It is not often that an edict from the DfE is good news but many special schools with PMLD pupils will probably breathe a sigh of relief when they see this one.

THE ENGAGEMENT MODEL IS NO LONGER A STATUTORY REQUIREMENT FOR 2020/21.

Here is the word from the horse’s mouth.

Our experience is that very few schools have got to grips with how they are going to measure engagement in the level of detail required by the Engagement Model, as well as providing the usual measures of actual performance.

So that’s one thing less to worry about  –  at least until August.

If you are already an Earwig user, put a note in your diary to talk to us about adding engagement to your existing performance measures.

If you aren’t, you really should be.  It will improve your teaching evidence and pupil assessment dramatically and make life so much easier for your staff at the same time and Earwig has a software package to enable schools to fulfil their Engagement Model requirements with very little additional effort.

Peter Gelardi, Earwig CEO says …

‘The message that we are getting from special schools dealing with children learning at the pre-formal level is that the Engagement Model is another layer of workload for a small benefit.  This was the substance of the feedback that the DfE got from schools involved in their pilot scheme in 2018/19 but, at the insistence of their Rochford Review Panel, they pressed on. It is clear that most schools have not yet set up to measure engagement using the model.  So the DfE has deferred the requirement for a year, under cover of Covid.’