The report of an independent review (chaired by George Bain) recommended that the minimum enrolment for primary schools in Northern Ireland should be 140 in urban areas, and 105 in rural areas. As many as 450 schools - more than a third of the total - faced closure or amalgamation.
Source: Independent Strategic Review of Education, Schools for the Future: Funding, strategy, sharing, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Report | NIE press release | NICVA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Dec
A discussion paper examined the key issues of governance and management which had emerged during the first phase of the roll-out of children's centres and extended schools.
Source: The Governance and Management of Extended Schools and Sure Start Children's Centres, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Discussion paper | Letter
Date: 2006-Nov
A report said that volunteering could help schools play a leading role in supporting and protecting young people, and ensuring they reached their full potential.
Source: Peter Hayes, New Perspectives on Volunteering in Schools, Community Service Volunteers (020 7278 6601)
Links: Report | CSV press release
Date: 2006-Nov
An audit report said that better links between schools, local services, and communities could be mutually beneficial. Children's underachievement was often linked to deprivation, so improvements to the local community could help improve schools' performance. In turn, communities could benefit from better schools, both through the improved life chances of their children, and through new facilities or additional services that could be used by the whole neighbourhood.
Source: More Than the Sum: Mobilising the whole council and its partners to support school success, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Nov
Researchers examined the extent and characteristics of extended services being provided by maintained primary schools throughout England in 2006. 16 per cent provided the full childcare offer, and 48 per cent of the rest said that they planned to do so within the next two years. After-school provision had increased from a high 2005 base by 4 percentage points to 91 per cent. There had been an increase of 13 percentage points, from 40 per cent in 2005 to 53 per cent in 2006, in the proportion offering before-school care. Since 2005, there had been an increase in the proportion offering holiday care from 26 per cent to 43 per cent.
Source: Nicholas Gilby, Tara Mackey, Jo Mason, Anna Ullman and Sam Clemens, Extended Services in Primary Schools in 2006, Research Report 809, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Nov
An annual survey of trends in education was published, based on questionnaire surveys of headteachers. Linked papers examined how the 'Every Child Matters' agenda was affecting schools; how schools were supporting looked-after children; what was happening on extended schools; and schools perceptions of local authority support for school improvement.
Source: Tamsin Chamberlain, Karen Lewis, David Teeman and Lesley Kendall, Schools' Concerns and their Implications for Local Authorities: Annual survey of trends 2006, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
A think-tank report said that the effect of government education reforms had been to create an environment in which local authorities drove better educational outcomes through influence and persuasion, rather than command and control. Due to their democratic accountability, local government was uniquely placed to drive better education by addressing the whole of a child?s environment, beyond the classroom as well as within the school.
Source: Kiran Dhillon, Schools of Thought: How local authorities drive improved outcomes in education, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
A report said that more than half of school mergers led to a drop in exam results.
Source: Staying On Track: Securing the performance of schools after merger and amalgamation, Hay Group (020 7856 7590)
Links: Hay Group website | Times report
Date: 2006-Oct
A paper examined how many pupils had a genuine choice of schools, in the sense of having three schools within travelling distance. Most pupils were found to have considerable choice of school. Only about a half of pupils attended their nearest school, and 30 per cent did not attend one of their nearest three schools.
Source: Simon Burgess, Adam Briggs, Brendon McConnell and Helen Slater, School Choice in England: Background facts, Working Paper 06/159, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2006-Oct
A report represented the findings from the second year (school year 2004-05) of the national evaluation of full-service extended schools. It said that extended services could help individuals and families re-engage with learning, and could have a significant impact on their life chances.
Source: Colleen Cummings et al., Evaluation of the Full Service Extended Schools Initiative, Second Year: Thematic papers, Research Report 795, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DfES press release | BBC report | Guardian report | 4Children press release
Date: 2006-Sep
The government began consultation on a new school admissions code. It said that no child should be disadvantaged by unfair admissions practice and criteria, and that every parent should know the basis on which their child would be admitted to a school. Schools would be required to act in accordance with the new code, rather than simply (as previously) have regard to it. Interviewing as part of a school s admissions arrangements was outlawed.
Source: School Admissions Consultation 2006, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | DfES press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report examined the extent to which schools populations reflected the profile of the local communities in which they were located. Voluntary-aided schools tended to admit lower proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals, with special educational needs, and with lower key-stage test scores (at age 11), than the proportions within their local communities.
Source: Tamsin Chamberlain, Simon Rutt and Felicity Fletcher-Campbell, Admissions: Who Goes Where? Messages from the statistics, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Date: 2006-Sep
A study (of people in their 40s) found that those who went to single-sex schools were more likely to study subjects not traditionally associated with their gender than those who went to co-educational schools. Girls from single-sex schools also went on to earn more than those from co-educational schools.
Source: Press release 22 September 2006, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: IOE press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report examined the role of adult learning in the development of extended services by schools, and showed how it could support the other services that schools were developing with their communities.
Source: Jeanne Haggart and Rachel Spacey, Adding Value: Adult learning and extended services, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (0116 204 4200)
Date: 2006-Sep
The government named the first 50 schools (in 28 pilot projects) which were working towards becoming 'trust' schools (state-funded schools run by an independent charitable trust).
Source: Press release 7 September 2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release | ASCL press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
The Local Government Ombudsman said that there had been a big rise in maladministration complaints made by parents about school admissions in England in 2005-06.
Source: Annual Review 2005/06, Commission for Local Administration in England (020 7217 4620)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jul
An article examined the market environment in which senior school managers found themselves. Compared to the situation at the time of a previous study in 1993, there was a stronger 'parent as consumer' marketing orientation and responsiveness on behalf of schools, and an environment in which competition and rivalry had intensified.
Source: Carl Bagley, 'School choice and competition: a public market in education revisited', Oxford Review of Education, Volume 32 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
The education inspectorate said that the extended schools programme in England was good for children's self-confidence, and had also appeared to improve exam results and parental involvement in education. But funding was sometimes too short-term to allow effective planning.
Source: Extended Services in Schools and Children Centres, HMI 2609, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Jul
An article said that educational partnerships served to facilitate and legitimatize central policy decision-making, as well as private sector involvement in the delivery of public policies.
Source: Alejandra Cardini, 'An analysis of the rhetoric and practice of educational partnerships in the UK: an arena of complexities, tensions and power', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 21 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A paper examined the impact of academic selection at age 11 on children in the minority of areas that still operated such a system. Overall there was little or no impact on attainment. Selective ('grammar') schools bestowed greater advantages to poor children than more affluent children: but very few of the former passed the selection test.
Source: Adele Atkinson, Paul Gregg and Brendon McConnell, The Result of 11+ Selection: An investigation into opportunities and outcomes for pupils in selective LEAs, Working Paper 06/150, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2006-Jul
A report (by an official advisory body) said that half of all schools rebuilt in the previous five years had been completed to a "poor" or "mediocre" standard; and just 1 in 20 had been judged "excellent".
Source: Assessing Secondary School Design Quality, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (020 7960 2400)
Links: Summary | CABE press release | Guardian report | BBC report | TES report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the underlying reasons for school reorganization, the processes involved, the different strategies and approaches, and the impact of recent legislative and capital funding changes, including the Education and Inspection Bill 2006.
Source: Shirley Goodwin, Local Authorities? Perspectives on School Reorganisation, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-May
The average class size in primary schools in England rose from 26.2 to 26.3 pupils in the year to January 2006. For secondary schools, the average fell from 21.7 to 21.5 pupils.
Source: Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England, January 2006 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 19/2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | DfES press release | BBC report | TES report | Times report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
The number of teaching posts (full-time equivalent) in England rose by 3,500 to 435,400 in the year to January 2006.
Source: School Workforce in England (Including Pupil: Teacher Ratios And Pupil: Adult Ratios), January 2006 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 18/2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | DfES press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Apr
A new book said that Northern Ireland's segregated education system had too many schools - and demographic trends meant that the problem was going to get worse, as the number of children of school age fell.
Source: Bob Osborne, Caitlin Donnelly and Penny McKeown (eds.), Devolution and Pluralism in Education in Northern Ireland, Manchester University Press (0161 275 2310)
Links: UU press release
Date: 2006-Mar
The education inspectorate examined the impact of extended school services on pupils motivation, attendance and behaviour, together with the effectiveness of such services in promoting parental involvement, links with the community, and multi-agency working. Extended schools had seen significant improvements in pupils' motivation and attendance. Parents were similarly enthusiastic, and there were examples of how life-chances had been improved for vulnerable families and children. (Extended schools are schools which use their facilities to provide a variety of community services.)
Source: Extended Schools: A report on early developments, HMI 2453, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Feb
An article examined the strengths and weaknesses of not-for-profit providers of schooling. Although they had the potential to harness sources of social capital to the benefit of school improvement, these benefits needed to be weighed against the risks inherent in increasing strong-ties social capital.
Source: Geoff Pugh, Peter Davies and Nick Adnett, 'Should we have faith in not-for-profit providers of schooling?', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 21 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan
The opposition Conservative Party said that it would create a new 'Technical School' in each of the 12 biggest cities in England, with the long-term ambition to have one in every area of the country. It said these 'high quality, high-tech academies' would raise the status of technical qualifications, boost Britain's science and engineering base, and provide real choice for parents and young people. Technical Schools would have academy status, be open to all students from 14 years of age, and be sponsored by leading businesses and universities.
Source: Press release 5 October 2009, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Conservative Party press release | NASUWT press release | ATL press release | CBI press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2006-Jan
A paper examined what parents looked for when choosing schools. Parents valued academic performance, and also school composition – preferring schools with low fractions of children from low-income families.
Source: Simon Burgess, Ellen Greaves, Anna Vignoles and Deborah Wilson, What Parents Want: School preferences and school choice, Working Paper 09/222, Centre for Market and Public Organisation/University of Bristol (0117 954 6943)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2006-Jan
The Northern Ireland Executive published the Education Bill. The Bill provided for the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority, designed to streamline the delivery of education services hitherto provided by a number of separate bodies.
Source: Education Bill, Northern Ireland Executive, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes
Date: 2006-Jan
A discussion paper said that pupils who had a wider choice of schools at their place of residence performed no better than those with more limited choice.
Source: Stephen Gibbons, Stephen Machin and Olmo Silva, Competition, Choice and Pupil Achievement, DP56, Centre for the Economics of Education/London School of Economics (020 7955 7285)
Links: Paper
Date: 2006-Jan
A report examined the attitudes of parents and educationalists (including politicians, policy-makers, and Education and Library Boards) towards sharing in and between schools, and highlighted lessons that could be learned from initiatives in Scotland, England, and the Republic of Ireland. The majority of parents and people involved in education wanted to see more sharing in and between schools in Northern Ireland.
Source: Philip O'Sullivan, Ian O'Flynn and David Russell, Education and a Shared Future: Options for sharing and collaboration in Northern Ireland schools, School of Education/ Queen's University Belfast (028 9097 3091)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan
