At a glance headlines: January 29, 2015

Fifty-seven per cent of school leaders say that current safeguarding guidance for schools is failing to reduce bureaucracy, a survey by The Key has found. It also discovered that 18 per cent of the respondents had found assessments following referrals to social services that had not been completed within the required 45 days. One head told researchers that “more and more safeguarding issues are being pushed back to school level”, with a number of respondents reporting that social services were “overworked and understaffed”. A guidance document offering advice for school leaders has been prepared by The Key: http://bit.ly/14dIj6n

Politicians have been reminded that just under 500,000 school-age children still cannot get online at home. The e-Learning Foundation is calling for all political parties to prioitise this issue and has published its own manifesto ahead of the General Election. At the heart of the manifesto is a drive to ensure that every young learner has access to “suitable and safe digital resources at school and at home” regardless of their parents’ income. It is calling for the next government to outlaw any school ICT policies or programmes that result in children being excluded because of their parents’ inability to pay. Download the manifesto at: http://bit.ly/1ySfDwf