More DfE funding heading to Little Wandle?

New phonics contract; questions over Outwood Grange conference; and a special birthday message

Is England’s second-most popular phonics teaching programme about to win another contract from central government, despite its recently-filed accounts having revealed that it has been carrying out an “investigation into its tax status”?

The question arises, after the Department for Education sent news of an upcoming “procurement opportunity”. Rivals in the sector wearily speculate that it might be heading the way of the organisation behind Little Wandle, which has moved from start-up to 10-figure player in the phonics market in under five years through sales to schools and was last year controversially awarded a central contract by the DfE.

 

The letter, sent last week to the government’s list of “validated” phonics programme providers, flagged for their attention an upcoming “procurement opportunity” for work on “reading fluency”. This will be “delivered” by the English Hubs – 34 primary schools which are funded by the DfE to train teachers in phonics provision.

It said: “It is our intention to launch a procurement exercise in mid to late February 2025 to appoint a supplier to develop a CPD training offer on reading fluency which will then be delivered to schools from Autumn 2025 by English Hubs…

“We want this new programme to support schools and teachers to understand how to build on phonics and use evidence-based fluency strategies to continue effective teaching of reading into KS2, with an emphasis on fluency bridging the gap between decoding and comprehension, in line with the [DfE’s] Reading Framework 2023.

“As we are still in the early stages of development, we cannot provide any more specific details on programme content at present but can confirm that we will conduct the procurement through a fair and open commercial exercise…we are keen to encourage bids from a wide range of suppliers.”

However, the news prompted concern from one primary teacher, who warned of their school having had to take part in a “Reading Fluency” trial, involving an English Hub, Little Wandle material and a small number of schools since last April. They felt this work would then be used in support of the current “procurement opportunity”.

This source added: “We have to submit our data so they can analyse the progress made in each school. Of course we have made progress because the children are reading more! This whole process makes me livid.”

As Education Uncovered reported last year, 19 rival publishers wrote to the DfE last spring, calling on it to withdraw a contract worth up to £100,000 which had been awarded to Little Wandle Learning Partnership – part of the Wandle Learning academy trust which has made millions from the programme – after claiming they had been kept in the dark about the contract as it went live. The DfE said it had followed proper procurement procedures.

However, there are widespread concerns among rival phonics providers that connections between Little Wandle and the DfE have been overly close. Last September, Education Uncovered revealed how the advisory council overseeing the English Hubs initiative was dominated by individuals linked either to Little Wandle or the most-sold phonics programme, Read Write Inc.

This website also revealed last month that the Wandle Learning Trust, which has made more than £12m from Little Wandle since the latter was founded during the pandemic, had launched an investigation into its tax status, after questions were set out in its 2023-24 as to whether it should have been registered for VAT.

The accounts had also stated that it is likely, as a result that the trust “will face late filing penalties from HRMC, which are not deemed to be a proper use of public funding”.

Is it still likely to be a front-runner for this contract, given this? The results of the procurement exercise will be interesting to watch.

Outwood Grange conference

 

News arrives of a huge conference which was held last week by Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT), one of England’s largest chains and where the current chief inspector of schools was until recently the chief executive.

The trust’s staff gathered in their thousands, I understand – the trust has more than 3,000 employees – for an “Outwood Family Conference Day” at Leeds Arena on Monday.

The event sounds a bit like the Harris Federation’s annual gathering for staff at London’s Excel Centre, where over the years I have heard tales, including about various of its schools being singled out for praise over their results, amid a general atmosphere of celebration.

One of OGAT’s schools posted on twitter/x that it was closed for the day “as colleagues from all academies across the Outwood Family will be gathering for a professional development day”.

However, a former teacher got in touch, wondering if this was a good use of staff time. They said: “I can't help but think that's a really poor use of taxpayer money, especially money that would be better spent on students. They're shipping in staff from every one of their schools to the event - It makes me so angry that money is being spent to book the arena, feed the teachers, pay for the transport of all of the staff, event speakers etc when our schools are in such a sorry state.”

This source, who said they were still in touch with former colleagues at OGAT schools, said it did not seem an event for traditional teacher training, “but they did have quite a few motivational speakers (including [TV presenter] Jake Humphrey)…someone said it’s [helped motivate] them to look for a job elsewhere!”

I have sought comment from Outwood Grange, but have yet to receive a response.

In praise of the leader

 

Finally, this website has long questioned whether academy trusts can see too much power, attention and spending concentrated in their upper echelons. But this is the first time we have come across an example of a trust’s communications arm feeling the need to celebrate its chief executive’s birthday publicly.

Yet that was the strange position at the Avanti Schools Trust, which runs 12 academies from its base in Stanmore, northwest London, and which Education Uncovered reported on intensively following its controversial takeover of three former Steiner free schools in the west country in 2019.   

A post on the trust’s Facebook page stated: “Today, we celebrate the birthday of Nitesh Gor, the inspiring founder of Avanti Schools Trust! Through his vision, dedication and unwavering belief in holistic education, Nitesh has transformed countless lives and built a community rooted in compassion, spirituality, wisdom and excellence.

“Your legacy inspires us daily, and we are deeply grateful for your leadership and passion for making education a force for good.

“Join us in wishing Nitesh a very happy birthday and a year filled with joy, health and success.”

Goodness.

As a parent who recently had a child at an Avanti school said, with Mr Gor due to stand down later this year: “God knows what they have planned for him then.”