APPENDIX 1
Blaenau Gwent Schools’ Performance Data Overview 2013
The following analysis is a summary of the performance of Blaenau Gwent schools in the academic year ending July 2013. Each school will have reviewed, with the Education Achievement Service (EAS), its own performance with the expectation that the lessons learnt will inform planning for improvement.
The data for the Foundation Phase (age 3 - 7), Key stage 2 (7 - 11) and Key Stage 3 (11 - 14) is derived from teacher assessments. Key Stage 4 data reflects performance at 15+ which is externally examined and reported as GCSE results or their equivalent.
Trend data: shows the movement up or down over a period of 2 or more years, providing a longer term and more balanced view of the data e.g. placing rogue years in a wider context where a cohort may be exceptionally strong or weak.
Families of Schools: schools are placed in a family of approximately 10 schools from across Wales which are deemed to have similar characteristics e.g. size, language, ethnic mix, rurality, deprivation.
Benchmark distribution: schools are characterised by levels of deprivation based on FSM and assigned to one of the 4 quartiles in their benchmark group according to how well they have performed relative to other schools in the same FSM benchmark group.
Foundation Phase (Appendices 1 and 5a)
Foundation Phase - 2 Year Trend
At Foundation Phase the trend in performance is a 2 year trend between the 2011/12 academic year and 2012/13.
In Foundation Phase Indicator (achieving at the expected level or above), 14 of 26 schools saw an improvement in performance but 12 saw a decline.
In Language, Literacy and Communication in English/Welsh, 14 of the 26 schools demonstrated improvement, 1 remained the same and performance declined in 11 schools.
In Mathematical Development, the performance of 12 schools improved and 14 declined.
In relation to Personal and Social Development, 13 schools saw an improvement, 1 remained the same and the performance in 12 schools declined.
The improvement in Local Authority performance in Language, Literacy and Communication over the period 2011/12 to 2012/13 was greater than that of the Welsh Average. However, the Local Authority has not made improvement in line with the Welsh Average in Mathematical Development, Personal and Social Development and Foundation Phase Indicator.
Foundation Phase - Performance Compared to the Family of Schools
At Foundation Phase, 14 of 26 schools performed better than the Family Position suggests in Foundation Phase Indicator, 16 of 26 in Language, Literacy and Communication and 13 of 26 Personal and Social Development. In Mathematical Development, 13 of 26 schools performed better or as expected in relation to their position within the Family of Schools.
Foundation Phase - Benchmark Distribution
In the 2012/13 academic year at Foundation Phase, a greater proportion of Blaenau Gwent Schools were placed in benchmark quartiles 1 and 2 in Language, Literacy and Communication and Personal and Social Development, but a greater proportion are in Quartiles 3 and 4 in relation to Foundation Phase Indicator and Mathematical Development.
When looking at the benchmark distribution over a 2 year period, the proportion in Quartiles 1 and 2 is greater.
Foundation Phase summary
When ranked against the other 22 Welsh Local Authorities (LAs), Blaenau Gwent is 17th. This is higher than might be anticipated given the socio-economic context. 81% of learners achieved an Outcome 5 or above in the core areas which was 2% higher than in 2012. The Welsh average is 83%. Mathematical Development may become an issue if a trend of slower progress is confirmed next year.
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 - 3 Year Trend (Appendices 2 and 5a)
At Key Stage 2, a greater number of schools saw an improvement in their performance over the period 2010/11 to 2012/13 when compared to Foundation Phase.
In the Core Subject Indicator (CSI), 20 of 26 schools saw an improvement in performance but 6 saw a decline.
In English/Welsh, 18 of the 26 schools demonstrated improvement and performance declined in 8 schools.
In Mathematics, the performance of 19 schools improved and 7 declined.
In relation to Science, 15 schools saw an improvement, 1 remained the same and the performance in 10 schools declined.
Key Stage 2 - Performance Compared to the Family of Schools
At Key Stage 2, 12 of 26 schools performed better than the Family Position suggests in English and 15 of 26 in Science. In Mathematical Development, 14 of 26 schools performed better or as expected in relation to their position within the Family of Schools and 15 of 26 schools in the Core Subject Indicator.
Key Stage 2 - Benchmark Distribution
In the 2012/13 academic year at Key Stage 2, a greater proportion of Blaenau Gwent Schools are in benchmark quartiles 1 and 2 in Mathematics and Science, but a greater proportion are in Quartiles 3 and 4 in relation to English/Welsh. In CSI an equal proportion of schools are in Quartiles 1 or 2 and 3 or 4.
When looking at the benchmark distribution over a 3 year period, the proportion in Quartiles 1 and 2 is greater for all indicators.
Key Stage 2 summary
Local Authority improvement in performance in each of the Key Stage 2 indicators over the 2010/11 to 2012/13 period has been greater than that of the Welsh Average. However, this is in the context of Blaenau Gwent performance on all KS2 indicators which is well below the Welsh average and has the lowest CSI and English results in Wales and second lowest in Maths and Science. The gender gap may be narrower because of slower progress by girls. There is evidence when comparing targets against performance that target setting is insufficiently challenging.
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 3 - 3 Year Trend (Appendices 3 and 5a)
At Key Stage 3, all schools improved their performance in Core Subject Indicator, Mathematics and Science. However, 1 school saw a decline in performance in English with all others seeing an improvement.
Local Authority improvement in performance in each of the Key Stage 3 indicators over the 2010/11 to 2012/13 period has been greater than that of the Welsh Average.
Key Stage 3 - Performance Compared to the Family of Schools
At Key Stage 3, 2 of 4 Secondary Schools performed better or as expected in relation to their position within the Family of Schools in English, Mathematics and CSI with 3 schools performing better or as expected in Science.
Key Stage 3 - Benchmark Distribution
In the 2012/13 academic year at Key Stage 3, all Secondary Schools in Blaenau Gwent were placed in Benchmark Quartiles 3 and 4 for Core Subject Indicator and Science, with 3 of the 4 Secondary’s being in Benchmark quartile 4 for English. Performance in Mathematics is distributed across all 4 quartiles equally.
Benchmark distribution over a 3 year period demonstrates that the greatest proportion of performance was in Benchmark Quartile 4 in each indicator at Key Stage 3.
Key Stage 3 summary
Learners are not making sufficient progress in key stage 3. While the School Families data may show some encouragement, the Benchmarking data strongly indicates underperformance, with few exceptions. On the CSI and for English, Blaenau Gwent was 22nd in the all Wales rankings and over 4% adrift of the next lowest performer.
Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4 - 3 Year Trend (Appendices 4a, 4b and 5b)
3 of 4 Secondary Schools in Blaenau Gwent have seen improvements in performance in Level 2 Including English/Welsh and Mathematics, Level 2 Threshold, Level 1 Threshold, Core Subject Indicator and Level 2 Mathematics between the 2010/11 academic year and 2012/13. 1 Blaenau Gwent school, in each of the above indicators, has seen lower performance levels and this is not the same school in relation to all indicators.
All Secondary Schools have seen an improvement in Capped Points Score.
In relation to Level 2 English at Key Stage 4, 2 schools have seen improvements in performance and 2 have seen a decline.
Improvements in Local Authority performance in Level 2 Including English, Welsh & Maths, Capped Points Score, Core Subject Indicator, Level 1 Threshold and Level 2 Mathematics have been at a faster rate than that of the Welsh Average. However, performance has not been at the rate of the Welsh Average in Level 2 Threshold and Level 2 English.
Key Stage 4 - Performance Compared to the Family of Schools
At Key Stage 4, 3 of the 4 Secondary Schools performed better than their position within the Family of Schools might indicate, 2 of 4 schools in Capped Points Score and 2 in Level 2 English. 3 schools performed better or as expected in Level 2 Threshold when compared to their Family of Schools position but only 1 in Level 2 Mathematics.
Key Stage 4 - Benchmark Distribution
In the 2012/13 academic year at Key Stage 4, all Secondary Schools in Blaenau Gwent were placed in Benchmark Quartiles 3 and 4 for Level 2 Threshold, Level 1 Threshold and Capped Points Score. 3 of the 4 schools were placed in Benchmark Quartiles 3 or 4 for English, Mathematics and Science Core Subject Indicator and Science and 3 of the 4 Secondary’s were in Benchmark quartile 4 for English. Performance in Core Subject Indicator and Level 2 Including English/Welsh and Mathematics is equally distributed across all 4 quartiles.
Benchmark distribution over a 3 year period demonstrates that the greatest proportion of performance was in Benchmark Quartile 4 in each indicator at Key Stage 4.
Key stage 4 summary
38.7% of learners met the Level threshold inclusive (5 A*-C passes including English or Welsh) in 2013, an encouraging and significant 4.4% increase on the previous year and a rate of improvement which needs to be sustained. This places Blaenau Gwent 21= in the all Wales ranking. The progress was not, however, uniform across all 4 schools and while real strides have been made in one school, another has a downward 3 year trend.
89% achieved the level 1 threshold (5 A*-G passes) which is 3% lower than the LA which is 21st in the rankings. This is a significant gap.
60% achieved the Level 2 threshold (5 A*-C passes) which is a very significant 9% below the LA which is the second lowest in Wales. Merthyr Tydfil, not dissimilar in size and socio-economic context, scored 13% more than Blaenau Gwent on this indicator. The LA and its schools need a particular focus on performance at Key Stage 4 if these very challenging issues are to be addressed and underperformance eradicated.
The data for the schools when placed in their Families of Schools presents a better picture than the comparative data offered in the Benchmarking distributions. The overall trend is one of improvement but not at a sufficiently fast pace to raise Blaenau Gwent from the lowest ranking on most indicators.
The performance in English dipped in Blaenau Gwent in 2013 by 2% which needs to be addressed if performance across the curriculum is not to be affected negatively in the longer term.
School Banding
There has been little change in the distribution of Blaenau Gwent Secondary Banding with the exception of one School whose banding has improved from Band 5 to Band 3.
School / 2013 / 2012 / 2011Abertillery Comprehensive / 5 / 5 / 4
Brynmawr Foundation School / 3 / 3 / 3
Ebbw Fawr Learning Community / 4 / EV 4
GC 3 / EV 2
GC 4
Tredegar Comprehensive / 3 / 5 / 5
School Categorisation
Each school in Blaenau Gwent is categorised by the EAS according to a number of criteria including Safeguarding, Standards, Attendance, Leadership, School Banding and Inspection Reports.
Categorisation Distribution 2012/13 and 2013/14
2012/13 / 2013/14 / MovementNo / % / No / % / No
Strong / 2 / 6.9% / 3 / 10.0% / 1
Minor / 14 / 48.3% / 11 / 36.7% / -3
Significant / 5 / 17.2% / 7 / 23.3% / 2
Particular / 5 / 17.2% / 8 / 26.7% / 3
Critical / 3 / 10.3% / 1 / 3.3% / -2
The number of schools for whom intervention is deemed critical has reduced from 3 to just 1 school between 2012 and 2013. However, the number of schools categorised as being in need of Significant, Particular or Critical intervention has increased from 13 schools in 2012/13 to 16 schools in 2013/14. The percentage of schools in Category 3 or above (Significant, Minor and Strong) equates to 70% of schools against an EAS target for the 2013/14 academic year of 77%.
Conclusions
- Although the socio-economic context of Blaenau Gwent means that low performance might be anticipated, expectation should not to be at or near the bottom of the all-Wales rankings. It is vital to raise expectations at all levels i.e. with pupils, parents/carers, school staff, governors, LA officers and elected members.
- Language skills at all stages are critical and KS4 results indicate that insufficient progress is made across all four stages.
- Target setting needs to be more rigorous and provide a greater degree of challenge.
- With girls’ performance tailing off in more than one key stage, attention needs to be given to ensuring that there is no culture of girls’ underachievement developing.
- There are relatively few learners achieving the higher levels or grades.
- The Post Inspection Action Plan for the LA must have a clear focus on raising standards across the board and be implemented through a collective will to bring about improvement.
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