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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

Budget breakdown: positive news for SEN children

Child with down syndrome with parents
In this week's School Savvy blog, Matthew Revill, a seasoned educator and headteacher at a primary school, offers his insights into the implications of the Spring Budget for both our classrooms and homes.

You might have heard all the fuss about the new budget that came out in March. Some headlines were shouting about how there isn't any new funding for schools. Whilst that does sound worrying, especially for teachers and parents, if you take a closer look, it turns out there are some good things to come out of the budget.
 

New SEND schools
 


First up, some positive news for children with special needs (SEND). The budget includes £105 million to open 15 brand new SEND schools over the next few years. The government budget states that this will create over 2,000 additional places for children with special educational needs and disabilities across England.

That means more choices for parents and hopefully less pressure on the current programs. It's not a magic fix, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
 


Additional support
 


Here's another win: early intervention. They’re creating 20 new alternative provision schools for children in need of additional support, which will create over 1,600 additional places across England. This is part of the government's 2021 Spending Review commitment to invest £2.6 billion capital in high needs provision. 

Unfortunately, schools are seeing more and more children who cannot cope in the mainstream classroom and so having an alternative offer available is vital to help meet their needs and also ensure all children in class receive the very best.
 


A helping hand for households
 


The budget also extended the household support fund! This is the one that helps families with things like school uniforms and those holiday lunches. It’s getting a £500 million boost, which means a little less stress on our wallets (and maybe a little more room for those back-to-school essentials).
 

The not-so-good news
 

Now, there are a couple of things that left us scratching our heads. What's happening with those tutoring programs that have been helping kids catch up after all the craziness of lockdowns? We're crossing our fingers they stick around, but we'll have to wait and see.

And then there's the not-so-great news about fixing up our school buildings. The budget for this has shrunk. We all love a fresh coat of paint, but safety and good learning spaces are super important too. 
 

So... the verdict?
 

This budget wasn't a straight-A report card, but it does have some promising parts. More options for SEND children, more early intervention and alternative provision for learners, and a helping hand for families – those are all things to celebrate! Keep an eye on those tutoring programs and building repairs, though and hopefully these will come through to help our schools provide the very best for all children.
 

Matt Revill is a primary school headteacher with over 20 years experience of working in schools. He has worked in a range of settings and currently works within a multi-academy trust of 14 schools. In his free time, he enjoys reading, computing, holidaying and spending time with his family and friends. Matt has a son who is currently working his way through A-levels at college.

Matt Revill photo