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 19 April 2024
Good afternoon,
Welcome back from what I hope was a restful Easter break. For many of you working in schools and colleges, the summer term marks the culmination of much of your work as your students prepare to sit their exams and assessments. I’m sure your students appreciate the support from those of you teaching children and young people taking tests this year but also from those teaching younger years who have laid the vital foundations.
Further support to improve attendance
Looking ahead to the coming term, improving school attendance remains my number one priority and one which I know you share. Our recent reforms are designed to support the brilliant and innovative work you are already doing to address this issue. We are seeing the impact of this work – at the end of the spring term, new data showed that there are over 400,000 fewer children persistently absent or not attending school than last year. But there is still more to do.
- To help you embed the new regulations and statutory attendance guidance by September, we are running a series of training sessions and webinars over the coming months.
- We have also published guidance for schools, trusts and LAs to help you prepare for the mandatory collection of daily attendance data, which will begin in September.
The link between attendance and attainment, wider development and wellbeing is clear. Our analysis highlights that a 10 percentage point reduction in attendance is associated with a halving of the number of pupils who get a grade 4, 5 or above at GCSE English and Maths. That is why we will also be releasing more data tools and resources over the coming months designed to support you to make the strongest start possible come the new school year.
Biggest expansion in childcare history
I’m very proud that this government is making the biggest investment into childcare in our country’s history, doubling the amount we expect to spend over the next few years from around £4 billion to around £8 billion each year.
So far, over 195,000 two-year-olds of working parents are benefitting from 15 hours of childcare a week, with more and more parents set to do so as the expansion rolls out. By September next year, most working families with children below school age will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support.
This will help families with one of the biggest costs facing households and reduce the barriers preventing some parents from going back to work. Many of you will be instrumental in delivering this childcare expansion – you will be making a real and tangible difference to families. Equally, many of you will be parents with young children yourselves and I hope you will benefit from this support just as much as the communities you work with.
Moments to look out for in the summer term
There are some important moments coming up this term, beginning with a start of term live event at 4pm on Wednesday 24 April. I hope you can join me for this short session, where I will update you on my focus for the coming term, invite you to share your own priorities with me and answer your questions on a range of topics. Thank you to those who have submitted questions in advance – there is of course the opportunity to ask questions using the live chat function on the day.
Finally, one of the real points of light that I look forward to in the academic year is Thank a Teacher Day, which this year falls on Wednesday 19 June. Teaching is a unique career – full of creativity, purpose and impact. It’s a privilege to work with you all and to see your impact every single day, so please do take a moment to celebrate the outstanding work you do with your colleagues.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
 The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
Secretary of State for Education
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