The Schools Bill, designed to improve education standards, has been scrapped potentially leading to more implications. What can be done to help support schools and students now whilst other plans are drawn up?
The Bill, which derived from The Schools White Paper in March, supposedly hit several obstacles and 18 clauses were removed relating to academies and regulations, ultimately leading to its dismissal.
Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:
“‘parliamentary time has definitely been reprioritised’ to focus on tackling the rising cost of living, ‘because of the pandemic aftershocks but also the war in Ukraine’”.
Now that the Bill has been scrapped, it could lead to detrimental impacts on students. Potential further lost learning for some students and those who are absent won’t receive adequate support with their learning or wellbeing or access to proper resources.
The Bill intended to:
- Have school open for a minimum of 32.5 hours per week to help catch up with lost learning
- Higher English and maths targets for students
- Conjoin all schools as part of academies or be in the process of joining one by 2030
- Make a register for children who are not in school
Students who are not in school still need to be safeguarded, at present, there is no clear overview of how this can be secured.
Supporting students and schools
Increased teacher workload, lack of pay and tightened school budgets have even culminated in strikes occurring in Scotland. However, this has led to students being left with no education during the strikes as a result.
Implementing an automated IT system that can assist both teachers and students could be an effective method of improving the situation.
Integrating online platforms where work can be uploaded easily and either marked automatically can help alleviate workload pressures for teachers. Students also benefit as they can get feedback at a quicker rate. This can potentially allow students to advance in their learning capabilities faster than if they were to receive paper-based format feedback in school.
Furthermore, providing visually stimulating graphs that help learners see their progression can help them develop. This is because they can see a clear pathway for their learning, see their progress and identify any areas for improvement.
Alternatively, if a budget allows for it, teaching assistants or trainee students could offer more affordable avenues than fully qualified teachers to help maintain a classroom’s standard.
But, realistically, budgets are so tight that hiring isn’t an easy process. What about those students who are excluded or absent? How can they be supported and how can a school be helped?
Students can be supported online
The number of absent students has been increasing, yet they still need to receive support with their education.
Students need a provision that supplies supervised support so they do not fall behind in their learning and their wellbeing is untroubled.
Offering one-to-one support online can be beneficial to students, especially those who are school-phobic. It can help elevate their confidence and strategize a pathway for their learning with assistance there if needed and there are provisions out there that can do this.
The government proposed to deliver a register for absent students, but this wasn’t to be the case. Schools need to find a provision that can ensure that their students’ attendance is tracked. Online learning platforms that can cater towards a student’s individual needs are accessible and there needs to be a platform where attendance can be tracked and monitored.
Safeguarding online is also imperative. There are many external threats online that need to be mitigated and dealt with. It’s being able to implement measures that can help isolate students away from peers, bullying or predators that can harm them and tarnish their education.
There are also resources available online that match the current curriculum and meet the current needs of students which can help raise English and maths levels.
Online learning can support students, especially those absent, despite the Schools Bill not going ahead.
EDClass’ online alternative provision solution
EDClass can provide one-to-one support from UK-qualified teachers via text or video chat for students learning remotely. The platform is perfect for students who are absent as they can access education from the comfort of their own homes.
Students are also safeguarded whilst they are using EDClass. IP addresses are tracked, safety questionnaires upon entry are required to be answered by students, everything is monitored and tracked and alerts notify the team if there is ever an issue.
Students’ progress is also tracked with a gap analysis model in place that helps them advance with attendance records integrated.
To book a free online demonstration of the platform, call the team on 01909 568 338, send an email to mail@edclass.com or directly book here or by clicking the image below.
