28 July 2008
Schools Minister Andrew Adonis announces a package of support to encourage disadvantaged ‘gifted and talented' pupils to apply for some of the country's top universities.
14 July 2008
The Government accepts recommendations to extend the search powers of schools to include drugs, alcohol and other items and will consult on reforming the complaints process for parents.
10 July 2008
Ministers vow ‘no let up' in healthy food revolution and creating a ‘dining culture' in schools. New £6m investment to raise take-up announced and £46.9m grants to revamp school kitchens confirmed.
26 June 2008
Minister for Schools and Learners Jim Knight welcomed news that 84% of primary schools now teach children another language, up from 70% on the previous year and nearly double the 44% in 2002.
24 June 2008
New figures show that permanent school exclusions have dropped by 7%, whilst temporary exclusions have risen by 4%, as schools use short but effective punishments to turn around poor behaviour.
20 June 2008
Schools Minister Andrew Adonis announces new orchestral project- ‘In Harmony' - Chaired by Julian Lloyd Webber
19 June 2008
Ed Balls announced plans for the first ever new strategy to help the country's secondary moderns - including the National Challenge schools who are below the 30 per cent minimum of five good GCSEs including English and Maths.
18 June 2008
Schools Minister Andrew Adonis today congratulated 79 schools across the country on successfully achieving specialist status, with a further eight local authorities going one hundred per cent.
17 June 2008
Ed Balls and Andrew Adonis today accepted the recommendations of a major independent review of maths in primary schools and announced plans to train more than 1,000 specialist maths teachers a year over the next 10 years.
10 June 2008
Ed Balls set out the next phase of the Government's School Improvement Strategy - National Challenge - to transform schools, raise results in English and maths, and tackle underachievement by young people. The Children's Plan sets out that by 2020 at least 90 per cent of children will achieve the equivalent of five higher level GCSEs by age 19.
03 June 2008
Schools Minister Jim Knight announced £81 million of additional funding to prepare teachers to deliver the new Diploma.
26 May 2008
There will be a new drive to improve the experience of children with visual and hearing impairments, Schools Minister Andrew Adonis announced.
22 May 2008
Schools Minister Jim Knight welcomed the admission appeals statistics - showing that 98% of primary admissions offers and over 94% of secondary did not have any appeal heard against them in 2006/07. They also show that just over a third of appeals overall are successful.
16 May 2008
Ed Balls announces in a statement to the House on 2 April 2008 the establishment in interim form of the new independent regulator of qualifications and tests, known as Ofqual.
07 May 2008
Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families published research showing parents want even more involvement in their children's education - and prefer informal chats with school staff instead of parents evenings.
The research shows half of all parents feel very involved their child's education - up from just 29 per cent in 2001 - and the majority (65 per cent) want to get even more involved.
04 May 2008
A package of measures designed to help headteachers get support for struggling pupils, and ease some of the workload burden, was outlined by Children and Families Minister Beverley Hughes.
09 April 2008
-BSF waves 7-15 local authority consultation was published. Every local authority could have the opportunity to join Building Schools for the Future (BSF) earlier, under proposals to accelerate entry into the programme published for consultation by Schools Minister Jim Knight.
27 March 2008
A package of measures designed to revitalise geography in schools and sit alongside the new more flexible curriculum was announced by Schools Minister Jim Knight, in a bid to reverse the declining numbers studying the subject.
26 March 2008
Ed Balls today accepted recommendations from a top behaviour expert that all secondary schools should join behaviour partnerships and announced new plans for a White Paper to transform the alternative provision for pupils who have been excluded from school and announced plans to tackle cyber bullying of teachers.
19 March 2008
72% of secondary schools and 88% of colleges will offer Diplomas in September 2009 Schools Minister Jim Knight announced.
07 March 2008
Speaking at the ASCL conference Mr Balls announced details of his ambitious plans to introduce a new Masters qualification specially designed for teachers called the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL), and further steps to strengthen Diplomas and raise school standards.
25 February 2008
A review of the delivery of Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) in schools was outlined by Schools Minister Jim Knight and Minister for Children and Young People Beverley Hughes.
18 February 2008
Speaking assessments for GCSE modern foreign languages will change to make them a more accurate reflection of pupils' ability and their capacity to respond to real life situations, Schools Minister Jim Knight has announced.
07 February 2008
£21 million funding for the School Food Trust over the next three years was announced by Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls.
05 February 2008
Teachers will find it easier to take pupils on school trips with more help and advice, less bureaucracy and quality badges for popular destinations, thanks to new guidance from the Department of Children, Schools and Families. The measure is included in the ‘Staying Safe' Action Plan, which was launched on this day.
31 January 2008
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls announced a further £30m investment over the next three years to help the most needy sports colleges build new pitches, install floodlights and provide better drainage so facilities can be used all year and round the clock.
31 January 2008
Schools Minister Andrew Adonis congratulated 89 schools across the country on successfully achieving specialist status, including 24 Special Schools.
24 January 2008
Schools Minister Jim Knight outlined a £140 million strategy to educate the next generation of scientists and mathematicians and help recruit and train more science and maths teachers.
22 January 2008
Every young person will do compulsory practical cooking lessons for the first time ever, Children, Schools and Families Secretary of State Ed Balls announced.
15 January 2008
The strongest schools and colleges in the country are urged to export their formula for success and collaborate with weaker schools to bring standards up to the levels of the best.
10 January 2008
Schools Minister Jim Knight welcomed record GCSE results and congratulated schools who have raised their game, but warned that there would be no let up in pressure on low performing schools.
19 December 2007
Schools are urged to work together more closely to better support pupils to continue learning languages as they move from primary to secondary. There will be a £53million investment in language teaching over next year.
11 December 2007
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls launches the ‘Children's Plan', a long term vision to improve schools.
22 November 2007
Nurseries will get improved outdoor play areas, computers and expanded indoor areas thanks to a £642 million cash boost.
21 November 2007
Ed Balls launches a national campaign involving a £332 million investment in choirs, orchestras, new instruments, performance and free music lessons.
15 November 2007
New pilots to stamp out the scourge of bullying through training pupils to help each other are announced.
10 October 2007
Secretary of State Ed Balls and Schools Minister Jim Knight announce £21.9 billion of capital investment allocations to local authorities to raise standards with state-of-the-art classroom, arts, sports and ICT facilities over the next three years.
04 October 2007
Guidance, which was published following a three month consultation, urges all schools to have a school uniform, but warns that any set policy must be affordable, non-discriminatory and sensitive to the needs of pupils.
26 September 2007
Schools Minister Jim Knight announces moves to improve support staff arrangements for schools, enhancing the role and status of teaching assistants and other support staff.
04 September 2007
Parents of pupils who have been excluded from school will be required to keep their children indoors, attend reintegration interviews with the head teacher and work with teachers to develop strategies for improving the behaviour of their child, announces Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls.
07 August 2007
Primary school children produce the best set of Key Stage 2 results ever with record numbers of 11 year olds reaching the expected level for their age in English, Maths and Science. Boys have continued to catch up girls with record results in English, reading and writing.
25 July 2007
Every child will be able to access breakfast clubs, out-of-hours tuition and after-school clubs in sport, music and drama as Ed Balls announced a massive investment of more than £1billion in the extended schools programme over the next three years.
