PRESS RELEASE: Equal Education has won a £50,000 grant from Innovate UK to provide managed devices for Looked After Children so that they can participate in online learning. With these new devices, the company aims to help close the "Digital Divide" and reduce the "Attainment Gap".

Children’s safety is at the core of Equal Education’s considerations in the work we do. We have conducted a thorough review of Zoom and have concluded that the service is safe to continue using, provided that the following guidelines are adhered to.

Equal Education is the only organisation that specialises in providing tailored tutoring to LAC and SEND. We are now the only education services supplier with an extensive relationship with Apple to provide secured devices suitable for our learners.

Recent media coverage points to increasing concerns over online child abuse during the lockdown. The Department of Education recently published support and advice for parents and carers about keeping children safe online. Equal Education has provided a comparison of how our managed device solutions assist in keeping to these guidelines so that children can continue to learn online safely.

The Good Law Project is making a crowdfunded case for councils to provide children with access to the internet and laptops so they can continue their education. Whilst Local Authorities are under immense financial strain through no fault of their own, the aims are laudable and it is vital to act now so that the current crisis does not exacerbate existing socioeconomic inequalities. 

The Department for Education has released the latest outcomes data for Looked After Children in England and we are keen to share its findings….

In Help, protection, education: concluding the children in need review (2019) the government committed to take action to improve the educational outcomes of children who have needed a social worker. This February, it announced changes to the role of Designated Safeguarding Leads in schools, a development welcomed by The Children’s Society. Read more here.

This International Women’s Day we are celebrating the work of our amazing tutors who are changing students’ and families’ lives for the better. Operations Team share just a few of the many examples of Equal Education’s Winning Women.

This week in education and social care news: The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published its first annual report; The Domestic Abuse Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons; there was a push for increased Local Authority and SEND funding, and it was World Book Day!

What can be done to improve the educational attainment of children who have had a social worker? On Thursday February 27th, What Works for Children’s Social Care launched a report seeking to answer this question, marking an important starting point and paving the way for further debate and research. Read our summary of the event here.

Children’s social care and the funding shortfall was firmly on the news agenda in February, with government promising an independent review after the Local Government Association reported a £3bn annual shortfall. Children’s mental health, addressing the teacher recruitment crisis and tackling social mobility also featured.

UCL Institute of Education (IOE) co-hosted an event with the University of Bath’s Institute for Policy Research (IPR) bringing together leading experts, commentators, policymakers and politicians to discuss grammar schools and social mobility. This made for a lively debate in the Thatcher Room at Portcullis House. Read an overview here.

As we kick off the New Year and get back to work, check out our shortlist of important education news that you might have missed during the festive period.

The past 30 days have been exceptionally hectic with the election process in full swing. Check our Media Round-up to cut through the noise and find out what’s happening in the world of education.