A renewed focus on phonics and reading in primary schools after the return of Nick Gibb to the Department for Education will be welcome as they are“core skills that form the bedrock” of pupils’ education, a multi academy trust leader has said today.

Meanwhile a heads leader has urged the government not to pigeonhole vocational and technical qualifications into post-16 education, after it was announced the long-serving schools minister was returning the the DfE.

After months of ministerial chopping and changing in government, the latest reshuffle has brought two familiar faces back to the Department for Education, Mr Gibb and Commons Education Select Committee chair Robert Halfon.

Both have a longstanding record in education, but contrasting priorities. Mr Gibb has been instrumental in advocating traditional academic teaching and subjects through the English Baccalaureate and GCSE exam reform.

But Mr Halfon, who is a former skills minister, has previously called for GCSEs to be scrapped and replaced by a qualification completed by students at 18 that recognises academic and technical skills, alongside personal development. 

Their appointments as education ministers have sparked debate about what the sector can expect in terms of education policy from the new government.

Cathie Paine, CEO of Reach2 academy trust welcomed the appointments “after such a time of turmoil.”

“It’s really positive news that the new ministerial team comes with such a wealth of education experience and is made up of people who care passionately about education; that is very welcome news for the sector.

“With Nick Gibb back in the DfE, we can expect a continued focus on standards in schools, with particular emphasis on phonics and reading in primaries.

“Given that these core skills form the educational bedrock for children, this is welcome,” she said.

However she added that schools “need to see a recognition of the challenges that families are facing up and down the country” as well as a focus on “academic standards.”

Tension over academic and technical education priorities?

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Mr Gibb is steeped in education and knows the department well. Mr Halfon has been a very effective chair of the Commons Education Select Committee and a powerful advocate for children and young people.

“Mr Gibb is well-known for his allegiance to a traditional diet of academic subjects in schools. If the direction of travel in government is to place a greater focus on technical and vocational education, this aspiration cannot be pigeonholed solely into post-16 education.”

In a recent interview with Tes, Mr Gibb defended the creation of the EBacc and urged the government to stick to the target of getting 75 per cent of students sitting the academic subjects at GCSE needed for it.

Mr Barton has urged the government to be more flexible in allowing and supporting a choice of subjects that students can study pre-16, which embraces technical and vocational education.

He said: “At the moment, it is marginalised by the requirements of school performance tables to focus largely on academic subjects.”

• Ministers: Gibb and Halfon given DfE roles
• Cabinet reshuffle: Gillian Keegan is new education secretary
• Warning: DfE’s new team urged to push back on cuts

Mr Gibb and Mr Halfon’s appointment follows Gillian Keegan, also a former skills minister, being named as education secretary earlier this week.

The Times has reported that new prime minister Rishi Sunak is planning education reforms including a British Baccalaureate.

During his unsuccessful leadership campaign in the summer, he vowed to create a new “British Baccalaureate to end the over-specialisation in A levels and help students continue to study English and maths”.

Sir David Carter, former national schools minister, said of Mr Gibb’s appointment: “What will be interesting is how he squares this with a shift in tone to a more technical and vocational feel, the areas he needs to think about are the apprenticeship route into teaching and the remit of Ofsted.”

He added: “For Halfon, this is a big step up and he has positioned himself as a ‘friend’ of the system, so he will now need to present some hard messages. 

“What is interesting is that he and Gibb are from very different ends of the policy space and how Keegan manages that will be key.” 

The new DfE ministerial team is already facing calls from school leaders to ensure that the sector is not targeted for spending cuts in the Autumn Statement next month and that more funding is provided to ensure schools can meet a costs crisis.

Ms Paine said she wants to see the new DfE team put Mr Sunak’s ambition into practice “as soon as possible.”

“The new Prime Minister has made clear that investment in education and skills can be a ‘silver bullet’, and so we really do need to see the new team putting this principle into practice as soon as possible.

“Hopefully we’ll have a clearer picture of what this looks like for schools in the Autumn Statement next month - ideally through some additional funding for the increase in teacher pay.”

What happens next on the Schools Bill?

Sir David said the sector needs a clear post-White Paper statement on families of schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) from the new ministerial team at the department.

In March this year, the government announced its plans for all schools to be in or moving towards MATs by 2030 and it then published a Schools Bill that set out how it aimed to regulate a MAT-led system.

However, the legislation ran into difficulty in the House of Lords and large sections of it were withdrawn amid concerns that the new powers being proposed would result in a Whitehall power grab over the day-to-day running of schools

Before the collapse of Liz Truss’ government last week the legislation had been set to be formally ditched.

Sector leaders have said the government now needs to make its position clear on MATs and how it plans to oversee the sector.

Ms Paine said that “in the medium term “we need a clear route-map for a coherently designed system, and how we move from the current half-way house to full academisation. 

“We know that academies work and that they improve the lives and prospects of children and young people; at REAch2 just 7 per cent of our 60 schools were rated “good” or better when they joined the Trust. Today 93 per cent of our schools are good or better. 

“The education sector now needs a clear plan to accelerate the move to all schools becoming part of a strong trust, so that even more families and communities can benefit,” she added.

A chance to make tutoring work?

There are also warnings today that financial pressures could impact the government’s flagship National Tutoring Programme - its main response to Covid’s impact on education.

John Nichols, president of The Tutors’ Association, said: “In the short term, the main thing we’re keen to see is that schools have the capability to use their tuition budgets and actually implement tuition effectively.

“Schools obviously face a number of budgetary pressures, and because the NTP subsidy has dropped quite significantly since last year, there are very real fears that schools simply cannot afford to use their budget fully and tutoring will drop off their radar.”

He told Tes that there are signs that the NTP is better and more fit for purpose than previously.

“This is a key year - it is the third year and the third chance to get it right and make something that is sustainable and that schools and school leaders see as making an impact”.

Nick Bent, the chief executive of the Tutor Trust, said the sector needed an urgent opportunity to meet ministers in person to discuss how to maximise the success of NTP, especially in “cold spot” areas for social mobility

He added: “The spring term is crucial to finally winning the hearts and minds of the teaching profession on the NTP. The scary new evidence on widening attainment gaps and regional divides show the NTP is needed more than ever, and we need DfE to deliver its promise of a major marketing campaign to schools.”

Will primary school performance target stay?

Primary school leaders have also questioned what will happen with the White Paper targets of schools getting 90 per cent of year six pupils to the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030.

Simon Kidwell, headteacher of Hartford Manor Primary School and Nursery in Cheshire and vice president of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said he would like to see sections of the Schools Bill revisited.

He said: “They’ve got to provide a rationale for why they want schools to be moving to MATs by 2030 because many schools are not seeing the advantages of academising by 2030.

“And the other thing I’d like to review is the targets set for primary schools, for reading, writing and maths. Every primary practitioner I talk to just can’t see the 90 per cent benchmark being realistic for schools.”

Alison Peacock, the chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, said she did not think many schools would be sorry to see the key stage 2 Sats targets in the Schools White Paper go.

She added: “They felt as if they were almost reaching an impossible target. I mean, this is not to say that we shouldn’t be aspirational. We should absolutely be aspirational. But all schools are not equal in terms of income, in terms of their pupil intake.”

Improved relations with the sector?

Two big names in the MAT sector have suggested that the appointment of two established names in education provides an opportunity to improve relations between Whitehall, Westminster and schools.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr Gibb and Mr Halfon, Sir Steve Lancashire, former chief executive of REAch2, said: “Whether we agree with their personal views, we know they are steeped in education and passionate about it; that’s a good thing. We couldn’t say that about the last few. They now need to establish confidence and enter into dialogue with the sector.”

Steve Chalke, the founder of the Oasis Community Learning multi-academy trust, said that for too long it has seemed to educationalists that the DfE was “almost at war with them or at least standing outside the ring”. 

He added: “What we need is a new sense of partnership together, rather than a master-servant relationship where the government is the master…Teachers and all school staff are on the front line and, as you know, they’re working damn hard. And they care so much. And they need to hear that we’re in this together.”