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Education Minister Catherine McKinnell's yesterday addressed at the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham.

In the past 5 months it’s been amazing to stand on stages, where I’ve stood many times before, greeting familiar faces like yourselves,

– but doing it, finally, from a position of government.

I was here last year, brand new to the shadow schools brief, outlining Labour’s vision for education.

Now we’re able to make that a reality. And we’re already off to a flying start, because there’s a lot to do.

Last year, I spoke about our determination to give every child the best possible education. This year I’m able to unpack that a bit further, both in theory and practice.

We are a mission-based government. And for education, our key mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity, so that every child can have the best start in life.

We want high and rising standards in every school, for every child.  

We must look beyond the high achievers, to those who find school challenging, like the ones currently failing to attend regularly or the ones who would soar if their talents were recognised by a broader curriculum.

Because when standards slip, it’s the children who are struggling who suffer. Driving up standards is at the heart of our Opportunity Mission. It’s the route to better life chances, a growing economy, a stronger society.

Every child deserves an excellent school. We want high and rising standards in every school, and we want children to thrive in their school environment.

You know, as I do, that high quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference in school to a child’s education. That impact is even greater for pupils with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This is why when we came into government we made a commitment to recruiting 6,500 new expert teachers a central part of our opportunity mission.

And to truly drive standards, children also need to enjoy their time in a school where they feel they belong.

Two aims which work in tandem, which support one another. To deny them of either is to deprive children of what you’d expect at the very best schools.

It sounds simple, and in some ways it is. We’re not here to rip-up the rule book, and impose new ideas from Westminster. We want to support school leaders to find and share what’s working, and fix what isn’t. None of this will be easy.

We find ourselves in an extraordinary financial position as an incoming government, at a time of crumbling schools, poor attendance and disillusioned teachers leaving in droves.

School staff lack that sense of belonging too, wearied by their workload and the need to help their poorest pupils to access basic necessities.

Child poverty has risen by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family.

Tackling it is central to breaking down the barriers to opportunity, and freeing up school staff to focus on teaching.

Last month’s Budget began to fix the foundations, protecting education priorities in the midst of difficult spending decisions. 

It put education back at the forefront of national life, with a £2.3 billion increase to the core schools budget next year.

This included almost £1 billion for those with complex needs, a significant increase - and a first step in taking forward much needed reforms to the SEND system.

The Chancellor also announced £2.1 billion for next financial year to improve the condition of school buildings - a substantial rise on this year. And £1.4 billion to drive delivery of the existing School Rebuilding Programme next year.

So some of our funding will go towards removing actual, physical barriers to opportunity - school premises not fit for purpose.

But to give every child the best possible education, we need to look at what schools teach, and the sort of places we want them to be.

Children need access to a broad curriculum that allows them to reach high standards in all subjects, as well find their voice and explore their talents.

I loved school for the breadth of experiences it gave me – from playing the flute to playing hockey – which, in turn, gave me confidence and motivation in other areas of the schoolwork.

Excellence and enjoyment can and should go hand in hand. And as I said last year, we want an excellent education for all our children.

Because of this, we wasted no time in establishing the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review.

We want a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative. It should provide an excellent foundation in core subjects, and ensure that young people leave education ready for life and work. 

That’s the task we’ve set the review – to help us achieve our commitment to high standards.

We look forward to hearing its expert advice when it reports next year – informed by extensive engagement with the teaching profession and others across the country.

The Review will also look at the barriers to opportunity that hold back children and young people with SEND. Because they must be able to achieve and thrive alongside their peers. 

The current SEND system has been neglected to the point of crisis and is failing children and their families on every measure. Now is the time for bold reform.

We brought SEND back into the Schools Minister’s brief - my brief - because we no longer want it siloed as separate from mainstream education.

The lack of support in mainstream schools is driving too many families to have to seek specialist provision for their children,

which is why we will encourage more mainstream schools to include children and young people with SEND in classes.

We will support schools to set up Resourced Provision or SEN units to increase their capacity.

Our work to help schools achieve this will be guided by experts with long experience in our schools,

such as Dame Christine Lenehan, our new strategic advisor on SEND, and Tom Rees, Chief Executive of Ormiston Academies Trust.

He will be leading a group of experts to help us drive forward the work on inclusion.

We’ll also bring together leading neurodiversity experts – including those with lived experience – who will work closely with the department to help us get this right.

And we’ve already backed that direction of travel by piloting a scheme to widen access to music lessons for children with SEND, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In partnership with Young Sounds UK and others, the Music Opportunities Pilot will nurture and enhance young people’s musical talent in 12 areas, including Sunderland, Bury, Bradford and Stoke-on-Trent.

It will break down the barriers to musical opportunities in these places, by providing free lessons to give disadvantaged young people the chance to learn to play an instrument.

We are committed to an accountability system that drives high and rising standards, a system that supports teachers and leaders to deliver the best for our children.

Single headline grades provided little information for parents and were high stakes for the school leaders, on whom we rely to drive improvement, push change, raise standards. We listened to the sector while in opposition, and acted quickly to bring reform in government.

We need a much clearer and broader picture of school performance.

Our new report cards will outline schools’ strengths as well as their weaknesses, with inclusion being a key component. It is vital that we recognise and encourage strong inclusive schools.

And I know that we must listen to and engage with the sector as we work to deliver that reformed system.

We have introduced Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence or “RISE” teams, which will help schools act on this insight, and learn from one another.

But we won’t stop there. RISE teams will work collaboratively with struggling schools and their responsible bodies to discuss improvement priorities, helping identify the right support as needed.

Where schools are causing the most concern, we will still intervene. But we will move beyond improvement strategies based only on intervention.

We will work in partnership with the whole sector to get this right.

Whether tackling absence or driving inclusivity, RISE teams will support all children to achieve and thrive at school.  Sharing what works, building connections, and developing a community of learning and thriving.

This is a real opportunity to improve outcomes and drive high and rising standards for every pupil at every school.

Inclusion and a sense of belonging at school is about more than timetabled lessons. It’s about creating a community that children want to feel part of. The current attendance figures tell you how much this is lacking. Last academic year, more than one in five children were persistently absent – stubbornly higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The new statutory guidance embeds the ‘support first’ approach to managing a pupil’s poor attendance. But, alongside that, there needs to be strong pushback against the idea that a child doesn’t need to be in school every day. This attitude drags down attainment and classroom cohesion.

The breakfast clubs we promised in our manifesto will extend the school community, welcoming children in. They start the day eating together in a social space, after which they’re ready to learn.

It’s about the club as much as the breakfast. We will also deliver 3,000 new or expanded school-based nurseries, to plug local gaps in childcare and put early education at the heart of school communities.

The school workforce is a massive priority for this government. We are currently working to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools - both mainstream and specialist – and colleges over the course of this parliament. 

These are desperately needed, because too many of our brilliant teachers are currently leaving the profession.

As I’ve already said, high quality teaching makes the biggest difference to a child’s education - quality that’s often built through time and acquired expertise. Experienced teachers are highly valued by children, parents, and the newer staff they support.

Retention is by far the best recruitment policy. Lots of people came up to me at the end of last year’s speech, eager to talk, sharing business cards, as you do. One guy waited right ’til the end. When he finally stepped forward he said:

“I’m a music teacher. I was about to become an ex-music teacher, but after listening to you, I’ve decided to keep going.”

It was music to my ears! Championing a breadth of subjects, and those who teach them, is so important.

Valuing sometimes neglected subjects, really does contribute something towards retaining the talented workforce we need in our schools.

But this isn’t everything. We’ve made clear our commitment to teachers’ status and salary with the 5.5% rise effective from September. We’re providing schools with almost £1.1 billion this academic year to support the costs of implementing this award.

Ask any teacher and they will tell you how much they rely on great support staff. Teaching Assistants play a crucial role in supporting the education and wellbeing of our children and young people.

So I am delighted that we have already laid the legislation needed to start the process of reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

But workload remains the biggest reason that dedicated staff leave,

and it’s something we’re determined to solve.

As any teacher here today will tell you, small adjustments can make a big difference to their working lives.

Our Improve Workload and Wellbeing service lets schools share what’s worked for them in reducing workload. And we want more ideas shared there, so it can continue to grow.  

Flexible working is now a common expectation in many sectors, particularly among young graduates.

I can understand why the practicalities of flexible working might feel daunting for school leaders.

After all, teaching is predominantly site-based work.

That’s why the Department is funding Flexible Working Ambassador Schools to support those who want to explore this.

Tomorrow I’ll visit one such school, Reach Academy, which champions flexible working, workload reduction and wellbeing. I want to understand how they’ve been so effective, and what’s transferrable to other settings.

This is not a fad. It’s about making sure that schools are supporting their staff’s working life in modern, practical ways.

Tech is part of the solution, whether it’s saving teachers time on parent/carer engagement, or streamlining lesson planning.

Looking to the future, artificial intelligence presents an exciting opportunity to give teachers a helping hand.

Our ‘AI Tools for Education’ funding competition announced in August invites innovators to develop tools based on the carefully selected data in our education content store. These tools will be focused on reducing the burden of feedback and marking for teachers.

Oak National Academy has also recently launched its AI-powered lesson planning tool. This AI lesson assistant, Aila, allows teachers to create personalised lesson plans and resources in minutes, saving hours each week. It is simple to use and free for teachers to access.

Today we’re launching Plan Technology for Your School. This new digital service helps schools make strategic decisions about where and how to improve their technology.

Ultimately, this is about making sure that the rapid expansion of technology does not create a two-tier system of those who benefit, and those who continue to struggle. We will support schools to harness the opportunities that tech brings, so that no children are left behind.

I hope I’ve clearly demonstrated the things we will do differently.

A mission-based government, focused on breaking down the barriers to opportunity, wherever we find them – so that every child can have the best start in life. So that every child can achieve and thrive.

Schools where children gain rich experiences and feel part of welcoming community that demands high standards.

A place where teachers and school leaders feel valued in every sense, where their work/life balance gives them fulfilment. Where schools feel guided to make improvements, and confident to share best practice.

With collaboration and determination, and partnership with the sector, I think it’s possible.

And I hope you’ll join me in bringing it about.

Thank you.