A report said that new partnership arrangements in schools were not well aligned to the idea of the lay school governor. Governors often played a marginal role in partnership governance. Governance arrangements needed to be rethought in a 'multi-layered' way, with new models of working at each of three 'layers' – neighbourhood, locality, and local authority.
Source: Stewart Ranson and Colin Crouch, Towards a New Governance of Schools in the Remaking of Civil Society, CfBT Education Trust
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report provided examples of how admission forums and local authorities had responded to recent changes in the law relating to secondary school admissions. Most schools complied with the admissions code, and admissions procedures were followed in accordance with the rules. However, some evidence was reported of rules being broken, for example in the use of waiting lists. In addition some practices were described that, although they might not break the school admissions code, would be unlikely to be encouraged by policymakers. In addition to the requirements that arrangements were 'clear', 'objective', and 'procedurally fair', the arrangements also needed to be co-ordinated with the arrangements for other schools in the area.
Source: Philip Noden and Anne West, Secondary School Admissions in England: Admission Forums, local authorities and schools, Research and Information on State Education Trust
Links: Report | Summary | NASUWT press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report examined the role of school governors in promoting race equality.
Source: Nicola Rollock, School Governors and Race Equality in 21st Century Schools, Runnymede Trust (020 7377 9222)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Nov
Researchers examined how much variation in pupil outcomes was accounted for by school leadership. There were 'statistically significant' and 'qualitatively robust' associations between the educational values, qualities, and strategic actions of headteachers and improvement in school conditions and pupil outcomes.
Source: Christopher Day et al., The Impact of School Leadership on Pupil Outcomes: Final Report, Research Report RR108, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2009-Jun
The Court of Appeal ruled that the admissions criteria of the Jewish Free School (in London) were in breach of the Race Relations Act 1976. The qualification for admission to the school was a test of ethnicity and not religion, and therefore the school had discriminated on racial grounds in its admissions.
Source: E, R (on the application of) v The Governing Body of JFS, Court of Appeal 25 June 2009
Links: Text of judgement | BHA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the cumulative impact of statutory instruments on schools. It said that it welcomed the recommendations in the report, and had committed to making 'several major changes' in response.
Source: The Cumulative Impact of Statutory Instruments on Schools: Government Response, Eighteenth Report (Session 2008-09), HL 100, House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Date: 2009-May
A study examined the needs and preferences of parents in terms of information about schools, and in particular their reactions to the idea of a 'school report card'. Parents were very suspicious that the proposed report card would be too oriented towards academic performance, and that it would 'bury' bad news within an overall category score. A linked study gathered the views of a sample of adults, a minority of whom were parents.
Source: Counterpoint Research, School Accountability and School Report Card: Qualitative Research – Executive Summary, Research Report RR106, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260) | TNS, School Accountability and School Report Card: Omnibus Survey (November 2008) – Top Line Findings, Research Report RR107, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report (1) | Report (2)
Date: 2009-May
The Prime Minister outlined plans under which parents in England might be able to trigger local authority intervention in 'unsatisfactory' schools. The government would examine how local authorities could improve their knowledge of what parents wanted, and how satisfied parents were with their local schools. Where there was significant dissatisfaction with the pattern of secondary school provision, and where standards across an area were too low, the local authority would be required to act.
Source: Speech by Gordon Brown MP (Prime Minister), 5 May 2009
Links: Text of speech | ATL press release | Voice press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of peers said that schools should be given at least one full term's lead-in time between the notification of a new requirement in a statutory instrument and the commencement of that requirement; that all significant statutory instruments should be subject to post-implementation review, and that the review findings should be made known to Parliament. The government should seriously consider a 'less heavy-handed' approach to maintained schools: if the light-touch regulatory framework for academies were found to be appropriate and successful, it should be extended to all maintained schools.
Source: The Cumulative Impact of Statutory Instruments on Schools, 9th Report (Session 2008-09), HL 45, House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report examined secondary schools' admissions criteria and practices in England in light of the new legislative and regulatory context. Most admissions criteria and practices were found to be broadly in line with the school admissions code (2007), although a minority of schools had criteria that could not be considered clear or objective. However, the admissions process was unduly complex for voluntary aided schools: there could be a high number of criteria relating to religion and religious practice, creating difficulties for parents/carers and allowing scope for discretion in many cases. The government announced that it had ordered a review of the system, with a report due in September 2009.
Source: Anne West, Eleanor Barham and Audrey Hind, Secondary School Admissions in England: Policy and practice, Research and Information on State Education Trust (libby.goldby@risetrust.org.uk) | Press release 2 March 2009, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0870 000 2288)
Links: Report | Summary | DCSF press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Mar
A new book examined ways in which schools could work with parents and the wider community to raise the standards of achievement for all their pupils.
Source: Cyril Taylor, A Good School for Every Child: How to improve our schools, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
