Friday Five: views on young people, school ‘networks’, N. Ireland FSM, intergenerational economics and academy payment breaches

1. Report reveals poor public perception of young people

Research published by the #iWill Movement has uncovered the extent of negative public attitudes towards young people. People aged 25+ were found to be less likely to view young people positively, with descriptors such as ‘naive’, ‘lazy’ and ‘entitled’ in common usage. Although 74% of respondents supported ‘young voices in politics’, only 39% would trust young people in ‘decision-making roles’. 

To counter this, #iWill calls on policymakers, communities and organisations to ‘promote intergenerational dialogue’ and ‘reshape media narratives’ to show the positive contributions of young people. They also call for more investment in platforms showcasing youth-led change, as they found that people who knew about the Youth Social Action (YSA) framework were ‘far more likely to have positive perceptions of young people’.

The full report is here

2. School leaders operate in ‘networks’ of well-connected schools, leaving others isolated

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has found that a school’s ability to attract effective headteachers or future headteachers is based on their position within tightly-connected ‘communities’ of schools. School leaders or future leaders are switching jobs within the same networks of schools, leaving a remainder of ‘isolated’ schools less likely to benefit from their expertise. EPI found that at secondary, headteachers or future headteachers are 20 times more likely to move to a school within the same network than to one outside of it.

With a greater concentration of ‘isolated’ schools in particular regions, and evidence that highly effective headteachers are less likely to join low-attaining or disadvantaged schools, EPI recommends the following to promote greater equity:

• Support ‘isolated’ schools by sharing good practice through multi-academy trusts (MATs) and local headteacher networks
• Incentivise leadership in challenging schools to attract successful headteachers
• Learn from regional success – e.g. why do regions like the North-East and London produce (and retain) so many effective headteachers?

For the full report and list of recommendations, read here

3. Public consultation on free school meals launched in Northern Ireland

A public consultation on eligibility criteria for free school meals (FSM) and uniform grants has been launched in Northern Ireland by Paul Givan, the Minister of Education. The consultation will explore the number of children who could receive FSM and uniform grants, as well as examining the costs and benefits associated with the different models of provision.

The consultation is being held in the context of what Paul Givan describes as an ‘extremely challenging budget’, with the aim being to maximise the impact of available funds. The consultation invites all views and opinions, particularly from relevant stakeholders, and will close on Friday 14 February.

Read the full consultation documents here

4. New findings published on the economic relations between generations

The Resolution Foundation has published their sixth Intergenerational Audit for the UK, providing up-to-date insights on the economic relationships and exchanges between generations. Their research examines the support provided by older to younger generations (e.g. housing assistance, childcare and financial aid), as well as in the opposite direction (e.g. unpaid care responsibilities for ageing parents). Here are some of their key findings:

• The proportion of under-35s living with their parents has risen from one-in-four to two-in-five since the 2000s. 
• Grandparents provided 766 million hours of childcare to their grandchildren in 2022-23 – £3.5 billion in nursery costs.
• Millennials are 30% more likely to provide more than 5 hours of care a week compared to previous generations.
• The number of carers providing over 20 hours a week has doubled since 1991.
• The number of adults receiving an inheritance over a two-year period rose from 1.7 million to 2.1 million during the 2010s. 

For the full report, read here

5. Millions of pounds in academy trust payments broke rules last year

A Schools Week investigation has revealed that £3m in regulation-breaching, ‘related-party transactions’ (RPT) were made by academies last year – these are payments made to companies linked to trustees or senior staff. Procurement of agency staff, building projects and payments to employees’ firms were among the types of RPT breaches, and were flagged in 52 academy trust accounts.

Most of the breaches were related to a failure to inform the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) of the transactions to gain their approval for deals worth more than £20,000. This rule was introduced six years ago by the Public Accounts Committee, as the previous arrangements – which allowed deals to go ahead if no-one stood to profit from them – were considered ‘too weak to prevent abuse’.

For the full story, read here