Department for Children, Schools and Families: consultation results

The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 1 Court Orders

2007-06-21 12:00:00

In June 2007, the DCSF published draft consultation guidance - Volume 1 (Court Orders) of the Children 1989 Guidance and Regulations, with the intention of replacing the 1991 edition of the guidance. The consultation, which ran until September 2007, resulted in 35 responses, the vast majority of which made proposals for amendments to the text of the draft guidance. Most of these suggestions were accepted and the finalised guidance was published on 24 January 2008, both on the DCSF website (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/localauthorities/index.cfm?action=content&contentID=12956&letter=C) and in hard copy form by The Stationery Office.

Consultation on New Charging Regulations for Music Tuition

2007-03-28 10:00:00

We received 26 responses to the consultation and the majority were broadly supportive of the proposed amendment. Respondents included music services, parents, local authorities and teachers � the key constituents for this amendment.

The majority of respondents thought that children who were receiving free tuition before 1 September 2007 should be able to continue learning under the same conditions after the regulations come into force. However, from the comments made by respondents requesting further legislation and guidance on this matter, the result was that this would not be included in the regulations but would be dealt with in the guidance. The consultation result clarified that other issues such as specifying group size, lesson length and cost should be decided at a local level.

Review of Mathematics Teaching in Early Years Settings and Primary Schools: INTERIM REPORT

2008-03-19 11:00:00

The high-level results of the consultation are available in Sir Peter Williams' final report (in Appendix 4), which can be accessed on the teachernet website on the following link:

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/primary/primarystrategy/mathsreview

Consultation on Revised Exclusions Guidance - September 2007

2007-02-23 11:00:00

The Department carried out a consultation from February to May 2007 on revisions to the Guidance on Exclusion from Schools and Pupil Referral Units. There where 15 questions contained in the consultation questionnaire. In all we had 86 responses to the consultation: 42 from Local Authorities; 13 from other bodies, 12 charity/voluntary organisations; 7 Governors, 6 head teachers; 4 professional association and 2 from parents. Respondents were largely happy with the changes proposed to the guidance.

Areas where the guidance was considered to be sufficient were: where pupils might be removed from the school site and redirected to offsite provision; encouragement of pupils to participate in the exclusions process; and the school�s duty to provide education from day six of an exclusion.

In four specific areas the majority of respondents felt that the guidance could be clearer: sending pupils home to change their uniform, we signposted the reader to the school uniform and appearance guidance; more information on parents� duty to take responsibility for their child in the first five days of exclusion; time limits for holding reintegration interviews with parents following their child�s exclusion; and advice on how Independent Exclusion Appeals Panels should hear combined appeals. Changes were made in the revised guidance which came into force in September 2007 to reflect the requests for clearer guidance and to refer the reader, where appropriate, to the Department�s separate guidance on school uniforms and on education-related parenting orders, parenting contracts and penalty notices.

Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) consultation about the transfer of responsibility for the registration of independent schools and the regulation of independent and non-maintained special schools (NMSSs) to Ofsted

2007-07-27 12:00:00

Consultation into the Definition of an Independent School

2007-08-03 12:00:00

Consultation on the definition of an Independent School

Introduction

On 3 August 2007 we launched a consultation into the definition of an independent school, which covered proposals to establish which organisations should register as an independent school. This followed an earlier and related consultation on the definition of full-time education in independent schools in November 2006.

We actively sought the opinions of key groups including home education support organisations and those who responded to the earlier consultation described above. This report has been based on the 64 responses which we received to the consultation document.

Throughout the report, percentages are expressed as a measure of those answering each question, not as a measure of all respondents.

The organisational breakdown of respondents was as follows:

Home educator/parent   32
Individual       9
Private organisation      9
Other*        6
Voluntary organisation     6
School       1
Local authority      1

*Those which fell into the �other� category included organisations of sports governing bodies, an alternative provision organisation, teaching unions and those who did not specify a category.

Overview

Respondents were broadly opposed to the proposal to expand the definition of an independent school to include settings which are the main organiser of a programme of education for children of compulsory school age.

[In responding to questions 3 and 4 there appeared to be some confusion amongst respondents who seemed to have interpreted the questions in opposite ways.]

Key responses

Education Otherwise disagreed with the proposal to expand the definition: they considered that the current definition was perfectly adequate. They thought that the concept of "settings which are the main organiser" begs the question as to how a "setting" can also be an "organiser" and emphasised that home educators may elect to use of a variety of settings, with the family retaining ultimate overall responsibility.

Education Otherwise expressed concern that the proposals would have an undesirable impact on home educating families, compromising their educational freedoms. They also thought that the phrase "main organiser" was unclear and misleading: in home education the family is the main organiser, but parents may delegate part of the educational programme to tutors or to study groups. Education Otherwise concluded by recommending that we adhere to the definition of an independent school as set out in the Education Acts 1996 and 2002, as anything else would be unworkable.

Home Education Advisory Service disagreed with the proposal: they thought that there is a clear distinction between an independent school, however small and specialised, and individual educational arrangements or institutions which may be classed as 'other provision'. They believe that some of the highly individual arrangements that are made by home educating parents should not be subject to the same registration procedures as independent schools which have premises, teaching staff and a specific curriculum. They also expressed concern about the implications of adjusting the definition of an independent school, believing that an expansion of the definition could blur distinctions and introduce difficulties without achieving anything of substance.

The Independent Schools Council asked that the government took the opportunity to amend arrangements that see Academies and City Technology Colleges (CTCs) defined as independent. They argue that Academies and CTCs do not conform to international norm for independent schools.

Few of the respondents drew attention to specific arrangements which could be affected by the change in legislation.

Summary

Q1 Do you agree with the proposal to expand the definition of an independent school to include settings which are the main organiser of a programme of education for children of compulsory school age, subject to a number of exclusions to be set out in regulations?

There were 62 responses to this question.

7 (11%) agreed 49 (79%) disagreed 6 (10%) were not sure

The vast majority of home educators (87%) disagreed with the proposal to expand the definition of an independent school.

The main concerns voiced by respondents were:

� the proposals would limit parental choice, and home educators would be restricted in the way that they organised their child�s education provision (27%);
� there was no rationale given for the proposed change and it was unclear why it was considered necessary (26%). In general respondents felt the current arrangements were well understood and they did not think any change was necessary;
� the use of the term �main organiser� was unclear and could be open to wide interpretation.

Q2 Do you agree with the proposed list of types of provision to be excluded?

There were 58 responses to this question.

9 (16%) agreed 43 (74%) disagreed 6 (10%) were not sure

Slightly more than half the respondents to this question were home educators. Almost three quarters of respondents disagreed with the proposed list of types of provision to be excluded.

The main issues raised by respondents were:

� the proposals would restrict elective home education arrangements - parents may organise their children�s education provision but are not necessarily involved in delivery, ie they may delegate to tutors or grandparents (31%); � the threshold for registration was too low (24%). Respondents felt that this would capture many alternative provision settings unnecessarily, although few specific examples were drawn to our attention;
� the proposals would limit parental choice, (14%);
� there was no rationale given for the proposed change and it was unclear why it was considered necessary (12%). Again, respondents generally felt the current arrangements were well understood and they did not think any change was necessary.

Q3 Are there any settings that you feel should not be included, and if so, why?

There were 31 responses to this question.

(A number of respondents indicated that the questions presupposed agreement to the proposal and, as they did not agree to it, they did not feel able to answer this question.)

77% of respondents to this question thought that home education arrangements should not be required to register and 16% thought that the proposals would limit parental choice.

Q4 Are there any settings that you feel should be included, and if so, why?

There were 17 responses to this question.

(A number of respondents indicated that the questions presupposed agreement to the proposal and, as they did not agree to it, they did not feel able to answer this question.)

76% of respondents to this question thought that it was unclear why it was considered necessary.

Q5 Do you have any comments?

There were 26 responses to this question.

Respondents raised the following issues:

� the proposals would limit parental choice (65%);
� there was no rationale given for the proposed change and it was unclear why it was considered necessary (42%);
� only schools should be required to register, not other providers of education (27%);
� concerns about expressing the definition in terms of hours (and as a result introducing a definition of full-time education) (19%).

DECISIONS IN THE LIGHT OF THE CONSULTATION

� The published Education and Skills Bill contains a clause to introduce the new definition of an independent educational institution. It makes provision for regulations to specify those institutions or types of institutions which are excluded from the requirement to register. Regulations may also provide for the time spent on specific activities to be counted or not counted as time during which education is being provided, and may amend the number of qualifying weeks specified in the clause.
� We will consult further on draft regulations in the coming months, but are committed to providing examples in relation to those institutions to be excluded from the requirement to register, eg:

- home education, including part time teaching in the home by tutors, home education through correspondence courses, and collaborative arrangements where home educators come together for part of the week to jointly educate groups of children;
- sports clubs, and language colleges, which offer specialist coaching in limited subjects;
- local authority organised home tuition;
- temporary provision;
- summer schools.

Bercow Review of Speech, Language and Communication Needs-Call for Evidence

2007-10-23 12:00:00

The summary of the evidence presented to the Review forms Annex E of John Bercow's interim report to Government. The interim report was published on 20 March 2008 and is available from www.dcsf.gov.uk/bercowreview

Section 58 of Children Act 2004 Review (Consultation)

2007-06-15 09:30:00

The results of this consultation can be viewed on the following web page:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/publications/section58review/index.shtml

Time to Talk

2007-09-06 11:00:00

We are asking anyone with an interest in making things better for children, young people and families what they think needs to be done to achieve it. The debate starts with this survey. If you have any views on what children, young people and families need or want, please let us know.

The results of the debate are available on the Department�s Time To Talk website.

Consultation on Draft Amendments to the Education (Specified Work and Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 made under the Education Act 2002

2007-05-11 15:00:00

As you know the Department consulted publicly for six weeks, from 11 May to 22 June 2007, on a series of draft amendments to The Education (Specified Work and Registration) (England) Regulations 2003. We have carefully considered the responses to the consultation and the results can be seen in the attached downloadable document.