SPACE
Schools North East is a movement for change giving a voice to North East schools in the national education policy debate. At Schools North East, influencing policy for the benefit of our schools is the heart of everything we do.
We are the definitive, apolitical voice of North East schools, influencing the shape of regional and national policy to deliver on their vision for our young people. As a charity, we are independent, but not neutral.
Education policy making is dominated by too small a pool of voices, far removed from the North East’s chalk-face, leading to unintended consequences, ineffective policy, and long term perennial problems remaining unaddressed. Education policy must take into account local context and not use a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
The North East LEADS NOT PLEADS. And Schools North East leads the campaign to improve conditions for North East schools, engaging with politicians, policymakers, and partners across the whole political spectrum. We seek effective solutions to the challenges of the present and the future.
Schools North East demands education policy that is fit for our amazing schools and every child and young person in them.
Manifesto for North East Education
The 2024 general election was a critical juncture for education policy, affording an opportunity for policymakers to acknowledge the long-term structural concerns which impact on attainment and outcomes in the North East, and the extent to which these have been exacerbated in recent years.
Schools North East’s 2024 Manifesto for North East Education refreshes the recommendations in our 2019 manifesto, using data and ‘lived experience’, from our regular roundtables, meetings, and surveys of our school leaders. Our manifesto is a call to action from all political parties wanting to take seriously the long-term challenges of education in our region.
We will use our manifesto to hold all policymakers to their professed commitment to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for ALL children, especially in the most disadvantaged areas.
Roundtables 
All our policy work is informed by regular feedback we receive from schools in our region. We hold roundtables throughout the academic year, unpicking individual policy issues. Our roundtables with school leaders and influential guest speakers set the scene and focus discussions on key policy issues.
We also hold regular roundtables, with North East MPs, Mayors, Crime Commissioners, and key public figures and school leaders in their constituencies. Roundtables have led to questions asked in parliament and letters from MPs to DfE ministers and Ofsted, as well as extensive national and regional media coverage. To learn more about our programme of roundtables, please email policy@schoolsnortheast.com
Surveys
Alongside our roundtables, we conduct regular surveys to gain a wider range of views and data from our schools. As well as surveys on individual challenges that emerge during the academic year, we also send out a ‘State of the Region’ survey once a term.
Our State of the Region surveys the same set of core questions every term (as well as additional questions where relevant) to get a snapshot of the situation in North East schools, and to see how the situation develops across the year.
Stakeholder Briefings
The feedback we receive from schools in our surveys and roundtables is put into an anonymised ‘Stakeholder Briefing’. Our Stakeholder Briefings are designed to share feedback with influential figures within the education sector, to help them understand the detail of what our schools are facing. Our extensive list of stakeholders includes regional MPs, Department for Education ministers, Ofsted, and the media regionally and nationally.
If you would like to receive our Stakeholder Briefings, please contact policy@schoolsnortheast.com.
Bitesize Briefings
To keep our Partner Schools up-to-date on education policy developments and research, we send out one page briefings, summarising reports with key findings and the North East impact.
If you would like to receive our Bitesize Briefings, please sign up as a Partner School.
Media Work
We regularly receive press requests from the media, both regionally and nationally. This can be in response to a developing policy issue, or increasingly generated by concerns raised in our Stakeholder Briefings and press releases.
If you have a press inquiry, please contact policy@schoolsnortheast.com.
Lobbying Parliament
We directly lobby parliament through letters to ministers, often partnering with other organisations. We also regularly submit written evidence to inquiries held by the House of Commons Education Select Committee.
A full list of past letters and evidence submissions can be found in the policy archive.
