Outstanding-rated Academy educating sick pupils could close after “deeply flawed” Cornwall Council contract decision
One of the country’s leading academy trusts launched a legal appeal at the High Court against a decision by a county council that could lead to the closure of an academy that provides Outstanding-rated education to pupils with serious health issues including cancer. Since 2007, CHES Academy, part of Wave Multi Academy Trust, has been contracted by Cornwall Council to provide alternative education provision for children unable to attend school because of medical/health needs. It provides the education over three sites – its school base Glynn House and hospital school room in the Royal Cornwall Hospital, both in Truro, and an education unit within the adolescent mental health unit in Bodmin – but children and young people from across Cornwall attend its provision. CHES has been consistently rated by Ofsted as Outstanding over this period. However, Cornwall Council has opted to award the contract to provide the services from September 2022 to a new provider, Special Partnership Trust (SPT). SPT has no prior record of providing the education services required, while the County Council awarded Wave a significantly higher score in the quality of education part of the tender. Rob Gasson, the Chief Executive of Wave, said that as a result of the loss of services and income that will follow, CHES – attended by 120 children and young people with a range of health needs, including cancer and serious mental ill-health – would most likely have to close because it will become financially unviable. Mr Gasson said: “This will cause enormous anxiety to the pupils and their families. The local authority is not only denying unwell children from across our county access to an Outstanding-rated provision but effectively closing an academy – something that only the Secretary of State for Education, with whom we have our funding agreement, has the power to do.” Mr Gasson added that Wave has a number of concerns about the tender process and decision, including the pricing model and a number of breaches of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR). He said: “Wave’s costings, which received a score of zero, were based on our 14-year experience of the resource required for 120 pupils. We believe SPT will be unable to run the services to an acceptable standard on the basis of its submitted costs or will only be able to cater for a maximum of 75 pupils, far fewer than the 120 who need the support. We believe the low price can only lead to staff redundancies or children being denied access to a high quality education. “Cornwall Council has even acknowledged through this process that the winning bidder will not provide as high a quality of education as Wave. Yet it has still chosen to go with SPT. “We have as a result launched an appeal through legal channels.”
Classroom coding goes into orbit: Astro Pi Challenge allows students to run experiments on the International Space Station
Two upgraded Raspberry Pi computers are set to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) this December, enabling young people aged 19 and under to run scientific experiments in space and communicate with astronauts aboard the ISS. The European Astro Pi Challenge from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in partnership with the European Space Agency, empowers primary, secondary and sixth form students, no matter their experience with computers, to write a simple computer program and share a message with the astronauts orbiting 408km above the Earth. The European Astro Pi Challenge from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the European Space Agency supports children to code experiments and send messages to Raspberry Pi computers on the International Space Station The free Mission Zero online activity is curriculum aligned and guides pupils to write a simple computer program that will take a humidity reading onboard the International Space Station. Combining new STEM and coding skills with creativity and imagination, Mission Zero takes an hour, requires no specialist equipment or prior coding knowledge from student or teacher. Every eligible child that follows the step-by-step guidelines is guaranteed to have their program run in space with participants receiving a certificate. The European Astro Pi Challenge Mission Zero is aimed at primary school pupils and new coders in secondary school and guides young explorers through the curriculum-aligned steps of writing a computer program to measure the humidity on the ISS. They can share a personal message and create a digital animation that appears on the LED display for the station’s astronauts to read and enjoy. Samantha-Cristoforetti, Astro Pi Ambassador – Credit_ ESA.jpg Mission Zero is free, takes about an hour to complete and can be done in the classroom through the Astro Pi website: astro-pi.org. Teachers do not need to be coding-confident to include it in their lesson and no specialist equipment is required beyond internet connected computers. The two Raspberry Pi computers will replace older, less-advanced models called Ed and Izzy that were originally deployed as part of Tim Peake’s Principia mission in 2015. Every pupil that follows the step-by-step guidance is guaranteed to have their computer program, message and animation run in space and will receive a personalised certificate to confirm the date, time and location of the ISS when their program was run. They will also have the opportunity to name the Raspberry Pi computers heading to space in December. Young people can have a go and send their messages to the space station until 18 March 2022. Philip Colligan, CEO, Raspberry Pi Foundation said: “I can’t think of many free science-education projects for young people that have their own space programme. The Astro Pi Challenge is a fun activity to support children to discover coding, explore digital creativity and take part in an ‘out of this world’ learning opportunity. We are putting the power of computing into children’s hands with one of the coolest educational opportunities out there.” Olympia Brown, Head of Youth Partnerships, Raspberry Pi Foundation said: “More than 54,000 young people from 26 countries have taken part in the Astro Pi challenges to date to run their own computer programs in space . Our two new Raspberry Pi computers mean even more young people can learn about coding and digital creativity to empower them to share messages with the International Space Station. The upgraded technology allows young participants to develop and run more detailed and complex experiments than they have ever been able to before.” In addition to Mission Zero, the Astro Pi Challenge Mission Space Lab is aimed at teams of young people with some prior experience of coding. Teams develop more detailed experiment ideas in school or as part of a coding club that can run on the two Raspberry Pi computers, learning about the real-world impact that their experiments can have. The deadline for entries to this year’s Mission Space Lab has now closed but the most promising experiments will now be supported by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to progress their ideas, with selected teams receiving hardware to refine their experiment on Earth before the best ideas run on the ISS. Previous Mission Space Lab experiments designed by young people explored the health of forests and plant erosion and monitoring for wildfires. The Astro Pi Challenge has been designed to be “device neutral” meaning schools do not need to have access to a Raspberry Pi computer to take part – however they do need access to an internet-connected computer. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity that works to put computing and digital-creativity into the hands of young people all over the world. It aims to empower young people to harness the power of community and digital technology to solve problems that matter to them and to express themselves creatively . To find out more about the Astro Pi Challenge and take part in Mission Zero today, visit astro-pi.org
Young people discuss engineering a way out of climate change
Over 24,000 students take part in virtual event Thousands of secondary school students have sent a resounding message to decision makers about the ideas needed to help meet net zero targets. The students, who took part in a Schools COP organised as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (8 to12 November 2021), have discussed how engineers can help the country meet net zero. Ideas included ways that engineers can help efforts to improve biodiversity on land and at sea and the development of self-sufficient agri-biomes for farm animals to capture methane so it can be converted into an energy source. The ideas were initially developed at a summit of more than 70 students from over 30 schools. Over 24,000 students registered for the event and more have since debated the ideas in the classrooms as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week. Over 27,000 students have also watched films of inspiring engineers who are helping to tackle climate change on Snapchat and TikTok. Engineers featured in the films included Jaz Rabadia MBE, who is helping businesses reduce the amount of energy that they use and lower their carbon footprint. Jaz said: “When deciding what I should study at university, I researched engineering and I realised how important it is in making a difference to the world and to bettering people’s lives. I knew then that, by studying engineering, I could help make a difference.” Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, which organises Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, said: “It has been inspiring to hear about all the ideas discussed by students and by the level of thought that had gone into their ideas. Some converged with technologies currently being explored, others were more unexpected but showed real creativity and innovative thinking. “Students clearly saw the role of science and engineering in meeting the net zero challenge. It is vital that we convey to all young people the range of exciting engineering roles that they could have in the future, and through them contribute to achieving net zero and a greener world.” The ninth Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (#TEWeek21) took place from 8 to 12 November 2021 with a lesson plan and teaching resources available for schools to take part in the Schools COP discussions. A packed calendar also saw engineering professionals showcase the impact their jobs have on meeting net zero. Meanwhile, institutions, employers and schools came together to deliver inspiring activities to give young people the opportunity to discuss solutions to the climate crisis. For more information visit: www.teweek.org.uk
Why wait till adulthood? Research shows significant benefits of delivering financial education to primary aged children
Recent research shows that delivering financial education to primary aged children increases their knowledge and understanding of money and financial issues. During Talk Money Week, it is crucial that conversations about finance and money are embedded into all aspects of daily life, including the classroom. This study was funded by the Centre for Financial Capability, in collaboration with the award-winning charity MyBnk and independent evaluators Substance. The research, involving 600 primary aged children, found that children who received financial education lessons were more able to understand gratification, wages, and monetary consequences compared to before starting the sessions. The improvements were significantly bigger for children who had poor financial capabilities before starting Money Twist, the financial education session. All children showed overall improvements in their financial capabilities. Before starting Money Twist, the children correctly answered 62% of survey questions. This rose to 70% when children were asked the same questions a few months after completing the programme. The area that improved most was with children being able to understand, discuss, and articulate new knowledge of money habits, where correct answers rose from 59% to 73%. Children who had poor financial capabilities before starting Money Twist made large improvements by the time that they completed the programme. Of children who gave incorrect responses before starting the programme, the average score of correct responses rose by 54% after completing the programme. This research comes just days after the Chancellor included a new national numeracy programme in the Budget called ‘Multiply’. The programme will address low levels of poor numeracy skills in UK adults and has set out to improve numeracy levels in 500,000 adults from April 2022 with £560 million in funding. According to National Numeracy, around half of working age UK adults have primary school level Mathematics skills, and up to 8 million people in England have numeracy skills lower than that expected of nine-year-olds. While Multiply is a good step in the right direction, this measure does not get to the root of the issue. Financial education for children must be the top priority to effectively combat the challenges of low numeracy levels, which include unemployment, poverty and lower levels of wellbeing. Research has shown the strong correlation between numeracy and financial capability – it was one of the reasons financial mathematics was added to the national curriculum in 2013. Research has shown that money forming habits begin at the age of 7, so it is vital that financial literacy and capability be included at primary level. By delivering financial education within the classroom, the Centre for Financial Capability equips young people with the necessary skills to develop positive money attitudes and to manage their finances effectively when they reach adulthood. The Centre is a new charity, founded by the backers of the KickStart Money initiative. KickStart Money is an award-winning coalition of major UK financial institutions which raised £1.2 million to fund expert-led financial education to over 20,000 primary school children. The Centre for Financial Capability aims to give every primary aged child “an effective and high-quality” financial education by 2030 and has a long-term commitment to financial education and research. Report. Quotes Jane Goodland, Trustee of The Centre for Financial Capability said: “We were pleased to see that attention is being paid to improving the nation’s numeracy in the Chancellor’s Budget. Higher levels of numeracy will aid employment, the economy and general wellbeing. However, leaving financial education until adulthood can be too late. Our research shows the importance and positive results of providing financial education lessons to children at primary school age. By delivering financial education lessons to children, the Centre ensures that children are equipped with positive behaviours and attitudes to money, which will benefit them in adulthood. To truly level up the nation, we must ensure that future generations are financially literate. Prevention is more important than the cure – we must equip our children before it’s too late.” Guy Rigden, CEO of MyBnk said: “We have strong evidence of a divergence in life chances of children. Those who need financial education the most benefit the most from it, it literally levels the playing field. We must catch pupils young with things like budgeting and saving to develop positive money mindsets and habits. By making financial education compulsory at primary school age and supporting teachers we can have a powerful impact on the lives of young people.”
COP26 – What schools can do to help prepare for a greener future
COP26, Glasgow – world leaders discussed the global response to climate change, an industry reaction from Simon Carter, Director at RM – a leading supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, supporting schools, teachers and pupils across the globe. Simon discusses what actions school staff should consider they can take themselves – for example, the removal of on-site computer server rooms as they consume a lot of energy. Simon Carter, Director at RM: “It’s crucial that schools use this week’s COP26 conference to kickstart a dialogue between staff and students about how to prepare for a greener future. Where snow days and heatwaves were once thought of as one-off, uncommon weather gift for pupils, the figures published by the London mayor’s office this summer warning that “a fifth of London’s schools are now susceptible to flooding” demonstrated just how catastrophic weather conditions could be for schools without a continuity plan in place. “For educators, then, the environmental challenges faced are now twofold. On the one hand, schools should be readying themselves for the possible consequences of climate change, with disruption to their normal mode of teaching, by making hybrid learning part of their new normal. Secondly, school staff should consider what actions they can take themselves – for example, because on-site computer server rooms are hot and consume a lot of energy, can a school move to a serverless, cloud-based network instead? And, do worksheets need to be printed off for pupils, or can they be completed online? Do tests and assessment need to be undertaken in printed format, or can they be done digitally? “Neither challenge can be underestimated, but both rely on having the best education technology, and virtual communication technology, in place to guide informative and interactive discussion around today’s United Nations’ conference– both at schools and at home. Whether it’s a case of building a robust continuity plan in the case of a tricky environmental issue, or building a more digitally savvy community of students and staff to champion initiatives the whole school can be proud of, recognising the critical role that technology can play within our education system.”
Young Enterprise and the Westminster Foundation strike five-year partnership to help young people into work
The Westminster Foundation and Young Enterprise, a national enterprise and financial education charity, are proud to announce a strategic partnership that will empower thousands of young people across key locations in England to develop critical enterprise, work readiness, and financial skills, supporting them to thrive. From September 2021 and running across academic years until July 2026, state primary and secondary schools, and colleges, will have access to Young Enterprise’s impactful and practical education programmes for their young people. This has all been made possible by a transformational investment in Young Enterprise by The Westminster Foundation. Young Enterprise will deliver initiatives such as Company Programme, where young people are inspired to set up and run a student company under the guidance of a business volunteer from the world of work, and Innovation Studios, which challenges young people to solve real-life business problems. By participating in the programmes, young people will have the opportunity to develop key skills, including: Employability competencies – communication, confidence, financial capability, creativity, organisation, problem solving, resilience, resourcefulness, adaptability, and teamwork. Personal development competencies – aspirations, working responsibly, understanding of the world of work (primary students) and work readiness (secondary students). ‘Young Enterprise has opened up a whole new opportunity for my future that I can’t wait to explore.’ – Tayla, YE Company Programme alumna (2019/20 academic year), discusses her experiences here. The partnership will support an incremental growth plan for Young Enterprise programmes in places where the Westminster Foundation focuses its work, namely Chester and Cheshire West, the borough of Westminster in London, and areas in rural Lancashire (primarily communities that border the Forest of Bowland). It will also enable the advancement of new primary school programmes with the potential for national roll out. Crucially, it will also provide the time over five years to enable the professional development of a critical mass of teachers, senior leaders, and support staff to truly embed enterprise and financial education into the school curriculum, ensuring it is accessed by every future cohort of young people. After the five-year programme, schools will be empowered with enhanced knowledge and be part of an active local network sharing their learning to improve the future of financial and enterprise education across their communities. The Duke of Westminster, Chair of the Westminster Foundation, says: “Just like Young Enterprise, the Westminster Foundation passionately believe that young people can make an invaluable contribution to the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery and the future world of work. They have the resourcefulness and resilience, but they need the opportunity and support to be able to fully make that contribution. I’m delighted that my foundation is partnering with Young Enterprise to help young people achieve that.” Sharon Davies, Chief Executive at Young Enterprise, adds: “At Young Enterprise we believe that meaningful opportunities, combined with appropriate support to develop and apply an enterprising mindset and skills, change young people’s futures. However, more and more young people are not getting the fair start in life that they deserve. This is why Young Enterprise is so thrilled to partner with the Westminster Foundation to unlock young people’s great potential. We are extremely grateful to the Duke of Westminster, his fellow Trustees, and the Foundation team for their belief in our work. We share the Westminster Foundation’s commitment to developing young people’s resilience, aspirations, and social mobility. Our five-year transformational partnership will benefit communities in Cheshire, rural Lancashire and London, addressing the greatest impacts from the pandemic with long term support.” Young Enterprise and The Westminster Foundation are excited to engage even more young people in learning pathways to support brighter futures over the next five years. If you’re a state primary or secondary school, or college in the priority areas (Westminster in London, Chester and Cheshire West, or areas within rural Lancashire) and you would be interested to learn more about the project, please contact Sally Hopkins, Young Enterprise Project Manager on 07841 880988 or sally.hopkins@y-e.org.uk. Places in year one are limited but will increase over the duration of the project. As this is a five-year project, we very much hope to be able to work with as many schools and their young people over the five years as possible.
Chancellor to deliver an extra £4.7bn by 2024-25 for schools in the UK
With the chancellor promising to deliver an extra £4.7bn by 2024-25 for schools in the UK – which he claims restores per pupil funding to 2010 levels – industry response from Simon Carter, Director at RM on what this means for schools. Simon Carter, Director at RM: “With Britain’s national debt significantly higher than pre-COVID, and the country’s ageing population weighing heavy on the NHS, it would have been naïve to expect an optimistic Autumn Budget from the Chancellor this year. Instead, it’s safe to say that Rishi Sunak has battened down the hatches and braced the country for a tax-heavy winter – and even Government departments haven’t escaped the cash cull. “But there is at least some positive news for one of the most cash-strapped Government departments: education. With schools, colleges and universities under enormous pressure to fill staff vacancies, as well as fund ever-developing remote learning offerings, teachers will be relieved to learn that not all areas of education will be facing a further round of cuts this October. And, with half term behind them and shortages of everything from sparkling water to petrol to lorry drivers plaguing Britain in the lead up to Christmas, schools will be reassured that there isn’t another tightening of belts so soon after the pandemic. “Schools have, after all, become first responders to the families most impacted by COVID. Whether for education, social or mental health purposes, the relationships between students and teachers have meant parents are free to work, and young people free to learn and interact, even in the most difficult of circumstances. While the economy remains in flux in the UK, it’s vital that education institutions remain the priority for the UK Government and teachers’ hard work pays off in time for the next academic year.”
Report reveals pressure on Academies to generate their own income
Academies are increasingly under pressure to generate their own income to overcome a shortfall in grant funding, according to a new study of the Academies sector from Xeinadin, the UK and Ireland-based business advisory and accountancy group. The group’s Academies Benchmarking Report reveals that as funding and budgets tighten up, on average primary schools are spending just over £5,400 per pupil per year with secondary schools recording a figure of just under £7,800. Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) recorded a figure of £6,200 – representing their mix of primary and secondary schools. Xeinadin, which provides a wide range of consultancy, audit, cloud accounting and payroll services for academies, says these figures are higher than the average level of grant funding in each category, meaning an academy must generate an element of its own income to subsidise a shortfall in grant funding. Income The majority of income to academies comes in the form of Government Grants provided through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Predominantly, this is the General Annual Grant (GAG) and Pupil Premium. With funding and budgets becoming increasingly tight, there has been a need for academies to generate their own income, generally in the form of Trading Income. In the primary schools and secondary schools surveyed, this represents 5% and 4% of total income respectively compared to 3% in Multi-Academy Trusts. Academies often have sizeable estates that can be used out of school hours to generate lettings income as well as a staff base that can provide services to other schools for a fee. The study argues that many primary schools have become part of Multi-Academy Trusts in order to share Trust governance and senior leadership team (SLT) costs, which can be extremely challenging for smaller schools, particularly in the primary sector, as the majority of funding is provided on a per pupil basis. Xeinadin says that primary schools receive on average around £4,000 Grant Income per-pupil compared to just over £6,300 per pupil for secondary schools. On this basis, a primary school with 150 pupils would have an annual grant income of around £600k. Alex Ffrench, Hub Director at Xeinadin Group, commented:“The importance of self- generated income cannot be overstated for Academies. With ever-increasing pension costs and concerns over the future of funding, it is vital that Trusts maximise returns on their assets to ensure it is possible to set a balanced budget. For example, in an £8m income secondary school, increasing the Trading Income to 7% of the total income rather than 4% could amount to an additional £200,000 revenue a year.” Staff costs The report finds that unsurprisingly, staff costs account for the majority of academies’ expenditure. Ever-increasing pressures on budgets have resulted in a reducing staff cost base, with primaries averaging 68% of total cost, secondaries 73% and MATs 69%, substantially less than days gone by when staff cost ratios of over 85% were commonplace. Despite MATs also including special and alternative provision schools which typically drive up average staff costs, these are lowered due to Senior Leadership Teams (which tend to have comparatively highly paid members of staff) being split across a number of academies. This structure is evidenced by analysis of staff numbers disclosed in financial statements, which reveals that just 4% of staff in MATs being in management roles compared to 6% in secondary schools and 8% in primary schools. Primary schools incur costs of just over £27,000 per staff member whereas secondary schools show costs of £40,000 per staff member, reflecting the greater number of senior staff within secondary schools. Alex Ffrench continued: “Controlling staff costs is key to successfully managing a Trust’s finances. Timetabling is key to this, and as budgets become tighter, more and more academies are reducing the number of subjects offered, making efforts to reduce agency costs, and carrying out Integrated Curriculum and Financial Planning reviews to help schools plan the best curriculum they can for the funding they have.” As of April 2020, 36% of primary schools and 77% of secondary schools in England were Academies or Free Schools, of which the majority were Converter Academies. Since converter academies were launched in 2010, over 6,000 schools have opted to convert to academy status. In the years since, the Department of Education, along with the Regional Schools Commissioners, have encouraged Academies to form or join Multi-Academy Trusts. Now the vast majority of schools converting to academy status are joining existing Multi-Academy Trusts, where the significant costs of running Trusts are shared. Individual Trusts seeking to compare their data to Xeinadin’s survey results across 10 Key Performance Indicators can do so by visiting https://xeinadin.com/academies-benchmarking- report/.
Purdue University, Brigham Young University and RM launch research project to improve student learning outcomes through ‘learning by evaluating’
RM, a leading supplier of technology solutions to the education sector, today announced the third phase of a research project with Purdue University and Brigham Young University to better understand and explore the impact of Learning by Evaluating on student attainment. This research, led by Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute and Brigham Young University’s School of Technology, will be the largest-ever study using Adaptive Comparative Judgement – which harnesses our natural ability to make more consistent and accurate judgements by comparing pairs of items rather than in isolation. The research is funded by a $1.2m grant awarded by the National Science Foundation, Virginia. This third phase sees students at more than 20 schools per year in DeKalb County, Georgia implement RM Compare – RM’s industry-leading adaptive comparative judgement assessment and evaluation tool – for three years from the start of the upcoming academic year as part of their ongoing learning. While traditional efforts around improving student learning and assessment often centre on teachers as the evaluators rather than the students themselves, the goal of the project is to put the power in students’ hands by allowing them to gain a greater understanding of what good work looks like, stimulating and promoting learning. The first two phases of the research were undertaken in 2019 and 2020 and saw half of the cohort of ~550 undergraduate students given the opportunity to view and evaluate finalised work submitted by a previous cohort through RM Compare ahead of being tasked with an unrelated assignment. The other half of the cohort pursued traditional classroom activity such as sharing work and feedback in a teacher-led discussion. The outcome was that the students who had used RM Compare developed a stronger understanding of ‘what good looks like’ and significantly improved their results, with this improvement in outcomes seen across the spectrum of student ability – which is of particular interest given that few interventions achieve equity of outcome and impact when it comes to more challenging, and harder to reach students. Dr. Scott Bartholomew, one of the projects leads and assistant professor at Brigham Young University said: “Our research has shown significant gains for students engaging in learning by evaluating across multiple grade levels and content areas. We expect to find similar results in our current partnership with DeKalb County School District and look forward to working collaboratively with our teacher-partners who are exploring and expanding the learning opportunities made possible through this effort. While many software tools can facilitate a learning approach through evaluation, RM Compare has the most tools, options, and customisation for assisting both teachers and students in this process.” The Learning by Evaluating project has already received recognition from the industry for its achievement, with it recently being awarded Best Research Project at the 2021 e-Assessment Awards in London. RM Compare is also already being used in many UK universities, helping to improve assessment outcomes. Dr Jill Barber, National Teaching Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester said: “While students are very reluctant to assign a mark to another student’s piece of work, our research shows that students are good at judging between two pieces of work and selecting a “winner”. Furthermore, in a peer-assessed exercise carried out in RM Compare, each student receives rich and varied feedback from about 10 of their peers. Student feedback generally contains all the points that staff would make so it is of high value. Students welcome the opportunity to see other students’ work and to learn from it.“ Peter Collison, Head of Formative Assessment at RM said: “This project is the perfect demonstration of how technology can support both students and teachers in the classroom, without taking away from the learning experience. In fact, RM Compare helps turn the assessment process itself into a learning experience, by letting students collaborate with peers and teachers to successfully improve their grades. Beyond this, it also frees up teacher time, allowing them to utilise their expertise in the best ways: facilitating learning, helping struggling students, and guiding and coaching through classroom learning.”