The White Paper is organised around three major system shifts and a set of long-term national aspirations. These act as the government’s key priorities for reform and provide a helpful structure for schools to understand the intent.
- The Cultural Reform Priorities
- Narrow to Broad
The aim is to move away from a system overly focused on narrow academic metrics towards a broad, enriching, knowledge-rich curriculum for all children across all key stages.
- Sidelined to Included
The key focus is on inclusion, especially for learners with SEND, white working- class learners, and those with deep disadvantage. The intention is for more children to thrive in mainstream settings, with stronger early support and clearer pathways.
- Withdrawn to Engaging
The paper highlights declining attendance, reduced belonging and lower trust in education. A core focus is rebuilding engagement between children, families and schools, ensuring that children attend regularly and feel school is ‘for them’.
- Long-Term National Aspirations
The White Paper sets out measurable, system-wide goals that signal the government’s priorities for the next decade.
- Improve attainment for all: Reduce the disadvantage gap over time so pupils from low-income backgrounds make much stronger progress than is typical now.
- Stronger foundation stage: Increase the proportion of children reaching a good level of development at age five by the end of the decade.
- Secure early literacy: Raise the proportion of children meeting the expected standard in the Year 1 Phonics Check.
- Improve attendance and belonging: Lift national attendance and have every school monitor pupil belonging and engagement as routine practice by 2029.
- Promote positive behaviour and calm environments: Support schools to create consistent, calm and safe spaces where pupils can focus on learning and feel part of the school community.
- Support and retain staff: Invest in a confident, well-supported workforce so schools can deliver a broader, more inclusive vision.
- Strengthen parental engagement: Rebuild trust and partnership with families so that parents/carers feel better connected to schools and more able to support their children’s learning and attendance.
- School Improvement Considerations
- Curriculum and Enrichment
The White Paper strengthens the expectation for a broader, knowledge-based curriculum supported by meaningful enrichment.
Action: In preparation for the National Curriculum changes to come, reflect where the curriculum may still feel narrow, and consider how enrichment is made accessible for all pupils.
- Inclusion and Early Support
There is clear national direction towards earlier identification of need and stronger everyday support in mainstream settings, particularly for pupils with SEND and those facing disadvantage.
Action: Reflect on the confidence of the staff team to spot needs early on and how consistent classroom support feels for pupils and families.
- Attendance, Belonging and Behaviour
The White Paper emphasises strengthening attendance, belonging and calm, orderly environments.
Action: Consider how the school environment, relationships and routines help sustain pupils’ sense of connection and readiness to learn.
- Early Years and Early Literacy
Stronger early foundations, especially communication, language and reading, are core national priorities.
Action: Reflect on how well early years provision supports language development and how early reading is monitored and strengthened.
- KS3 Literacy and Transition
The White Paper also highlights the importance of strengthening literacy in KS3, with a refreshed curriculum planned and national support to improve practice across the training from primary to secondary
Action: Consider how reading, vocabulary and disciplinary literacy are developed across subjects in KS3, ensuring pupils continue to build the strong foundations established later.
- Parental Engagement
Rebuilding trust and partnership with families is essential to the shift from withdrawn to engaging.
Action: Consider how communication can feel simpler and more predictable, helping parents feel confident supporting learning and attendance.
- Workforce Development
A confident, well-supported workforce is central to delivering a broader and more inclusive vision. This includes a focus on the quality of professional development, the use of evidence-informed practice, and the ability of staff to meet a wider range of pupil needs.
Action for our Borough:
Given the shared priorities across Barking and Dagenham, particularly around supporting pupils with SEND and improving outcomes for white working class learners, both emphasised in the White Paper’s inclusion focus, there is real value in strengthening the way schools connect, share approaches, and develop practice together.
Our existing networks place us in a strong position to help bring this collaboration together, so that staff across schools can draw on local expertise to build consistent approaches that reflect our borough’s context.
As expectations rise around standards, inclusion, safeguarding, and measurable improvement, schools and trusts need more than guidance – they need trusted, strategic support. BDSIP brings together experienced leaders who understand the operational, financial, and governance pressures highlighted in the White Paper, and we will continue to support our schools.
Through our partnership, we are better positioned to:
- Strengthen leadership capacity
- Deliver evidence-informed school improvement
- Support compliance and governance excellence
- Ensure every decision supports better outcomes for children and young people
Collaboration appears as an essential strategy in this White Paper – please do take the time to look at our Service Offer to see how we can work with you.
