Whichever way you look at it, 2012 is shaping up to be quite an important year, with plenty to get ready for – particularly in the education field!

There are the new funding arrangements for sixth form and higher education colleges, which come into effect in September, and the new participation age, which rises to 17 from next year onwards – and will be 18 from 2015.

But for many teachers and head teachers, the most immediate challenge is the new Ofsted inspection framework, which comes into place this month.

According to Ofsted, the new framework will build on the strengths of the current system, and will have a stronger emphasis on driving improvements in the quality of education and raising pupils’ achievements.

Anyone who wants to find out more about the new Ofsted framework may be interested in the one-day professional development event we are holding on February 10^th at Easthampstead Park Conference Centre in Wokingham, Berkshire.

The event will look at innovation, collaboration and destination in the 16-19 sector and will include a keynote presentation by Mike Davies, a principal officer from Ofsted, on the new framework.

The day will also be packed with workshops, looking at post-16 funding, understanding ALIS and target setting and monitoring.

We have several other exciting events planned for this year around the country and we are also working on revamping our Datadashboards to make them even better.

One head of sixth form recently told me that they simply ‘do not need anything else’ to help them monitor the performance of their students, which is tremendously encouraging, but we are not going to rest on our laurels and would love to hear how you think we could improve them.

We have also started to produce Initial LPUK Datadashboards (IDDs) for local authorities and schools who are part of our Membership Services Agreement. Using unvalidated data, these allow each organisation to analyse their summer results. If you would like more information on the Initial or Final LPUK Datadashboards, contact our data specialist Aaron Morgan at aaron.morgan@learningplusuk.org.

We are also busy building new links with the British Council for School Environments, the University of Bristol and the Eastern Leadership Centre in Cambridge.

And we will also be holding a professional development in conjunction with the Eastern Leadership Centre on 27^th March – so watch this space!

To find out more about our any of our events or secure a place contact Donna Roberts or Sarah Swan on 0118 956 8408 or email office@learningplusuk.org - we look forward to seeing you all there!

Let’s make this a year to remember!