Pupils falling behind will be supported by Government funding

In the long-awaited Schools White Paper, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has set out his vision for schools over the next decade, including a plan for a Parent Pledge for pupils falling behind in English and maths to get extra support.

Read more: What Government minister has to say about schools in the North East

The White Paper sets out plans to intensify support to Education Investment Areas, including Darlington, County Durham, Sunderland, South Tyneside and North Yorkshire.

A total of £86 million will be made available to grow and strengthen multi-academy trusts over the next three years, with a particular focus on Education Investment Areas, alongside additional payments to recruit and keep talented physics, chemistry, computing and maths teachers working in disadvantaged schools, including in these areas.

The 24 priority Education Investment Areas – including Middlesbrough and Hartlepool – which have some of the highest rates of disadvantage in the country, will receive a further £40 million of additional funding for bespoke interventions to address local needs, such as high absence rates.

Read more: Government reveals how it believes it is levelling up the North East

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi. Picture: PA

The Government said this would build on plans, set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, for 90 per cent of pupils leaving primary school to meet expected standards in literacy and numeracy. In 2019, just 65 per cent of pupils leaving Year 6 met this standard.

But Labour accused ministers of a “smoke-and-mirrors announcement”, arguing that developing good reading, writing and maths skills should be fundamental to the school system not an “add on”.

Under the Government’s pledge, schools will identify pupils at risk of falling behind, offering them a range of support, including tutoring sessions in small groups, and parents will be kept informed of their child’s progress.

The White Paper added that it aims for the national average GCSE grade achieved in English and maths to rise from 4.5 in 2019 to five by 2030. And it also included a pledge for all schools to have joined, or be in the process of joining, a “strong” multi-academy trust by 2030.

Under the plans, councils will be able to set up and run their own academy trusts, which it is hoped will encourage more primary schools to become academies.

Councils will also legally be able to request for their non-academy schools to join a trust.

And where schools have received two consecutive Ofsted judgements of below “Good”, the Government plans to help them to join strong trusts – with an initial focus on schools in the 55 education “cold spots” identified in the Levelling Up paper.

A minimum standard length for the school week will be set, with all schools required to have a week of at least 32.5 hours’ length by September 2023.

The paper says that by 2025, Ofsted will inspect every school, including a backlog of schools previously rated “outstanding”, some of which have not been inspected for years.

The Government said that the Education Endowment Foundation charity will receive at least £100 million in funding, so that it can continue to evaluate the best teaching practice over the long term, and spread this across the country.

Read more: How Rishi Sunak's Spring Statement will affect you

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “we are making a pledge to every parent, if your child falls behind at school in either of these key subjects, their school will help them get back on track”.

“By making sure every child receives excellent teaching which helps them reach their full potential, we will spread opportunity and futureproof our mission to level up the country,” he added.

Mr Zahawi added: “Any child who falls behind in maths or English will get the support they need to get back on track, and schools will also be asked to offer at least a 32.5 hour school week by September 2023.”

Headteachers have said that while the White Paper does not lack ambition, it “falls short” on policies likely to make a difference to pupils’ progress.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the strategy is “distracting from the business of teaching with yet more tinkering with school structures whilst offering nothing to change children’s day to day experience in the classroom”.

“Parents will be surprised to hear that a focus on helping every child develop good reading, writing and maths skills is a new discovery for the Education Secretary,” the Labour MP added.

“This isn’t an add on that any parent should have to ask for, it’s the fundamentals of a good school system.”

It could even create tensions between parents and schools, by creating an expectation of various forms of additional support “on demand”, which would not be realistic when schools already faced stretched budgets to meet the needs of their pupils, he said.

The paper also announced that 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities would be introduced, and affirmed a commitment to raise starting salaries to £30,000.

It pledged to introduce a register for pupils not in school to ensure “no child is lost” from the system.

And it set out plans for every school to have access to funded training for a senior mental health lead to establish whole school approaches to wellbeing.

The paper pledged for up to six million tutoring courses to be delivered by 2024 and promised action to cement tuition as a permanent part of the education system.

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