UPDATE NO 434 18 December 2020

Ofsted COVID-19 series – November reports now available

The Ofsted COVID-19 series of briefings includes notes, commentaries from Amanda Spielman and data about providers that we have visited or spoken to during the interim phase of our return to routine inspection.

Five topics are covered in the notes, published on 15 December

COVID-19 series: briefing on schools, November 2020
COVID-19 series: briefing on early years, November 2020
COVID-19 series: briefing on further education and skills, November 2020
COVID-19 series: briefing on children’s social care, November 2020
COVID-19 series: briefing on local areas’ SEND provision, November 2020

School Buildings Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme

From 2021 to 2026 the DfE’s Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme will visit every government-funded school and FE college in England to collect data about the condition of their buildings.

This data will provide a comprehensive picture of the condition of the school and FE college estate in England, and when combined with the previous Condition Data Collection 1, will provide a credible picture of changing investment needs over time.

DfE are working with 5 organisations to deliver CDC2:

• Arcadis – technical quality manager
• Aecom – surveying organisation
• Faithful + Gould – surveying organisation
• Rider Levett Bucknall – surveying organisation
• Accruent – IT supplier

Lists of schools in the pilot phase, tranche 1 and tranche 2 have been published

Pilot phase Dec 2020 – Jan 2021: 7 SE schools in Hampshire, Medway, West Berkshire and Windsor and Maidenhead

Tranche 1 Feb 2021 – Jul 2021: 117 SE schools in all LAs except Brighton and Hove and Portsmouth

Tranche 2 Aug 2021 – Jan 2022: 445 SE schools in all LAs

IntegratED Annual Report 2020 published

The IntegratED annual report brings together all the latest data, research and policy relating to school exclusion and alternative provision for 2019/20. 

IntegratED is a coalition of partner organisations working to reduce preventable exclusions and improve the quality of education for children excluded from school. We do this through a whole-child development lens.

The annual report complements the online knowledge hub, available at www.integrated.org.uk, which offers an up-to-date repository of research into exclusions, AP and whole-child development. It also features the latest news articles and blogs, plus an interactive map of AP in England and a networking platform to connect with others working to reduce preventable exclusions and improve AP.

Children looked after in England including adoptions

Information on children looked after in England, including numbers of looked after children adopted, care leavers and looked after children who are missing. Data is taken from the annual SSDA903 data collection.

Figures relate to the year ending 31 March 2020 unless otherwise stated.

Although the majority of this data relates to before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there could be a small effect on these figures due to the impact the pandemic had on social work practice in the second half of March 2020. 

The vulnerable children and young people survey has been collecting information from local authorities in England to help understand the how the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak affected children’s social care.

Take Your Place – the development programme for future children’s service leaders in the South East

Common myths about leadership: why it is good for you and how your leadership can reduce stress for others 

Date: 1^st March 2020 14.00-16.30 online workshop (MS Teams)

Target Audience: Service Managers, Heads of Service and other 3^rd tier managers working in Children’s Services (including children’s social care, education, and other services) in the South East 

Cost: There are no additional fees for this training, it is being provided as part of your authoritiy’s subscription to the SESLI Programme

Booking: The course will be limited to 20 participants and places can be booked by contacting Mark Evans (details below)

Overview – This workshop has been created following research completed for SESLIP to identify the learning needs of future leader of children’s services across the South East. The workshop will explore: 

• Fears people have about leadership and how to allay them: why being a leader can reduce your stress 
• Experiences of leadership in the context of the pandemic and what it has shown us: 
• How leaders can try to reduce stress for others 
• Reflections from children’s services leaders in the region 

The workshop will be delivered by Alison Jeffery (DCS Portsmouth) and Lucy Butler (DCS West Sussex) supported by SESLIP.  It will also include opportunities for group work.

COVID-19: mental health and wellbeing surveillance report – Chapter 7 CYP

Andrea King (contact details below) writes,

“The COVID-19 impact on CYP MH analysis was updated and released on 17 December

“COVID-19 and related impact on school attendance has affected CYP Mental Health; return to school has also increased academic anxiety and stress for many CYP; the longevity of the impact is not yet fully understood. Nonetheless some CYP have coped well, children’s happiness has remained relatively stable. CYP experience of loneliness has increased and family functioning has been a mixed picture.

“Almost half of 16-24 year olds showed new symptoms of psychological distress and were more likely to present for help in May 2020. Child suicides rose in the first 56 days of March to May lockdown, but numbers were too small to reach definitive conclusions and overall the risk remained low. In the 17 to 22 year age range, 27.2% of young women and 13.3% of young men were identified as having a probable mental disorder. There are indications that 11-16 year olds have become less likely to share their problems, more likely to deal with distresses on their own and be less open to change.

“There is evidence of disproportionate impact on:

• Children living in poverty and with household incomes below £16,000
• Children with Special Educational Needs or a disability
• Some evidence suggests that children and young people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds have experienced a higher rate of mental health and wellbeing concerns. Other studies have not found differences in overall psychological wellbeing, subjective wellbeing and difficulties.

Wishing you all a really good break over the Christmas period, Andrea (on behalf of NHSE/I CYP MH Team)”

Future dates for Network meetings

AD Safeguarding: Friday 5 March 2021 –  for more information from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: Wednesday 10 March 2021. Confidential documents have been posted on the QA restricted pages – access to these pages and more information from Diane Williamson (contact details below)

Fostering Network: 10.30am Thursday 28 January. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

SEND SE19: More information from Tracey Maytas (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: More information from Alastair Lee (contact details below)

AD Education: Friday 29 January 2021 – 1.30pm – 3.30pm – more information from Chris Owen (contact details below)

Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board: Tuesday 19 January 2021. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

Speak for Change report published by the Oracy APPG

The Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has released an interim report which highlights that young people have unequal access to opportunities to develop their oracy skills in schools in England. It emphasises the importance of developing students’ confidence and competence in spoken language, particularly as the disruption to children’s education over this past year is widening the already stubborn language gap.

The Oracy APPG is calling for better support for teachers to embed oracy in their classrooms and raised expectations for pupils’ entitlement to quality oracy teaching, in order to harness the untapped potential of oracy to address educational inequality, improve employability and support children’s wellbeing as we emerge from this crisis.

The full report is here

The Oracy APPG is supported by Voice21 and 17 other organisations in the Oracy Network

A systematic review of early years degrees and employment pathways

EPI has published A systematic review of early years degrees and employment pathways. 

The Education Policy Institute and the Plymouth Institute of Education (University of Plymouth) have published a new report on early years degrees in England, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. While degree-qualified staff have been identified as contributing to the quality of early years education, very little is known about the content or structure of degrees, or if graduates go on to work in early years education.

The report examines the full range of early years degrees in England along with the employment trajectories of early years graduates. 

The full report is here

It finds:

• A fragmentation in degree choice, content and age of specialisation. Prospective early years students must navigate between as many as 320 different degrees on the UCAS application system, while early years degrees cover a range of subjects, but with no obvious common core.
• Practical elements of degrees (work placements) are not always strong or uniform
• Clear differences between early years students and the broader student population in relation to degree choice and employment opportunities
• Little financial incentive for completing an early years degree, especially if staying in the early years sector for employment
• Graduates mostly stay in the early years sector, but there is a localised workforce, with little movement between pre-university residence, location of study and employment.