The new Education Bill is expected to be published on 20th January.The Government has said that the Bill will:- provide schools with the freedoms to deliver an excellent education in the way they see fit.
- reform Ofsted and other accountability frameworks to ensure that head teachers are held properly accountable for the core educational goals of attainment and closing the gap between rich and poor.
- introduce a slimmer curriculum giving more space for teachers to decide how to teach.
- introduce a reading test for 6 year olds to make sure that young children are learning and to identify problems early.
- give teachers and head teachers the powers to improve behaviour and tackle bullying.
- expect standards across the education sector to rise through the creation of more Academies and giving more freedom to head teachers and teachers. We will also ensure that money follows pupils, and introduce a ‘pupil premium’ so that more money follows the poorest pupils.
The National Autistic Society will be particularly looking at any sections of the Bill on behaviour and will be arguing that any changes to legislation or policy on behaviour needs to take into account the specific needs of children with autism.
We also believe that the reading test at age 6 needs to be reconsidered and a different test introduced so that special educational needs including autism can be identified at an earlier stage.
We will report on more details of the Bill when it is published.
Let us know in the box below what you think of the expected reforms.
The Government has today launched a consultation on the introduction of a reading test for all children at age 6. The idea is that where pupils have not reached a required standard, they will receive additional support so they can catch up with their peers.The test will involve no more than 40 items (individual words to be read) to be presented to each child. The children will read out the words one-to-one to an adult they know, who will score the response to each item. It is intended to take around 5 minutes for each child to complete the screening check.The Government also intends to put in place detailed guidance on how children with special educational needs (SEN) can be supported to access the screening check.The NAS believes that screening is important to identify any issues children may have at an early stage. However, a reading test may not be the best way to identify autism and we believe that other screening options should be looked at to ensure that children with autism are picked up early and supported.What do you think? How useful would a reading test be for children with autism? How would the test need to be adapted for children with autism?See: http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=consultationDetails&consultationId=1741&external=no&menu=1 for more details
