Thank you
Last week, the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, emailed a letter to all senior leaders to share his thanks to you and all staff for your efforts in meeting the challenges of this pandemic. The letter also provides details of the guidance and support we are offering to help you prepare to welcome back all pupils in September.
Teachers’ pay to increase from September 2021
Teachers are receiving a pay rise with above-inflation rises to the pay ranges for every single teacher in the country, ahead of introducing a £30,000 starting salary by 2022.
New teachers’ starting salaries will rise by 5.5% and all other pay and allowance ranges, including upper pay range and leadership pay range for experienced teachers, will increase by 2.75% – a recognition of the work teachers do to support children.
Every pupil to see another rise in funding from 2021
Schools in England will receive a £4.8 billion boost for the 2021-2022 academic year as part of the previously announced £14.4 billion in additional funding for schools over three years. This means that schools will receive a minimum of £5,150 for secondary and £4,000 for primary in per pupil funding, up from £5,000 and £3,700.
Additional funding for small and remote schools will also increase by 60%, reflecting the unique role these schools play in their local communities.
We have also published a tool which allows anyone to see your school’s individual National Funding Formula (NFF) allocations for both 2020-21 and 2021-22. The government uses the NFF to determine how much money should be allocated to each school. Final funding allocations are decided by local authorities.
Support for Autumn term planning
You can find the full guidance for re-opening from the beginning of the autumn term on GOV.UK. To help with your preparations, we’re also providing the following support.
- The new National Tutoring Programme will make high-quality, subsidised tuition available to state-maintained schools, providing additional support to help pupils who have missed out the most during the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools in the most disadvantaged areas will also be able to employ academic mentors to provide intensive additional support for pupils and let teachers focus on classroom teaching. Register your interest in the National Tutoring Programme.
- To help you with contingency planning for both remote and in-school lessons, Oak National Academy has published their curriculum plans for next year, outlining the nearly 10,000 lessons and resources that will be available. Find out how you can make the most of their free resources to support your planning.
- To support your efforts to re-engage pupils and reset behaviour and attendance we have published a checklist, which you can use to develop your own plans in a way that works for your pupils’ needs and your context.
- We have also clarified our expectations around the implementation of the new Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum. The subjects will still be compulsory from September 2020 and schools that are able to meet the statutory requirements by this date are encouraged to begin teaching the new curriculum. Schools that are unable to meet the requirements due to the recent challenging circumstances, should aim to begin teaching the new curriculum by at latest the start of the summer term 2021.
Look out for more information on calculated grades
Over the coming weeks we’ll be working alongside Ofqual to explain how this years’ exam results have been calculated and help to answer any questions your pupils or their parents may have. We’ll email you with more information in August.
Celebrating the end of the school year
Two Year 6 teachers at Chesswood Junior School in Worthing showed us how they’ve been celebrating the end of year and preparing their pupils for the transition to secondary school – watch their day in the life videos.
Other teachers’ stories
Over the summer term, teachers across the country have shared their experiences of life during the COVID-19 outbreak – you can read them all on the teaching blog. If you’d be interested in sharing your perspective on the blog, please get in touch.
Goodbye to my year 11s, from your very proud teacher
“Your teachers are still thinking of you and are here for you if you need us.”
The COVID-19 outbreak may have stopped her celebrating the final weeks of term with her Year 11 form in person, but Haili was still able tell them how she feels.
Inspiring the next generation of teachers
“Teaching is incredibly demanding but small acts of kindness like this really make the late nights and stressful moments worth it.”
Rebecca was delighted to receive a card – via the Thank a Teacher campaign – from a pupil who has been inspired to become a teacher herself!
Reopening schools
“The best part of reopening has been seeing the children’s reactions. They have been thrilled to see their friends and teachers.”
Lead Headteacher, Andrea, describes what school life has been like this summer and how she’s preparing for full return in September.
Where to find more updates and guidance
You will always be able to find the most recent COVID-19 updates and guidance for schools on our main GOV.UK page.