Schools Minister says schools should only collect data required to improve children’s education
Nick Gibbs told the Education Select Committee on Wednesday (19 October) that schools should ensure they are only collecting data that is required to improve their pupils education.
The Schools Minister said it is important to return to “simply marking” pupils’ work so that it’s graded, adding that “time consuming written dialogue between the teacher and pupil on the face of the exercise book” is not needed. He reiterated that there is no Ofsted-expected approach to lessons, data collection, demonstrating progress or marking.
According to Mr Gibbs, the Department of Education is taking issues around teacher supply “very seriously”, but they cannot “micromanage” and is limited in what it can do other than ensuring a good spread of the training.
In the second part of the session, the Education Select Committee took evidence from:
- Professor Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive designate of the College of Teaching;
- Jack Worth, Research Manager at National Foundation for Educational Research;
- David Anstead, Strategic Lead at Nottingham Education Improvement Board;
- Peter Sellen, Chief Economist at Education Policy Institute;
The panel noted that the problem of teacher supply was worse in secondary schools and that there is significant regional variation, with cold spots within regions.
Alison Peacock explained that teacher workload is “inextricably linked to the accountability agenda”, pointing out that the issue doesn’t only revolve around the amount of work, but also the time, giving “energy-snapping, unnecessary paperwork” as an example.
She also called for a shift away from schools “self-flagellating” to a culture of celebrating what works.