Scape Group has written a summary here on school place planning and the challenges the UK faces to make sure there are enough school places to meet growing demand. Whilst the document was produced in 2019, the challenges the sector faces still remain. The school age population was set to increase 5.5 per cent in 2020 and 2021, when …
Free School Interviews: 10 Things We’ve Learnt
PAG offers mock free school interviews to groups who have submitted applications to open new schools, either via the central route or any local authority presumption competitions. We have recently undertaken several mock interviews with clients who have submitted applications through Wave 2, Wave 14 and local authority competitions and have summarised some invaluable insights that have arisen from these …
Preparing for your Free School Interview
Premier Advisory Group offers a mock interview service to any team with an application submitted to wave 14 or any other competition for a new school. We have significant experience on both sides of the interview table and bring all our knowledge and experience to every mock interview we give. Our team will put you through a process which mirrors …
Free Schools Planned for North of England
Earlier this week, The Sunday Times posted figures that indicated pupils in the north of England are being “let down” by schools. These figures suggest that 15% of northern children are making below-average progress between the end of primary school and their GCSEs, compared with 8% of their peers in the south. The Sunday Times also reported that new free …
Opening ceremony for Prince Albert Community Trust’s first secondary school
On Thursday 30th of January, PAG is delighted to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Prince Albert Community Trust’s first high school, opening September 2021. In 2016, PAG assisted Prince Albert Community Trust in writing and submitting an application to the DfE for a brand new 11-18 free school, to help address the growing need for secondary school places in Birmingham …
Parental Engagement in Schools
The Education Endowment Fund defines parental engagement as “the involvement of parents in supporting their children’s academic learning.” The association between parental engagement and a child’s academic success is well-established and there is a long history of research into parental engagement programmes. Parent/carer engagement is important because working together (with mothers, fathers and carers) has been shown to have a …
Are EHCPs the most effective way of meeting pupils’ needs?
The Heads’ Roundtable, a high-profile group of Headteachers from across the UK, has called for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) to be “scrapped” after a report was released by the House of Commons Education Select Committee in October, which looked at the impact and implementation of the 2014 SEND reforms. The report followed an 18-month inquiry into Government reforms, aimed …
Evaluating your Provision’s Curriculum and Resources with your Budget in Mind
In the last year there has been a strong effort to integrate curricula with financial planning in schools and trusts across the country. Organisations across the sector are looking to meet the needs of their pupils in a cost-effective manner as budgets become more constrained. Integrated Curriculum Financial Planning (ICFP) evaluations were first introduced as mandatory components for some Department …
DfE Announces Changes to Maintained Schools Funding Options
The topic of school finances has increasingly made the headlines with schools needing to make efficiency savings of c£3 billion by 2020[1]. The DfE held a consultation between the 24th of March and the 21st of April last year and has now announced that local authorities can now only make loans to help schools spread the cost of large one-off …
Education Secretary Expected to Lift Faith Cap
Following news last month that the Education Secretary was facing an intra-Party battle over the cap which currently forces new faith schools to admit a maximum of 50% of each intake using faith-related criteria, an article in The Sunday Times (18 February 2018) suggests that Damian Hinds fought a good fight and is set to follow through on an election …