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Following lockdowns in 2020 owing to Covid‐19, schools needed to find a way to ensure the education of their pupils. In order to do this, they engaged in digital learning, to varying extents. Innovations emanated from all school staff including, for example, teachers, leaders and teaching assistants. Some were already innovating in this area and brought forward and implemented digital strategies, while others engaged with digital learning for the first time. While research is emerging about the effects of the pandemic restrictions on pupils and staff in relation to key issues such as mental health and educational attainment, very little is known about the impact on school leaders' strategic planning processes. To address this gap, this paper draws on a UK Research and Innovation funded study adopting a strategy as learning approach to report on 50 qualitative interviews with school leaders to examine digital strategy in English secondary schools, before, during and after July 2021, when restrictions were lifted in England. It draws on strategy as learning literature to evaluate if schools have changed their strategic planning for digital learning, as a direct response to having learned and innovated during the pandemic. The paper concludes that there is evidence that digital innovations during the pandemic have changed the ways in which leaders think about their digital strategy, thus supporting a strategy as learning approach. However it also concludes that although there is ample evidence that the pandemic has changed the way many schools view digital learning, for some schools, there remain persistent barriers to digital integration and planning. These emanate both from material and cultural considerations, as well as leader vision and belief in digital learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunities for children to be involved in the decisions made about them is a part of current statutory educational legislation. Person‐centred planning (PCP) has been proposed as an appropriate method of meeting statutory requirements. However, there is a dearth of research into its application within education. The paper describes a systematic literature review of current research into PCP within education for pupils with SEMH and the associated outcomes. PCP appears to be an effective way of engaging children, young people and their families but research within education is currently limited and methodologically weak. More rigorous research is needed into PCP and its effectiveness and should include the use of standardised and/or observable measures, more varied ranges of contexts and participants, and longitudinal and child‐led designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research into the operation of English further/higher education, with a focus on the role of partnerships in supporting the massification of higher education. The research draws on the bottom-up policy implementation tradition to provide analysis of the effects on partnerships of a quasi-marketised environment. The rationale and effects of market orientated policy are discussed with reference to empirical data from college staff and partnership managers. In employing the concept of the 'street-level bureaucrat' as an agent of policy implementation, this research contributes to the interpretation of policy and partnership which has previously been unexplored within the further/higher education context. Conclusions are drawn with implications for the development of college higher education delivered in partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Higher Education Quarterly is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The education of children in public, or Local Authority ( LA), care, known in the United Kingdom ( UK) as looked-after children ( LAC), is supported by government initiatives to reduce the attainment gap that exists between LAC and their non- LAC peers. These children often find remaining in education a challenge, are twice as likely to be permanently excluded, and three times more likely to receive a fixed-term exclusion than other school-age children. A high proportion (61%), have been labelled as having special educational needs ( SEN) (DfE, ). In the UK, the Virtual School ( VS) has a statutory role in the education of LAC (DfE, 2014a) and aims to encourage more stringent monitoring and intervention for pupils. This is partly achieved through the creation of a personalised education plan ( PEP) for each LAC pupil, which outlines progress, strategies intended to accelerate attainment, and resources needed for doing so. The process involves the pupil, their social worker and the designated teacher (responsible for the welfare of LAC pupils) of the school attended. The current study uses Actor-Network Theory ( ANT, e.g. Latour, ) as a lens through which to conceptualise change for LAC pupils during the PEP process. The focus is upon three PEP meetings in one LA setting, in order to explore the people and things that are active in driving forwards change for LAC, with a view to examining the efficacy of the process and the roles of those involved. The analysis made visible the importance of the role of the designated teacher in the PEP process, in contrast to the relative inactivity of social workers and of pupil voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]