£1.6 billion is being made available across 2008-11 for personalised learning and special educational needs (SEN). This money is not ring-fenced and schools are free to spend it in a way which best supports their individual needs. In October 2008 we launched “Personalised Learning—A Practical Guide” to provide support and guidance to schools in prioritising their spending.
Core strategies underpinning personalised teaching and learning include:
The Assessment for Learning Strategy to help schools improve and plan their Assessment for Learning (AfL) provision, underpinned by £150 million being made available to schools across 2008-11. Progress against strategy objectives and their impact is being monitored and driven forward in partnership with key agencies including the National Strategies (NS) and the QCA.
From September 2010, access to a named personal tutor for every secondary school pupil and their parents. The personal tutor will know them in the round and will normally be the first point of contact for parents to discuss a range of academic and pastoral issues with the school.
One-to-one tuition in reading, writing and mathematics, being introduced nationally from 2009 in Key Stages 2 and 3 and, in National Challenge schools, at Key Stage 4. One-to-one tuition is being rigorously evaluated as part of the Making Good Progress Pilot.
Focused support in reading, writing and mathematics through the Every Child a Reader (ECaR), Every Child a Writer (ECaW), and Every Child Counts (ECC) suite of programmes.
Public Service Agreements and national targets for 2011 have a dual focus on ensuring that pupils reach the levels expected for their age in both English and mathematics (threshold targets) and improving the rates of progress made by pupils from ages 5-16 (new progression targets), with increased attention to achieving faster progress for underachieving groups.