The HISP Teaching School Hub based in Southampton will continue to be at the forefront of teacher training and development for schools within the region for the next four years.

The hub’s reaccreditation means it will act as the designated hub for teacher training and development for schools across the south coast.

As part of the accreditation process, the hub had to demonstrate an understanding of the barriers the areas it serves are facing, a proven track record of delivering high quality training for both experienced and new teachers, and a plan to expand its capabilities.

Deputy Director of the HISP Teaching School Hub David Higginbottom (left) said he was looking forward to working with schools for another four years, especially those in disadvantaged areas.

David added: “I’m so pleased we’ve been accredited for another four years. Our work will help to ensure that pupils across the south coast will receive the very best education – no matter their background – for the next four years.

Having access to face-to-face training delivered by local educational experts is so important for teachers at every stage of their career. We focus on techniques teachers can put into practice as soon as they leave a session with us.”

The HISP Teaching School Hub is part of HISP Multi-Academy Trust and offers high quality education, resources and support for teachers.

Overall, 79% of 18-year-old pupils in the UK receiving a decision today have gained a place at their first choice university.

16, 530 students who received free school meals (FSM) have also gained a place at university which is a 60% increase from 2019.

In a sign that grading is returning to normal, this year, 27.2% of UK entries for A levels achieved a grade A and above, slightly higher than 25.4% in 2019, before the pandemic. 76% of UK entries achieved a grade C and above, in line with 75.9% in 2019.

This year has seen Mathematics continue to be the most popular A Level since 2014 as well as record-breaking numbers of A Level entries in Computing, producing over 16% more entries than last year. The data from this year’s results day show 34.8% of entries from free schools and 25.4% of entries from academies getting a grade A or above – compared to 22.0% of entries from Local Authority maintained comprehensive schools.

Around 3,400 T Level students received their results today as the second ever cohort completed the new, high quality technical qualification. 90.5% of T Level students achieved a Pass or above.

T Levels offer a wide range of progression options as many of these students will also go on to do apprenticeships, and UCAS has today revealed that 1,220 T Level students have been accepted into university, demonstrating the value and reputation of these qualifications.

Over 250,000 certificates were awarded for those completing their Level 3 vocational and technical qualifications.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

“Congratulations to everyone receiving results today. There are more opportunities than ever before so whatever your results, I’m sure you will have a bright future ahead of you.

“It’s fantastic to see the number of young people accepted to university – including to their first choice – continue to be up on the years before the pandemic, while thousands more go off to exciting apprenticeships and the world of work.

“As always, there are a wide range of fantastic options for those who did not get the results they hoped for, and students can find out more by visiting the UCAS website or through the National Careers Service.”

If students have not received the grades they were hoping for, there are thousands of high-quality courses available through Clearing. This morning there were nearly 29,000 courses available, many of which are at the most selective universities. Clearing opportunities can be accessed through this link: https://www.ucas.com/clearing-launch

For those who do not wish to go through Clearing, students can call the National Careers Service on 0800 100 900 for advice on their next steps.

There are also options available other than university. Apprenticeships offer people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to gain the skills they need to build successful careers, while making sure employers can access the skilled workforce they and our economy need to grow.

For more information and to explore all the other exciting options available to young people go to: Get the Jump: explore your education and training choices | National Careers Service

Almost £5 billion has been made available to help pupils to recover from the impact of the pandemic, including over £1.5 billion for the National Tutoring Programme and 16-19 Tuition Fund, which have supported millions of students in need of extra support. Nearly four million tutoring courses have now been started through the National Tutoring Programme, including over 1.3 million so far this academic year.

When students qualify in skills such as plumbing, hairdressing, electrical installation, the Start Up coaching programme provided by the Wirral Chamber as part of their partnership with Wirral Met, will take this to the next level to support students, who wish to become self-employed or set up their own business.

Workshops will be focused on three key areas for establishing a business: business planning, marketing and finance, complementing to students newly developed skills.

In addition, for students who create products, as part of the entrepreneurial programme, they will also be provided with an opportunity to sell their goods in one of the Chamber’s Artisan market chalets as part of Small Business Saturday in December.

Sue Higginson, Wirral Met’s Principal said: “We have a strong and well-established partnership with Wirral Chamber of Commerce and are pleased to be working with them on a number of projects, including how we work together to deliver the local skills agenda.

“This project is a partnership to help our students explore their true potential.  The most important thing for young people is to continue their education and skills development until they are at least 18 to progress into employment, further education or university.

“As a vocational college all of our students choose a career and sector to hone their skills and, when they are qualified, this programme will enable them to explore self-employment and become a future employer in their own right.”

Patsy Crocker, Executive Director of Wirral Chamber of Commerce said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Wirral Met on this StartUp Wirral initiative – supporting budding entrepreneurs on their journey from an idea or hobby into a ‘real’ business that can thrive and growth.

“Through enabling Wirral Met students to turn their hobby or dream into a reality and begin their journey as a business owner also helps support our local economy.

“We look forward to featuring these new businesses at #SmallBusinessSaturday and holding a dedicated market at Woodside that features all Wirral students. Our business start support is funded in partnership with Wirral Council”.

The data, retrieved via the Freedom of Information Act and analysed by the Parliament Street think tank, observed the number of malicious emails blocked by the Scottish Qualifications Authority each month from November 2021 to January 24th, 2022, including a breakdown of the types of attack blocked.

In December, the SQA blocked an astonishing 3,436,744 email attacks, up from 252,317 blocked attacks from November 2021. In January 2022, the number of attacks reduced significantly down to 80,727.

Spam attacks were the most commonly blocked threat by the SQA, with 3,748,046 over the reporting period, accounting for over 99 per cent of threats faced. Over the three months, there were 20,829 phishing attacks blocked, and 913 malware attacks.

The SQA blocked a staggering 3,429,683 spam threats during December, the threat type which rose the highest during the reporting period.

The surge of spam attacks in December coincided with an increase in covid-related scams as a result of Omicron, as well as holiday related scams in the run up to Christmas.

Email security expert Chris Ross, SVP Sales International for Barracuda Networks, said, “Educational bodies, such as the Scottish Qualifications Authority, handle vast amounts of sensitive and confidential data, making them a lucrative target for cyber attacks. This has especially been the case since the transition to more remote based learning, catalysed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, our own research indicated a 521% surge in Covid test-related phishing attacks since December, which shows that cyber criminals will use every available opportunity to trick credulous victims into leaking details, such as sensitive information or login credentials, to sophisticated spear-phishing attacks.

Ross continued, “Training staff on the threat of phishing attacks is crucial to raising awareness and equipping them with the tools to identify and prevent threats if they do break through. On a technical level, utilising artificial intelligence solutions in email protection can help to recognise attacks designed to navigate around spam filters and other basic gateways, stopping threats before they can cause serious data breaches.”

Meanwhile cyber specialist Tim Sadler, CEO and Co-Founder, Tessian, said, “Threat actors were quick to capitalise on the Omicron variant in their phishing campaigns, using the new variant as a lure and preying on levels of uncertainty to trick people into complying with their malicious requests. Targeting employees during December was yet another opportunistic tactic, as cybercriminals were likely hoping their targets would be more distracted than usual during the busy holiday season.

“Given the sheer scale of email threats today, it’s so important that organisations have security solutions in place to protect their employees from email attacks and help them determine the spam emails from the dangerous email attacks that could compromise their security. Sophisticated phishing attacks can fool even the most ‘tech-savvy’ users, and it just takes one distracted employee to fall for a scam. Equip them with the tools and knowledge they need to help minimise the risk,” added Sadler.

Endpoint security specialist Edward Blake, Area Vice President EMEA, Absolute Software, said, “Email attacks continue to present a serious threat to organisations, especially with catalysts, such as Omicron, Christmas and Valentine’s Day, constantly presenting new opportunities for malicious actors. Large organisations, along with their staff and customers, are prime targets for mass cyber threats, requiring them to assess and improve their existing security measures in order to avoid serious data breaches.

“Effective cyber protection requires an all-encompassing approach to securing devices, networks and applications. Implementing Zero Trust protocols, alongside self-healing endpoint cyber security, is essential for businesses to holistically protect their systems and devices, and in turn preventing cyber criminals from being able to gain a foothold in an organisations IT system,” Blake concluded.

Following a public consultation, the Department for Education has confirmed changes to French, German and Spanish GCSEs, supported by a research review by Ofsted, to help students build confidence and excel in learning languages.

In the updated GCSEs, students will be assessed on the most common vocabulary used in conversations and writing, as well as grammar and pronunciation, increasing clarity for teachers and improving the practical benefits for students.

Research shows that a focus on these ‘building blocks’ enables students to more clearly see progress in their ability to understand and use the language, and in turn grow in confidence and motivation.

The changes aim to fulfil the government’s ambition for 90% of Year 10 pupils to study EBacc subjects for GCSE by September 2025. So far, over 95% of students have been entered for GCSE English, maths and science and over 80% in humanities subjects, and the government wants to increase the number of students studying language GCSEs too.

The consultation was based on recommendations from an expert panel chaired by Ian Bauckham and received 1,644 responses, with the majority from language teachers agreeing with the proposals. The plans for the new French, German and Spanish GCSEs reflect sector feedback, giving exam boards an additional year to develop them.

Schools Minister Robin Walker said: “Studying languages opens up a world of new, exciting opportunities for people and is hugely important for a modern global economy.

“That’s why we want more young people to take up modern language GCSEs, and these evidence-based changes aim to do just that – making these qualifications more well-rounded and accessible, and helping more young people to enjoy learning languages.”

The revised GCSEs will start to be taught in September 2024, with first exams being held in 2026. The changes to the language GCSEs include:

• Students will be assessed on the basis of 1,200 ‘word families’ at foundation tier GCSE and 1,700 ‘word families’ in higher tier GCSE
• An example of a word family could be ‘manage’, ‘managed’ and ‘manages’. Exam boards will select topics and themes to inform the selection of key vocabulary, as opposed being prescribed in the subject content
• At least 85 per cent of the ‘word families’ will be selected from the 2,000 most frequently occurring words in a language to make sure students have a good knowledge of the most common words

Ofqual has also confirmed the assessment approach today, following a public consultation, which sets out the revised assessment objectives and confirms that the current use of tiered assessments and non-exam assessment (NEA) will continue. Ofqual will now conduct a public technical consultation on the details of assessment requirements and then exam boards will develop GCSE specifications, ready to be taught from September 2024.

The nurse degree apprenticeship is open to applicants at all stages of life, including school leavers, university graduates and people looking to retrain. The nurse degree apprenticeship is a work-based qualification providing apprentices with a combination of training and assessments via distancing learning and on-site placements applying practical knowledge. Placements will be delivered at a Spire hospital as well as at the local NHS trust and GP practice.

Apprentices enjoy a flexible, work-based approach, combining university study and workplace learning to develop new knowledge, skills and thinking whilst completing a degree. The benefit of the degree apprenticeship route is the ability to earn while learning, with a salary of between £18,000 and £21,000 depending on previous experience.

Each nurse degree apprenticeship will complete the programme with a BSc degree. Applications are open now, with successful applicants starting the programme in July 2021.

Deborah Barker, Group Talent Manager at Spire Healthcare, commented, “We are thrilled to be launching our new nurse degree apprenticeship programme. Delivered in partnership with the University of Sunderland it offers hundreds of people, from school leavers, university graduates or people looking to retrain, the opportunity to earn while they learn. Nurses have a vital role in delivering care and support to patients while in hospital and this programme helps to introduce more people into the profession.

“The appeal of an apprenticeship has risen in recent years due to the increasing cost of the traditional university degree route. Covid-19 has then compounded this with classroom-based teaching disrupted over the course of 2020/21.

“The programme has been developed to give people broad experience of healthcare in England, they will complete placements in Spire hospitals, NHS hospitals, and in the community. This ensures that every apprentice gets a full-rounded experience of the role and is well-prepared for their future career in the sector.”

Simone Bedford, Team Leader Professional Healthcare Practice and Midwifery at University of Sunderland, said: “We are excited to be working with Spire Healthcare as this is a great opportunity to work with partners in the private sector.

“The Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship will be delivered nationally within the Spire Healthcare group and will offer greater flexibility than a traditional degree to the 270 new nursing apprentices. Based on the University of Sunderland’s successful experience elsewhere, this ‘grow your own’ model is a very exciting development for everyone concerned and we commend Spire Healthcare for its initiative in embarking on such a programme.”

Spire’s nurse degree apprenticeship programme is open to applicants from people 18 years and over. Unusually for a nurse apprenticeship programme, it is open to people coming straight out of education, with no existing healthcare background. Applicants need to hold a maths and English GCSE A to C / 9 to 4 or equivalent and have either a level 3 in Healthcare or 112 UCAS points. The length of the programme is four or five years, depending on existing qualifications. This is reduced to two to three years for Nurse Associates or Assistant Practitioners to reflect existing experience and prior learning.

To find out more and apply visit: https://www.spirehealthcare.com/recruitment/spire-nursing-apprenticeship-programme/

Spire currently has 25 nurse degree apprentices enrolled on an existing programme who are due to graduate in October 2021. The private healthcare provider also offers a wide range of clinical and non-clinical apprenticeships.

The content includes:

•Theories behind dyscalculia and maths learning difficulties.
•The principles of specialist teaching.
•Planning and teaching an individualised programme of support.
•Evaluating practice.

Karen Mace, Head of Assessment and Professional Level Training at BDA, said: “We estimate that dyscalculia effects around one in 20 people but understanding, identification and support has traditionally lagged behind dyslexia. The BDA Level 5 Certificate in Dyscalculia and Maths Learning Difficulties is a big step in our ongoing work to increase awareness of dyscalculia and the support available to those identified as has having this specific learning difficulty.

“With a new working definition of dyscalculia recently developed, those training for this certificate will be at the forefront of work in this area. We hope to see many educational professionals with specialisms in other specific learning difficulties take up the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills, and ultimately support more people in getting the best out of their education.”

The course is delivered through eLearning modules with a combination of lectures, webinars, videos, articles and interactive activities and provides a flexible way of studying for candidates undertaking the programme.

The qualification is suitable for:

•Teachers and teaching assistants supporting maths in primary, secondary and tertiary settings.
•Tutors and support staff in further education and other adult learning settings.
•Support staff in higher education (this course meets the requirements for DSA support workers, though you will need to be a member of a professional body such as BDA).
•It is also accessible to those who have a desire to improve their skills and knowledge in the area of dyscalculia and maths learning difficulties and display the ability to study at Level 5.

The course is accredited with OCNCredit4Leaning and BDA accreditation for ATS/APS (Dyscalculia) is pending.

For more information please email L5dysc@bdadyslexia.org.uk or ring 0333 405 4565.