Education Bulletin - September 2019

Date updated: Monday 23rd September 2019

Welcome to the September issue of our monthly Education Bulletin. To be as current on topical issues as possible, we will be posting more of our articles and updates on the Stone King website immediately and sharing them on social media. However, we appreciate that many people prefer to receive our articles directly to their inbox, so our monthly Bulletin will continue to do just that, acting as a round-up of the month’s news so that you don’t miss anything. Please follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up to date.

Six new things you need to know about
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2019
What counts as confidential information?
Is it discriminatory to suspend a teacher who can only write by hand for a few minutes?
How academies can help shape the provision of new schools
Academisation option reopened for sixth-form colleges In case you missed it
Training and seminars for the Education Sector
Meet the team: Further Education

Six new things you need to know about Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2019

The Department for Education published its update to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance which came into force on 2 September 2019.

Although there are no major changes and therefore very little modification required to existing policies there are changes schools should be aware of, and Senior Associate Charlotte Melhuish has summarised these for you.

What counts as confidential information?

Broadly, it is any information that is confidential in nature and disclosed in circumstances suggesting an obligation of confidence, explains Associate Jonathan Copping.

It is commonly used to protect commercially sensitive information and material, which cannot be protected by intellectual property rights. Interestingly, it is not governed by statute but has evolved out of court decisions.

Is it discriminatory to suspend a teacher who can only write by hand for a few minutes?

A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal has found that it was reasonable for an employer to suspend a teacher for his writing difficulty.

Peter Woodhouse, Stone King’s Head of Business, explains the Tribunal’s findings.

Academisation option reopened for sixth-form colleges

The Department for Education (DfE) has officially reopened the option for sixth-form colleges (SFCs) to convert to academy status. To date, 23 SFCs have taken the opportunity to convert to become 16-19 academies as part of the area review process. The window to do so closed in March 2019 but, in respond to demand, academisation is once again on the table. This development follows rigorous campaigning by the Sixth Form Colleges Association, and is regarded as a welcome development in the sector.

How academies can help shape the provision of new schools

We are in the midst of a housing crisis. So, it makes sense that we are in a school places crisis as well - more houses necessarily means a need for more school places. Homes England continues to announce much-needed plans, for example 3,000 in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire and 1,300 in Ripon in Yorkshire.

In case you missed it