EdTech Strategy
Today, Wednesday 3 April, the Education Secretary Damian Hinds has been attending the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham to launch the EdTech Strategy, and outline how it will bring a new era for the role of technology in education.
Backed by £10 million in funding, the new strategy will support innovation and raise the bar in schools, colleges and universities over the country. Some of the specific aims of the strategy include using technology to reduce teacher workload and promoting the use of innovative technology for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:
We are living in a digital world with technology transforming the way we live our lives – both at home and in the workplace. But we must never think about technology for its own sake. Technology is an enabler and an enhancer. For too long in education, technology has been seen as something that adds to a teacher’s workload rather than helps to ease.
This strategy is just the first step in making sure the education sector is able to take advantage of all of the opportunities available through EdTech. We now call on schools, businesses and technology developers to realise the huge potential of technology to transform our schools so that teachers have the time to focus on teaching, their own professional development, and – crucially – are able to cater to the needs of every single one of their pupils.
School Sizes
Today, the Daily Mirror published an article based on research by the Labour party which says that the number of ‘Titan’ schools – defined as schools with over 800 pupils – has grown by more than 700% since 2010.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
A large school does not mean larger class sizes so despite an increase of over half a million children attending state-funded primary schools in England between 2010 and 2018, the average primary class size has remained stable.
This Government is undertaking the biggest expansion in school places in two generations – and recent statistics show we are well on track to create one million places nationwide in the decade to 2020 - reversing a reduction of 100,000 school places between 2004 and 2010.
On top of this, standards are rising; the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers has narrowed since 2011; the proportion of pupils in good or outstanding schools has increased since 2010; and our primary school children have achieved their highest ever score on international reading tests. This means that more families have the choice of a good school place for their children.
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