DfE response to Ofsted’s interim reports from November

A Department for Education spokesperson said:

“It remains a national priority to keep schools and colleges open for all, because we know that is best for children’s education and wellbeing.

“Schools and colleges have gone above and beyond to make high-quality remote education available for those times when self-isolation is unavoidable and we remain on course to deliver, by Christmas, half a million devices to schools and councils.

“We have also allocated £1 billion to schools to support all children to catch up and are offering high-quality tuition – proven to help catch up on 3-5 months’ lost learning - to those who need it most through the National Tutoring Programme.”

Additional background

Children’s homes

• Keeping the most vulnerable children in society safe is our priority, especially those with the most complex needs. Secure children’s homes play an important role in that, and we continue to work closely with them and with other government departments to reduce the impact of the pandemic on children and young people at this time.

• Secure children home (SCH) managers throughout this period have taken the pandemic’s impact on the mental health and wellbeing of all children in their care extremely seriously. Ofsted has recently praised SCH staff for their ‘sterling work’.

Remote Education

• Over 340,000 laptops and tablets are being made available to schools this term to support disadvantaged children.

• This is part of over £195 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, which included over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers to disadvantaged children already delivered to children over the summer term.

• At its peak over the summer, 27,000 laptops were delivered in a single day.

• We want to ensure there is no doubt about the roles and responsibilities within the system, and the Direction requires schools with state-funded pupils to have regard to Departmental guidance in which these expectations are set out.

• The department has announced a remote education support package, to help schools and FE providers meet remote education expectations. Many elements of the support package are already in place and more will be available over the coming months to schools and FE providers, these can be accessed through the remote education service on gov.uk.

• To support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, the department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. This provides support to schools in developing the ability to switch from classroom teaching to remote provision immediately in case of local restrictions or self-isolation. Specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is also available. Oak will remain a free optional resource for 2020-21.

• Alongside this, there is a wide range of resources available to support schools and FE colleges to meet the expectations we have set for remote education. Our “Get Help with Remote Education” page provides a one-stop-shop for teachers and leaders, signposting the support package available. This includes helping schools and colleges to access technology that supports remote education, as well as peer-to-peer training and guidance on how to use technology effectively. It also includes practical tools, a good practice guide and school-led webinars to support effective delivery of the curriculum, as well as information on issues such as safeguarding and statutory duties and expectations.

Elective home education

• To help parents who are considering home education, we have published a blog to clearly set out their responsibilities: https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/20/all-you-need-to-know-about-home-schooling-and-elective-home-education-ehe

• We have also made additional advice available to local authorities and continue to work closely them to encourage a return to full attendance, secure evidence about the extent of EHE enquiries and ensure decisions around home education are being made in the best interests of children.

• Parents are responsible for ensuring children of compulsory school age receive a suitable education by attendance at school, or other than at school.

• If there is a concern over the standard of home education a child is receiving local authorities already have substantial powers including being able to request that parents show the education at home is efficient, and suitable to the needs and age of the child.

• Home education is never a decision that should be entered into lightly, and now more than ever, it is absolutely vital that any decision to home educate is made with the child’s best interests at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Referrals to social care

• Keeping the youngest and most vulnerable children safe is a priority for this Government, which is why the Children’s Minister has asked council chiefs and local safeguarding partnerships to prioritise support for families and babies throughout the pandemic.

• We have taken urgent action to help councils and frontline professionals support infants, and in particular we welcome the message from Chief Nurses that community health nurses services should be maintained this winter. We remain committed to reducing harm to infants, informed by recommendations of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel which we established to identify best practice to support vulnerable children such as these.