Members considered a summary of the validated education performance data from the academic year 2014-15 with analysis against national benchmarks and year on year performance.

The Lead Member explained the report was based on the achievements of children who sat examinations in the summer of 2015 with comparison to other schools and areas in England.  At first glance the report showed that local children achieved well with high standards of attainment compared to national averages across all age groups.

However when looked at more closely the borough was losing ground to other authorities despite maintaining its level of attainment.  For example, in the SAT’s tests taken by 11 year olds since 2012, the proportion of pupils achieving the benchmark standard had risen by 3% to 82% while the borough’s local authority ranking had fallen 30 places to 44^th out of the 150 local authorities in England.  The area was served by a wide range of schools: small to large, faith-led, single gender, Academies and maintained schools, and within that variety there was some great practice and some which was not so strong.  At the current time 79% of schools were judged to be Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, lower than the national average of 84%.  The question for governing bodies of all schools was ‘what has to improve in your school?’

The report set out a number of areas for governing bodies to examine, to challenge and to improve.  One of these was supporting disadvantaged children. Chart 5 showed that children eligible for free school meals did better at GCSE in the borough than the national average; indeed at Charters, Desborough College and Newlands Girls’ they did at least 15% better.  Yet at Windsor Boys and Furze Platt they did 5% worse. The Lead Member asked governing bodies: ‘Why? And what are you going to do about it?’

Chart 3 showed that in primary and middle schools the success of children eligible for free school meals in their SAT tests was lower in the borough than in many other boroughs in England.  When there were sufficient pupils in a school to comment,  five schools achieved more than 80% with this cohort while three schools achieved less than 50%. The Lead Member asked governing bodies: ‘Why? And what are you going to do about it?’

The council had looked more closely at Key Stage 2 to see how clarity for parents thinking about where to send their son or daughter could be provided.  84% of children who took their SATs in primary schools met the national benchmark last year compared to only 78% who took the same tests in middle schools. The Lead Member asked governing bodies: ‘Why? And what are you going to do about it?’

More young people were going on to higher education, which was good news.  The report highlighted that more were achieving this through a range of courses in both A level and vocational subjects, and yet the schools with the highest levels of attainment had most students following one type of course.  Was increased focus the way to drive up attainment? The Lead Member asked governing bodies: ‘How will you ensure that all courses are taught to the same standard as the best?’

The education landscape was continuing to change at a rapid pace.  The way schools were funded would change and the role of the local authority would also change. Academy Trusts would be responsible for the provision of great education and for work to raise standards.  They would need to rely on themselves and other schools far more than ever before. Where a school was already an academy the local authority would resort to writing to the press about underperformance, for example at Altwood. The local authority would ensure that pupils could access good schools and would champion high standards.  High standards meant that all children were included in learning so they made good progress and achieve well. The report put Governing bodies and Academy Trusts on notice that their school had to step up and further improve the success of schools in the borough for all children.

The Chairman commented that the council needed to do all it could to address the gap in attainment, particularly as it now had less levers to use. The Principal Member for Transformation and Performance welcomed the transparency of the report. He highlighted that accountability went with authority, therefore the academies and their governing bodies were accountable. They should utilise the advice and support of the local authority wherever possible.  The Chief Whip commented that as a governor she would take the message back to her school and ensure it was taken seriously.

The Lead Member for Finance commented that the performance for children eligible for free school meals was not satisfactory. There was a certain amount the local authority could do but ultimate responsibility lay with the trustees and senior leadership of a school. Trustees should if necessary question whether or not they should be a trustee. He referred to the King Solomon Academy in Paddington that had a high level of children eligible for free school meals but still managed to achieve 93% A*-C at GCSE. This was due to strong leadership and trustees.

The Managing Director commented that performance was not at a level that the council would expect. The council was committing to refocus resources on school improvement on those schools with high levels of children eligible for free school meals that were also underachieving. Good practice from outside the borough was being sought. Guidance from the DfE in March 2016 gave the local authority powers to intervene and issue warnings on performance, but this was only for schools still in local authority control. The council was working with the Regional Schools Commissioner; he would be attending the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 19 April 2016 to discuss powers of intervention. The local authority could request the Commissioner to make an intervention in an Academy. This request had been made for Altwood however he had chosen not to make a statutory intervention. The local authority would continue to pursue the issue.

Councillor Mrs Jones raised the issue of recruitment of good teachers. The Lead Member for Finance agreed this was one of the biggest challenges. The council had a manifesto commitment in relation to affordable housing for teachers. An initiative with Two5Nine Ltd would look to significantly increase the company’s estate.

Councillor Ed Wilson commented that the issue of attainment had been discussed at the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel. He referred to a recent Ofsted report for Eton Wick school that demonstrated that the school was receiving pupil premium funding but did not check the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Chart 5 in the report showed that at Desborough College disadvantaged pupils were actually likely to do better than average; yet at Furze Platt the opposite was the case. Schools receiving pupil premium were required by the government to tell the council what they were doing with the funding and what were the outcomes for children. If schools did not provide this information, they should be named and shamed.

The Managing Director explained that schools were required to put this information on heir website; the council did not hold an overall database although advisers would look at the data. The Lead Member for Transformation and Performance commented that it would be important for the council to know if a school was being reluctant in providing the information. The Chairman commented this was certainly something he would want pursued.

The Lead Member concluded that if schools did not do right by their children they should be held to account. He would be happy to highlight any issues to the press but the council would also ensure it provided the best support possible. He liked the idea of a task force to question schools and governing bodies and report back to Cabinet.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet

i.          Approve the six actions as key priorities of the Education Improvement Plan for 2016-17.

1.    School improvement service works with the three-tier schools to identify best practice and barriers to success, including methods of working with larger cohorts of pupils to achieve higher levels of attainment at Key Stage 2.

2.    Strengthen partnership working between the Local Authority, schools and the Elevate project to capture more comprehensive destination information and ask Governing Bodies to ensure that all young people are getting the appropriate and independent careers advice before and during 6th form studies.

3.    Continue existing work and launch and lead a borough-wide Pupil Premium Champions network for all primary phase schools to ensure they have access to local and national best practice guidance, especially in schools with small FSM cohorts, which is reflected in plans published by all Governing Bodies.

4.    Seek further collaboration with secondary schools to build on the overall high GCSE standards so Governing Bodies publish pupil premium plans which commit to reduce the attainment gap further every year.

5.    For maintained schools seeking Good judgements, the school improvement service adopt a “Team Around the School” approach, bringing together the host school, local authority, other school and external professionals (such as the Diocese) as appropriate to deliver improvement.  This  includes formal reviews of progress each term, by the Head of Schools and the Chair of Governors to ensure the additional resource  is driving educational outcomes.
For non-maintained schools, the Council will offer support to the Academy Trust and seek their commitment, along with the Regional School Commissioner, to a published improvement plan which will enable residents to see improvement in standards.

6.    Work with secondary schools to share emerging best practice for securing progress for every pupil as measured by Progress 8.

ii.         Request a further report on academic progress for the 2015-16 academic year on 23 March 2017 following the national publication of validated attainment data.

iii.        Request a report on the revised roles and responsibilities in Education post Department for Education feedback on the initial consultation, which is currently expected to close on 17 April 2016.