Glossário

Advanced Level

Academies are a new type of school. They are publicly-funded independent schools, for pupils of all abilities, established by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups working in highly innovative partnerships with central Government and local education partners. Their independent status allows them the flexibility to be innovative and creative in their curriculum, staffing and governance and to work in different ways to traditional local authority schools

Qualifications Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales.

The main aim of Access programmes is to prepare adult learners from non-traditional backgrounds and under-represented groups for admission to undergraduate education. They often lead to GCSEs and A levels and are run by Colleges of Further Education. ACCESS to teaching would offer GCSE mathematics, English and science and appropriate A levels for Initial Teacher Training degree entry.

Advisory Centre for Education.

Association of Chief Education Officers.

Adult and Community Learning Fund.

Advisory Committee for Vocational Training (European Union).

Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder.

Schools which handle their own pupil applications are admission authorities. They send out information about the school and pupil application forms, giving a deadline for receipt. Local authorities are also admission authorities as they are responsible for admissions to community and voluntary-controlled schools.

Advanced General National Vocational Qualification This is similar to BTEC and the equivalent of two A levels. The subjects offered have a vocational element such as childhood studies.

Broader-based sixth-form studies, the same standard as A levels.

Advanced Extension Award

AGCAS
Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.

Accreditation of Prior Learning.

Alliance of Parents and Schools.

Assessment and Qualification Alliance.

Advanced Subsidiary Level

Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network

Advanced Skills Teacher.

Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education

Bachelor of Arts — arts degree-level ITT qualification leading to QTS. One of the main routes into primary teaching.

An assessment of a child's skills and abilities usually made by a teacher within the first seven weeks of starting primary school. It shows teachers what a child can do when starting school and helps them to plan lessons and measure progress. Areas covered include language and literacy, mathematics and personal and social development.

British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.

Bachelor of Education degree-level initial teacher training qualification leading to qualified teacher status. One of the main routes into primary teaching.

A statement which sets out local arrangements for schools and other service providers for the education of children with behavioural difficulties.

Basic Skills Agency http://www.basic-skills.co.uk/

Science degree-level initial teacher training qualification leading to qualified teacher status. One of the main routes into primary teaching.

Business and Technology Education Council

Qualification equivalent to two A level courses. Subjects include nursery nursing, business studies and art and design. There are considerable practical elements to the courses with work placements offered.

Cognitive Ability Test (Produced by the National Foundation for Educational Research).

Some admission authorities give priority to children who live in an area around the school.

Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges.

Community Consortium for Education and Training

Careers Education Guidance

Chief Education Officer.

Continuing Education and Training.

The Support Society for Children of Higher Intelligence.

Childminders look after children under five and school age children after hours and in the holidays. The local authority decides how many children a childminder can care for, and childminders are able to register as part of a network to provide early education.

Council for Industry and Higher Education.

Careers and Occupational Information Centre.

State schools in England and Wales which are wholly owned and maintained by the local authority. The local authority is the admissions authority it has main responsibility for deciding arrangements for admitting pupils.

Schools in Northern Ireland which come under the control of Education and Library Boards.

Continuing Professional Development

Child Protection Issue.

Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education

Continuous Student Record.

CityTechnical College
Independent all ability non-fee-paying schools for pupils aged 11 to 18. There are 14 CTCs and one CCTA City College for the Technology of the Arts, in urban areas across England. CTCs teach the National Curriculum to pre-16-year-olds with a focus on science, mathematics and technology. They offer a wide range of vocational qualifications and part of their role is to innovate in the development, management and delivery of the curriculum.

These take children under five for the whole working day. Children can attend on a part-time or full-time basis according to their parents' needs. They may be run by local authorities, voluntary organisations, private companies, individuals or employers. There must be at least one adult for every eight children and at least half of the staff must have a qualification recognised by the local authority.

Department for Children, Schools and Families. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/

Diploma Development Partnership

Department of Education for Northern Ireland. http://www.deni.gov.uk/

Advocates who liaise with other services on behalf of young people in care.

Department for Education and Skills. (From July 2007 no longer in existence). Now Department for Children, School and Families

The National Curriculum assessments have been designed to make sure that as many children as possible can be assessed. There may, however, be a small number of pupils who are not able to take part in some or all of the assessments, even allowing for the full range of arrangements that can be made. Usually this only happens if all or part of the National Curriculum is not suitable for a pupil because he or she has certain special educational needs. The assessments are designed to cater for most pupils with special educational needs.

Desirable Learning Outcomes.

Disability Rights Commission.

Entry to Employment

Education Assets Board.

English as an Additional Language.

Plans education locally for children below compulsory school age, and childcare for children from 0 to 14 years. One Partnership in each local authority area draws up a plan each year which explains what local early education and childcare services will be provided and includes a list of all local providers of free early education.

A local plan which sets out how early education and childcare services will be provided.

Education Action Zones
Groups of 15 to 25 schools which aim to create new partnerships, raise standards and generate innovation within education. These groups of schools receive £1million a year for three to five years. An EAZ based on a single secondary school and its associated primaries will receive £350,000 a year. These smaller EAZs are only being set up in Excellence in Cities areas.

Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties.

Education Development Plan.

(otherwise known as Education Social Workers) Employed by local authorities to monitor school attendance and help parents meet their responsibilities.

Early Excellence Centres.

Education Maintenance Allowance.

Education Standard Spending.

Education and Training Development Agenda.

The suspension or expulsion of a pupil from school for disciplinary reasons.

A school that provides a range of services and activities often beyond the school day to help meet the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community.

Offered by most local authorities, these courses let you and your child learn skills together, and separately, in small courses run in co-operation with local schools.

Funding Agency for Schools.

Further Education.

Some admission authorities give priority to children from certain primary schools.

Type of state school which is run by the local authority but which has more freedom than community schools to manage their school and decide on their own admissions.

Free School Meals.

Full-Time Education and Training.

General Certificate of Education.

General Certificate of Secondary Education.

A BBC revision guide which uses TV, books and the Internet to help children prepare for GCSE exams. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/

Grants for Education, Support and Training.

Grant Maintained (school).

Grant Maintained Schools Advisory Committee.

Grant Maintained Schools Foundation.

General National Vocational Qualification
Vocational qualifications taken mainly by pupils age 16 and in full-time education.

State schools in England and Wales which are funded by central government through the Funding Agency for Schools.

General Teaching Council. http://www.gtce.org.uk/

General Teaching Council for Scotland.

Graduate Teacher Training Registry
Central agency for processing applications for most postgraduate (Post Graduate Certificate Education) initial teacher training courses.
http://www.gttr.ac.uk/

Higher Education.

Health Education Authority.

Headteachers Leadership and Management Programme.

Higher Education Funding Council for England

Her Majesty's Statistics Agency

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools.

OFSTED inspectors produce education reports which are meant to improve standards of achievement and quality of education, provide public reporting and informed independent advice.

Her Majesty's Stationery Office

Higher National Certificate.

Higher National Diploma a two-year course that equates to two years of a degree course. Offered in many subject areas, mostly with a practical application. HNDs may also have an industrial or commercial placement as part of the course.

All state schools are required to have written home-school agreements, drawn up in consultation in parents. They are non-binding statements explaining the school's aims and values, the responsibilities of both school and parents, and what the school expects of its pupils. Parents will be invited to sign a parental declaration, indicating that they understand and accept the contents of the agreement.

Health & Safety Executive.

Information, Advice and Guidance

Institute of Careers Guidance.

Information and Communications Technology.

Individual Education Programme.
Programmes which are drawn up by the class teacher and/or special needs co-ordinator within a school to provide individual support for children deemed to have needs over and above that of other children in the class. This could be either due to learning difficulties or because they are considered to be exceptionally bright or gifted children.

Increased Flexibility Programme

Information and Learning Technology.

These are schools which are not funded by the state and obtain most of their finances from fees paid by parents and income from investments. Some of the larger independent schools are known as public schools, while most boarding schools are independent. Further information is available from the ISIS Independent Schools Information Service.

In-service education and training
All teachers have access to INSET in schools, helping them to refine their teaching and management skills.

Independent Schools Council.

International Standard Classification of Education which was initially designed by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in the early 1970s to serve as an instrument suitable for assembling, compiling and presenting statistics of education both within countries and internationally.

Independent Schools Information Service.

Initial teacher training most people need to take an ITT course in order to gain qualified teacher status (QTS).

Jobs without Training

Key Stage
A child's progress through school is measured in Key Stages. Each Key Stage covers a number of school years. Starting at Key Stage 1 and finishing at Key Stage 4.

1. Key Stage 1 Infant School (3-7 years).
2. Key Stage 2 Junior School (7-11 years).
3. Key Stage 3 Lower Secondary School (12-13 years).
4. Key Stage 4 Upper Secondary School (14-16 years).

Local Education Authority
The term 'local education authority' (or LEA) describes a type of council which has responsibility for providing education to pupils of school age in its area. Their overall education remit also includes early years, the youth service and adult education. An LA is responsible for promoting high standards of education. It is responsible for contributing to the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of the community by ensuring that efficient primary and secondary education is provided and ensuring that there are enough primary and secondary places with adequate facilities to meet the needs of pupils living in the area.

A card issued to all children over the age of 16 to remind them of their continued access to careers guidance and information.

Employment based training leading to qualified teacher status.

Local Learning and Skills Council

Local Management of Schools.

Leadership Programme for Serving Heads.

Learning Support Assistant.

Learning and Skills Council

Learning and skills Development Agency

Mild Learning Difficulties.

National Association of Advisers for Computers in Education. http://naace.org

National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education.

National Advisory Council for Careers and Educational Guidance.

National Association for Able Children in Education

National Advisory Council on Education and Training Targets.

National Association for Gifted Children.

National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth

National Association of Head Teachers.

National Audit Learning Survey.

National Association for Special Educational Needs.

National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers.

Covers what pupils should be taught in state maintained schools. The National Curriculum provides a balanced education for a child covering 11 subjects overall, and is divided into four Key Stages according to age.

All pupils undergo national tests and teacher assessments at ages 7, 11 and 14. The school will then send a report to parents telling them what National Curriculum Levels their child has reached in both tests and assessments.

National Council for Educational Technology.

National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations.

National Childcare Strategy.

National Curriculum Test.

National Council for Vocational Qualifications.

National Education Business Partnership.

Not in Education, Employment or training

National Employers' Organisation for School Teachers.

Not in education or training

National Foundation for Educational Research.

National Grid for Learning
Government body responsible for information and communications technology in schools.

National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.

Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.

National Institute of Careers and Education Counselling.

National Information System for Vocational Qualifications.

National Primary Headteachers' Association.

National Professional Qualification for Headship.

National qualifications Framework

Newly Qualified Teacher.

National Record of Achievement.

These take children from the age of three or four and are open during school term time. They usually offer five half-day sessions a week. There must be one adult for every 13 children and staff are qualified teachers and assistants.

National Union of Teachers.

National Vocational Qualification

OCA
Ofsted Complaints Adjudicator.

Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Board.

Office for Standards in Education
An official body which regularly inspects all the schools in England which are mainly or wholly state funded. Ofsted inspectors produce education reports which are meant to improve standards of achievement and quality of education, provide public reporting and informed independent advice.

Often referred to as those rules applied by admission authorities when a school has more applications than places. They must by law be fair and objective and must be published annually in prospectuses and by local authorities in a prospectus explaining admissions at all schools in an area.

Performance and Assessment Reports
Produced by the Office For Standards in Education (Ofsted) and issued annually to schools. The contents of each PANDA report are confidential between Ofsted, the school, and the local authority, although schools are free to disseminate the information as they see fit.

Professional Association of Teachers.

The Department for Education and Skills publishes comparative secondary and 16 to 18 performance tables each year. The tables report achievements in public examinations and vocational qualifications in secondary schools and Further Education sector colleges. Primary school performance tables are published by local authorities and report the achievements of pupils at the end of Key Stage 2.

PEPs are schemes developed for young individuals in public care, designed to support their education.

Postgraduate Certificate of Education postgraduate-level Initial Teacher Training qualification.

Parents Information Network.

The time at the end of a lesson in which the teacher finds out what children have learnt and re-emphasises the main points of the lesson.

Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.

Potential Schools Budget.

Parent Teacher Association.

Pupil Teacher Ratio.

These statements describe any learning difficulties which pupils have, and specify the extra help or equipment they need. Around 3 per cent of school pupils nationally have statements. Some pupils with special educational needs are academically able. But schools face challenges in achieving Level 4 at Key Stage 2 for many pupils with SEN. The information on the numbers of pupils with SEN in each school helps you take this into account when looking at the school's results.

These are other pupils registered as having special educational needs but whose schools meet the pupils' needs without statements.

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Qualifications Data Collection Steering Group.

Quality Improvement agency for Lifelong Learning

Qualified Teacher Status
The professional status you need to obtain to teach in state maintained schools in England and Wales. QTS is normally awarded after successful completion of an Initial Teacher Training course.

Quality in Education and Training Associates.

Register of Independent Schools.

Special Agreement School.

School Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

School- Centred Initial Teacher Training
School-based teacher training course leading to Qualified Teacher Status.

Special Educational Needs.
This denotes any child that has been identified as having some form of educational need either as a result of learning difficulty or if they are deemed as particularly bright or gifted. These children receive additional support either from within the school or outside agencies.

Special Educational Needs Coordinator.

Secondary Heads Association.

Statutory Instrument.

Schools Information Management Systems.

Student Loans Company.

Severe Learning Difficulties.

Students with Learning Difficulty and/or Disability.

Senior Management Team.

Schools Organisation Committee.

State schools in England and Wales which are provided by local education authorities for certain children with special educational needs.

This type of school includes technology, languages, sports and art colleges operating in England.

Additional funding enables secondary schools to develop strengths in a particular subject area, supported by local industry and in partnership with local schools and the wider community to share resources and expertise, while still delivering a National Curriculum-based education.

Sector skills council

Social Services Department.

Secondary Subject Shortage Scheme.

Otherwise known as publicly funded schools and attended by over 90 per cent of pupils. Parents do not pay any fees. Scottish state schools are maintained and controlled by the local education authority.

School Teachers Review Body.

Voluntary learning activity outside normal lessons which aims to improve children's motivation, build their self-esteem and help them to become more effective learners.

Training and development agency for schools. http://www.tda.gov.uk/

A formal assessment made by a teacher when your child is aged 7, 11 and 14. Used alongside the national tests to judge a child's educational progress.

Training and Enterprise Council.

Times Educational Supplement.

Teacher's Pension Scheme.

Teaching Quality Assessment.

Teacher Training Agency,
Responsible for raising standards in schools in England by attracting able and committed people to teaching and by improving the quality of teacher training.

Technical and Vocational Education Initiative

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service central agency for processing applications for undergraduate courses including degree level initial teacher training courses (BEd, BA/BSc with qualified teacher status).

University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

Vice Chancellor.

Visual Display Unit.

Vocational and Educational Training.

Schools in England and Wales which are maintained by the Local Education Authority, with a foundation (generally religious) which appoints most of the governing body. The governing body is the admissions authority.

Schools in England and Wales which are maintained by the local authority, with a foundation (generally religious) which appoints some but not most of the governing body. The LA is the admissions authority.

Youth Cohort Study