Eight things we learned from first Phillipson sector address

Bridget Phillipson has said she wants to “better join” Ofsted’s inspection of schools with its role of “understanding the services and support” for children in their communities.

The new education secretary also sought to reassure teachers that her planned curriculum and assessment review will “recognise the expertise and work that has gone on for many years”.

Phillipson also admitted that no decision on teacher pay will be announced this week, and indicative funding allocations for the next financial year will be delayed, as she warned of the “dire” finances her party had inherited.

She made the comments during a webinar for sector workers this afternoon. Here’s what we learned…

1. Ofsted needs view of ‘wider range of services’

Labour’s plans to replace single-phrase Ofsted judgments with report cards represents a “big change”, and “we want to make sure that we get it right”, Phillipson said.

The system should “recognise the strengths that a school has, but alongside that, areas for improvement and how they can be supported to improve”.

Ofsted has been criticised for ignoring the context of schools, with services around them decimated and rising child poverty and mental health issues.

Phillipson said it was “important also to take a view as to the wider range of services that are available within an area”.

“Of course, the importance of the school, but Ofsted has a wider role in terms of understanding the services and support that are available for children and young people. I think we could better join those together.”

2. ‘High standards and curriculum breadth’

The new government is planning a review of the curriculum and assessment.

Phillipson said the review “has to be done across the span of compulsory education, rather than thinking out different parts of the system”.

“I think it is possible and essential, actually, that we continue to drive high standards in our schools, but that we get that breadth alongside it, too.”

Describing her “overall vision”, she said it was about “making sure that our children and people are prepaired for life, for work, for their futures, and making sure that we deliver reform that stands the test of time”.

“I appreciate, again, the need to get this right, to do it thoroughly. That’s why we will have an expert led review with terms of reference published…and I hope to be able to say more on that before too long.”

3. Review will ‘recognise’ existing work

The party’s plan to carry out a curriculum and assessment review has prompted fears it will unwind some of the efforts made by teachers to improve schools in recent years.

But Phillipson said she wanted the review to “build on the expertise already out there. It’s about making sure we build on what works and on expanding that range of opportunity for young people.

“I do just want to reassure people that will be the focus of the review, to make sure that we do recognise the expertise and work that has gone on for many years.”

4. ‘Rising standards, regardless of school type’

Labour has not proposed any wholesale structural change to schools, meaning the current dual system of academies and maintained schools will remain.

Phillipson told the webinar the government’s focus “will be on making sure we drive up standards right across the board, regardless of school”.

Academy trusts will be brought “within the framework of Ofsted inspections”.

“I do think it needs to happen, but I want to make sure that regardless of the name above the door, that the school is delivering a brilliant education for our children.”

She added that the “pressures that are faced right now across our schools” were “commonalities” experienced by all school types.

5. Support staff body will look at progression

Phillipson was also quizzed on how she would support the progression of school support staff into other roles.

She pointed to her plans to re-establish the school support staff negotiating body.

“I want to make sure that our support staff have got a seat at the table and their voices heard in a way that it hasn’t been for a very, very long time.”

She also wants a “conversation…about training and progression”.

“I think there is the opportunity to do more, but we need to do this in a more coordinated way. And that’s partly what the school support staff negotiating body would seek to do around terms and conditions and progression.”

6. Looking ‘right across the board’ at behaviour

The party has not said whether it will change the government’s approach to tackling behaviour in schools.

Phillipson said today it was an “area that I want to look at in more detail. I appreciate there is a range of opinion on how we manage all of that within the system.”

She said she had heard from teachers and support staff about the “impact that behaviour can have on not just their experience in the workforce, but also on wider classrooms, on the ability of other young people to learn”.

Phillipson said she’d be “keen to look right across the board at this issue, because there are a number of things that are going on here”. She pointed to rising mental health challenges.

“I do know that lots of young people at the moment are finding life hard, and so are their families, and that has a wider impact where it comes to attendance.”

7. ‘Our fiscal inheritance is dire’

Many of the services that are crumbling around schools are those run by councils, which have been starved of funding for years.

Phillipson acknowledged “there are lots of pressures that our local authorities are under at the moment”, and said her government had committed to reaching a “multi-year settlement” to enable them to “make stronger decisions”.

She said she had to “be upfront” that the “situation of fiscal inheritance is dire. It’s really, really challenging.

“But I think there are some areas where we can seek to make progress that isn’t simply just about how we make better use of taxpayers’ money, that’s important, but also where we can, in sort of doing, deliver better life chances for children too.”

8. ‘I’ll make mistakes’

In a parting message to delegates, who submitted over 3,000 questions, Phillipson repeated her pledge to work with the sector.

“We won’t always get things right. I’ll make mistakes. We all make mistakes. There will be ups and downs along the way.

“But the commitment that I give to everyone is that I am genuine and sincere in saying that the change that I want to deliver and the change that the government wants to deliver can only be done working with the amazing people in education.”