The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is still in the early stages, having been considered by MPs at second reading in the House of Commons on 8th January. No timescales have been given regarding when the Bill is expected to pass. It seems reasonable to expect that many of the provisions of the Bill will become effective throughout 2025 and 2026 once the legislation receives Royal Assent. However, it introduces several key reforms to the UK education system. It enhances government oversight of academy trusts, establishes a register for flexi-schooled children, and updates school attendance laws. Among notable changes, councils will regain the authority to open schools, automatic academisation of failing schools will end, and academies will be subject to national pay scales and curriculum standards.

Key provisions include:

1. Uniform Restrictions: Schools may require no more than three branded uniform items, aimed at reducing costs for parents, effective from September 2026.
2. Flexi-Schooling Registrations: Councils must maintain registers for flexi-schooled children, and parents are required to report their child's educational arrangements.
3. Strengthened Attendance Orders: New rules streamline the process for school attendance orders, making it harder for parents to withdraw children from mandatory schooling.
4. Home Education Regulations for Special Needs: Parents of special school children must seek council approval for home education, with an appeals process in place.
5. Legal Definition of Full-Time Education: Clarifies what constitutes full-time schooling and expands powers to regulate independent and illegal schools.
6. Inspection and Teacher Regulation: Ofsted gains stronger powers to collect evidence from illegal schools, and teacher misconduct regulations will extend to non-teaching roles and online schools.
7. Academy Compliance and Pay Rules: The bill introduces enforcement mechanisms for academy compliance and extends national teacher pay rules to academies, though CEO salaries remain unregulated.
8. Admissions and Place Planning: Councils gain the power to direct academy admissions and challenge school capacity decisions, improving coordination for student placement and fair access.

The bill aims to address disparities between academies and maintained schools, reinforce educational standards, and increase accountability across the school system. Many provisions will come into effect from 2026, offering a phased approach to significant policy shifts.

According to official figures from government, recruitment for secondary teachers remains significantly below targets, particularly in STEM subjects, despite generous incentives. Primary recruitment has also seen record shortfalls. The pipeline of new teachers is expected to remain constrained in the coming years, posing continued staffing challenges. However, a record number of former teachers returned in 2023-24, although the reasons remain unclear. The Department for Education's (DfE) evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body highlights ongoing recruitment and retention challenges despite proposed pay rises. The proposed 2.8% pay increase grabbed the headlines, but there were some other interesting snippets. The government is seeking recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) on updating teacher pay and conditions to promote flexible working options, including job-shares, partial retirement, nine-day fortnights, and staggered work hours. The Department is interested in addressing barriers within the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) that may hinder such arrangements. Key areas of focus include clearer guidance for part-time teachers, strategies to retain experienced staff through partial retirement, and facilitating compressed working schedules without compromising student outcomes. The DfE also seeks feedback on supporting staggered start and finish times, recognising potential benefits for teachers with caregiving responsibilities while acknowledging operational challenges for school leaders.

On workload, teachers using ChatGPT, alongside a guide to support them in using it effectively, can reduce their lesson planning time by 31 per cent. This is according to the findings from a new trial published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in December. You can read more here.  

The government have announced changes and proposed reviews for teacher and leader development.

A full review of the early career framework (ECF) will be conducted in 2027, focusing on mentoring and teaching pupils with SEND. The ECF will be revised and renamed the Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE) from September 2025, maintaining two years of training and support. Changes in 2025 will address mentor workload, flexibility, and contextualisation, including reducing mentor training to one year and providing session materials. Schools will receive a support package with free mentor training materials, streamlined admin processes, and revised quality assurance charges. A review of national professional qualifications (NPQs) will focus on improving training in SEND, leadership, workload reduction, and operational management.

The relationship between head and chair is of paramount importance and often there is insufficient time for heads and chairs to work together to plan for strong governance. As a result, we are running a repeat of our one-day, face-to-face course to provide quality facilitated time for the head and chair to reflect on their relationship and plan together to make the board more effective. There will be time to reflect on the professional relationship between head and chair, clarify your roles and what is strategic and operational in your context. There will also be an opportunity to review your board's effectiveness and consider your roles in supporting its wider work so that you can leave the day having made a plan, together, for improving board effectiveness.

Feedback from the course previously included:

'The impact of this course was better than expected, it was good to have a safe space to work 1 to 1 with the headteacher'

'Excellent ideas and strategies to further improve our work '

'...lots of practical ideas to take back and implement...useful and valuable!'

The Education Select Committee is seeking evidence on short-term actions to stabilise the SEND system, which is currently experiencing increased demand, protracted waiting times and increased pressure on schools and local authorities. The Committee will also be looking at how, beyond stability, long-term sustainability of the SEND system can be achieved to support and improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

Mindful of previous reviews that have taken place in this area, and the evidence that already exists about the nature and scale of the problem, the Committee would welcome evidence primarily focused on solutions.

You can read the call to action and submit your responses here.

The National Governance Association (NGA) and Parentkind have updated their joint guidance, highlighting the crucial role of parents as key stakeholders who offer valuable insights into school life, ethos, and culture. The guidance explains the importance of parental participation in pupils' learning, suggests actions for schools and trusts to improve engagement, and advises governing boards on monitoring and supporting these efforts. Separate guides for multi-academy trusts (MATs) and single schools cover the benefits of parental participation, effective engagement strategies, overcoming barriers, governance oversight, and making governance visible to parents and other stakeholders.

Engaging with Parents and Carers: Guide for Single Schools

Engaging with Parents and Carers: Guide for Multi Academy Trusts

Schools wishing to develop a culture of positive engagement and to capture the gratitude of their local communities may want to consider using the Thank and Praise platform.

New data from the Department for Education (DfE) reveals that children eligible for free school meals are falling further behind their peers, with the disadvantage gap widening from 19.9 percentage points to 20.5 between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years. The figures, which focus on children’s development at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), show a troubling trend. Although the overall percentage of children achieving a good level of development has increased, the growing disparity between disadvantaged and more advantaged pupils points to ongoing inequalities in the education system.

You can see the data here.

According to new research from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), more than 300,000 children were absent from education in 2023, marking a 41% rise since 2017. The report highlights that over 50,000 students permanently left the English education system during their primary or secondary years, with notable spikes during key exam periods. Pupils from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and persistently disadvantaged children are particularly impacted by this trend. You can read the report here, Children Missing from Education report - EPI - Dec 24

• The Gatsby Foundation has updated its career benchmarks ten years after they were put in place. It is estimated that 90% of schools measure themselves against these benchmarks. The new report can be read here.
• The DFE Non-Statutory Guidance on Establishing Nursery Provision was updated in December.
• Universal Free School Meals for all primary pupils has been a policy in London, led by the Mayor of London. An independent report has been published highlighting the impact beyond financial support for families, including community support, improving mental health and well-being and concentration levels in classrooms. The 'More than a Meal' report can be read here.