news
Forty-seven institutions, including primary and secondary schools and FE colleges, have now been accredited to become ASPs and ASGs.
Truancy at record levels
ASPs to spread expertise and leadership
SCHOOLS Secretary Ed Balls has announced the first primary schools that will become part of chains and support the improvement of other schools, under the Accredited Schools Providers (ASPs) and Accredited Schools Groups (ASGs) programme. Fifteen primary schools have now been
approved to work with neighbouring schools and are among the first ASPs in a push to drive up standards. One further primary school has been approved as an ASG. ASPs will support and lead up to two underperforming schools in need of rapid sustainable school improvement. Providers with the best track records can apply to become an ASG and support and lead more than three schools or Academies.
High achievers
Mr Balls said that getting the best to lead and support their neighbours is a proven way of raising standards in all schools and encouraging high achievers
to become ASPs should be a key strategy in the World Class Primary programme. £10m is available in 2010-11 to help primary schools become ASPs or to take part in ASGs. The new accreditation process, announced last year, is being used to select partners and sponsors for trust schools, federations and Academies. The Government is providing £20m to enable the providers to drive improvement across the system. To receive approval, candidates go
through a robust accreditation process which requires they demonstrate sound governance, highly effective leadership and management, a track record of improving outcomes for children and young people; and the capacity to achieve transformational change. A further 31 institutions, including secondary schools, FE colleges, Wellington College and the University of Lincoln, have been accredited to become ASPs and ASGs.
Cumbria schools enter the BSF pipeline
SCHOOLS across Cumbria are to benefit from £61.5m BSF funding. Capital investment is being brought forward from 2012-13 to enable the council to fast- track its most urgent building projects. The go-ahead was given after the
Cumbria proposal was fully assessed by Partnerships for Schools, to make sure its long-term plans were robust and would help transform education standards across their areas. The first
6 edbmagazine.co.uk
seven schools in the county to benefit will be Netherhall, New Workington, Southfield, Stainburn, Millom, Whitehaven and Mayfield. The rest of the area's schools will join BSF later in the programme. In March, six more local authorities
were given the green-light to join the BSF programme, with £418.3m to be invested across Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Gateshead, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Sutton.
UNAUTHORISED absences are at an all time high and 67,000 children miss school every day, according to new figures. Since 1997, truancy has risen by 44% despite more than £1 billion of spending, says Shadow Schools Minister Nick Gibb. “Persistent absenteeism and truancy is linked with low levels of literacy and must be tackled. We need to address underlying causes of truancy – the fact that so many children still struggle with reading and poor discipline in schools fuels bullying." He said that the Conservatives would allow schools to insist on enforceable home school contracts – so parents play their part in ensuring their children go to school.
Tories plan Academies expansion
A CONSERVATIVE Government would legislate immediately to expand rapidly the Academies programme, according to Michael Gove, the Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. He pledged to introduce a new
Educational Bill within days of taking office, with the intention of it becoming law by the end of July 2010. The Bill will sweep away restrictions on the creations of new Academies and radically reform Ofsted to put a new focus on saving failing schools, while struggling primaries will be identified faster and turned around more quickly.
Gove: Sweeping away restrictions.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100