National educational roles and structures

The Secretary of State for Education

The chief minister of national government with responsibility for national education policy. Appointed by the Prime Minister and a cabinet post.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES)

The national government department with responsibility for education.

The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)

A national government body set up in 1993 which appoints and trains school inspectors, arranges and sets criteria for school inspection processes and produces public reports on individual schools and on the national system more generally.

Her Majesty's Inspectors of schools (HMI)

A small group of professional inspectors of schools now working with OFSTED but with tradition since 1839 of providing independent advice on the education system.

The Teacher Training Agency (TTA)

The national body set up in 1994 to plan, fund and supervise teacher education and to commission research on teaching.

Registered Inspector

An inspector who has qualified to lead a school inspection (not necessarily an HMI).

The General Teaching Council for England (GTCE)

An independent voice for the teaching profession in England . It also registers all teachers in England and maintains professional standards for teaching.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)

A government body responsible for the development of the national curriculum in England and the formal assessment of this.

Local educational roles and structures

The Local Education Authority (LEA)

The planning authority for education with a local government area which provides many `central services' to teachers, schools, governors, parents and pupils.

The education committee

The committee of elected councillors within a local government areas which sets local education policy or interprets national policy for implementation by the LEA.

The Chief Education Officer (CEO)/Director of Education

The chief executive of a Local Education Authority.

LEA Advisers

LEA educationalists providing professional support to teachers and governors for `school improvement'.

LEA Inspectors

LEA educationalists who inspect school performance and report locally. Often, LEA advisers are also LEA inspectors.

Education Officers

LEA administrators who administer and advise schools on organisational systems relating, for instance, to pupil admissions, staff appointments, school budgets and central provision for children with special educational needs.

Education Welfare Services (EWO)

LEA staff with particular responsibilities for pupil attendance and general welfare through close liaison with Social Services, Schools and families.

Social Services

A department within a local government area which is responsible, among many other things, for children's welfare (in the home) under the term of the Children Act, 1989.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Colleges and universities offering degrees, many of which also provide courses for initial teacher training in partnership with schools and courses to support the Continuing Professional Development of Teachers.

School types

Nursery school (Foundation Stage)

A school offering suitable, but non-statutory, educational provision for children aged 2 - 4, including play, activity and language development. The recommended child/adult ratio is 13:1.

Nursery unit (Foundation Stage)

A unit, offering suitable educational provision for children aged 3 and 4, which is attached to a school for older children.

Infant school

A school for children aged 5 - 7 in which Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum is taught and assessed. It may include a reception class (children aged 4-5, Foundation Stage).

Junior school

A school for children aged 7 - 11 in which Key Stage 2 of the National Curriculum is taught and assessed.

Primary school

A school for children aged 5 - 11 in which Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 of the National Curriculum is taught and assessed. It may include a reception class (children aged 4-5, Foundation Stage).

First school

A school for children aged 5 - 8, or 5 - 9 in which appropriate parts of the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 National Curriculum are taught and assessed. It may include a reception class (children aged 4-5, Foundation Stage).

Middle school

A school for children aged 8 - 12 or 9 - 13 in which appropriate parts of the Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 National Curriculum are taught and assessed.

Special school

A school for children of any age who have `statements' of special educational needs. The National Curriculum may be taught, parts of it `disapplied' to particular children or they may be `exempted'.

Preparatory school

An independent school often catering for children from 5 - 13 years old in preparation for secondary education in `public schools' (also independent).

Training Schools

Schools which have enhanced responsibility for teacher training, both continuing and initial, usually in conjunction with an institution of Higher Education.

Beacon Schools

Schools which have been recognised by the DfES as outstanding institutions and which are involved in the dissemination of their work in other schools.

Partnership Promotion Schools

Schools which accept the centrality of initial teacher training to their work and seek to work with other schools to develop their work in ITT.

School status

Maintained

A school for which an LEA has financial and administrative responsibility.

Independent

A privately owned school funded by fees paid by parents, for which conformity to many requirements of the national education system is not obligatory.

Foundation Schools

These are schools in the state sector but which formerly were Grant Maintained Schools funded independently from Local Education Authorities.

Community Schools

These are schools in the state sector formerly called county schools.

Voluntary Schools

A school where there is a strong involvement from a voluntary organisation, usually a church. The governing body employ the staff, control admissions and determine the form of religious education.

School funding and its implications

The local government settlement

The finance which is made available annually by national government from general taxation to support local government expenditure. Education usually accounts for a high proportion of such funding.

The community charge

The means by which local governments raise funds from their electorate to contribute to their expenditure on local services, such as education.

The aggregated schools budget

The total funds made available for expenditure by schools by an LEA. This must be at least 85% of its overall funding for education and is allocated using an approved funding formula.

Formula Funding

The method by which funds for school budgets are calculated, with a particular emphasis on numbers of pupils on roll as reflected in age weighted pupil units.

Age weighted pupil units (AWPUs)

The number of `units' allocated to children of particular ages which is reflected in levels of school funding. In 1995 a 16 year old counted for nine units and a 7 year old for one unit.

Teacher salaries

A School Teachers' Review Body makes recommendation to the Secretary of State for Education each year on teachers pay.

Pupil-teacher ratios

The proportion of pupils to all teachers in a school or within an education system - a figure which includes teachers in administrative or other posts.

Class size

The number of children in a class who are taught by one teacher. Often aggregated for a school, LEA on the national system to produce an average figure. The national figure has been rising in recent years.

School management

Governing body

The group of parents, LEA, community representatives and teachers set up under the terms of School's Articles of Government to direct school policy and oversee school management (see Education Act, 1986).

Headteachers

The senior teacher and leader of school staff who is responsible for the implementation of National Curriculum and assessment requirements, school policies as set by governors, school staff, external liaison and effective use of financial and other resources.

Deputy headteacher

A teacher who has been specifically appointed to deputise for the headteacher and who is likely to have been delegated a range of important management functions by the headteacher, as well as normally maintaining responsibility for a class of children.

Senior management teams (SMT)

A small group of senior staff in a school, normally receiving additional pay allowances, who support the headteacher in implementing school policies by acting as `middle-managers'.

School ethos

The taken-for-granted pattern of values, interpersonal relationships and expectations about the education being provided which gives each school a particular subjective `feel'. Often very influenced by the headteacher.

School development plans (SDPs)

An annual form of whole-school evaluation and planning, promoted by government and LEAs and expected to be produced by headteacher, teachers and governors together.

School policies

Guidelines for action and practice within a school. Some policies are legally required and must be set by governors.

Action plan

A plan, prepared by a school's governors, following an OFSTED inspection to address any issues raised.

Open enrolment

A national requirement that all maintained schools must admit children whose parents wish it, until their standard number is reached.

Admission

The process of admitting children into the roll of the school, which must be carried out by each school in accordance with LEA policies. Parents are able to appeal if their child is refused a place at the school of their choice.

Exclusion

The process of banning a pupil from a school. This may be either temporary or permanent and is usually initiated by the headteacher, often on disciplinary grounds.

Transfer

The process of movement from one school to another.

Accountability

Various processes by which teachers, schools or governors are required to justify their practices, policies and performance to others, and in particular parents, including reports on pupil progress, convening of an annual meeting for parents and publishing OFSTED inspection reports.

Added value

The measured gain in pupil attainment when performance on admission to a school is compared with performance at the point of transfer out. Seen as preferable to simple `raw' attainment data because it allows for socio-economic and other contextual influences on pupil capability and thus indicates the school contribution.

Standard number

The number of pupils which, based on the capacity of its buildings, a school is deemed to be able to accommodate.

School effectiveness

A judgement or measure of the efficiency of the school overall in producing educational outcomes given the characteristics of its pupil intake and the resources which are deployed.