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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE
Education Bill in brief
Analysis of the Coalition Government’s Education Bill has revealed provisions that will have a profound effect on all aspects of the Education Service. The Bill extends to England and Wales only but some clauses have consequential effects for Scotland and Northern Ireland and will trigger consent motions from the devolved nations. Teaching Today provides a brief analysis of some of the main issues and how these will impact on children, young people, parents, teachers and local authorities.
EARLY YEARS PROVISION
• A statutory provision of 15 hours per week of free early years provision for children of two years of age from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• The Secretary of State to be given the power to implement regulations that children would benefit from and to state what the nature of the provision would be – the Secretary of State will define what early education is and decide the time it is to be delivered in the week and the day.
The NASUWT’s view
Free early years provision for two year olds was piloted by the previous government. The Education Bill now gives this statutory force. The NASUWT welcomes this support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds but is deeply concerned about the extensive powers the Secretary of State is taking, which mean he can redefine what constitutes early education and could blur the distinction between education and care by removing the requirement for a qualified teacher to be present in early years education settings.
DISCIPLINE
• The existing list of prohibited items for which schools can search will be extended and individual schools will be able to specify further items to be prohibited.
• ‘Reasonable force’ will be allowed in executing a search for prohibited items.
• Where items are seized these can be delivered to the police, returned, retained or disposed of and where an electronic item has been seized the staff member can examine and erase files if they believe there is a good reason to do so.
• Independent appeals panels will be replaced with review panels.
• Review panels will be able to require governing bodies to reconsider exclusion decisions but not to instruct reinstatement.
• Financial penalties for inappropriate exclusion decisions.
• The requirement on schools to give parents 24 hours’ notice of detentions will be abolished.
The NASUWT’s view
Provisions to support teachers in maintaining high standards of pupil behaviour would usually be welcome. However, the extended search provisions consitute a disproportionate response, which gives powers to teachers exceeding those of the police in relation to stop and search. They will leave teachers and schools vulnerable to action being taken against them. Teachers repeatedly tell the NASUWT that they want more backing and support from school leadership teams to impose existing sanctions in the classroom.
The changes to independent appeals panels will prevent inappropriate reinstatements but schools can be required to review their decisions and face financial penalties for ‘inappropriate’ decisions.
If schools interpret the removal of 24 hours’ notice for detentions as meaning that no notice is required to parents/carers, they could be subject to challenge.
SCHOOL WORKFORCE
• The GTCE abolished.
• The Secretary of State will now consider allegations of unacceptable professional conduct etc. and set the regulations by which conduct will be measured.
• A public list will be maintained of teachers who are subject to a prohibition order or who have failed their induction period.
• Employers must consider whether to refer to the Secretary of State dismissals (or resignations prior to dismissals) due to misconduct.
The NASUWT’s view
The NASUWT believed that the GTCE had exceeded its remit and was beyond reform. However, an independent regulatory body is important to the status of the profession. Reference to the Secretary of State does not provide this.
Employers now appear to have a choice of whether to refer dismissals to the Secretary of State. A huge variation of practice at school level in conducting hearings and the tendency of many governing bodies to support the headteacher means that teachers could be denied an independent review of their case.
QUALIFICATIONS AND THE CURRICULUM
• Scrutiny of the curriculum passes to the Secretary of State.
• Schools will be required to secure independent careers guidance for pupils from 14 until the end of compulsory school age. ‘Independent’ means that no-one employed at the school can provide advice.
The NASUWT’s view
Independent scrutiny of the curriculum is important.
The implications for careers education will need to be carefully examined in the light of these provisions.
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