The government published a revised school admissions code, and admissions appeal code. The new admissions code placed a duty on admission authorities to engage with parents and the wider community when setting their admission arrangements, in order to meet the needs of their local area. It banned schools from holding interviews or asking parents to make financial contributions or offer practical support.
Source: School Admissions Code, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Admissions Code | Appeals Code | Hansard | DCSF press release | ATL press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Dec
A report said that faith schools in England needed to become schools for all children in order to encourage interaction between people of different faiths and ethnicities. It recommended an end to selection on the basis of faith.
Source: Rob Berkeley, Right to Divide? Faith schools and community cohesion, Runnymede Trust (020 7377 9222)
Links: Report | Runnymede Trust press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
The Chief Adjudicator for Schools published his annual report for 2007-08. There had been a sharp rise since the previous year in the number of parents registering official complaints accusing schools of breaking the code on fair admission procedures. Faith schools were among the worst offenders.
Source: Annual Report: September 2007 to August 2008, Office of the Schools Adjudicator (0870 001 2468)
Links: Report | Hansard | DCSF press release | NSS press release | CofE press release | ADCS press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report said that 45 per cent of schools in England struggled to find suitably qualified governors. The role of governor needed to be made less complicated, and the workload reduced, in order to attract more applicants.
Source: Governing Our Schools, Business in the Community (0870 600 2482)
Links: Report | Bath University press release | Freshfields press release | NGA press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Oct
The government began consultation on a new system for handling complaints from parents about their child's school in England. Parents would be able to refer their complaints to an independent service, which would review the decisions made by the school and take action if they felt the parent had been treated unfairly.
Source: A New Way of Handling Parents' Complaints About School Issues, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | DCSF press release | NASUWT press release | ABA press release
Date: 2008-Sep
An international study of school leadership practices and policies found that headteachers in the United Kingdom were among the highest-paid in the world, and that England's approach to developing school leadership was one of the best. But it also said that the level of regulation imposed on schools risked backfiring, and emphasized concerns about school inspections and league tables.
Source: Beatriz Pont, Deborah Nusche and Hunter Moorman, Improving School Leadership: Volume 1 – Policy and practice, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (+33 1 4524 8200)
Links: Summary | OECD press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Aug
The government began consultation on guidance in relation to schools' role in promoting well-being, and on the support they could expect from their local authority and other partners in the children's trust.
Source: Schools' Role in Promoting Pupil Well-being: Draft guidance for consultation, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DCSF press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report accused the government of pursuing a 'witch hunt' against faith schools, and of creating a 'climate of fear' surrounding their admissions procedures.
Source: Cristina Odone, In Bad Faith: The new betrayal of faith schools, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report | BHA press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Ekklesia report
Date: 2008-Jun
The government began consultation on proposals designed to make the school admissions process clearer, and give parents more say over local arrangements. All parents' applications for primary or secondary schools would be co-ordinated by the local education authority where they lived – whenever they were made, and whatever the age of the child – giving parents a single point of enquiry for all applications. The admissions code would be clarified to underline that schools could ask parents to support their 'ethos' – as long as this did not imply that they had to give time or money in support of it. Parents would be given the legal right to apply to at least three primary schools (under existing arrangements some parents could only apply for one).
Source: School Admissions Consultation, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | DCSF press release | NSS press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2)
Date: 2008-Jun
A new book examined the elements of successful school improvement programmes.
Source: Tim Brighouse and David Woods, What Makes a Good School Now?, Continuum International Publishing (020 7922 0880)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
The government published for the first time local authority data on the allocation of secondary school places in England by parental preference. 81.6 per cent of families received an offer at their first preference school, and 8.9 per cent were offered a place at their second preference school. But a 'significant minority' of schools were found to use practices which did not comply with the admissions code, including: schools asking parents to make financial contributions as a condition of admission; not giving looked-after children the priority required by law; asking about the marital, occupational, or financial status of parents; giving priority on the basis of family members who were not siblings attending the school; and interviewing children.
Source: 2008 Secondary Applications and Offers, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Hansard (1) | Hansard (2) | LGA press release | CofE press release | Ekklesia press release | BHA press release | NUT press release | NASUWT press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report | FT report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
The education inspectorate in Wales examined the extent to which schools in Wales were encouraging pupil participation. School councils had some influence, but mostly limited to practical arrangements.
Source: Having Your Say: Young people, participation and school councils, HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (029 2044 6446)
Links:Report | HMCIETW press release | WAG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb
A report examined the relationship between schools and local authorities in protecting and safeguarding children. It investigated the role of schools in the child protection process, and examined the decision-making processes that came into play when a child welfare concern prompted the decision to contact social services.
Source: Mary Baginsky, Schools, Social Services and Safeguarding Children: Past practice and future challenges, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775)
Date: 2008-Jan
An annual survey examined headteachers' views on a range of educational issues. Budget levels remained the main concern in primary schools in 2007, although the level of concern was lower than in 2006. In secondary schools, staffing issues had overtaken budgets to became the main area of concern, partly because of difficulties with recruitment.
Source: Karen Lewis, Tamsin Chamberlain, Anna Riggall, Kerensa Gagg and Peter Rudd, Annual Survey of Trends in Education 2007: Schools' concerns and their implications for local authorities, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Summary | NFER press release
Date: 2008-Jan
