FOR INFORMATION AGENDA ITEM

BOROUGH OF POOLE

CHILDREN’S SERVICES OVERVIEW GROUP

26 JUNE 2007

REPORT OF HEAD OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES – STRATEGY, QUALITY AND IMPROVEMENT

EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT PARTNERSHIP PLAN 2006-2009 REVISED FOR 2007-2008
  1. PURPOSE

To inform the Children’s Services Overview Group of the Education Achievement Partnership Plan 2006-2009, revised for 2007-2008.

3.BACKGROUND

3.1As a result of the introduction of the Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) from April 2006, there was no longer a requirement (from 2005) to produce an Education Development Plan. We did, nevertheless, decide to continue to produce a plan of our work, in partnership with schools, which sets out how we intend to work to raise educational achievement, as good practice.

3.2The Education Development Plan, because it was a statutory document, was very prescriptive in what had to be included, and five of the eight ‘priorities’ were set by the Department for Education and Skills. Since 2006 the LA was free to set its own priorities and actions to reflect local circumstances.

3.3The Education Achievement Partnership Plan (EAPP) follows the same format that our schools are required to use in undertaking their self-evaluation. This is important because the plan and actions form the core of the work Strategy, Quality and Improvement (SQI) will undertake with schools over the coming year. Schools will, therefore, be able to directly relate their needs to services that SQI is able to provide. The EAPP directly links to the Unit’s Business Plan and identifies the relevant funding streams.

3.4The plan also directly links to the Children’s and Young People’s Plan and the five outcomes of being healthy; staying safe; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; and achieving economic well-being, under Every Child Matters. It further links to the Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets and other relevant Council plans.

3.5The EAPP sets out our goals to 2009 but particularly focuses on the actions we will undertake in the coming year. There are a number of mechanisms in place to monitor achievement and outcomes. The Overview Group asked in July 2006 that the Community Support and Education Scrutiny Committee scrutinise implementation of the plan, and a progress report was submitted to that committee on 13 March 2007.

3.6Legal Implications – There is no legal requirement on the Council to produce this plan, however, Members and officers consider it good practice.

Financial Implications – The cost of implementing the plan is contained within the Unit’s budget. The funding streams have been identified and agreed with Financial Services, and are included in the plan.

Policy framework implications – The plan directly links to the CYPP, Striving for Excellence, LAA, the Unit’s Business Plan and, where relevant, other Council plans. It also contributes to meeting the Council’s equalities objectives.

Chief Adviser/Head of Strategy, Quality and Improvement

Tel:01202 633769

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES

STRATEGY, QUALITY AND IMPROVEMENT

EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT PARTNERSHIP PLAN 2006 – 2009

REVISED FOR 2007 – 2008

Contents

Page

1.Context / 1 - 2
2.Self Assessment
a)Overall effectiveness
b)Achievement and standards
c)Quality of provision
d)Personal development and well-being
e)Leadership and management
f)Service delivery and capacity / 3 – 7
3.Intended Impact by 2009
a)Overall effectiveness
b)Achievement and standards
c)Quality of provision
d)Personal development and well-being
e)Leadership and management
f)Service delivery and capacity / 8 – 11
4.Action Plan for 2007 - 2008
  • Priority 1:Continue to raise achievement and standards
  • Priority 2:Continue to improve the quality of provision
  • Priority 3:Continue to improve personal development and well-being
  • Priority 4:Continue to build capacity in leadership and management
  • Priority 5:Improve service delivery
/ 12 – 29
5.Process to Evaluate the Impact of this Plan / 30
6.Resources / 31
7.Glossary / 32 – 33
8. Contact details / 34
  1. Context

Our strategic Children and Young People’s Plan 2006-2009 - Improving Opportunities for Children and Young People in Poole, sets out our aims for improving services and outcomes for children and young people in Poole. It sets the direction for three years by stating our vision for children and young people and the principles which underpin all our actions. It sets out outcomes for children and young people in relation to:

  • being healthy
  • staying safe
  • enjoying and achieving
  • making a positive contribution
  • achieving economic well-being

and outlines our response to their needs.

In terms of the outcome “enjoy and achieve” this ‘Education Achievement Partnership Plan’ sets out in detail how we will improve this outcome and how we will measure those improvements. This plan also includes contributions towards the other four outcomes. It provides the strategic direction for school improvement over the three years and sets out resource allocation to targeted actions for 2007-08.

The action plan for 2007–08 is organised in five priorities:

1.Continue to raise achievement and standards

2.Continue to improve the quality of provision

3.Continue to improve personal development and well-being

4.Continue to build capacity in leadership and management

5.Improve service delivery.

The first four sections mirror the priorities for schools and settings and their own self-evaluation framework. Section five outlines our aims to improve our service delivery and links into our service unit business plan.

All actions are cross-linked to appropriate plans and priorities, for example, Children and Young People’s Plan, Every Child Matters outcomes, Striving for Excellence priorities, Local Area Agreement targets, and areas for improvement identified in our 2006 Annual Performance Assessment.

As highlighted in the Children and Young People’s Plan we will need to work in new ways to achieve our vision and improve outcomes.

In order to deliver this Education Achievement Partnership Plan, the new ways of working we will include are:

  • Improving the integration of Children’s Services
  • Increasing the effectiveness of our planning, and developing further the commissioning of services
  • Strengthening partnerships
  • Integrating whole school workforce development into the development of Children’s Services
  • Engaging with locality working
  • Contributing to the implementation of the new Children’s Centre and Extended Schools Strategy.
  1. Self assessment

a)Overall effectiveness

Currently, one school has been served with a notice to improve, and is making good progress, and no school is subject to special measures. For 2007-08 the Local Authority (LA) has identified 6 schools causing concern and is providing them with intensive support. 22 schools have been inspected under the new Ofsted inspection framework since September 2005. Of these, 9 have been judged as ‘good’ schools and 4 ‘outstanding’.

Overall, schools have made real progress in developing their school self-evaluation processes in preparation for inspection. However, not all schools have processes which are as robust as they could be.

Collaboration between schools is developing steadily, particularly in the Secondary sector in relation to the 14-19 agenda, and in the Primary sector through the learning networks.

Pre-school settings have made good progress in developing early learning and all settings, except one, have received at least satisfactory Ofsted inspections. There are a significant number of settings with a good inspection and one with an outstanding report. Two settings currently causing concern under ‘enjoy and achieve’ are receiving additional support from the LA.

b)Achievement and standards

Overall, we need to further improve our analysis and interpretation of pupil performance data, particularly identification of under-achieving groups and low attaining groups.

The current position on key standards is:

  • at the end of Key Stage 1 results are above the national average in all aspects of learning
  • there is year on year improvement at Key Stage 2 where pupils exceed the national average in all subjects. Mathematics has been improving year on year, it now equals the national picture during a period when the national picture is slightly declining. Boys are sill a priority, similar to that nationally
  • progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is good although the contextual value added scores from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 indicate that some of our schools do not secure sufficient progress between these key stages
  • standards in core subjects in some schools are too low.
Foundation Stage
  • Standards for Poole are outstanding. Foundations Stage provision and outcomes are above the national expectations and the strategies employed ensure that children are supported and achieve outstanding progress in meeting their early learning goals
  • Since 2004, Poole has maintained and improved standards which are higher than the national average
  • Foundations Stage Profile Data shows an improving trend which is accelerating in focus areas. However, boys generally attain less well than girls but they are in line with the national average and in ‘Linking Sounds and Letters’, and in ‘Calculation’ are significantly better
  • Poole is achieving well in Communication, Language and Literacy, being well above the national average and third among twelve statistical neighbours

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

  • Pupils with SEN generally make similar progress to their non-SEN counterparts in all mainstream schools. Under-achieving pupils have been targeted for support
  • Key Stage 1 results are above national averages but have remained at the same level for the past 3 years
  • Reading standards at Level 2+ were 87.4% in 2006
  • Average points score at KS1 over the last 3 years has broadly remained the same at 15.9
  • The average child across all subjects at KS1 achieved above a 2B and above national averages
  • Mathematics is the strongest of the core subjects at KS1, writing the weakest
  • Children Looked After by the LA made average progress at Key Stage 2
  • Attainment in schools at Key Stage 2 continues to improve with Poole recording its best ever results in 2005. However pupils only attain average levels of performance and still have a little way to achieve expected levels
  • Value added data indicates that fewer pupils than nationally achieving Level 2c at Key Stage 1 progress to Level 4 at Key Stage 2 in both English and mathematics and this is an area for improvement

3.Key Stage 3

  • Results in the core subjects are outstanding with Poole judged as first compared to statistical neighbours
  • Progress made between Key Stage 2 and 3 by the majority of pupils is good
  • Standards in English and mathematics are good at Level 5+ and Level 6+ and in the upper quartile for boys and above the median for girls. At Level 6 both are in the upper quartile
  • Standards in science are good at Level 5+ and Level 6+ and in the upper quartile for girls and boys
  • Pupils with SEN make average or better progress generally
  • Children Looked After by the LA make average progress at Key Stage 3
  • Black and Minority Ethnic pupils generally make good progress. Identified individuals make very good progress. Some that are under-achieving are identified and targeted for support. Traveller children often do not achieve national expectations
  • The difference between girls’ and boys’ progress is similar to the national average
  • More able pupils generally make progress that is equal to or better than similar pupils elsewhere

4.Key Stage 4

  • Standards for Poole at GCSE are consistently good and in the upper quartile nationally, and above statistical neighbours, for 5A*-C, 5A*-G, 1A*-G and APS for both boys and girls
  • Pupils make good progress between Key Stage 2 and 4
  • Standards at one school facing challenging circumstances are consistently below the ‘floor’ targets and in another school are improving
  • In most secondary schools progress for SEN pupils is average or better, although there are some pupils identified as under-achieving
  • Children Looked After by the LA make average or above average progress in Key Stage 4
  • The differences between boys’ and girls’ achievement are similar to the national picture and both make average to above average progress
  • More able pupils generally make progress that is equal to similar pupils nationally.

Post 16

  • Standards for ‘A’ level in Poole schools are good overall and very good in some subjects and some schools, as indicated by value-added data produced for the LSC
  • Standards in some subjects in some schools are weaker, usually reflecting inadequacies in teaching
  • IAG is good overall and very good in some schools as identified by Ofsted. However, under-achievement in some schools in some subjects reflects poorer guidance
  • The percentage of young people continuing in education post 16 and accessing Further Education and Higher Education is significantly higher than the national average.

c)Quality of provision

Foundation Stage
  • The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage is very good.
  • All schools have satisfactory provision, many have good provision with outstanding features; pre-school settings have satisfactory and often good provision
  • Seven schools and one pre-school have outstanding provision. (Spring term Link visit 2006 and Ofsted inspection).
  • Pre-schools/nurseries/childminders quality of provision is mixed, one outstanding, some good with outstanding features and many satisfactory. A few have inadequate features

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

  • Assessment for Learning is being developed in all schools and is embedded in the practice of many schools
  • Curriculum development based on ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ is part of action plans in schools. Cross-curricular links are increasingly being exploited
  • Many schools have established global and local links and networks with other schools
  • Key Stage 1 statutory assessment – more confidence in assessing children through teacher assessment in the majority of schools
  • All schools have access to interactive whiteboards and broadband internet
  • Use of ICT and interactive whiteboards is being embedded in the teaching of mathematics and literacy
  • PMFL now implemented in Year 3 and planned development across Key Stage 2 is in place
  • Literacy developments include improved teaching of phonics and visual literacy.

Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4

  • The quality of provision at Key Stage 3 is very good
  • At Key Stage 4 provision for the core curriculum and academic options is good
  • Provision for work related learning is limited and mainly dependent on external providers
  • At Key Stage 5 (Post 16) provision is very good for academic subjects but only adequate for vocational education
  • Level 3 is well provided for
  • There are too few opportunities for Level 1 and Level 2, other than with external providers
  • Schools are being supported in the introduction of changes in new GCSE courses (science and mathematics 2007) and will be in English (2008)
  • By 2008 the provision of the first five specialist diplomas will be in place across the authority in order that capacity meets demand at Levels 1, 2 and 3
  • By 2009 all of our Secondary schools will have in place the key principles for personalised learning in that a variety of “pathways” will exist at Key Stage 4
  • Assessment for Learning is being developed in all schools and is embedded in the practice of many
  • All schools provide a range of extra curricular activities:

oMainly delivered by school staff

oVery strong partnerships in sports and arts areas

oThere is a developing area of subject support activities outside the core curriculum e.g. history clubs

  • Subject and aspect leaders make link governors/governing body aware of their judgements of the quality of teaching, learning and curriculum provision.

d)Personal development and well-being

Schools overall do very well in this area (Ofsted analysis at latest inspection). The area for development in some localities and some individual schools is social and emotional development and/or behavioural development for a small minority of individuals who are hard to retain in school.

Schools are becoming increasingly healthy places with the option of hot meals being taken up, and with action plans around healthy snacks and water available at all times. Tackling obesity and sustaining regular exercise programmes have been a focus as part of the PE strategy.

Citizenship and sustainable environments are on the agenda for all schools with a particular focus this year and over time on diversity and opportunity, tackling discrimination, harassment, equality and homophobic bullying.

e)Leadership and management

  • Leadership and management, overall, is good across key criteria outlined by Ofsted (Summer term Link visit 2007)
  • Schools are increasingly developing effective systems for school self-evaluation, which are robust, embedded and cyclical
  • ‘Distributed’ leadership is impacting on strategic development but there is a need to provide more continuing professional development opportunities for senior leaders
  • Governance is good. Development opportunities are now focusing on the whole governing body and their role in self-evaluation to guide the strategic direction of the school. (Governor Link visits 2006-07)
  • Leadership and management of learning needs to develop further in pre-school settings to ensure more ‘good’ or better Ofsted inspections.

f)Service delivery and capacity

The most recent Annual Survey of Schools identified a number of improving areas. Areas identified for further development included:

  • Our strategy for managing information and data
  • Our effectiveness in encouraging schools to work together
  • Our support for the professional development of the school workforce

Through our self assessment processes and our 2007 Annual Performance Assessment we have also identified areas for further improvement.

  • Further integrate Children’s Services across the Borough
  • Greater awareness of the needs of Black and Minority Ethnic children
  • Workforce development – continuing professional development of Children’s Services staff
  • Communications with all our stakeholders, and our internal communications
  • Efficiency – making the best possible use of our scarce resources
  • Standards of equality – managing diversity throughout the workforce
  • Improve capacity to deliver both continued good outcomes and school re-organisation.

These service delivery and capacity issues are addressed in the action plan for 2007–08 and intended impact by 2009.