Ofsted: Quality of childcare

Leading to Excellence from Ofsted based on evidence from 90,000 inspections of 84,000 early years and childcare settings during the three years to March 2008. The report shows how well the whole sector is doing to promote positive outcomes for children. It focuses on how early years and childcare settings are organised, led and managed so children make good progress.

Key points:
- Almost all settings (97%) provide at least satisfactory childcare, and approaching two thirds are good or outstanding. Of the small minority of settings (3%) judged inadequate most improve quickly although a few have not yet done so. We have set stringent actions for these settings and continue to monitor them closely.
- The quality of childcare varies across the sector. The proportion of good or outstanding provision ranges from 47% in out-of-school schemes to 65% in full day-care settings.
- Well-established provision is generally of a higher quality than recently registered provision. There is also variation across the country with provision in socio-economically deprived areas generally below that elsewhere. There are, though, deprived areas that buck this general trend.
- The proportion of day-care group providers inspected with good or outstanding childcare has risen from 53% in 2005–06 to 64% in 2007–08, though the proportion of childminders judged good or outstanding has fallen from 65% to 59%.
- The quality of organisation, leadership and management is key to ensuring provision supports positive outcomes for children. The best settings place children at the heart of all that happens, and how the best providers are continually working to improve their already excellent practice.
- Almost all registered early years and childcare settings (97%) are satisfactory or better in the way they are organised to promote positive outcomes for children. Over half the settings (54%) are good or outstanding.

Raising Education Achievement and Breaking the Cycle of Inequality

This OECD report examined the two big strategic objectives which the government has for education policy (as outlined in the Public Sector Agreements). This report compares recent policy against international standards.

Key points:
- Whereas the UK often ranks very highly on certain measures of economic policy and outcomes, this is certainly not the case when it comes to educational standards.
- The test-dominated education system in the United Kingdom has pioneered the use of school benchmarking techniques and the use of targets to raise school quality. However, targets may have biased some national measures of education performance, and there is relatively little evidence of improvement in performance when evaluated using international tests of cognitive ability, such as PISA and PIRLS.
- Socio-economic background plays an important role in explaining education performance, and the government has tried to address this through the use of funding formulas which direct additional resources to areas with a higher proportion of pupils from deprived backgrounds. There has been some improvement in the most disadvantaged schools but pupils in the middle and lower half of the distribution continue to perform particularly poorly relative to students in countries with the best performing education systems.
- One explanation may be that local authorities and schools are not distributing deprivation funds as intended by the central government, resulting in outcomes which can be seen as inequitable. Stronger measures may be required to correct this imbalance.

The paper makes the following recommendations:
• Increase regular participation in quality early childhood education, and continue to target childcare services provided by Sure Start Children’s Centres to disadvantaged families. Sustained intervention once disadvantaged children have entered primary school will also be required, to ensure that the benefits of pre-school interventions are sustained.
• Continue to promote a focus on the acquisition of core literacy and numeracy skills for pupils at primary and secondary school.
• Ensure that the focus on core skills is not compromised by the goal of expanding the average number of years of schooling. Emphasise the role of core literacy and numeracy skills within the new Diplomas. Consider introducing a higher age for compulsory participation only for those students who have not already achieved a certain minimum standard of core skills by age 16.
• Evaluate returns to the new diplomas closely. When A-levels are reviewed vis-à-vis the new Diplomas in 2013, give serious consideration to moving towards a more unified framework of qualifications as originally recommended by the Tomlinson report.
• Ensure continued participation in international tests of cognitive ability, such as PISA and PIAAC.
• Reduce the focus on testing and targets and put more focus on supporting weak students and schools.
• Design all remaining targets in a way that limits the potential for gaming, by ensuring an interactive performance management system that captures the complexity of the education process. Ensure that remaining key performance measures are not based on targeted outputs.
• Encourage a public debate about whether the goal of the education system should be to make all schools high performers, and what societal values that would reflect.
• Consider ways of encouraging the highest quality teachers to move to the most disadvantaged schools – such as by giving bonuses for high quality teaching performance at such schools.
• Promote a national benchmark formula for local authorities to use in allocating funding between schools, while still permitting flexibility (i.e. deviation from the benchmark formula) to meet local needs.
• Promote the transition to a more efficient allocation of funds by providing standard procedures for taking deprivation-targeted funding out of the formula used to determine the Minimum Funding Guarantee.
• Evaluate the pros and cons of introducing a differentiated voucher system of funding (as in Chile) where pupils from poorer families receive vouchers that are valued more highly than those for the general population.
• Encourage more research into determining which resource mixes within schools are most successful at narrowing socio-economic gaps.

Jobs for youth, OECD

This OECD paper on youth employment offers an objective critique of recent government initiatives and policy.

Key points:
- Measures of youth labour market performance and indicators describing the transition from education to work over the past 15 years paint a mixed picture. On the one hand, there is evidence that youth labour market integration and career progression have improved considerably since the mid-1990s, however, other indicators paint a less rosy picture.
- In 2007, the youth unemployment rate was 14%, slightly above the OECD average, compared with just 11% in 2004. These figures hide significant differences between teenagers (16-19-year olds) and young adults (20-24-year olds).
- 13% of 16-24-year olds were neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) in 2005 (the latest year for which comparable data are available), and many youth in this group are at high risk of poor labour market outcomes and social exclusion. This rate is just above the OECD average of 12% and has increased slightly over the past decade.
- The New Deal for Young People – has helped many youth return to work, sustainable employment outcomes have proved difficult to achieve and there are signs that the programme is no longer as effective as in the early days.
- In terms of the education system, the priority is to reduce early leaving from education and training.
- Provision of free early childhood education, which helps reduce early leaving from education and training particularly when interventions are sustained beyond the pre-school period, is lower in England than in many OECD countries.
- Raising the age of compulsory participation in education and training to 18 by 2015 has the potential to ensure that youth enter the labour market better prepared for work. However, the part-time learning participation option may bring in its wake some enforcement problems when job separation occurs.

The report provides a good, objective, introduction to recent policy in this area and the current planned changes to the 14-19 agenda.

Family Nurse Partnership programme

This report commissioned by the DCSF and Department for Health examined the first year effects of the pilot Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme found that the scheme can be successful but further development is needed.

The pilot is based on a model developed in the USA by Professor David Olds, it is an evidence-based nurse home-visiting programme designed to improve the health, well-being and self-sufficiency of young first-time parents and their children. It involves weekly or fortnightly structured home visits by a specially trained nurse from early pregnancy until children are 24 months old. The curriculum is well specified and detailed with a plan for the number, timing and content of visits. Supervision is ongoing and careful records of visits are maintained. The programme has strong theoretical underpinnings, with the formation of a strong therapeutic relationship between nurse and mother at its heart. The programme is designed for low-income mothers who have had no previous live births and starts in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Key points:
- The conditions of being a test site, learning the programme and demands of the tight set up timetable i.e. birth clustered around same time.
- There were wider demands on Family Nurses’ time from organisation and multi-agency working.
- There were challenges in providing this service within the UK context, with national health care, compared to the USA.
- There was a lack of integration between maternity and child health services.
- The FNP reached those who are likely to benefit most and the current eligibility criteria of all 19 years and under first time births should continue. Any further testing of the FNP with non-teenage mothers should focus on 20 to 22 year olds.
- The FNP is acceptable to first-time, young mothers but attrition during pregnancy exceeded the fidelity target in some sites. Further work is needed to understand why clients refuse or leave the programme.
- The FNP seems acceptable to fathers. The evaluation found that fathers:
• Participated in visits;
• Used programme activities;
• Valued the learning on prenatal development, diet and smoking, and preparation for labour and delivery; and
• FNs reported that many clients requested materials for fathers who could not be present, and conveyed questions that fathers had asked about the FNP programme.
- FNs recognised the benefits of using a structured programme, developing a different kind of relationship with clients, using new skills and reaching real need.

Parenting in ordinary families

This JRF report examined the literature around parenting.

Key points:
- Research into cultural differences and similarities in parenting indicates that aspects of parenting relevant to all cultures include parental sensitivity to the child’s needs, socialisation towards cultural norms and support for the child’s need for autonomy across time. The parenting to which a child is exposed may act as a buffer against adversity if it is warm and supportive or, alternatively, it may increase the risk of poor child outcomes if it is hostile or rejecting.
- Within the literature, a variety of parenting themes have emerged but those which recur consistently include sensitivity towards the needs of the child, management of the child’s behaviour and qualities of the parent–child relationship, including warmth and support, hostility and rejection.
- There is evidence that childhood anti-social behaviour increases in conjunction with increases in physical punishment but another school of thought proposes that, as long as its use is rare and only backs up other types of discipline, the effects of physical punishment may be beneficial.
- Much of the literature has focused on the parenting undertaken by mothers but it is important that paternal parenting is also examined.
- Although there were some aspects of parenting which were affected by factors which are immutable (maternal age, education and ethnic group), these were few and far between. Younger parents were more likely to be ambivalent about the timing of the child’s arrival but older mothers were more likely to report that they felt less fulfilled and that they had less time for themselves.
- Mothers who had spent fewer years in formal education reported that, on the whole, they felt less confident in caring for the child and they were less likely to report that they spent time teaching the child. It is difficult to draw any firm conclusions with respect to the effects of ethnic group on parenting.
- Parenting varies little by ethnic group, maternal age or education and that on the whole parenting is warm and supportive in all groups.
- There was a large amount of variation in parenting across time: parenting remained stable for fewer than one in five families. In part, this is likely to be a function of the increasing age of the child.
- The factors which had the most influence regarding changes in parenting score were mother’s mental and physical health. Deteriorations in health were associated with reduced parenting scores and, in contrast to all other variables, improvements in health predicted increased scores.

Young people and social networking services

This report by Digizen investigate how social networking services can and are being used to support personalised formal and informal learning by young people in schools and colleges. A good guide for those wanting a grounding in these dynamic subject area.

The report opens by asking “What are social networking services?” This section investigates current definitions of social networking services and provides a comprehensive review of current social networking service types and activities.

In Evaluating social networking services, the report then describes how to use a toolkit – a social networking evaluation chart covering six different social networking services, and an accompanying checklist, which are available to download from the Digizen website:
(www.digizen.org/socialnetworking/ checklist.aspx) – to evaluate services. The chart is not definitive, but provides a comprehensive framework covering significant relevant issues such as site age restrictions, the presence of adverts, collaborative tools, security issues and data management restrictions.

The benefits and opportunities to individual users, as well as outlining some of the opportunities that educators and schools using social networking services might take advantage of are also laid out. This section looks at issues around digital literacy and social engagement, skills and identity development, and opportunities for better understanding e-safety and data management issues.

Then the barriers and risks section looks at current barriers to using social networking services within education, including staff development and support issues, and risk evaluation and management approaches. Risk areas that educators should be aware of are outlined, and approaches to manage these are addressed.

Issues include users’ perceptions of the environment they are posting in, personal data management, and cyberbullying and potentially illegal behaviours.

An ideas and examples section showcases innovative practice, providing links to a range of projects and examples where social networking services have been successfully used to support both teachers and students. Links to current debates around specific services are also included.

Finally, the Glossary describes some terms that readers may be unfamiliar with.

Supporting children in families affected by mental illness

This Barnardo's report "Family Minded" is based on the experiences of a number of Barnardo’s services that work with children whose lives are affected by parental mental ill-health. It is informed by the academic literature in this field. The authors explore the challenges of parental mental illness for both policy and practice, addressing mental health policy and practice in all four nations of the UK.

The report makes the following recommendations:

Improve understanding of how mental illness affects parents
- Recognise that patients are often also parents and offer opportunities to discuss concerns they have about the impact of their illness on the family.
- Provide better information about the support available to families and if needed, help to access such services.
- Offer advice and support with parenting.
- Continue to raise awareness of the stigma that can surround mental illness and how this can prevent some families from asking for help.
- A named lead professional (or key-worker) to act as the main point of contact for the family, sharing information and advocating on their behalf.

Work in partnership with children to sustain the whole family
- Offer age-appropriate information to help children understand and cope with their parent’s mental illness.
- Provide the opportunity for children to be involved in planning support for themselves and for their parents.
- Work with schools and other children’s agencies so that, if necessary, social, emotional and practical support can be given.
- Make child-friendly visiting facilities available when parents are treated as hospital in-patients.

Put services and practitioners in the best position to ‘think family’
- Develop strategic commissioning and service design which ensures that children’s and adults’ services can work together.
- Offer ongoing professional development and training that raises awareness of the needs of parents with mental illness and their children.
- Disseminate best practice about how to ‘think family’ – such as how to communicate with children.
- Professional guidance, processes and protocols must contain clear expectations about the need to take children into account when treating parents.

Volunatary and community services sector role in supporting parents and families

This report by the Tavistock Institute on behalf of the DCSF examined the role the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) plays in supporting parents, carers and families under the Every Child Matters agenda.

Key points:
- The number of support services for parents and families (provided by all sectors) usually matched the population size of a local authority. The proportion provided by the VCS was subject to considerable variation, ranging from less than a third in some areas to nearly two-thirds in others, and did not typically bear a close relationship to population size.
- Half of all the services in the mapping were in the broad category of ‘social interventions’ (for example, generic and targeted parenting support, family relationships, early years services and support for families in which there had been sexual or domestic abuse or the death of a child). Health-related services accounted for a further 29%, education 17% and housing 1.5%. The largest proportions of service types, provided by all sectors, were targeted parenting support (social) and services for families in which there was a disabled or ill child (health).
- Rural areas tended to have very few services with a large number of users.
- In terms of approach (preventative or crisis driven), access (open or targeted) and the nature of support offered (therapeutic, educational, social or practical), there was a marked tendency for VCS services to be multi-faceted. For example, while the focus of a service might be on a targeted intervention for families in crisis who benefited from therapeutic support, this did not exclude the provision of other approaches or types of access and support.
- The vast majority of VCS managers struggled to maintain the service with their current funding, which varied from £10,000 a year or less in 25% of cases to £500,000 a year or more in 6% of cases.
- The majority of service managers sought to expand future provision, by diversifying their work or by increasing their number of users and/or staff. However, a major obstacle to continued, consistent or increased provision was a lack of funding, and especially secure and long-term funding.
- The mapping exercise pointed to relatively little provision directed at fathers, either specifically or as part of wider family provision. Other groups for whom there was a low level of service provision were Gypsy and traveller families and Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups, though areas which had been selected for their ethnic diversity did provide some specific provision for the latter group.
- The majority of voluntary sector service providers in the interview sample found the ECM framework useful in their work, by encouraging them to think more about outcomes for children, by making work with parents and children more focused and structured, by providing a common language and shared agenda when working with other services, or by providing a uniform structure for use in funding bids.
- Their practical implementation of the framework tended to be focused on ‘being healthy’, ‘staying safe’ and ‘enjoying and achieving’. Very few VCS services in the sample addressed ‘achieving economic well-being’.

Violence against children

The Children's Rights Alliance for England have produced this report to complement the UN study on violence against children.

They use official statistics to paint a vivid picture of the scale of the issue -

"Imagine a large English city – bigger than York, smaller than Birmingham. One hundred thousand children live in this city.

In an average year one child aged under 15 in this city will be murdered, probably by his or her parent. In the same year 240 children will be on the child protection register as a result of having been mistreated. Forty-six of these will have been physically assaulted and 24 sexually abused. The rest will have been neglected or abused in other ways.

In the city’s homes, large numbers of young children will routinely endure physical pain at the hands of their own parents. In one year in this city of 100,000 young people, at least 38,000 children under the age of 13 will be hit, whacked, beaten, slapped or smacked. Three-quarters of the babies born that year in this city will be hit before their first birthday. Around 3,500 children will experience corporal punishment deemed to be “severe”, and should doubtless join those 51 children whose physical abuse merits investigation by the authorities.

As many as 11,000 of the city’s children will, at some point in their childhood, be sexually assaulted by touching or penetration. Most will know their abuser and most will not tell anyone about it. Only a small proportion will see the abuse brought to an end."

The report goes on to share research into violence against children; child death and violence in homes, on the streets and in schools before making recommendations.

Why children phone childline

This briefing gives basic statistics into why children and young people use the counselling service.

Key points:
- In 2006/07, 20,586 children and young people spoke to ChildLine about family relationship problems, representing 12 per cent of all calls. As well as the 20,586 callers, 22,704 children and young people rang to talk about another issue but also mentioned family relationship problems.
- In total, 43,290 children and young people spoke to ChildLine in 2006/07 about family relationship problems (either specifically or among other subjects), making it by far the most commonly discussed issue overall.
- In 2006/07, 4,215 children and young people in the sample spoke to ChildLine
about conflict between themselves and their parents. Some of these callers described very serious conflict. 18% talked about being physically abused and 12% said that they had been emotionally abused.
- Parents/carers abusing alcohol was an issue mentioned often by those who called ChildLine to talk about conflict between themselves and their parents.
- 395 children and young people in the sample spoke to ChildLine because they were worried about conflict between their parents. In some cases, they talked about violence between their parents that they had witnessed and found very distressing.
- ChildLine also received calls from young people (under the age of 18) who were struggling to cope with being a parent, with one in five of them being under the age of 15. Some were struggling so much they were concerned that they might smack or hit their child.

Childcare and early year's providers survey

This survey by the DCSF gives data on the make up of this provision and it's workforce.

The report has many data, here are some points:
- All types of childcare provision have increased in quantity since 2001 (with the exception of sessional child care provision).
- The number of after school clubs continues to rise, although at a lower rate than previously, whilst the number of holiday clubs is in decline.
- Full day care and out of school providers appeared to be distributed reasonably proportionately across all areas (30% of these providers were located in the 30% most deprived areas). In contrast, childminders (18%) and sessional providers (17%) appeared less likely to be located in the 30% most deprived areas.
- The majority of full day care provision was privately run (66%), with just one in five settings run by a voluntary organisation. The opposite pattern was true for sessional care.
- With the exception of sessional providers, there has been a real increase in the number of paid and unpaid staff working in childcare settings since 2003.
- For most childcare providers, the proportion of staff having attained at least a level 3 qualification increased sharply between 2003 and 2006 while continuing to increase at a slower rate in 2007. While in early years provision in maintained schools, the proportion of staff with at least a level three qualification has increased steadily since 2003.

Evaluation of the Child Trust Fund

The IPPR have evaluated the Child Trust Fund, which has been operational in the UK since September 2005. The government scheme gives a voucher to all parents to invest in any bank offering the Child Trust Fund (CTF) account. The amount of the voucher ranges from £250 to £500, based on parental income. If the parent does not open an account within a year the government will open one on their behalf. A further deposit is made by the government on the child's 7th birthday (again variable according to parental income). Parents can also add a further £1200 to the account each year. Upon reaching 18 the young person can spend the money as they wish.

The scheme is intended to encourage saving, both by parents and the young people.

Using official data from the first two and a half years of operation along with academic research, industry data and original research, the report draws some initial conclusions:

Regarding initial parental involvement:
• Parental involvement is relatively high but could be improved.
• 75% of all accounts are opened by parents, which compares favourably with similar products.
• Parents who fail to open an account are more likely to be on a low income.

Regarding impact on savings behaviour:
• The initial government investment encourages further contributions.
• Positive effects on savings behaviour are becoming evident, even amongst low income households.

Regarding investing in shares
• 80% of all CFTs are shareholder accounts
• Private sector participation is extensive

Expansion of primary literacy and numeracy pilots

The DCSF have expanded their flagship literacy and numeracy initiatives:

Every Child a Reader - by 2010/11 this will cover to 30,000 children in 3,000 schools (and 150 local authorities) a year struggling with early reading getting extra support. A recent report from the Institute of Education found that the pilot had been a huge success, with children getting higher than average results for their age. Within Yorkshire & Humber Every Child A Reader is being expanded this year to: Bradford, Kingston Upon Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield & Kirklees.

Every Child Counts - being piloted in 21 local authorities from this month and then rolled out over the next two years, so that by 2010/11 30,000 children in 1,900 schools (105 local authorities) will be covered. Within Yorkshire & Humber Every Child Counts will be initially piloted in: Leeds & Bradford.

Every Child a Writer - being piloted in nine local authority areas, a total of 135 schools and 2,500 children, from this month and will be rolled out nationally by 2011 so that it covers over 45,000 children in up to 9,000 schools and 150 local authorities. Despite the improvements in numeracy and literacy over the last decade, writing lags behind early reading improvement rates. No local authorities within Yorkshire & Humber are piloting this initiative.

Every Child Counts, like the established Every Child a Reader programme, focuses on the bottom 5% at Key Stage 1 and will mean that children struggling with early maths are given high quality intensive specialist support from trained teachers.

OECD Education at a Glance 2008

The Annual survey by the OECD found the following for the UK (note this refers to all education, including HE):

- Below average class sizes are afforded through an above average teaching load for teachers.

- The highest spenders on educational institutions are Denmark, Iceland, Korea and the United States, with at least 7% of GDP accounted for by public and private spending on educational institutions.

- The proportion of GDP spent on tertiary institutions in Belgium, France, Iceland, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom is below the OECD average; these countries are among the OECD countries in which the proportion of GDP spent on primary, secondary and post secondary non-tertiary education is above the OECD average.

- For all levels of education combined, public and private investment in education increased in all countries by at least 8% between 1995 and 2005 in real terms and increased on average by 42%, with the UK increasing spending by more than 50%.

- The UK comes fourth out of 30 OECD countries for per-pupil funding in early years and enrolment is far above the OECD average.

- Teacher salaries at primary school level are above the OECD average.

- Secondary school class sizes are below the OECD average.

- The rate of increase for teacher salaries is above the OECD average.

- The UK has the highest private rate of returns to upper secondary education or post-secondary non-tertiary education.

- High completion rates of full degree courses which results in a flow of graduates that remains above the OECD average and the UK continues to be an attractive destination to foreign students, especially in science and technology subjects, and is only second to the USA overall.

- The UK has the 6th highest number of science graduates per 100,000 employed aged 25-34, placing us ahead of Japan and Germany.

HE; Academies; State Boarding Schools & New Schools

The DCSF are on a mission to have every university in the country supporting a local academy school. Currently more than half of the 88 universities are committed and a further 20 are developing towards supporting an academy.

For more and a full list of which academies and universities are involved click here.

The hope is that with the raising of the educational age to 17 by 2013 and 18 by 2015, that links to universities will encourage young people who had never considered a university education to stay on post 18.

The academic year 2008 witnessed the opening of over 180 new schools, including 51 new Academies (taking the total number of academies to 134). Many opened as part of the "Building Schools for the Future" programme, including a purpose-built multi-faith centre which will be used by all members of the community at Allerton High in Leeds.

These new schools includes 5 new "all through" academies, schools which provide a seamless primary and secondary education, taking the total of such schools to 14, with a further 5 in development.

Additionally, the DCSF have announced two new academies will eventually take boarding students, with a focus on those students from the armed services in Lincoln and Salisbury Plain.
This comes on top of additional funds aimed to expand the places at state boarding schools aimed at vulnerable children, such as those looked after by the local authorities.

Draft legislation: Children's Trusts; Sure Start; Pupil Groups; Apprenticeships; Wellbeing; School Buildings; Admissions

In the last three months (June-September) there have been ten draft legislation pieces open for consultation from the DCSF alone. These are listed below, in order of initial publication.

Admissions - a technical area, so best reading the document if interested.
Pupil wellbeing - educational establishments are required to promote pupil wellbeing, this is draft guidance as to how they could achieve.
Schools causing concern - proposed changes on how to deal with schools which cause concern.
Strengthening Children's Trusts - proposals aimed at making the Children's Trust the main strategic body for children's services.
Zero carbon schools - calls for evidence so the government can realise their 2016 target.
Apprenticeships - steps to legislate for the provision of apprenticeships, including making the LSC ensure apprenticeships exist.
Draft guidance on safeguarding children from sexual exploitation.
Draft guidance for children not receiving a suitable education.
Under performing groups - changes to which groups of children are monitored reducing the overall number but including pupils on free school meals for the first time.
Sure Start Children's Centres - legislation to make this provision a legal requirement.

Summer holidays - good for education?

Mike Baker questions the role of the annual summer holidays for schools and considers how they effect children. The DCSF have recognised that summer born children do occur extra difficulties compared to their peers as a result of their time of birth and have vowed to offer additional support to them via extra tuition for catch up classes.

Ofsted: weak teachers hard to fire

The Chief Inspector of schools, Christine Gilbert has written in the Sunday Telegraph that students are being let down by inadequate teachers (BBC News).

Ms Gilbert called for schools to be able to fire underperforming staff more easily and criticised a "revolving door syndrome" which enabled poor to teachers move from school to school.

She said: "As I go round the country heads tell me how difficult it is to get rid of weak teachers.

"They say they start the procedure and they might be 18 months down the line and the teacher will move... we need to be thinking of ways of preventing that.

"That isn't Ofsted's role but I sympathise with head teachers about that."

A Failed Generation - Conservative Party paper: "schools increase inequalities"

This paper by the Conservative party states that in the past decade educational inequality has increased and that the current education system entrenches disadvantage.

Key points:
- 55% of secondary schools in the 10% most deprived parts of England do not achieve 30% of children getting five good GCSEs including English and maths – the Government’s official benchmark for a failing school. This is compared to just 3 per cent in the 10 per cent least deprived areas.
- Last year five local authorities – including Islington, Darlington and Blackpool – did not have a single pupil from a maintained school attempt GCSE Physics.
- Last year, over 60 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals did not gain the 3Rs at Key Stage 2.
- Shockingly, 33,909 pupils eligible to receive free school meals did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2006/07 – 47% of all FSM pupils.
- In the last year, the attainment gap at GCSE between the poorest areas and the wealthiest widened by 15pp – from 28% to 43%.
- In 2002, the gap between free school meal pupils and the rest in science at Key Stage 2 was 10pp; it now stands at 15. And the gap has widened to 20% in maths – up from 16% in 2002.
- In 2002, at Key Stage 2 (aged 11), the gap between 11 year-olds eligible for free school meals (FSM) and those who were not reaching the expected level was 26 points for English, 16 points for maths and 10 points for science.
- In 2005, for the same pupils aged 14 this gap had grown to 27 points for English, 27 points for maths and 30 points for science.
- And in 2007, by the time pupils came to take GCSEs 21.1% of FSM pupils gained five good GCSEs including English and maths, compared to 49% of non-FSM pupil s- a gap of nearly 28%

The paper does not state any recommendations nor give Conservative Party policy.

A Level results 2008

The key headlines from this years A Level results:

- 2.7% increase in the number of entries at A Level and a 1.2% increase at AS level.
- 7.5% increase in maths A Level entries and a 15.5% increase in further maths.
- Biology, physics and chemistry witnessed 2-3% increases in the number of entries.
- English is the most popular A Level (with 10.8 of all candidates taking English) this is followed by maths and then biology.
- A-C grades are up from 72.8% to 73.9%
- A grades see a small rise to 25.9%

Yorkshire and Humber has made one of the smallest improvements in the number of candidates gaining grade A at A level (2002-08) and only 22.3% of entries gain a grade A (second worst government office region).

For full report refer to the JCQ paper here.

GCSE results 2008

The key headlines from the GCSE results 2008 are:

- Overall pass rate at A*-C grades are up by 2.4pp to 65.7%
- English is up 0.7pp and maths 1.1pp
- Entries receiving either an A* or A grade has risen from 19.5% last year to 20.7%
- Entries to chemistry, physics and biology have increased by around 30%
- Boys pass rate is exceeding that of girls, hence the gender gap is closing: boys pass rate in English is up 0.9pp (girls 0.4pp) and in maths it is up 1.2pp (girls 1.0pp)
- For the first time boys pass rate went through the 60% mark and now stands at 62.1%

pp = percentage point(s)

Yorkshire & Humber remains the government region with the lowest percentage achieving a grade C (60.8%) or grade A (16.8%).



For full results see JCQ paper here