Hinds: A world class education for everyone, whatever path you take, whatever your background
- Unrelenting focus on academic standards, with actions to improve literacy and numeracy and support to create a positive learning environment
- Equal importance for technical and vocational education with £38 million funding boost for the first T Level providers
- Supporting kids beyond the classroom to build character and resilience through a new School Sports Action Plan
Speaking at Conservative Party Conference on 3rd October, the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds will announce a series of measures that will help to create a work class education for every child, whatever path they take and whatever their background.
·Improving standards in English and Maths. Many of our schools and colleges now excel in teaching maths and English. Standards are therefore rising with more 11 year olds meeting the required standards in reading and writing and more teenagers achieving a standard GCSE maths pass before they leave education. However there is more to do and so today we are naming 32 schools and 21 colleges who will receive £66 million over five years to share their expertise. The colleges will establish Maths Centres of Excellence that will test and share new ways to teach students who are resitting their maths GCSE. The schools will set up regional English Hubs to help other primary schools teach phonics.
·Support for improving behaviour in schools. Good behaviour unlocks opportunities for pupils. It frees pupils from low-level disruption so they can learn and frees teachers to focus on teaching. This government has empowered schools to improve behaviour but we want to go further. We will therefore invest £10 million to improve training on behaviour for teachers, update our guidance on behaviour and support the best schools to share their knowledge.
·World class facilities for teaching T Levels. We are transforming technical education so that every young person has the opportunity to get a skilled job. From 2020, students will be able to study T Levels - a new high quality, technical alternative to the A-level. T Levels are designed by business and include substantial placements in industry so that young people master the skills they need to get a great job at the end.Today we are announcing that we will invest £38 million in cutting edge equipment and facilities so that these new gold standard qualifications will be taught in world class facilities.
·Increasing Careers provision. We want young people to have great careers provision so they can access opportunities, especially those created by our reforms to technical education. That is why we are doubling the number of trained Career Leaders in schools to 1,300 as well as setting up 20 new networks of schools working together with employers. This means more work experience, more employers visiting schools, more focus on careers in the curriculum and more young people acquiring the skills and qualifications they need succeed.
·More competitive sports in school. Sport is an important part of growing up. It gives young people the opportunity to build the character and resilience they need to succeed as an adult. The Education Secretary and the Sports Minister will convene key organisations in the sports world – including the Premier League, England Netball and the RFU – to encourage schools to offer more competitive school sport. This will lead to a School Sports Action Plan which will be published next year.
Education Secretary, Damian Hinds said:
“Look at what has been achieved in education since 2010 – back in the world top 10 for primary school reading, with reformed curriculum and qualifications, thousands of schools given freedom as an academy, 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools.
“This is a record to be proud of, but it’s not yet enough to be satisfied with. Our ambition is simply said but truly stretching: a world class education for everyone, whatever path you take, whatever your background.
“We will not rest until results in all parts of our country are as good as they are now in the best, opportunity is equally available to all of our society and all routes, whether academic or technical, are of equal standing.”