New Policies for Good Behaviour in Schools
- Proposed changes to the application process for school places are likely to introduce behaviour and standards policies
- Parents will be asked to sign up to a schools policy on behaviour, attendance and uniform as part of the applications process
- A six week consultation commences on 25th March, with the intention to introduce the new policies by the end of May 2010
- The consultation can be accessed online here
DCSF Press Release has further information
Extended Schools
- New campaign now released to promote and raise awareness of the extended services offered by schools
- The "Extended Services Marketing Campaign" will be promoted by a major advertising campaign including radio and press advertising
- Introduced in 2008, the Government has invested over £1 billion in extended services
- Extended services include a range of activities for pupils and their families including:
- Before and after school clubs - homework, sports, music, arts
- Childcare from 8.00am to 6.00pm for primary schools
- Support for parents and families
- Access to specialist services such as speech and language therapy
- Access to community facilities
- Over 20,000 schools are now offering some form of extended services
More details from the DCSF Press Release
New School Building Projects for the Republic of Ireland
- New projects given the go ahead will create 23,500 new school places in 20 new schools and 32 extension and refurbishment projects
- The Governments school building programme will provide fund of €579M for these projects
- As well as creating and estimated 5300 job, the projects will provide:
- 14,500 new primary places
- 1,900 new post-primary places
- 7,400 pupils to benefit from major refurbishment to their school sites
Department for Education nand Science Press Release
Action Plan for SEN
- Following Brian Lamb's review of Special Educational Needs, the Government launch an action plan to implement the reports recommendations
- Designed to create a skilled and flexible workforce, better information for parents, and more accountability, the recommendations announced this week include:
- £4M for the TDA to develop advanced SEN training
- Legal training for school governors
- A consultation with parents to review how current SEN information is provided, and develop best practice for the future
- An educational psychology services review
- These new recommentations are in addition to those already announced in December - A SEN helpline, pilot schemes and a better appeal structure
DCSF Press Release has further information
