The new Education Secretary has announced a scheme to recruit thousands more teachers.
In a letter to staff working at all levels of education, Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, outlined an intention to “reset the relationship” with the sector and put education “at the heart of change and the forefront of national life,” starting with a drive to recruit 6,500 new teachers.
To aid in this goal, the Department for Education (DfE) will be immediately resuming and expanding their teacher recruitment campaign, Every Lesson Shapes a Life.
The scheme directs those interested in teaching to the Get Into Teaching website, which then offers support and advice from teacher training advisers, a contact centre and a national programme of events.
Ms Phillipson is also meeting with education leaders and the heads of teaching unions.
Change to be supported by ‘expertise’ of teachers
In her letter to the education workforce, she said the profession had been “sidelined” for too long and that she had a “deeply personal” commitment to education, citing her upbringing on a council estate and her luck at attending “great local state schools.”
She also added:
“Supported by your experience and expertise, this government will expand our early years education system, drive high and rising standards and reform curriculum and assessment.
“Work to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers for our schools and colleges starts now, and we will bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education, work with local government to provide loving, secure homes for children in care, provide support for children with SEND and their families, and create higher-quality training and employment paths by empowering local communities to develop the skills people need.
“We will secure the future of our world class universities as engines of growth, ambition and opportunity for all.”
Urgent action needed in education
While teaching unions have welcomed Ms Phillipson’s message, they have called for urgent action on some issues.
Pepe Di’lasio, the General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We recognise that none of these problems have quick and easy solutions. Nevertheless, those solutions must be found.”
He also spoke of the urgent need to address the “crisis” in special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision due to “insufficient funding, staffing shortages, and complex bureaucratic processes.”
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the National Education Union, Daniel Kebede, called on the DfE to immediately publish the government’s pay offer to teachers for next year and address issues around workload.
King’s Speech sets out mission to ‘raise educational standards’
Yesterday (Wednesday 17th July), the King’s Speech set out the new government’s priorities for the coming months. This included a mission to “raise educational standards and breakdown barriers to opportunity.”
The King’s Speech included a Children’s Wellbeing Bill and a Skills England Bill. The Children’s Wellbeing Bill aims to put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems, and ensure that the school system is fair for every child. Proposed changes include:
- Free breakfast clubs in every primary school
- A limit on the number of branded uniform items that a school can require, to lower costs for parents
- Introducing ‘Children Not in School’ registers to support home-educating parents and help local authorities to keep track of pupils
- Granting Ofsted more powers to investigate unregistered schools and tackle patterns of poor care in children’s homes
Meanwhile, the Skills England Bill is intended to bring together businesses, providers, unions and other bodies to boost skills training and tackle skills shortages to support sustained economic growth. It will look to simplify the skills system by transferring responsibilities from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) to a new Skills England organisation.
The government plans to introduce both education bills in the first session of Parliament.
Vital training and support for teachers
First Response Training (FRT) is a leading national training provider delivering courses in subjects such as health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food safety, mental health, health and social care, safeguarding and more.
They work with a large number of primary and secondary schools as well as early years and childcare providers, colleges, universities and children’s social care services.
Their courses include Health and Safety for Child Carers and Safeguarding of Children in Education.
They also deliver a range of training to help people support mental health and wellbeing and identify when individuals may be experiencing emotional and mental distress. These include Understanding Mental Health, Youth Mental Health First Aid, Anxiety Awareness, Self-Harm Awareness and Suicide Awareness.
A trainer from FRT says:
“There are many key issues facing the education sector, children and young people and their families. We hope that these can be addressed effectively and that all children can have the start in life they deserve, where they are treated fairly, kept healthy and safe and receive a rich education.”
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.