According to LabourLife, the party has published its not quite a manifesto for the election they hope to win in 2024. It's a prelude, a first draft, long (wish) list, a blueprint. It's full of statements that fall short of being specific or detailed. This is what it says about education:
- Roll out an ambitious school improvement plan that would see investment in a high-quality teaching and support staff workforce to deliver an excellent education for all
- Recruit thousands of new teachers to fill vacancies and skills gaps, ensuring that teachers are no longer asked to deliver unmanageable workloads
- Deliver ongoing teacher training, so each teacher has the skills to support every child to thrive
- Launch an expert review of the current school curriculum for England and make it compulsory for all state schools
- Implement a national strategy with clear targets to close the attainment gap
- Require all schools to cooperate with their local authority on admissions, SEND inclusion and place planning
- Work towards more children with SEND having their needs met and being educated in mainstream schools, including by ensuring teachers and support staff have the training they need
- Introduce fully-funded free breakfast clubs in every primary school
- Reform citizenship education to include practical life skills such as managing personal finances, introduce two weeks’ worth of compulsory work experienceand provide professional careers advice in schools and colleges
- Ensure all teachers have qualified status
- Reform inspections to ensure Ofsted provides true quality assurance for the government and the public and supports positive, proactive school improvement
- End the system of headline grades. Instead, Labour will consult parents, education staff and experts to introduce a report card that tells people, simply and clearly, how well their school or college community is performing
- Require Ofsted inspectors to be experts in the phase of education they are inspecting
- Consult on creating a new annual review of safeguarding, health and safety, attendance, and off-rolling
- Inspect multi-academy trusts
Give genuine choice of further and higher education
- Ensure all learners have a genuine choice of first class further and higher education
- Encourage a thriving college and independent training sector that can provide high quality vocational courses, including apprenticeships, fosters a love of learning, links students with exciting job opportunities through excellent careers advice, and works with businesses to meet local skills needs.
- Reform broken tuition fees system for university funding, ensuring that people from every background and all parts of our country have the opportunity to study at Britain’s world-class universities
I've retained the bold text where it appears although it makes little sense.
There will be much excitement about this:
- Launch an expert review of the current school curriculum for England and make it compulsory for all state schools
But this is the nearest that Labour gets to curriculum change in relation to climate and environment. Disappointing, with the 'compulsory' sting in the tail being dispiriting but sadly all too familiar. Nanny DfE always knows best …
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