Dot.Gov – A round-up of developments at government and agency level affecting education

New Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill set to break down barriers to opportunity for all children

A new Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill aims to enhance opportunities for all children by introducing new registers to identify those not in school and creating a unique identifier number for children across services - like national insurance numbers for adults - with the aim of tying together what has been described as a disjointed system. This will improve data sharing and collaboration between social care, schools, and local services. The bill also restricts the right to home-school children who are the subject of child protection investigations or, plans and empowers local authorities to intervene if a child's home learning environment is deemed unsuitable. Under the bill teachers will also be required to have (or be working towards) qualified teacher status by September 2026 and will be involved in decisions around safeguarding children in their area.

Legislation breaks down barriers to opportunity for all children - GOV.UK

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What is the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and when will we see the findings?

The Department for Education (DfE) is conducting a Curriculum and Assessment Review to update the curriculum and statutory assessment system, ensuring it meets the needs of all children. They conducted an 8-week call for evidence which closed on 22 November 2024, seeking input from teachers, education experts, parents, and young people. An interim report will be published in early 2025 outlining key themes and initial recommendations, with the full report expected in autumn 2025.

What is the Curriculum and Assessment Review and how will it impact my child’s education?   – The Education Hub

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The Information Commissioner’s Office respond to Google’s policy change on fingerprinting

Our response to Google’s policy change on fingerprinting | ICO

Google have announced that from 16 February 2025 it will allow organisations using its advertising products to employ fingerprinting techniques (which involves collecting pieces of information about a device’s software or hardware which can uniquely identify a device/user). The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have condemned this move as irresponsible, stating that fingerprinting reduces users’ choice and control over their information. The ICO have published draft guidance (Guidance on the use of storage and access technologies ) on how data protection law applies to storage and access technologies such as fingerprinting and have opened a consultation (ICO consultation on the draft updated guidance on storage and access technologies ) on the guidance to receive feedback, which closes on 14 March 2025. Organisations will have to demonstrate that their use of fingerprinting techniques complies with data protection law, which the ICO have described as ‘a high bar to meet’.

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Early adopters scheme soon to launch for free breakfast clubs in schools.

Breakfast clubs early adopters scheme - GOV.UK

The government has committed to providing a free breakfast club in every state-funded school in England. The initial early adopters scheme will fund free breakfast clubs in up to 750 state-funded schools from April 2025. Eligible schools that have applied for the scheme will be notified in January 2025 on whether their application has been successful. The schools in the early adopters scheme will be involved in shaping the national breakfast club policy and contributing to its implementation. The intention is then for a national roll out across England.

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Courses which are key to government growth now set to continue, reversing previous decision.

Courses key to government growth mission will stay - GOV.UK

As of 12 December 2024, the government has outlined plans to protect learner choice and streamline post-16 qualifications, reversing the previous government’s decisions to defund vocational qualifications in key subjects such as agriculture, environmental and animal care, engineering, manufacturing, health and social care, legal, finance and accounting, business and administration, and creative and design. This ensures around 70% of the courses slated for defunding will continue, preserving necessary talent pipelines for sectors crucial to the government’s growth mission under their Plan for Change (Plan for Change – Milestones for mission-led government), including the NHS.

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Education Select Committee launch inquiry into the SEND crisis.

ICO publish outcomes report on generative AI consultation.

Generative AI developers, it’s time to tell people how you’re using their information | ICO

In December 2024 the ICO published their outcomes report (Information Commissioner’s Office response to the consultation series on generative AI | ICO) on the findings of their consultation series into data protection in generative AI which was launched in January 2024. The findings highlight a lack of transparency, particularly regarding training generative AI models, which undermines public trust in AI. Generative AI developers are urged to provide clear and specific information about the personal data they collect. The ICO also stresses the importance of embedding data protection by design into products from the start.

Ofsted publish first monitoring report on progress of the commitments made in the Big Listen

Ofsted publishes Big Listen action monitoring report and announces trials of new inspection approach - GOV.UK

On 19 December 2024 Ofsted published their first monitoring report (Big Listen action monitoring report: December 2024 - GOV.UK) into the 132 commitments made in the Big Listen (Hearing feedback, accepting criticism and building a better Ofsted: the response to the Big Listen - GOV.UK) and Dame Christine Gilbert’s independent learning review. Ofsted agreed to regularly publish monitoring reports in response to Dame Christine’s Review, ensuring transparency on the progress of the Big Listen. December's report is the first in this series which will continue until all actions are completed. Just under a third (42) of the actions have been completed so far, and trials of the new inspection approach are set to begin week commencing 6 January 2025. Ofsted will publish the findings of their trials for consultation in January 2025.

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Finally… are you involved in MIS system development or just curious about school data reporting to DfE?

Complete the school census - Data items 2024 to 2025 - Guidance - GOV.UK

It’s well known that schools have significant data reporting responsibilities. But do you know just what data is shared? If you want to see this for yourself, DfT provides a regularly updated summary of its data demands. You can find the 134 row spreadsheet here.