Department for Education: News, Training and Resources
Resources to support staff wellbeing
There is also support available to both teachers and school leaders to support your own wellbeing and address challenges around workload. This includes:
Reducing staff workload
- Developed with school leaders, the school workload reduction toolkit includes practical resources to help schools identify and address workload issues, as well as evaluating the impact of any steps you’ve taken.
Education staff wellbeing charter
- Co-created with the sector, the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter sets out shared commitments to promote, protect and enhance the wellbeing of staff. The charter can be used to create your school’s wellbeing strategy.
- Watch videos featuring staff from Bedford Academy explaining how they have used the charter to embed wellbeing at the heart of the school or read their blog with top tips.
Funded support for school leaders
- School leaders, including assistant heads, can access free one-to-one supervision and counselling, through a funded scheme delivered by the Education Support charity. This support is available to all state funded schools and trusts regardless of whether they have access to a separate employee assistance programme.
Senior mental health lead training
The Department for Education (DfE) is offering a grant of £1,200 for eligible state-funded schools and colleges in England to train a senior mental health lead to develop and implement a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. This training is not compulsory, but it is part of the government’s commitment to offer this training to all eligible schools and colleges by 2025.
Eligible settings can apply for a senior mental health lead training grant to commence training by 31 March 2024.
Senior mental health lead training helps develop the knowledge and skills of school or college leaders to implement an effective whole school or college approach to promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing.
Find out more here.
The National Education Nature Park: how to get involved
The National Education Nature Park: how to get involved
Launched in October with the Natural History Museum and the Royal Horticultural Society, the National Education Nature Park offers children and young people the opportunity to take hands-on action to improve biodiversity and tackle climate change.
Schools, colleges and nurseries that sign up will have access to a range of resources including digital tools, classroom activities, and an interactive map displaying the growing Nature Park across the school estate.
Here’s everything you need to know about the National Education Nature Park, from how it works, to where to sign up.
What is the National Education Nature Park?
The National Education Nature Park is helping children around the country connect to the natural world, especially in urban and nature-deprived areas, by tracking their local environment through a virtual map across England.
Whether it’s through building rain gardens, growing pollinator-friendly plants, or creating habitats, the Nature Park is inspiring young people to take action to engage with nature in their local area.
They are then encouraged to follow this activity on an online, interactive map which will track the collective difference being made for nature across the education estate.
How can my school sign up to the National Education Nature Park?
Teaching and non-teaching staff from nurseries, schools and colleges can register their education setting for free by submitting the form here.
Nearly 1200 schools, colleges and nurseries have already signed up.
New British Sign Language GCSE heading for classrooms
The new GCSE will provide pupils with the opportunity to learn how to effectively communicate using British Sign Language.
Pupils across the country will soon be able to take the British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE as the subject content has today (Thursday 21 December) been published, providing pupils with an important life skill and advancing inclusivity within education.
Parents, teachers and organisations from the deaf and hearing communities have provided overwhelmingly positive support for the introduction of the BSL GCSE, following a 12-week public consultation.
The responses have helped ensure the content is knowledge-rich, diverse in its teaching and challenging. Students who take this GCSE will learn to communicate effectively with other signers in work, social and academic settings and possess valuable life skills.
Find out more here.
How tutoring is helping to improve pupils’ attendance
Nottingham Emmanuel School have found that small group tutoring is helping to overcome issues with pupil absence rates, which have risen since the Covid-19 pandemic due to a variety of reasons - including lack of confidence, mental health and social factors.
In this blog, a teacher, tutor and pupil from Nottingham Emmanuel School explain how they’ve seen tutoring improve attendance.
Subject Specific Support
Training to help teachers improve their subject specialism and opportunities for schools to enrich their curriculum.
History and Culture
- Make effective use of heritage resources to teach local history
- Access museum activities to improve cultural engagement
- Develop skills in Holocaust education
- Send students on the Lessons from Auschwitz course
Languages
Science
- Work with local partners to develop science teaching in your school
- Access funding for continuing professional development in science
- Get support to increase the take-up of A level physics
- Help GCSE and A level students transition to higher level physics
Mathematics
School Leadership
Professional development opportunities for aspiring, middle and senior leaders, and support for schools to build effective leadership teams:
Pupil premium: effective use and accountability
Emergency school improvement fund (non-capital)
Women Leading in Education: regional networks
Get leadership development for teachers from under-represented groups
Join the Expert Middle Leaders programme to develop future leaders
Join the Future Leaders programme to help you progress to headship
System Leadership
System leaders include teaching school hubs, teaching school, national leaders of education (NLEs), national leaders of governance (NLGs), local leaders of education (LLEs), specialist leaders of education (SLEs).
Governance
Support available to schools and academy trusts to help them strengthen their governance, including the recruitment of governors and board members, professional development for governors and clerks to governing boards, and support from national leaders of governance.
School Resource Management
Information, tools, training and guidance to help schools and multi-academy trusts with financial planning and resource management is also available at School resource management.
Archive
Schools White Paper, Opportunity for All
The Schools White Paper, Opportunity for all: Strong Schools with great teachers for your child sets out plans to make sure every child can reach the full height of their potential.
Any child who falls behind in maths or English will get the support they need to get back on track. Schools will identify children who need help, provide targeted support via a range of proven methods such as small group tuition, and keep parents informed about their child’s progress.
The Parent Pledge will support the government’s Levelling Up mission for education, previously set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, for 90% of primary school children to achieve the expected standard in Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths by 2030. In 2019, only 65% of children achieved this standard, with the covid pandemic exacerbating challenges despite the incredible work of parents and teachers during this time.
A second ambition for secondary schools aims to see the national average GCSE grade in both English language and maths increase from 4.5 in 2019 to 5 by 2030.
The Schools White Paper sets out a series of new measures to support the delivery of these ambitions, including:
- Schools will offer a minimum school week of 32.5 hours by September 2023
- Ofsted will inspect every school by 2025, including the backlog of ‘outstanding’ schools that haven’t been inspected for many years
- By 2030 all children will benefit from being taught in a school in, or in the process of joining, a strong multi-academy trust, which will help transform underperforming schools and deliver the best possible outcomes for children
- At least £100m to put the Education Endowment Foundation on a long-term footing so they can continue to evaluate and spread best practice in education across the country
If achieved, the wider benefits of pupils in 2030 meeting the Key Stage 2 and GCSE ambitions are estimated to be worth at least £30 billion each for the economy.
SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper
The Department for Education has published its green paper on SEND and alternative provision – right support, right place, right time. The online consultation closes at 11:45pm on 1 July 2022 and can be submitted here.
You can read the government press release here.
General Teaching Practice
Support, training and resources to help schools and individuals improve teaching practice and classroom management, as well as help with reducing teacher workload.
School Workload Reduction Toolkit
Get school-led support to use evidence to improve teaching practice