The DfE has said that a broader, richer, cutting-edge curriculum that drives high and rising schools standards and sets all young people up for life and work will be central to the government’s vision for education, as it launches its wide-ranging Curriculum and Assessment Review. Spanning from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 5, the independent review will be chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality.
The review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve – in particular those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, or with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). Following the review, all state schools – including academies who currently do not have to follow the national curriculum – will be required by law to teach the national curriculum up to age 16, giving parents certainty over their children’s education. There’s more from the DfE here. And here’s what the Education Endowment Foundation has to say.
In other news, a Children’s Wellbeing Bill sets out to introduce education policies that are priority areas for the government. If becoming law, it would see a range of changes to schools and trusts including:
- Free breakfast clubs in every primary school
- Limiting the number of branded uniform items that a school can require
- Bring multi-academy trusts into the inspection system
A child poverty taskforce will consider factors related to household incomes, employment, housing, children’s health, childcare and education to create a new child poverty strategy. Liz Kendall (Work and Pensions Secretary) and Bridget Phillipson (Education Secretary) have committed to engagement with leading organisations, charities, and campaigners in the coming weeks.