Changes to SEND policy: what teachers and school leaders need to know

As of January 2016, there were 236,805 pupils in Englandwith a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. This is an increase of 640 from 2015 – and equates to 2.8% of the total pupil population. Schools are still coming to terms with huge policy changes in this area. Following on from the Equalities A...

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Prevent: a brief guide to the policy, your school's duty and resources for teachers

When three East London schoolgirls fled Britain to join Islamic State in Syria in February 2015, the education world was forced to ask itself some difficult questions. The government's counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent, had been in place since 2011, but many teachers and school leaders found the guidance vague and hard to enforce. It's better und...

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Count us in: what is maths mastery and how can schools in the UK get involved?

In the latest international Pisa tests, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 22% of 15-year-olds in the UK performed at the lowest level of mathematics proficiency. In practice, this means they may be unable to carry out simple tasks, such as recognising that travelling four kilometres in 10 minutes means going...

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Do you know your free schools from your academies? Here’s our guide to secondary schools in England

We've all been there – you know you should know how academies and free schools differ, but since it doesn't make the daily grind of planning, assessment and teaching any easier, you have never had a moment to get your head around it. Our latest instalment of the bite size policy digest gives you a brief overview of all the different types of second...

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Financial Literacy Education

Financial literacy education became part of the National Curriculum for the first time in September 2014, as part of citizenship education in key stages 3 and 4 (ages 11-16). The Citizenship programmes of study make provision for pupils in key stage 3 (aged 11-14 years) to be taught about: the functions and uses of money the importance and practice...

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