DfE Policy on publishing policy changes during school holidays

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Dear Department for Education,

What is your policy on publishing any articles, information, policy changes, withdrawal of funding during school holidays, and has an impact assessment been undertaken on how such publications can impact teacher workload?

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Nicky Dixon

MINISTERS, Department for Education

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear Mrs Nicky Dixon,

Thank you for your recent enquiry. A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2018-0033853.

Thank you

Department for Education
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Tel: 0370 000 2288

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear Mrs Dixon

 

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 13
August. You requested:

 

‘What is your policy on publishing any articles, information, policy
changes, withdrawal of funding during school holidays, and has an impact
assessment been undertaken on how such publications can impact teacher
workload?’

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Following a search of the Department’s paper and electronic records, I
have established that the information you requested is not held by this
Department.

The Department does not have a formal written policy on publishing
articles, information, withdrawal of funding and policy changes during the
school holidays. Although, on occasion, publications are made in the
school holidays, we make every effort to publish materials and
announcements at the most appropriate time within the academic year. Our
approach includes the commitments made in response to the 2014 Workload
Challenge through the ‘[1]Department for Education Protocol’ (reissued
February 2017). These commitments include giving schools a lead-in time of
at least a year for any significant changes to accountability, curriculum
and qualifications and to take into account the workload impacts these
changes will have on schools and their staff.

This approach is further supported by our commitment to a [2]period of
stability for the remainder of this parliament, including no new
additional statutory tests or assessments for primary schools, no further
changes to the national curriculum and no more reform of GCSEs and A
levels, beyond those changes already announced and which are working
through the system. These commitments underlines the Department’s ambition
to limit the amount of change across the education sector and ensuring
schools have enough time to prepare for change.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Yours sincerely

Thomas Watson
Floor 2, Sanctuary Buildings,
Great Smith Street,
London, SW1P 3BT
[3][email address]
Telephone Number: 02073407843

References

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2. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/d...
3. mailto:[email address]