Decision details

West Sussex County Council is committed to giving all children and young people the best start in life, and has undertaken a thorough review of current policies and practice in relation to education. The new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 replaces the Strategy for School Improvement 2016-2019 and provides an update to the Policy Agreement for Education in West Sussex 2015-2019.

The implementation of new national arrangements for funding schools and centralised services (previously the responsibility of local authorities) has resulted in the need to significantly review how schools are organised and school improvement services are delivered. The new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 takes into account the diversity of schools in West Sussex and places the needs of children and their learning at its heart. 

To develop the new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 the County Council has conducted a widespread consultation to give all stakeholders an opportunity to actively participate in the development and refinement of the new Strategy.

The aspiration is that by 2022 West Sussex will be one of the top 25% of local authorities nationally for the quality and provision of learning across all age groups and abilities. The School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 sets out a county-wide vision for education:

In West Sussex we have a relentless drive to champion all our children and young people to ensure they have the best start in life. We organise all our schools to ensure they are sustainable, provide high quality learning opportunities, continually raise standards to improve educational outcomes and meet the needs of diverse urban and rural communities

The aim is to achieve a strong and sustainable provision for all types of schools and Key Stages in the way that schools are organised, establishing a preferred model of Primary provision bringing Infant and Junior Schools together when opportunities arise, and working with smaller schools to minimise the impact of funding changes and developing collaborative solutions. This may mean looking at different and new options or harnessing the expertise and capacity of Multi Academy Trusts in order to deliver sustainable models.

Working with school leaders, governors, and Academy sponsors, the County Council has a statutory responsibility to promote educational excellence for all children and young people and to be ambitious in tackling underperformance. The new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 enables the County Council to discharge its statutory responsibility, take rapid and decisive action to challenge underperforming schools, and to deliver robust school improvement and promote high standards by supporting effective school–to-school collaboration.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills has approved the new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-22 for implementation from October 2018.

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