Labour Party Conference Review

Coming back home on the train from the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, I was struck by a few things – not all of them to do with education policy.

This was my first ever time at a party conference, so I was, in truth, a bit nervous! Would I find the people I hoped to meet? Would I get a good sense of policy direction? Would the tone feel truly different to what we’ve become accustomed to? And for all of the above ,thankfully, the answer was yes.

But things started wet. Monday was rain, rain and more rain, though Liverpool still shone through as a pretty special place. It also meant needing to change my soaked shoes at the AirBnB I was sharing with my university friend who had just been elected as MP, her constituency’s first female and first Labour MP.

I had made a plan for which of the hundreds of fringe events to attend but also left some space to chat with leaders from other organisations, including NFER, Teach First, Unlocked Graduates, The Fair Education Alliance, NIOT Ambition Institute, Action Tutoring and the Skills Builder partnership. All doing crucial work.

So what did I take away from the panels featuring passionate union leaders, sector experts, school and charity leaders and young people?

What I heard

You won’t be surprised that there was acknowledgement of the mess the system is in. The fact that I knew many of the stats that came up time and time again did not rob them of their power to move me.

The fact that the gap between disadvantaged children and their wealthier peers has been worsened by COVID but had been on the up due to pre-COVID austerity measures. That children on free school meals are on average ten months behind their peers when they finish primary and 19 months behind their peers when they finish secondary school.

That there’s been a steady increase in the number of children presenting with mental health conditions, being referred for SEND support or being persistently absent from school.

That we have the most unhappy 15-year-olds in the OECD.

That the SEND system does not serve the children and families that rely on it.

That we have a teacher retention and recruitment crisis.

That we spend only 3.9% of GDP on education when the OECD recommends at least 5%.

(And journalists wonder why Labour politicians are not being more optimistic!)

A wider change

I felt more hopeful on hearing the message from the Chancellor’s speech that we must put ‘Education at the heart of national life’.

There was also a recognition that schools cannot be responsible for fixing all the issues – that these problems start and worsen outside of the school gates so cannot be fixed by schools alone. Not least because they are stretched too thin already.

There was a focus on the government’s ‘mission-led’ approach, and how departments and public services must come together to make sure that young people and families are supported and have their needs met locally and nationally. Sure Start and other forms of community-based interventions will surely find their way back in as vital and foundational social provision. The announced pilot for free breakfast clubs is hopefully just the start of this.

The Secretary of State for Education reiterated her commitment to workforce engagement, and my impression from 1-1 conversations is that unions are being consulted as a priority to build true workforce partnerships.

And, of course, there was the consistent drumbeat of all the things that need to be addressed: retention and recruitment, early years provision, SEND provision, admissions, and further education. Fixing these things will better enable all teachers to break down barriers to opportunity and better prepare students for the futures they are entitled to have.

My key takeaways

Perhaps most importantly for the future of teaching and career change to teaching, the government’s tone as they engage with us gives me hope. I believe we have the chance to rebuild real pride in the profession and give voice to the joyful moments of teaching and its ability to change lives.

The ‘Opportunity’ mission and its lead, Sarah Smith MP, will be a critical one for Now Teach to engage with, thinking through what this means for partnerships and place-based approaches too.

While the Now Teach network is secondary focussed, I am so glad that Labour are prioritising Early Years because this is the phase that determines future education and life chances. At the other end of the scale, much needed focus on FE will ensure no children are forgotten as they move into FE settings and that FE teachers have the support, resources and funding they need for their critical work.

Re-imagining SEND provision was a much-mentioned plea on panels. The huge financial costs to local authorities and emotional costs to families as they navigate a system that isn’t working, only outweighed by the harm done to the children whose needs are simply not being met.

The curriculum review won’t be all things to all people but there is high trust in the experts and process. We wait with bated breath, alongside the rest of the sector, for more on the plans on the manifesto commitment to fund the recruitment of 6,500 expert teachers, as well as the commitment to making the teaching workforce more inclusive and diverse.

Why we do it

One things sticks in my mind about the purpose of education and the particular opportunity for Now Teachers. 

A university student reflected on her school career and the work her teachers did to support her attainment but she added that what she also needed was help learning the skills to be an adult.

As career changers, Now Teachers bring their life and professional experience into their interactions with pupils and, in so doing, help prepare them for adult life.

Thank you again for your commitment to preparing your students for their best futures and let’s see what changes we see in our education system in the coming months and years.