Schools Cry Out for Funding: A Critical Election Issue

As the general election approaches, school funding has become the top priority for teachers and school leaders across the UK. A recent survey by the National Foundation for Educational Research reveals that 81% of respondents place school funding among their top three concerns. This highlights the severe financial challenges many schools face, with some operating at a deficit and others making difficult choices to balance their budgets.

The lack of sufficient funding affects various aspects of education. Schools struggle to maintain essential resources, provide adequate student support, and offer competitive salaries to attract and retain quality teachers. While other significant issues, such as accountability system reform and improved teacher recruitment, also feature in the survey, insufficient funding remains the most pressing concern.

Teachers and school leaders are urging the government to prioritise education funding, recognising that investing in schools is an investment in the future. Adequate funding ensures every child receives a high-quality education, regardless of their background or location. It equips schools with the necessary resources to support students’ learning and development effectively.

Economic challenges have exacerbated the financial strain on schools, forcing them to cut back on vital programmes and support services. This situation underscores the urgent need for increased funding and a commitment from policymakers to address the root causes of the funding crisis.

As voters head to the polls, it’s crucial to consider the importance of education funding. The future of our children and the strength of our education system depend on it. Prioritising school funding ensures that schools can provide the best possible education and opportunities for every student.

In conclusion, the call for increased school funding is clear. Policymakers must listen and take action to address this critical issue. Investing in education is investing in the future, and our schools and students deserve nothing less.

🔗 Read more here

Understanding Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Education

In the realm of education, every child is unique. Some may require additional support to thrive academically, socially, or emotionally. This is where Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision steps in, ensuring that every student, regardless of their challenges, has equal access to education and opportunities to reach their full potential.

SEND encompasses a diverse range of needs and disabilities, from physical disabilities and sensory impairments to learning difficulties and developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Each child’s requirements are unique, demanding a tailored approach to support their learning journey effectively.

The SEND Code of Practice (2015) in the UK sets out clear guidelines for identifying and supporting children and young people with special educational needs. It emphasises a person-centred approach, recognising that children and their families should be at the heart of decision-making processes regarding their education.

Identification of SEND typically involves a collaborative effort between educators, parents, healthcare professionals, and the students themselves. This may include assessments, observations, and discussions to gain a holistic understanding of the child’s strengths and areas where they may need extra support.

Once identified, schools are responsible for providing appropriate support and accommodations to meet the individual needs of SEND students. This may involve differentiated teaching methods, specialised equipment, additional teaching assistants, or access to therapy services.

Inclusive education lies at the core of effective SEND provision. It promotes an environment where all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, learn together and support one another. Inclusive practices not only benefit SEND students but also foster empathy, understanding, and respect among their peers.

Furthermore, early intervention is crucial in addressing SEND effectively. By identifying and addressing challenges early on, educators can provide targeted support to help children overcome obstacles and maximise their potential. This proactive approach can significantly impact a child’s educational outcomes and overall well-being.

In recent years, technology has played a significant role in enhancing SEND provision. Assistive technologies, such as text-to-speech software, interactive learning tools, and communication aids, empower students with disabilities to participate more fully in educational activities and engage with their peers.

Moreover, ongoing training and professional development for educators are essential to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to support SEND students effectively. This may involve specialised training in areas such as behaviour management, communication strategies, and assistive technology integration.

While significant progress has been made in the field of SEND provision, challenges still exist, including funding constraints, bureaucratic hurdles, and the need for greater awareness and understanding within the broader community. Addressing these challenges requires a collaborative effort involving educators, policymakers, parents, and advocacy groups.

In conclusion, SEND provision plays a vital role in ensuring that every child has access to quality education and the support they need to thrive. By adopting inclusive practices, embracing technology, and prioritising early intervention, we can create learning environments where all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, can reach their full potential. Together, we can build a more inclusive and equitable education system for future generations.

 

Examining the UK Government’s Ban on Mobile Phones in Schools

In the United Kingdom, the government’s decision to consider banning mobile phones in schools has sparked intense debate. This move reflects concerns about the impact of phones on learning environments, student behaviour, and academic performance. Let’s delve into the arguments surrounding this contentious issue.

Supporters of the ban argue that it is essential for maintaining order and focus in classrooms. Research indicates that excessive phone use can disrupt learning, leading to decreased attention spans and poorer academic outcomes. Additionally, there are worries about cyberbullying and the potential for cheating during exams. Proponents believe that by banning phones, schools can create a more conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning, fostering better engagement among students and reducing distractions.

Conversely, opponents argue that banning mobile phones may not address the root causes of these issues effectively. They highlight the importance of digital literacy and responsible phone use, suggesting that outright bans may not be the most practical solution. Moreover, concerns have been raised about the potential infringement on students’ rights and the exacerbation of existing inequalities, particularly for students who rely on phones for access to resources and support outside of school.

Finding a balanced approach is crucial. Instead of a blanket ban, policymakers could consider implementing clear guidelines for phone usage, integrating digital literacy into the curriculum, and providing support for students to manage their digital habits effectively. By engaging with educators, parents, and students, the government can develop strategies that address the specific needs and challenges of schools across the UK.

Ultimately, the debate over mobile phone bans in schools underscores broader questions about technology’s role in education and society. While the government’s intentions to improve learning environments are commendable, it’s essential to consider the nuances of the issue and work collaboratively towards solutions that promote responsible technology use while maximizing educational benefits for all students.

Curious not furious? Why the Thrive approach was the best choice for our alternative provision

Introducing the Thrive Approach….

As an onsite school Alternative Provision, many of our young people come to us and they have high SEMH needs that the school want some help in supporting them with. We wanted to ensure that we could support young people in the best possible way. U-educate directors Chris and Adam carried out their research and found the Thrive Approach is a rigorous, targeted, measurable and inclusive model. It aligned with our mission and ethos of supporting young people to get the best possible outcomes for them.

What is Thrive?

The Thrive Approach training is made up of a 12-week online course. This is where the magic happens and you are transformed into a Thrive practitioner. You are taught the five key elements of Thrive, and how to apply them:

1. Thrive Activities

Within our Alternative Provisions, Thrive is timetabled and the activities are used in a group and 1-1 basis. They are usually creative activities that you use as a vehicle to get to know the young person and support their development.

2. Relational Skills

My relational skills have improved vastly since completing the Thrive training course. Building trusted relationships with our young people is at the core of everything we do. I am armed with strategies to use. An example of this is the use of the strategy, “a co-regulator”. For a young person with substantial gaps in their emotional development, using this can help to teach them how to regulate themselves. The opposite of this would be they are sent to an isolation room, to think about what they have done on their own. This rarely works for the kind of children I work with.

3Thrive Online

This is a online tool that assesses a young persons development and behaviour, and gives us strategies and activities to use to support their development. This has proved to be invaluable to us as termly reviews/revisions of action plans, groups and individual, show us the impact our work has had.

4Thrive Theory and neuroscience

We liked that the Thrive Approach is underpinned by child development and attachment theory and neuroscience. As practitioners we can understand a young person’s behaviour on a deeper level. Many of the activities that we carry out in our thrive sessions, means that we can explain to the young people exactly what is happening to their brains and bodies when they are dysregulated. It gives them clarity and understanding. I also use this information when I’m training colleagues.

Be Curious not furious…..

The very nature of what we do as an on-site Alternative Provision means that we are working with some very vulnerable young people. Thrive has taught me to reflect and view behaviours through a different lens. One saying that I took from my training was to, “be curious not furious”, (not that I was ever furious) but it taught me to be a detective around a young person’s behaviours and shine that light on them. It taught me to assume that every behaviour is a communication, and to delve deeper to find out what is really going on for that young person.

If you are a school, an alternative learning provision or in any kind of educational facility working with young people, I couldn’t recommend training in the Thrive Approach enough.

The irony is that child development theories and neuroscience research has been available to us for years. As a Thrive practitioner, I go back to basics and identify gaps in earlier developmental phases. For young people that have significant developmental needs, this is exactly what we should be doing. As people who work with young people, we owe this to them, so they are given the best possible chance in life. Every child really does matter! Let’s make sure that we show them this.

 

Rachel O’Connor is an Alternative Provision Practitioner with U-Educate.

A complete guide to Alternative Provision

As recently reported by SchoolsWeek, some of the best academy trusts in the nation are looking to open their own Alternative Provision (AP) schemes. U-educate are one of the best internal provision suppliers in the West Midlands, so here’s some guidance on running a programme.

What is an Alternative Provision?

Simply put, the aim of an AP is to improve the behaviour of students that are struggling within a classroom environment.

The provision staff should present a variety of skills for students with SEN (special educational needs) and SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) requirements. These skills include pastoral care, providing lessons and extra-curricular abilities: sports coaching, cooking, etc.

As statistics show, Alternative Provisions are rapidly growing as each academic year passes by. According to a study conducted by National Statistics (via gov.uk), the number of pupils attending AP’s increased by 10% from 2020/21 to 2021/22.

Some of the highlights from our Alternative Provision at Gospel Oak School.

U-educate’s ‘school within a school’ model

U-educate are currently providing an internal provision to multiple different schools in the west midlands, including Gospel Oak (shown above).

Our programme caters for Key Stages 3 and 4, and differs dependent on the school and students that we are providing for. The incentive is to support students, parents and the school itself.

We aim to provide targeted therapy to our students through the Thrive approach. Thrive equips our practitioners with the correct training to develop relationships with the children, improving trust and creating a better classroom environment.

Chelsea McCunnie, one of our Practitioners, is also a Thrive adolescent practitioner. Here’s how she feels Thrive has impacted her:

“I believe Thrive has equipped me with the tools to nurture and emotionally support my students.

Using it as an approach has made such a difference to how I can be there to guide our young people”

Find Chelsea McCunnie on LinkedIn to learn more about the Thrive approach

To Conclude

Alternative provision programmes are a highly effective and innovative approach to education that provides a positive and supportive learning environment for young people who may have struggled in traditional school settings. By tailoring education to the individual needs of each student, this programme enables them to thrive and achieve their full potential.

If you are interested in learning more about U-educate’s Alternative Provision programme, we encourage you to download our BROCHURE, which provides detailed information about our approach and the benefits it can offer to young people and your school.

U-Educate are now Team Teach trained!

A member of U-educate spent last week with Team Teach completing ‘Positive Behaviour Training’, learning valuable de-escalation and transformative techniques!

U-educate added another string to their bow this week with Alternative Provision lead practitioner, Ryan, completing his Team Teach training to become an Intermediate Trainer of positive behaviour.

The training itself involves various different methods of how to manage distressed behaviour in a way that benefits everyone. Trainers made the week-long course very active, performing various warmups before demonstrating different holds to use based on any possible scenario in the workplace.

This training will now be passed on to all of our Alternative Provision staff and registered teachers, which is a massive benefit to our partnered schools. If you are looking to partner with U-educate to make the most of our fantastic training, you can contact us HERE.

 

Along with helping our in-house staff, our team teach trainers will now be able to train any of our supply staff looking to work in SEN (special educational needs) and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) schools. This training could be invaluable to any teachers looking to progress in the industry. To register with our midlands office and receive training, follow THIS LINK.

A massive thanks to Ryan for his hard work last week, and to Team teach for allowing us the opportunity to use their services to improve our staff as a whole.

Work in Barbados via U-educate!

U-educate and working in partnership with a very well know cruise ship company who are looking for qualified staff to work seasonally during school holidays on their ships.
Currently, we are looking for people to work from the 17th of December to the 6th of January in Barbados to work with their kids clubs and sitting services.
Key Info
– You will be paid £1875 for the 3 weeks work!
– All flights, food and accommodation are paid for by the company.
– You will need to have a minimum of a level 2 nursery nurse qualification or be an ECT (Early Careers      Teacher).
– There is a 2-stage interview starting with a phone interview then a safeguarding interview.
– Clean, enhanced DBS is needed on the update service.
If you feel you would like to spend Christmas in the sun whist getting paid, please get in contact with either of the emails below and we will do the rest!

matthew@u-educate.co.uk

daniel@u-educate.co.uk

Alternative Provision – Our first year comes to an end

With the academic year coming to an end last week, our first full-time term and first year running the ‘school within a school’ program finished.

This term, we took on seven new AP staff to provide support to SEN (special educational needs) and SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) students from three different schools. We continued our partnership with the ATLP (Arthur Terry Learning Partnership) and worked at The Coleshill School. We also began our partnership with FMAT (Fairfax Multi-Academy Trust) where we worked with Bournville Academy and Smith’s Wood Academy, located at Erdington Academy.

Our work at The Coleshill School began in October 2021, where at different stages of the year we worked with years 7 to 11. Our main extra-curricular project with our students from Coleshill was working on the ‘Allotment’ near our AP classroom. The images below show the progress that we made from start to finish.

As part of our Fairfax partnership, we spent the final term of the academic year providing our services to Bournville and Erdington on a full-time basis.

If you follow us on social media (U-Educate on Facebook and LinkedIn), you’d have seen our weekly highlights of our program at Bournville. Program leader Jade made sure that the year 10 students were able to have a good mix of activities, combined with their core subjects.

Our AP at Erdington was for KS3 students from Smith’s Wood Academy, and was ran by our Project Manager, Ben. The staff at Erdington were able to provide a good mix of activities alongside English and Maths teaching, taking the students to cook and play various sports.

One of our main activities ran at both provisions was bringing in an external DJ, ‘DJ Gym’. The students made their own beats every Friday as an extra-curricular activity!

The term finished with some external visits to the driving range and Drayton Manor, below are some of the highlights from the term at Bournville.

Of course, you can APPLY TO BE PART OF OUR AP TEAM HERE or fill out the form below!

Follow our social media (U-Educate) to find more updates from our various AP programs next academic year, see you in September!

U-Educate announces 3 new partnerships

U-Educate is pleased to announce 3 new exciting partnerships with Ethical School Solutions, KDDK and SDH Academy. We believe that all 3 organisations carry a wealth of expertise and experience in the Education sector and will undoubtedly help bolster our services for our clients’.

Ethical Solutions bring with them over 30 years of experience in both the Primary and Secondary sector and specialises in school development through leadership, HR, finance and ICT.

SDH Academy have a dynamic team of specialists within the Sport, Education and Community sectors and support primary and secondary schools with the necessary support to deliver sport lessons that contribute to the social, physical and mental development of young people.

KDDK is a recognised Dance Academy who is already established in over 100 schools across the West Midlands. There services range from curriculum development, delivery and upskilling of teachers. Recent Yoga qualifications within the academy have provided a platform for work to be carried out to work with people of all ages to alleviate anxiety and stress and to improve their mental health and mindfulness.

Director Christian Brown stated:

“We are excited to be partnering with such a diverse range of companies that are experts in their own fields.  It certainly makes for a fully rounded offering to the local communities we support and interact with.”

There website is www.sdh-academy.co.uk.