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Daily News Summary
5 July 2024

General Election 2024: What schools can expect from the new Labour government
Petition launched for mandatory bereavement support programmes in schools
The work experience scheme helping pupils with SEND to gain confidence

General Election 2024: What schools can expect from the new Labour government

 

The Labour Party has been elected with a sizeable majority in the UK General Election. 

As Sir Keir Starmer becomes the newly elected prime minister, a number of news outlets summarise the steps he could take in the first 100 days of government. The Independent reports that although work will begin straight away, Labour's policy to impose VAT on independent school fees will not come into effect until 2025. By Albert Toth and Maryam Zakir-Hussain. The Telegraph looks back at Sir Keir's early years, school background and path into politics. By Gordon Rayner. 

Education secretary Gillian Keegan has lost her Chichester seat to the Liberal Democrats, with the party winning 25,540 votes to Ms Keegan’s 13,368. She has served as education secretary since October 2022, when she was appointed to the role by Rishi Sunak. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week

Tes outlines the education policies that schools can now expect from the new Labour government, which include the pledge to hire 6,500 new teachers in shortage subjects. Speaking after winning her Houghton and Sunderland South seat, the first to be announced on a historic night for Labour, new education secretary Bridget Phillipson said her party is “determined to build a Britain where background is no barrier, no matter who your parents are or where you’re born”. By John Roberts. Schools Week has published Ms Phillipson's victory speech, in which she said: "If the exit poll this evening is again a guide to the results across our country as it so often is, then after 14 years the British people have chosen change." By Freddie Whittaker. In an article for Tes, George Phillips reflects on Bridget Phillipson's career and what her priorities are likely to be as education secretary.

Education experts and headteachers have spoken to iNews about their concerns that schools are heading towards a funding crisis under the new Labour government, which is likely to result in staff cuts and larger classes. The paper states that with the party's VAT policy unlikely to be introduced until 2025 at the earliest, state schools will have to wait for funds Labour hopes it can raise for them. General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Pepe Di’lasio said state schools’ “number one worry is around funding and making a budget that works”. The article is accompanied by an item detailing Labour's promises for state schools (this appears at the bottom of the page). By Connie Dimsdale.

Writing in Tes, research fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies Luke Sibieta warns there is little time to celebrate for the new education team as they face immediate challenges on teacher pay and school funding. The paper also outlines 12 key education areas the new government needs to address, including how the VAT pledge will be implemented. Questions about how the policy might affect military families, pupils with scholarships, and children with special educational needs (who do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan) are highlighted. By Matilda Martin, Jasmine Norden, Cerys Turner and John Roberts.

Sir Keir Starmer's cabinet is expected to be the most representative in history, Sutton Trust research suggests, with over 80 per cent of shadow ministers having attended comprehensive schools. Writing for Schools Week earlier this year, Public First director Ed Dorrell said the make-up of Sir Keir's team “represents a really significant changing of the guard – a historic transformation in the way we’re governed”. By Freddie Whittaker.

 

Petition launched for mandatory bereavement support programmes in schools

 

Lizzie Palin, a teenager whose father died in the middle of her GCSE exams, is calling for the government to introduce mandatory bereavement support programmes in schools. Lizzie has launched a petition on Change.org and is calling for special consideration to be increased. Speaking to The Independent, she said: “No child in an already traumatic situation should feel failed by the exam system, because that’s how I left school feeling.” By Tom Campbell.

 
The Independent

The work experience scheme helping pupils with SEND to gain confidence

 

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have told BBC News they have felt empowered by work experience placements and are encouraging others to get involved. The participants said they had gained confidence by taking on real work challenges provided by South West Regional Assessment Centre. By Emily Ford.

 
BBC

 

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