Diocese of Portsmouth
Department for Schools
Park Place Pastoral Centre
Winchester Road
Wickham
PO17 5HA
Tel: 01329 835363
12th May 2016
Schools Bulletin No: 8.16
To all governors, charitable trustees, headteachers, senior leaders and
clerks to governors
This Bulletin is sent electronically to all governors, charitable trustees, headteachers, senior
leaders and clerks for whom an email address is held in the Department for Schools’ office. No
hard copies will be issued. Bulletins will be circulated as and when appropriate and will be
numbered for ease of reference. The bulletin will also be available on the diocesan web-site.
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In this bulletin:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Information from Ofsted
Information from the CES
Information from the DfE
Information from the National Governors Association
Education Endowment Foundation produces useful data for school
comparisons
6. Reminder – compliance on appointment of deputy heads
7. Catholic education
Diocese of Portsmouth – Department for Schools
Page 1 of 4
1.
Information from Ofsted
i)
Complaints about Ofsted
Sean Harford explains the way Ofsted deals with complaints about inspection at
https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2016/04/12/new-complaints-scrutiny-panels/
ii)
Videos by Ofsted specialists
A range of videos can now be found including Diana Choulerton, Ofsted's National Lead,
Design and Technology, discusses teaching this subject; Matthew Brazier, Ofsted's National
Lead, Children Looked After, talks about common misconceptions about social care inspections,
planning for care leavers and priorities and practices for children looked after and Mark Sims,
Ofsted's National Lead, EAL and ESOL, discusses issues and gaps for pupils who speak EAL,
current challenges for EAL professionals, quality and outcomes for EAL pupils, assessing EAL
pupils, and current issues for ESOL professionals. The list of videos can be found at
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLq-zBnUkspPS0T9_ZnPUviGtIRdSfk36
iii)
Be inspection-ready, not preparing for inspection
This presentation by Lorna Fitzjohn, Ofsted's Regional Director, West Midlands can be found at
http://www.slideshare.net/Ofstednews/cifssatnetwork
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2.
Information from the CES
The April CES legal update is attached here.
58 16 Attachment Legal Updates Newsletter (04 16).pdf
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3.
Information from the DfE
i)
New plans on academisation
The DfE issued a statement on 6th May 2016: “The government has decided, while reaffirming
our continued determination to see all schools to become academies in the next 6 years, that it is
not necessary to bring legislation to bring about blanket conversion of all schools to achieve this
goal.
The government will continue to require underperforming schools to convert to academy status
where they can benefit from the support of a strong sponsor…
We will also continue to support ‘good’ schools to convert and to take the lead in supporting
other schools as part of multi-academy trusts. In the last monthly figures 227 schools put in
applications to convert, the highest monthly figure since the programme began, and we expect
this rate to increase.
In addition, the government will bring forward legislation which will trigger conversion of all
schools within a local authority in 2 specific circumstances:
Firstly, where it is clear that the local authority can no longer viably support its remaining
schools because a critical mass of schools in that area has converted. Under this mechanism a
local authority will also be able to request the Department for Education converts all of its
remaining schools.
Diocese of Portsmouth – Department for Schools
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Secondly, where the local authority consistently fails to meet a minimum performance threshold
across its schools, demonstrating an inability to bring about meaningful school improvement
These measures will target those schools where the need to move to academy status is most
pressing.
The government has allocated £300 million that will be available to support schools to convert
and, in particular, support sponsors to turn around failing schools. A further £300 million will
support strong and effective multi-academy trusts to grow and improve. And, in recognition of
the costs that local authorities and church dioceses face, funding will also be provided to them.”
The full statement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-to-spreadeducational-excellence-everywhere-announced
ii)
Information on Regional Schools Commissioners
Regional schools commissioners work with school leaders to take action in underperforming
schools. In response to calls for greater transparency, the DfE has increased the amount of
published information about the role of regional schools commissioners (RSCs). This includes an
“RSC decision making framework” which describes the role of RSCs, terms of reference for the
Headteacher Boards which advise and challenge RSCs, and regional vision statements.
The material can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/schoolscommissioners-group/about
4.
Information from National Governors Association
i)
NGA publishes models for multi-academy trust governance
The National Governors’ Association (NGA) has published the first version of their working
models, to help trustees in multi academy trusts (MATs) decide the best governance structure for
their schools in order to be effective. The models also suggest what to delegate and to whom,
with a number of given scenarios. Go to http://www.nga.org.uk/News/NGA-News/Jan-April2016/Academies-Show-2016-NGA-publishes-%E2%80%98how-to%E2%80%99-models.aspx
ii)
Music Mark produces Guide for Governors – Music Education
In collaboration with the NGA, Music Mark has produced A Guide for Governors – Music
Education. This document provides questions around five areas that governors should be
considering: Values and Ethos, opportunities, resources, teaching and partnerships. To access the
document, go to http://www.musicmark.org.uk/marketplace/resources/guide-governors%E2%80%93-music-education
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5.
Education Endowment Foundation produces useful data for school
comparisons
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has now extended its free-to-use families of
schools toolkit to include all primary schools in the country. The toolkit groups schools into
“families” that share similar characteristics (such as similar prior attainment, eligibility for free
school meals and the number of pupils who speak English as an additional language). The aim is
to facilitate collaboration between those schools facing similar challenges. Go to
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/attainment-gap/families-of-schools-database/
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Diocese of Portsmouth – Department for Schools
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6.
Reminder – compliance on appointment of deputy heads
As stated in the diocesan booklet on appointment of headteachers and deputies, the appointment
of a deputy headteacher must be ratified by the full governing body before any offer is made to
the candidate: “The full governing body will need to approve the decision of the selection panel
of governors. The ratification is a legal requirement. As soon as possible following the
interviews, but certainly on the same day, the selection panel should make their recommendation
to the governing body. Usually this is a brief meeting, where the selection panel outlines who the
preferred candidate is and the reasons for selecting that candidate. This is followed by an
endorsement vote of all governors. Once the full governing body has ratified the decision of the
appointment panel, the governors will need to make their offer of appointment to the chosen
candidate and inform the unsuccessful applicants of the outcome of their application.” The
booklet can be found at: http://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/schools/appointments.php
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7.
Catholic education
“What is needed is an education in which the fundamentals remain and which remains
foundational.
Truth, beauty and goodness exist. The absolute exists. It can, or rather, it should be known and
perceived.
What is needed is an education that promotes the weaving of a civil society (that is civic and
civilised). Let education be a place of encounter and communal endeavour where we learn to be
society, and where society learns to be a supportive society.”
Pope Francis
Diocese of Portsmouth – Department for Schools
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