Agenda item

Report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education.

In June the Committee previewed the Draft School Effectiveness Strategy and requested that the final Strategy return to the Committee. The report updates the Committee on the progress made since June 2018, to develop and agree the new School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022. This includes the public consultation feedback and the refinements that have been made as a result.

The Committee is asked to acknowledge the pupil performance improvement at Key Stages 1 and 2 since 2016 and recent improvements in the quality of schools. The Committee is also asked to consider how it can actively support the Cabinet Member and officers in the strategy’s implementation. It is also recommended that yearly updates are provided to the full Committee.

26.1   The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education. The report was introduced by Mark Jenner, Head of School Effectiveness, who took the Committee through a presentation which was in two parts (copy appended to the signed minutes). The first part outlined key headlines in terms of outcomes from inspections by Ofsted and pupil performance data. The Committee heard the following:

·         An average of 83.1% of schools in West Sussex were Ofsted rated good or outstanding in September 2018. An average of 84.4% of pupils were attending schools with an overall good or outstanding rating in September 2018.

·         The target for the service is to have 92% of schools as good or outstanding, and the same percentage of pupils in those schools by 2022. This would mean 6,500 children in better schools.

·         Good progress continues to be made in terms of narrowing the gap of attainment between West Sussex and national averages at Key Stages 1 and 2.

·         West Sussex children with EHCPs or a statement of Special Educational Needs were now achieving higher than the nationally expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. This showed a vast improvement from 2017.

·         Although generally improvements were being seen in results, there was still some distance to go. The new School Effectiveness Strategy would continue to secure improved educational outcomes in West Sussex.

26.2   The second part of the presentation outlined the key aims and objectives for organisation and improvement in the new School Effectiveness Strategy. A summary of key points included the following:

·         The learning experiences of children remain at the heart of the strategy.

·         For school organisation, the aim by 2022 is to have a strong model of sustainable education for all types of school and key stages. For improvement, there would be an effective process to challenge and support all schools to increase quality and standards of education.

·         The aspiration for the Strategy is to be in the top quartile of local authorities nationally for the quality and provision of learning across all age groups and abilities by 2022.

·         The new School Effectiveness Strategy would see all schools visited by link advisers at varying frequencies depending on their Ofsted category rating. This would mean ongoing work with outstanding schools to maintain those standards.

·         A new inspection regime from Ofsted would increase the range of leadership responsibilities for all schools. This had the potential to be particularly challenging for smaller schools, as they would need to provide more but with less funding.

·         With their agreement, opportunities to federate smaller schools would be considered in order to strengthen expertise, governance and specialisms.

·         In order to establish fewer dips in attainment, the strategy encourages the transition to an all-through primary school model where opportunities present themselves.

26.3   In discussion after the presentation, the following points were considered by members and answered by the Head of School Effectiveness.

·         Members were keen to understand who would facilitate the formation of federations. The Head of School Effectiveness explained that conversations would take place with schools when opportunities arose, however no school would be forced to unify. Link advisors would establish a head teacher’s readiness to lead more than one school, and inspections would indicate if a school was resilient enough to federate. Wider models of consideration would be required, including consultation with boards of governors.

·         Members questioned whether governors undertook any training and if they were effectively holding leadership teams to account. The Head of School Effectiveness advised training was undertaken, and that whilst governance was robust in some areas, development needed to continue to strengthen the quality of support and challenge.

·         Members asked if federations would help with the recruitment and retention of staff. The Head of School Effectiveness advised that collaborative approaches often spurred new ideas and could really help to move a school on, which could make for an attractive career prospect.

·         Members asked about West Sussex’s position amongst statistical neighbours in terms of meeting the national average for expected standards or better. The Committee was advised that for reading, writing and mathematics combined we were currently 8^th out of 11. The Committee also heard that for reading alone, we were 4^th out of 11 which was a good achievement on 2017. Improvements had also been made in mathematics and writing.

·         Members were interested to see the positive results of disadvantaged groups in Crawley. They asked what had been done to achieve this, and how this could be moved out wider across the county. They heard that Crawley schools had been under pressure for some time and inclusion strategies were a high priority. A Quality First Teaching (QFT) model was used in order to meet the needs of all learners, resulting in an inclusive practice and changed culture for the schools overall. The question for the Education and Skills directorate was now how to spread these projects out, resulting in adaptive leadership to meet a diverse group of needs.

·         Members asked about the local authority’s relationship with academies. The Head of School Effectiveness advised the new strategy applied to all West Sussex children, and the majority of schools in the county were still local authority maintained. West Sussex would continue to have conversations with academies where children were not achieving. The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills advised he would soon be meeting with an academy trust responsible for a number of schools in the county, in order to work to improve and maintain these relationships.

·         Members noted that as well as continued support for disadvantaged groups, the needs of high achievers should also be a priority for the service.

26.4   The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills thanked members and the Head of School Effectiveness for their input, and advised the School Effectiveness Strategy 2018-2022 was a key document for the Education and Skills portfolio. He explained that the consultation process had opened up useful conversations resulting in this encouraging document.

26.5   Resolved that the Committee:-

1.   acknowledge the pupil performance improvement at Key Stages 1 and 2 since 2016 and recent improvements in the quality of schools.

2.   considers how it can actively support the Cabinet Member and officers in the strategy’s implementation.

3.   recommends that yearly updates are provided to the full committee.

4.   notes the successes in the Crawley area, and would like the QFT model replicated throughout West Sussex.

5.   recommends that quality governors are recruited to all schools, and that an extensive training programme be in place.

6.   notes the positive impact of potential federations in terms of recruitment and retention, and recommends the service explores these opportunities when appropriate in consultation with the local member.

7.   recommends the service aim for West Sussex to exceed national averages by 2020.