NLT policy

White Paper on schools

1 Jul 2009

In June 2009 the DCSF released its White Paper on schools, Your child, your schools, our future. The paper is the latest stage of the Government’s reform of services for young people. Grounded in the principles of the Every Child Matters[1] agenda and the 2007 Children’s Plan,[2] there is a continued emphasis on joined-up service provision for young people.

The paper sets out a long list of policy ideas, some of which are already established policies. They include:

• A new Pupil Guarantee including one to one and small group work for children falling behind and a progress check at Year 7

• A new Parent Guarantee so they are fully involved in their child’s school, with school discipline agreements properly enforced. The guarantee could see parents being fined up to £1,000 for not fulfilling their obligations

• School Report Cards judging every school on six factors including: pupil progress, attainment and wellbeing, parental and pupil perceptions of the school, and how well schools are narrowing the achievement gap between rich and poor. They will include annual surveys of parents and pupils

• A new ‘licence to teach’, with teachers’ ability reviewed every five years

• Schools that are performing badly will be held to account with more frequent Ofsted inspections

• A new wave of federations and chains of schools, where good headteachers are given responsibility for other local failing schools, as well as plans for a vigorous expansion of the academies programme

• The paper also signals the end of the centrally controlled National Strategies, to come into effect when the current contract ends in 2011

The White Paper provides few surprises and fresh policy ideas, with School Report Cards, the Masters for teaching and an expansion of the academies programme all announced prior to the paper itself. The focus on joined-up approaches is at the heart of the Government’s vision for twenty-first century schools and echoes the earlier aims of the Children’s Plan for children’s services more widely. 

The experiences of Both Every Child Matters and the Children’s Plan in trying to join-up children’s services suggest that applying such an approach to the schools system will require a significant investment of both time and money. The difficulties local authorities have had in joining up children’s services to protect vulnerable children should serve as a warning that significant barriers will have to be overcome before schools can become fully integrated. 

At a micro level the vision for schools will be supported by new primary and secondary curriculums, which provide a more flexible framework for schools and teachers. The increased flexibility resonates with the decision to terminate the National Strategies in 2011. The Strategies have been accused of taking the enjoyment of learning out of schools and for forcing a ‘one size fits all’ approach into education. Yet these criticisms belie significant early success, including an impressive rise in literacy levels that were associated with the first five years of the scheme. The White Paper is not explicit about what could replace the Strategies to support the continuing need to raise school standards. It stresses that schools should maintain the literacy hour, however does not replace the infrastructure that currently supports it.

The new school system will revolve around clustered groups of schools sharing best practice and world class facilities, while being lead by highly qualified, dynamic leaders who operate with a higher degree of freedom. However, these freedoms come with increased responsibilities. Parents and pupils can report on the performance of their schools and hold the school to account based on the Parent/Pupil Guarantees. In turn, parents and pupils will be held accountable for attendance and performance through the annual agreements.

Given the close links between parental involvement and attainment at school, any focus on family involvement is welcome. However, the issue of fines for parents who do not comply with guarantees is difficult. Many parents feel intimidated by formal education settings, and the reasons that may prevent some families from participating satisfactorily are manifold, and could potentially be exacerbated by the financial burden of a fine. Though it may be complex, it is crucial that differing circumstances of parents are understood in the guarantees. Such concerns make for policies that may well be challenging to implement. 

George Dugdale, Policy Adviser

National Literacy Trust, [July 2009]

Downloadable version of this response: 21st century schools white paper  [pdf].

[1] DfES (2004) Every Child Matters

[2] DCSF (2007) Children’s Plan

Tags: Policy, Schools & teaching, Social inclusion

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