The White Paper Reality Test

At long last the Schools White Paper – Every child achieving and thriving – was published this week. We’ve taken a look at what you have told us about the key areas it covers.

EHCPs: staying, but aiming to reduce long-term

The White Paper is not scrapping EHCPs, it’s creating a long transition where existing plans are protected, while aiming to reduce reliance on new EHCPs over time. This is broadly good news; 79% of primary and 74% of secondary teachers agree that EHCPs they are important and shouldn’t be removed. But, we’ll keep a close eye on how the transition is supported – we know that most SENCOs feel that not all students are receiving the full support as set out in current EHCPs.

Meeting the SEND training need

The White Paper pledges over £200 million for SEND training, and this is good news as lots of you have idenitified SEND as an area of CPD need. But opinions on who should lead that training will depend on whether you work in a primary schools or secondary. The majority of secondary school teachers think that inset provided by their school SENCO is the best route, whilst most primary teachers think an outside specialist is best.

Maternity pay doubled

The government’s decision to double full maternity pay from four to eight weeks is a meaningful signal that teacher retention during early parenthood matters. However we know that financial pressure extends well beyond the first month: 45% of teachers returned to work earlier than they wanted due to money, rising to 48% among women. Doubling full pay may ease the sharpest early cliff edge, but it does not change statutory maternity pay levels after that period, nor does it directly address the fact that almost half of teachers report returning before they feel ready.

Minimum expectation for parental engagement

As part of the case for change, The White Paper quotes Teacher Tapp statistics that ‘more than half of school leaders report strained parent relationships as a source of stress or unhappiness – 14 percentage points higher than in 2018, showing an upward trend that has accelerated since the pandemic.’ But training for teachers will need to be a key part of any engagement plan: two-thirds of primary classroom teachers and half of secondary ones have never had any training on how to manage parent relationships.

Retention bonus for heads

The DfE will pilot retention incentives of up to £15,000 for newly-appointed headteachers to work for sustained periods in parts of the country that need them most. Retention incentives will also be used for teachers working in disadvantaged areas during the early stages of their careers. Our work on retention finds that decisions are shaped by a mix of pay, workload, professional development opportunities, working hours and school culture — not money alone — so a broad package of measures needs to be considered.