7 things schools will need to know after the Queen's Speech

29 May 2015

Seven things schools will need to know after the Queen's Speech

The news agenda has been dominated by legislation around an EU referendum and the possible presence of a new British Bill of Rights, but what will it mean for education? Read more

Queen's Speech: Intervention for 'coasting' schools

Underperforming schools in England will face a more rapid intervention, under plans announced in the Queen's Speech. Read more

Wilshaw backs academy takeovers of coasting school. He said that too many children were having their life chances limited. Read more

Darren Henley’s first public speech as ACE’s new Chief Executive

He calls on government to back culture while promising a funding shift outside of London and A call to government that no further cuts are made to arts funding. Read more

Ideastap pushes back closure to launch new initiatives

Arts charity Ideastap has pushed back its intended closure to launch a final series of initiatives aimed at supporting emerging creatives. Ideastap was due to close on June 2 after future funding could not be secured. However, it has now pushed back closure until July 8. Read more

Latest update from the Creative Employment Programme

Round 22 of the Creative Employment Programme sees the total number of funded opportunities reach 2473. Round 22 successes have brought the total number of apprenticeships funded through the programme to 1145 and the total number of internships to 1328. Read more

Apprenticeship system 'failing to help Britain's young'

A new study, commissioned by the Local Government Association, found that 42% of all apprenticeships created in the last five years went to people aged over 25. It said current policy enabled businesses to train established workers rather than unemployed young people. Read more

Apprenticeship scheme is 'by-passing school-leavers' with too few places to fulfil demand

Hundreds of thousands of school-leavers are being failed by the Government’s apprenticeship drive, with too few places to fulfil demand, according to new research. Last year alone, there were 1.8 million applications for only 166,000 apprenticeships in England, leaving most with no hope of securing one. Read more

UK nations have biggest skills gaps, says OECD

A study has suggested that UK nations have the biggest skills gaps between young people who are not in education, employment or training and those in work. They had the widest literacy gap out of 22 countries included in an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysis. They also had the biggest gap in problem-solving skills, says the study. Read more

Bridge Arts & Culture

A London-based charity delivering free or heavily subsidised creative workshops in schools aimed at improving literacy by using the arts to engage children in learning. Read more

Primary teachers get creative for Children's Art Week

Children’s Art Week, running from 13 to 21 June, will be the perfect time to get creative! The programme gives thousands of children the chance to experience the visual arts. Schools can get involved by taking children to events at local galleries or hosting their own activities. Read more

Creative writing in schools

The Creative writing in schools fund will develop and implement high quality creative writing in schools in the North and South West of England. Successful applicants will place professional writers in schools to deliver workshops and residences to children at the transition between primary and secondary school (ages 8-14). Apply now

Web platform to aid funding bid process

Arts and cultural organisations will soon have access to an online platform that aims to help them write stronger funding bids. ‘Culture Everywhere’ will collate publicly available data sets, which its developers hope will enable them to “more efficiently construct proposals that support and engage their communities and are attractive to funders”. Read more

(Image courtesy of TES)