication toolkit for partners which includes key information and resources about the government childcare support and how they can support the campaign.
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